I don’t know where to start.

And now there’s more shit to sort.

I start by going to my suite and showering as instructed. Then more coffee. I go to one of the cabinets and pull the drawer open to get some clean boxers. Freeze.

Her bra stares back at me.

I slam the drawer and fetch some jeans.

More coffee.

Get a black shirt from my wardrobe.

More coffee.

Then I stand, wondering . . . what now? Leave. Get out of here. My best move right now would be to get my arse out of The Manor. I grab my keys and escape, driving to Lusso in a haze.

Of course, everything in my penthouse has Ava’s mark all over it. There’s no escaping her. Not from my mind, my eyes, my fucking cracking heart. I pace the place ten times, unpack a few more boxes, watch as time drags by painfully slowly. It’s lonely here on my own.

By evening, I’m going certifiably crazy. I don’t want to go back to The Manor. I don’t want to be here alone. I’ve thought endlessly about calling Ava, hoping she’ll answer and let me explain myself. Yet I know the gods won’t be that kind to me. In the end, I settle on calling Sam.

“Where are you two girls having that coffee?” I ask, and he laughs.

“The little place at the corner of Burlington. I’ll be there in half an hour.”

“On my way.”

By some unexplained miracle, I find a parking space a few hundred yards up the road from the café. Drew and Sam are sitting at a table outside, chatting, though they shut up when they spot me approaching. “My ears are burning,” I quip, knowing Sam would have been filling Drew in on what he found in my office this morning. I take a seat and nod my thanks when Sam pushes a coffee across the table to me.

“How you doing?” Drew asks, and I smile over my cup at him, knowing he finds it hard to ask such simple questions. His usually impassive face breaks into an awkward smile.

“I’m fine,” I reply. He won’t know what to do with me if I offload what I offloaded on Sam this morning, so I keep it simple. I raise a brow at Sam when he scoffs. “Really,” I add. “Tell me what’s happening.” I need to divert the subject from me. Try to find some kind of normality. Hilarious. We definitely don’t normally meet for a coffee and a chat. More like a drink and a fuck.