Chapter 345

• 7:03 a.m.
• A sharp knock echoed from the outer door. It was polite, professional but firm enough to stir both of us instantly awake.
• I sat up just as Rafael did. Neither of us needed alarm clocks; instinct and years of discipline had trained us to rise with the day. But this morning, I wasn’t rising for a board meeting or to present a strategic turnaround plan I was engaged now. And waking up next to Rafael for the first time after everything… well, it hit different.