Chapter 63

• Chapter Sixty-Three
• Upper West Side – Julian’s Penthouse – Friday – 4:12 PM
• Julian stood in the open-concept kitchen, fingers trailing absently across the polished edge of the island. The scent of fresh leather from the new barstools still lingered in the air, mixing with the faint citrus from the cleaning crew that had left hours ago. The velvet couch, already dangerously familiar, sat like a centerpiece in the living room, drenched in late afternoon light and luckily unharmed from the previous night’s escapades.