Page 96 of Possessed By You

Epilogue

“You’re still here?”

Cindy is standing at my office door, her tote bag hanging off her shoulder, no doubt hauling three manuscripts to complete at home. Her timing is impeccable. I’m five minutes late to meet Dimitri downstairs, who will be taking the Scott family to South Carolina in less than an hour.

“I’m moving. I’m moving,” I say, packing up my desk.

“Soak up some sun for me? I think I’ll have gray hair before I can finally get myself to a beach.”

I follow her out of my office. “I’ll have a pina colada too, just for you.”

“Okay, now you’re just rubbing it in.”

The building is all but empty now. Even the go-getters have escaped to start their weekend plans. On the way out, Cindy and I shut off the lights and lock the doors. We pack into the stuffy elevator—the a/c unit broke down sometime around lunch—rendering most employees inconvenienced and testy.

“It will be fixed on Monday,” Cindy tells me, pulling on the thin scarf wrapped around her neck. It’s sweltering outside, but she still dresses as if we work in an igloo. Seeing Dimitri at the curb beside the Escalade, having ditched the usual limo, I part ways with my colleague.

“I know, I know, I’m late,” I say by way of greeting.

He opens the door for me. “Everyone’s running a bit behind schedule. Benjamin’s still in the meeting, so they’re holding the jet.”

“Doris is waiting for us with Daniel.”

“Luggage is on the jet. Everything is in order.”

Dimitri merges into rush hour traffic, a magician at missing rough patches and intersections. If there’s anyone who knows New York City, it’s him.

“How was your vacation, Dimitri?”

“Refreshing. Relaxing. Caught some nice fish.”

“And now you have to put up with us.”

He smiles. “Don’t tell Benjamin, but I quite enjoy it.”

“Yeah?”

“Closest thing to family I’ve got.”

I don’t need to remind him how important he is in our lives or how much we rely on him. He’s Benjamin’s most trusted ally, and I know Benjamin would move worlds for him, even if he doesn’t vocalize it.

I make a cross over my chest, right where my heart is. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

The drive to our building, and the penthouse apartment we’ve made a life in, is short, only blocks away from my office. The front of the building is clustered with reporters and paparazzi starving to lay eyes on my husband, who recently made headlines because of a generous donation to cancer research. Leaving Dimitri in the foyer, I take the elevator up, marveling at how my heart can still leap with anticipation after all this time, at just the thought of laying eyes on my son.

Daniel is content in Doris’s arms, but as soon as he sees me, he struggles, wanting to get down. The minute he’s on the floor, he’s wobbling, unstable but determined to cross the short distance to where I’ve bent down to retrieve him.

“Come on, baby. You can do it.”

Surely having inherited the impressive genetics of his father, Daniel is brilliantly adaptive. He was singing when he spoke his first word, which to our dismay was neither of our names. And he tried to run instead of walking his first steps. He stumbles into my arms, giggling at my excitement.

“You did it!”

I kiss his head, looking up at Doris, who is admiring us from afar. “Thank you so much for watching him.”

When I stand, bringing Daniel with me, she throws her hands up.

“This is what I live for. Anytime your babysitter cancels, call me.”