Silence on the line.
“I’ll do my best to provide advance notice.”
“That’s not a yes.”
“No,” he agreed. “It’s not. But I’ll try.”
“I suppose that’s the best I’ll get from the devil.”
“Technically, I’m your devil now.”
“Temporary devil,” she corrected.
“Of course.” Another pause. “Temporary.”
But something in his voice suggested he wasn’t counting down the days.
The subway platformwas crowded with Monday commuters, and Ava found a spot against the wall to check her messages.
Her mother had sent a photo.Feng’s Kitchenin elegant script, the restaurant’s new logo.
Finally paid off the renovation loan early! Your father negotiated such good terms. Sometimes I think we got too lucky.
Ava stared at the screen.
Too lucky.
The pendant stung against her chest. A sharp bite, like touching a winter doorknob.
She typed:That’s great, Mom. Who was the lender?
The response came immediately:Some property company. Peterson Holdings? Very professional. We barely remember signing but your father has all the paperwork.
Peterson Holdings.
She pulled up a search. Peterson Holdings LLC, Delaware corporation, registered agent in Wilmington. No website. No complaints, no lawsuits, no presence anywhere. Just a generic shell company that could be anything.
Or anyone.
But the registration date caught her eye: 2009.
The year she’d turned twelve. The year her grandmother died.
They’ve been watching our family for a long time. Before you. Before me.
Coincidence. It had to be coincidence.
She should look into it. She would look into it. Later, when she had time, when she wasn’t drowning in demon contracts and impossible deadlines.
But her phone buzzed again: Victor, with more contracts to review, more languages to teach her, more of this impossible world to navigate. And she’d just agreed to fake-date him. And move into his guest room. And convince a room full of demons she was in love with someone she’d met a week ago.
One thing at a time.
Besides, her parents had paid it off. Whatever Peterson Holdings was, it was in the past now.
Probably.
She pocketed her phone as the train arrived, ignoring the cold knot in her stomach that said she was lying to herself.
