Chapter 1 - The Kiss at 7:18
Claire saw Julian before he saw her.
He was standing beside his black sedan on level four of the Halston Hotel garage.
His jacket was off.
His tie hung loose around his collar.
And his hands were around another woman’s waist.
Claire stopped between two concrete pillars.
For one second, her mind refused to understand what her eyes were seeing.
Then the woman turned her face.
Natalie.
Claire’s younger sister.
Julian kissed her again.
Not a frightened kiss.
Not an accident.
Not something either of them immediately regretted.
Natalie slid her fingers into his hair as Julian pulled her closer.
Claire’s forgotten birthday dinner invitation was still sitting in her purse.
Thirty-eight years old today.
Fourteen years married.
One sister she had defended her entire life.
And both of them were ten yards away destroying everything.
The laptop became heavy in Claire’s arms.
Julian finally stepped away.
“We can’t keep doing this in parking garages,” Natalie whispered.
Claire’s stomach twisted.
Keep doing this.
Those three words hurt more than the kiss.
Julian glanced toward the elevator.
“After tonight, we won’t have to.”
Natalie lowered her voice.
“Does Claire suspect anything?”
Julian laughed softly.
“Claire suspects people only after they confess.”
Natalie smiled.
“She always did want to believe the best in everyone.”
Claire pressed herself behind the pillar.
Her hands were shaking so badly she almost dropped the laptop.
Then Julian said something that stopped her breathing.
“Once she signs tomorrow, it’s finished.”
Natalie looked nervous.
“And the second document?”
Julian’s expression changed.
“That one never leaves my computer.”
Claire stared at the laptop in her arms.
Julian’s laptop.
The one he had forgotten.
The one he had called her to bring.
The one containing a document he believed she would never see.
The elevator chimed.
Julian and Natalie disappeared through the doors.
Claire remained frozen.
She wanted to scream.
She wanted to follow them.
She wanted to drag Natalie back out by the arm and demand an explanation.
Instead, Claire looked down at the laptop.
For the first time that evening, her shock gave way to something colder.
She turned around.
She walked back to her car.
May you like
And she took Julian’s laptop home.
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