“Or why don’t I just volunteer? Why don’t women stay far away from arenas of power, like politics? I know my own mind. Stop pressuring me.”

“Stop taking on more than you can handle. Stop following bullshit advice from five-minute acquaintances.” He grabbed my shoulders. “We’ve been friends for a long time. I want what’s best for you.”

“Please don’t tell me what’s best for me.”

“And do take your hands off her,” Bram said behind me, his voice Pittsburgh steel.

“I wouldn’t mess with her,” Strena added. “She’s already put a senator into the grave this week.”

Trey dropped his hands. “What is she talking about?”

I didn’t explain. “You’ll have the LA side of the business and six hundred thousand dollars,” I reiterated. “Or pocket a million point two and Ludington’s is all mine.”

An eternity passed before he nodded. Of course, he couldn’t leave it there. “You’re going to fail in New York. You’re going to regret this.”

“My business. Mine to regret.”

The rain picked up. Trey ran down the steps, casting a you’re crazy look over his shoulder.

Behind me, Sergei said, “Bam! Spanked and running away red assed.”

I backed into the foyer and closed the door so Trey wouldn’t hear me laugh.

Bram and his grandfather, Sergei, Strena, and Monique stood around me. Bram had Lai Fa back in the crook of his arm. He set her down, shrugged off his jacket, and put it around my shoulders, then picked up the chicken again. And Lai Fa went along, as if they were a circus act.

My shirt clung damp and cold, but the jacket transferred Bram’s warmth to me. The fabric carried the scent of fresh-shaved pencils and new notebooks, as if, at work, he kept his jacket in the supply closet.

Monique made a shooing gesture toward the door. “Boy fluttered away like a pesky fly.”

“Minced like a constipated beaver,” Strena corrected.

The last time I’d laughed that hard had been over a dirty joke Violet had told me. I hadn’t expected to laugh like that again for a long time. If I hadn’t already liked Strena, I would have liked her for just that sentence.

“Thank you. Thank you all. I appreciate the backup. And the investment. I hope you meant that.”

“Meant every word,” Bram said.

His grandfather nodded.

Strena squinted at me. “What? You don’t think I have that kind of money?”

“I have no idea how much money anybody has. I’m just grateful to you all. And relieved.”

I had about half a second to luxuriate in that relief before Sergei cleared his throat. “I only have half of what I promised. But I have an idea for raising the other half.”

Strena bumped his shoulder. “Feel free to elaborate before she hyperventilates.”