Chapter Thirty-Nine
* The Warning*
Lyra ended the call with her lawyer, a small, grim sense of progress settling in her chest. She had finally done it—she had formally begun the process of legally separating her artistic identity from the Louis family trust. It was just paperwork, but it felt like taking a brick out of the prison wall Naomi had built around her life.
She stepped out of the coffee shop, pulling her small, wheeled luggage behind her. She’d spent the day in meetings, and her new apartment in a building Xami owned was just a few blocks away. She preferred the walk to calling a car.
“Lyra.”
The voice made her freeze. It was a voice from a past life, slick with false charm. Alexander stepped out from beside a parked car, his hands in his pockets, a practiced, apologetic smi
