Chapter 42: The Indoor Hearth
The sharp clatter of splintered timber against marble echoed through the frozen drawing room like stones tumbling into a dry well. Harlan Sterling staggered past the threshold, his arms wrapped tight around a bundle of broken mahogany, the jagged edges of the antique table digging deep into the heavy fabric of his down coat. His breath escaped in dense, white plumes that hung motionless in the freezing room, clouding his vision as he dumped the load straight onto the polished Italian floor.
Genevieve stumbled back from the center of the room, her hand flying to her mouth as her eyes fixed on the heap of shattered wood.
The Carrara marble beneath the debris had cost forty thousand dollars to import from Tuscany, hand laid in seamless slabs that reflected the
