Then the room grew quiet near the main doors, and I knew Derek had arrived.

PART 7

He entered with Sienna beside him.

The red gown Claudia had described was impossible to miss.

Derek’s hand rested lightly against Sienna’s waist, and the pair stopped to greet a senior partner as though they were attending a perfectly ordinary business dinner.

For a few seconds I remained fixed beside the auction table, my fingertips resting on the corner of Grace’s whale book.

Nothing happened in the dramatic way I might have imagined.