Chapter 101

• Claire’s POV
• Nathan sat across from me, his shirt sleeves rolled up, fork spinning idle through a bowl of lemon pasta. I’d spent most of the day buried in fabric sketches, and he had barely returned from a whirlwind meeting with Seymour and the legal team. We hadn’t seen each other since early morning, so dinner felt like a reunion—until it didn’t.
• The clink of silverware filled the space between us, soft and harmless, yet somehow loud.