Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Vince raised his glass. "The one in a bad mood has left. I'm in a good mood-why not have a drink? Care to join me?"

He might only be Yates's brother-in-law in name, but the gesture still deserved

some respect.

Yates clinked his glass against Vince's.

Setting his drink down, Vince asked, "Did you mention it to Timothy?"

"I did. He didn't refuse, but he didn't agree, either. Still, he accepted your proposal, which pretty much means he's on board. You're in luck-Timothy's wife showed up at just the right moment tonight. By the way, how do you know her?"

"My old man's got a thing for collecting paper cuttings. To keep him happy, the owner of a framing shop introduced me to Timothy's wife."

"So, you wanted to meet her just to buy her paper cuttings? Even in a place like this?"

Yates swirled the wine in his glass.

"I'd just finished meeting a client and had to see you guys after, so I couldn't get away. She seemed eager to sell, so I asked the framing shop owner to bring her straight here. Honestly, though-let me tell you-her paper cutting skills are something you see maybe once in a century."

Yates chuckled. "Coming from you, that's high praise. You sure you're not just saying that because she's Timothy's wife?"

fooled by just anything. I've spent the better part of a year hunting down paper cutting art for him-my eye for quality is

it over. Why was Timothy's wife in such

more interesting by the

into the elevator. She tried to wriggle

door. Timothy bundled Jessica

out the window

say

Allen gripped the steering wheel, feeling

they reached The Gilded Whisper Estates. Once the car was parked,

open the

out after

heading inside, Jessica marched straight toward the front

tongue to his cheek, shut the car door, and quickly caught up to her, grabbing her slender

but he tightened his grip on her shoulders, refusing

The iciness in them softened, replaced by

to find you, would you really never have come back?

space between them, Jessica raised her hand. "You came to find me. Even if you hadn't, I wouldn't have