Stewart stood in the doorway, one hand gripping the handle. "Can I come in?"

Ever since Briony had recovered and come home from the hospital, Stewart hadn't entered her bedroom uninvited.

Briony pressed her lips together, her mind drifting to the fact that Stewart was about to marry Xenia Cooper.

"I'll step out," she said quietly.

Stewart froze for a second, caught off guard. But, ever the gentleman, he stepped aside and let her pass.

Once the door clicked shut behind him, Briony pulled back the covers and got out of bed. She slipped her arms into a cardigan hanging on the rack before heading out.

When Briony opened the door and emerged, Stewart was still waiting in the hallway. There was a restless urgency in his eyes.

She could guess what he wanted to talk about. "Let's go to my studio," she suggested.

With the kids at home, Briony didn't want them overhearing any talk about their father's upcoming remarriage.

Inside the studio, Stewart shut the door behind them. Briony crossed to the sofa and sat down, gesturing for him to do the same.

He took the seat across from her. For a moment, the silence between them was thick and heavy.

Stewart's Adam's apple bobbed as he struggled to find the right words. Briony waited, patient but expectant.

looked unsettled,

what you need to say," she prompted

shaky sigh, then asked, "You saw what happened at the

her expression unreadable.

stop breathing for a

Cooper seems like a

"Congratulations, Stewart."

so calm, so detached, made it hard for him to breathe.

for a while that Briony was over him,

looked at her, pain flickering in his

words, coming from her, were

trying

like this in

them grew tense and

on

need to take this," she

you—both excellent, but you'll have to pick one. Do you

"Sure, come on by."

her phone down and looked

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