“Good. Keep me updated if anything changes.”
“Amai.”
“What?”
Another pause. “You sure you good?”
“I’m fine,” I said, and hung up.
I wasn’t fine.
I was distracted, and that pissed me off.
At 8:30 AM, I went to the gym in the east wing of the estate.
I ran five miles on the treadmill—fast, punishing, the kind of pace that should’ve cleared my head. But every time I tried to focus on my breathing, on the burn in my legs, on anything excepther, my mind drifted back to that photograph.
Kind eyes.
Living in the hood but still soft somehow.
Bloodline protected by ancestors.
I increased the speed. Pushed harder.
It didn’t help.
By the time I finished, I was drenched in sweat and no closer to control than I’d been when I woke up.
At 10:00 AM, I showered again and changed into a different suit—navy this time, Tom Ford with a white shirt and silver cufflinks that had belonged to my grandfather.
I told myself it didn’t matter what I wore.
I changed the cufflinks twice anyway.
At 11:00 AM, Kaisen called.
“You really doing this?” he asked without preamble.
“We’re not having this conversation again.”
“I’m just saying?—”
“And I’m just saying we’re done talking about it.” My voice was ice. “You got something else to say, or are you calling just to piss me off?”
Silence.
Then, “Mama’s asking about you.”
“Tell her I’m fine.”
“She wants to see you.”
“I’ll call her.”
“Amai—”
I hung up.
