When we reached the penthouse, Jeffery pulled in smoothly and cut the engine with the quiet precision that marked everything he did.
“Jeffery, I want to buy a few things,” I said, already unbuckling my seatbelt. “I’ll just go to the supermarket for a few minutes.”
He glanced at me in the rearview mirror. Not questioning. Just attentive.
“I’ll wait,” he said, reaching for his phone.
“I really just need a minute,” I replied, pushing the door open before he could insist. The evening air hit my face, cool and sharp, grounding in a way the glass and steel of the building never was.
Behind me, Jeffery’s phone lit up. I didn’t need to see the message to know what it was. A brief update. A location. A reassurance. Let him report it, I thought. I had nothing to hide.
The curb outside the buil
