Part 3
I did not go to Thomas.
That decision surprised everyone.
Most of all, me.
For twenty years, my first response to uncertainty had been movement.
Act before the other person.
Arrive before they expect you.
Know more.
Speak less.
Control the room.
That philosophy had built an organization large enough to frighten competitors and a house secure enough to resemble an embassy.
It had not taught me how to sit at a breakfast table with my daughters.
It had not told me my wife spent Thursdays reading to children at a clinic.
It had not helped me notice Emma beginning to speak.
And it had not protected me from a betrayal hiding inside accounting statements.
So when Dominic asked whether he should assemble a team, I said no.
When Katherine asked whether we should summon Simon Rusk, I said no.
When Thomas called again, I let it ring.
Instead, we sat around the long table in Evelyn’s library.
Claire.
Dominic.
Katherine.
Me.
And the blue notebook.
No guns on the table.
No threats.
No decisions made from anger.
May you like
Only pages.
It was harder than I expected.
