MAXWELL’S POV
Waking up with a stiff neck and the heavy, uncomfortable weight of a brass key pressing into my hip made me forget where I was for a fleeting moment. Usually waking up alone in the center of the bed surrounded by silence and space was the norm, but this morning found me clinging to the edge of the mattress while still dressed in my wrinkled dress shirt and trousers from the night before.
Turning my head slowly, I found Andrea asleep on the far side of the bed. Having curled herself into a tight ball with her back to me, she hugged a pillow as if it were a shield. She was still wearing the red silk dress, although it was now twisted and crushed around her legs, while her dark hair fanned out over the white pillowcase in a messy and wild halo.
Sitting up and rubbing my face
