Chapter 4

The rain had stopped by the time Julian summoned me to a quiet private dining room downtown.

He didn't come to apologize. He came to deliver what he thought was a death sentence.

When I walked in, Julian sat comfortably at the corner table, sliding a thick legal folder across the white tablecloth toward me.

"Sign the voluntary non-compete release, Eve," Julian said, taking a slow sip of red wine. "Do it quietly, and I'll unfreeze your personal checking account. I'll even write you a fifty-thousand-dollar severance check."

I didn't sit down. I looked at the papers, then met his…