I did not bother to argue the point.

There was no argument that could reach a man who genuinely believed a woman owed her robber an itemized inventory.

I simply told him the truth of what came next — daylight, a room, witnesses — and let him sit with the growing understanding that the quiet foster girl he’d chosen precisely because she seemed to have no defenses had, in fact, been the most defended person he had ever underestimated.

Chapter 11 — The Boardroom

At ten the next morning, Konstantin walked into Larkhaven’s investor meeting in yesterday’s tuxedo, Astrid and Greta behind him, all three still believing intimidation could recover what fraud had lost.

I sat at the head of the table.