There was to be a big, splashy party organized by a major New York PR firm to launch the opening of the New York pop-up, which would be open for two weeks. Theo had no intention of going to the event, but she was eager to see that the store was properly set up, and the decor and atmosphere exactly right for their image. Similar events had been planned in L.A. and Dallas in the weeks following, and she intended to oversee them too. No promises had been made that she would attend the events. And there was no one in New York she wanted to see. Her parents were dead now, and she had lost track of old friends there. The brand and the business had been running smoothly without her being seen in public for a long time. Matthieu’s business was continuing to function efficiently too, managed by the same people who had worked for him when he was alive. His business was too large and solid to flounder, even once he was gone. She stayed in touch with their top management and sat on the board. She was active behind the scenes, particularly since she was the owner of Matthieu’s business now, although it interested her far less than her own brand, where her input made a real difference since it was smaller than Matthieu’s empire and rested on her image as well as the products they sold.

The fact that she was going to New York to oversee the opening of the pop-up had not been announced, and she had no intention of being seen by the public before, during, or after the event. She just wanted to make sure that the large store they had rented for a fortune for two weeks on Madison Avenue would look spectacular. It felt both exciting and terrifying to Theo to be out in the world again. She had lived in the shadows for months now. She wanted to see the action again, but not be in it. She wanted to be invisible.