The Ritz-Carlton rose above the city like a fortress of glass and control. Brianna parked across the street, the Toronto night stretching wide and merciless around her. Her hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white, breath shallow. Her reflection in the windshield looked foreign, pale, drawn, terrified but determined.
You’re doing this for Lucas, she told herself. Only for him.
Inside, the hotel’s warmth felt wrong. The air was thick with the scent of polish and money. The marble floors gleamed like a mirror she didn’t want to look into.
At the front desk, she spoke softly. The clerk’s smile was mechanical. “Mr. Saavedra is expecting you, Ms. Kim.”
The elevator ride was suffocating. Each floor climbed slower than the last. By the time the doors opened on the eighteenth floor, he
