?Chapter 1664:


    Before all this, whenever he hade homete, Ste had always been there — waiting up for him in the living room or the bedroom, a light left on to guide him home. But not tonight. His eyes moved automatically to the living room sofa. The familiar sight of her curled up there, waiting for his return, was conspicuously absent.


    She hadn’te home.


    Footsteps sounded from the first-floor staff quarters as Tasha emerged, apparently roused by the sound of the door. When she spotted William, she offered a respectful greeting. “Mr. Briggs, wee home.”


    William nodded slightly, then couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Where is she?”


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    Tasha understood immediately that he meant Ste. She paused before shaking her head slowly. “Ms. Russell hasn’t returned this evening.”


    His mind shed back to earlier — to Alisha, to the dinner, to watching Ste walk away while he drove another woman home. A realization crystallized with terrible rity: Ste had finally reached her limit and left.


    The thought hit him like a sudden blow. His chest felt as though an enormous weight had been ced directly over his heart. He stood in the entryway for a long time without moving, the metal edges of his car key biting into his palm with small, sharp points of pain.


    Wasn’t this exactly what he had been working toward? Hadn’t he spent weeks pushing her away, ignoring her attempts to reach him, doing everything in his power to drive her off?


    So why did the reality of her absence make his chest feel like it was being torn apart from the inside?


    William shrugged out of his suit jacket and threw it carelessly onto the sofa. Tasha watched him with obvious concern. “Mr. Briggs, is there anything I can get for you?”


    Even from across the room, she could tell he wasn’t in a good ce.


    William gave a brief shake of his head. “Go back to bed. I’m fine.”


    Tasha kept ncing back over her shoulder as she retreated down the hallway, but eventually she disappeared into her bedroom, leaving the entire living room to William alone.


    He poured whiskey into a ss, the amber liquid sloshing against the crystal. Ice cubes clinked sharply against the sides, each sound cutting through the oppressive silence. He threw it back in a single swallow. The liquor scorched a path down his throat but did nothing to chase away the cold that had settled deep in his bones.


    He climbed the stairs with heavy steps. As he passed Ste’s bedroom door, his feet stopped of their own ord. The door was slightly ajar. After a long moment of hesitation, he forced himself to keep walking and left the doorway behind.


    William copsed onto the sofa in his study and pressed his fingers against his throbbing temples. He couldn’t tell whether the pain stemmed from standing too long in the cold wind by the river, but his skull felt like it might split apart. He decided to drink more, hoping it would finally knock him unconscious.


    His bipr disorder sent his emotions careening dangerously close to the edge. Dizziness crashed over him in waves. He dug his fingers into his temples, trying desperately to silence the chaos screaming through his mind, then let himself sink back against the cushions.


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