"Come in, Mr. Calvino, and close the door behind you, and sit down, and do not keep the owner waiting."Ethan walks into my office at noon, and the sun is bright through the windows, and the office is quiet, and the desk is big, and the chair behind the desk is turned away, and I am sitting in it, and my back is to him, and I can hear his shoes on the floor, and I can hear his breathing, and I can hear his heart, or maybe that is my heart, and Mr. Graves stands by the door, and he closes it soft, and he stands there, and he watches, and he does not speak, and Ethan looks around, and he looks at the papers on the desk, and he looks at the chair, and his voice is polite, and it is nervous, and it is not the voice of the man who beat me, it is the voice of a man who is afraid."Good afternoon, sir, and thank you for seeing me, sir, and I am Ethan Calvino, and I have come to discuss Northgate Holdings, and to discuss my house, and my club, and my restaurant, and I want to apologise, sir,

"Victor, it is me, and I need you, and I need you now, because Northgate is not a company, Victor, it is Kael Watson, and the lawnmower boy owns my house!"Ethan is shouting into his phone in his city apartment, and Lilith is standing by the window, and she is holding a cup of tea with both hands, and the tea is cold, and she has not drunk any of it, and she is watching Ethan pace, and she is watching him sweat, and she is thinking about the man in the chair, and she is thinking about Kael sitting in that chair, calm, and clean, and rich, and she is wondering when Kael became that man, and why she did not see it sooner, and the thought makes her hands shake, and the cup rattles against the saucer."Calm down, Ethan, and tell me slowly, because you are shouting, and I cannot hear you when you shout, and who is Victor, and why are you calling him, and what can he do that you cannot do yourself?""Victor Lang is my partner, Lilith, and he is the man who put money into my first business,

"Mr Watson, I am sorry, sir, but we cannot deliver this week, sir, and we cannot deliver next week either, sir, because our trucks are full, sir, and our warehouse is empty, sir, and we have no stock, sir, and I am very sorry, sir."The supplier is on the phone, and his voice is shaking, and he is lying, and I know he is lying, because his warehouse is not empty, and his trucks are not full, and yesterday he delivered to Ethan's restaurant without a problem, and today he will not deliver to mine, and Mr Doyle is standing in my office, and his face turns red, and his hands are clenched, and he has just hung up on two other suppliers, and they all said the same thing, in the same shaking voice, like they were reading from the same piece of paper."Mr Watson, it is Ethan, and it has to be Ethan, because all three suppliers said no in the same hour, and they all sounded frightened, and one of them whispered that Mr Calvino called him, and that Mr Calvino told him if he delivers to Northga

"Mr Watson, you wanted to see me, sir, and I am here, sir, and I do not work for Ethan Calvino anymore, sir, because he does not pay on time, sir, and I do not like fire, sir."The man is sitting in my office, and he is small, and he is nervous, and his hands are shaking, and his name is Danny, and he was the driver for Rook on the night of the fire, and Mr Cole found him, and Mr Cole brought him to me, and Mr Graves stands by the door, and he watches Danny like a cat watches a mouse, and I sit behind my desk, and I look at Danny, and I do not shout, and I do not threaten, because frightened men talk, and angry men lie, and I need the truth."Talk, Danny, and talk slow, and tell me who paid Rook, and tell me how much, and tell me what Ethan said, word for word, because if you lie to me, I will give you to the police, and if you tell me the truth, I will give you a job, and a wage, and a clean start, so choose, Danny, and choose well.""Ethan paid him, sir, and he paid him in cash, and

"Kael, open the door, it is me, and I have soup, and I have bread, and I have flowers, and I am not leaving until you eat something, because you look like a man who has not eaten since the fire, and I am not asking, I am telling."Clara is standing outside my hotel room, and it is past midnight, and she is holding a basket, and her apron is clean, and her hair is down, and she looks different without the shop around her, and she looks younger, and she looks softer, and I open the door, and I let her in, and the room smells like soup, and like bread, and like lilies, and it is the first time my room has smelled like a home, and not like a hotel, and I sit down, and I eat, and she watches me, and she does not speak, and her silence is kind, and it is not the silence of a woman waiting for a tip."Clara, why did you come, and why did you bring soup, and why do you care, because you barely know me, and you know I am rich, and you know I own the street, and most people only come to rich me