CHAPTER THIRTY-THREEA BRICK AT A TIME
ETHAN Ethan Locke sat in the corner of his penthouse office, staring at the skyline of the city he had returned to reluctantly. The lights blinked like static stars against the dusk—a poor imitation of the real ones he used to admire as a boy, back when things were simpler, back when the name Locke hadn’t weighed so heavily. He was still wearing the same suit from last night’s disastrous family dinner. His tie was loose, jacket draped across the arm of a leather chair, a half-empty glass of scotch forgotten on the polished wood of his desk. He hadn’t slept much. Damien’s face, twisted in restrained fury, haunted him. Anastasia’s disappointment—that was worse. Ethan sighed and leaned back, the shadows of the office wrapping around him like old regrets. He hadn’t meant for things to go th
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