Page 23 of True Colors

“No, because I’m ‘built like a brick shithouse,’” he deadpans. “Her words, not mine.”

I chuckle.

He leans against the doorway. “Your turn, Annie. Tell me one good thing that happened to you today.”

A lump forms in my throat.

I think about the meeting. The whispers and gossip. The conversation with Dot.

I think about my bicycle ride home. The warmth of the apartment. The smell of stew.

I think about the fact that even on my worst days, I still get to come home to someone who asks me about my bright spot—who believes it exists even when I can’t see it yet.

“Dinner. With you.”

He smiles. “Good answer.”

CHAPTER 6

Luther

Iget to the office early—partly because I’m still on East Coast time, and partly because I refuse to be unprepared for the meeting with the team working on the Novagene project. If this goes south, I’ll embarrass myself not just in front of my father but also my Godfather, who happens to be the CEO of Novagene Pharmaceuticals.

Talk about a clusterfuck waiting to happen.

But it’s not just the project putting me on edge.

It’s her.

Anouk Starling, who makes me feel like a Goddamn bulldozer on legs.

I check the wall clock in Conference Room 2A. The meeting with the team starts in twenty minutes. Enough time to⁠—

I open the company messaging app and pull up Anouk’s profile. Her dot is green—she’s logged on.

I type before I can overthink it:

Me: Anouk, can you come to Conference Room 2A? I’d like to speak with you before the meeting.

A full minute passes before her reply pings back.

Anouk: I’m on my way.

Five minutes later, there’s a soft knock on the door.

“Come in.”

She steps inside and offers me a small, tentative smile. “G-good morning.”

“Morning,” I reply gruffly.

She looks different today. The same, but not.

Her hair is braided instead of loose, the way it was yesterday, and soft auburn wisps frame her face. Her eyes—green with a flicker of purple I somehow didn’t notice before—are wide. Expectant. Bracing.

She’s expecting the worst, which makes me feel like even more of an asshole.

I close my laptop and gesture to the chair across from me.