Page 93 of His Daughter

"And a kitchen with enough counter space for the recipe cards and your entire collection of mugs that are slowly colonizing my cabinets."

"They're not colonizing. They're integrating."

"Is there a difference?"

"A significant one." She took another sip of coffee. One-handed. Lena on the other hip. "When can we see it?"

"Tomorrow. If you can get Margot to cover the office."

"Margot will cover the office. Margot covers everything." She paused. "A yard?"

"A yard."

"Lena would love a yard."

She looked at Lena. Lena looked at her. The baby grabbed a curl that was dangling near Thea's shoulder and put it in her mouth.

"Okay," Thea said. "Tomorrow."

I stepped behind her. My arms went around both of them — Thea's waist, Lena between us, the three of us pressed together in the kitchen. I kissed Thea's neck. The spot below her ear. She leaned back into me. Her head rested against my chest. Lena babbled between us, her fist still gripping the curl, her blue eyes wide and alert and watching the morning.

She was right. It was.

The morning was warm, quiet and ordinary, and I would burn the entire Vanguard to the ground before I'd give this up.

Lena went down for her nap at eleven. Thea was in the nursery with her — the singing, the rocking, the slow descent into sleep. I could hear the tuneless hum through the monitor on my desk.

My office used to be empty — just a desk, chair, and window. Now there was a slightly chewed pink baby bouncer in the corner and a framed photo of Thea and Lena reading a board book on my desk, caught unknowingly by Julian as "evidence that Declan Hale has a soul."

It was the best photograph I'd ever seen.

Nolan sat in the chair across from my desk. Julian was on the couch — ankle crossed over his knee, a coffee balanced on the armrest. The door was closed. The monitor softly played Thea's humming from the shelf.

"Graham's lawyer called this morning," Nolan said. He didn't preamble. He never did. "He's cooperating with the SEC investigation on the Caine documents. He's confirmed he allowed the inflated numbers to pass final review."

"In exchange for what?" I asked.

"Reduced charges. His lawyer is pushing for a plea on the fiduciary breach. The theft of proprietary information carries heavier weight."

Julian set his coffee down. "The Caine referral is moving through the SEC's enforcement division. Caine’s lawyers are negotiating, but the fabrication is documented. He's done."

I nodded. The Caine thread was closing. Graham's criminal case was proceeding. The Vanguard's legal exposure was contained. These were the fires that were burning down to embers. But there was another one. The one that hadn't started yet.

"The custody challenge," I said. "Kira's filing. It didn't come out of nowhere."

Nolan's eyes moved to mine. Julian's coffee stayed on the armrest, untouched.

"Kira told Thea that someone contacted her anonymously. Told her I had the baby. Someone also made a donation — enough to cover the legal fees. The filing, the lawyer, the whole case. Paid for."

Julian leaned forward. "By who?"

"She doesn't know. Anonymous."

"That's not possible," Nolan said. "Legal fees for a custody challenge of this complexity — retainer, filings, court costs — we're talking tens of thousands of dollars. That's not an anonymous gesture. That's an investment."

The room was quiet. Thea's humming drifted from the monitor. Lena was asleep. The green light blinked.

"There's more," I said. "Kira's lawyer cited details in the filing that she shouldn't have known. The arrangement. Thea living here. The caregiving setup. He knew about the night nurse. He knew about the schedule. He knew things that only someone inside this building would know."