Chapter 254

• After leaving the penthouse meeting at the royal residence, I helped Ryan into the backseat of the sleek, black SUV waiting outside. The sun had already dipped below the skyline, and golden-hour hues bathed the road as we headed toward the sprawling grounds of Highcrest Estate home to the influential and ultra-private Sinclair family.
• It was early evening. Most of the senior members of the family the board-level men who managed the Sinclair Foundation and its corporate arms would be just arriving home from their day of executive strategy sessions and industry negotiations.
• Inside the car, Ryan sat quietly, his small fingers tracing invisible letters on my open palm. His writing was slow, deliberate.