The sitting room remained quiet after the front door closed. For several seconds the faint sound of a car engine carried through the windows as Wendy and Daryll’s vehicles moved slowly down the long driveway. The headlights briefly crossed the garden before disappearing beyond the iron gate at the end of the property.
Then the house returned to its usual evening calm.
The campaign folder still rested on the low table between the sofas. Franz reached forward and gathered the photographs Wendy had left behind, aligning the edges neatly before sliding them back into the portfolio.
Across from him Arianne remained seated, one arm resting lightly against the back of the sofa as she watched him. Neither of them spoke.
Footsteps sounded briefly in the entrance hall. Gio appeared a mont later, pushing his phone into the pocket of his coat as he crossed the room.
"They’re gone," he said.
Arianne nodded once.
Gio glanced toward the portfolio on the table. His expression tightened slightly. "I still don’t like the idea."
"That’s not surprising," Arianne replied. "It’s not supposed to be reassuring."
Gio leaned against the back of the sofa, folding his arms.
"The last ti people started digging into your life, my half-brothers tried to use it against you."
The mory settled quietly into the room. Arianne’s expression did not change.
"They won’t find anything."
"They didn’t find anything then either." Gio exhaled through his nose. "But they still tried."
Franz remained silent while the two of them spoke.
Gio eventually pushed himself upright again.
"I’ll start preparing contingency plans," he said.
"That would be efficient," Arianne answered.
Gio glanced briefly at Franz before turning toward the hallway. His phone was already in his hand by the ti he disappeared from the room.
The sitting room grew quiet again.
The stillness lasted only a few seconds. Then light footsteps sounded on the staircase.
Lily appeared first. She paused at the bottom step, scanning the room with bright curiosity before walking quickly toward them. Leo followed a mont later, holding his tablet in both hands.
"You’re finished talking?" Lily asked.
"Yes," Arianne replied.
Lily nodded thoughtfully as if this information confird sothing important.
Leo had already started typing. He turned the tablet toward Franz. eting done.
Franz glanced down at the ssage. "Yes."
Lily leaned closer to read it.
"That ans you’re free now." Her tone suggested this was an important developnt.
Leo typed again. He lifted the tablet toward Arianne. Piano.
Lily’s face brightened imdiately. "Oh right." She looked directly at Arianne. "You played really nicely."
Arianne regarded her calmly. "Thank you."
Lily clasped her hands together. "Can we have a piano here?"
The request arrived with the sa direct confidence she used for most things. Franz looked briefly toward Arianne.
Leo typed again. He turned the tablet toward Franz this ti. For Lily.
Lily nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. I want to learn."
For a mont the room grew quiet. Arianne considered the request without answering imdiately. The mory of the piano inside the estate lingered briefly in her thoughts.
Finally she spoke. "I’ll give it so thought."
Lily accepted the answer imdiately. "Okay."
Leo gave a small nod, as if the response had been properly recorded.
Then he studied Franz and Arianne carefully. His eyes moved slowly between them. After a few seconds he began typing again.
The tablet turned toward Lily. She leaned forward to read it.
"eting finished," she read aloud.
Leo tapped the screen again. Another ssage appeared. Date ti.
Lily’s eyes widened. She looked at Franz and Arianne with sudden excitent. "He says now you can have date ti."
Franz exhaled softly through his nose. The sound was dangerously close to a laugh.
Arianne raised one eyebrow. "Does he."
Leo nodded seriously.
Lily grabbed his sleeve.
"Co on." She lowered her voice slightly, though not enough to be convincing. "We should leave them alone."
Leo nodded again.
The two of them turned and walked back toward the hallway. Their attempt at subtlety was not particularly successful.
Franz watched them disappear around the corner.
"Subtle," he said.
Arianne’s expression remained calm. "They’re improving."
The room grew quiet again. Evening had settled fully outside the windows now. The garden lights cast soft reflections across the glass, and the distant lights of Montclair flickered faintly across the dark horizon.
Franz remained standing near the table. Arianne had moved toward the window.
The silence between them lasted longer this ti.
Finally Franz spoke. "You’ve been quiet."
Arianne turned slightly. "I’m thinking."
"That sounds dangerous."
"It usually is."
Her gaze settled on him for a mont. Then she stepped away from the window. The movent was slow and deliberate. By the ti she stopped again, the distance between them had shortened to only a step.
Franz noticed imdiately.
"You’ve been behaving very carefully lately," she said.
Franz studied her expression. "That sounds like criticism."
"It’s an observation." Her voice remained calm. "You haven’t tried kissing again."
The statent hung quietly in the room.
Franz did not answer imdiately.
Arianne continued. "The last ti was your birthday."
The mory arrived instantly. The hallway. The bedroom door. The mont he had almost lost his restraint entirely.
Franz exhaled slowly. "Yes."
Arianne tilted her head slightly. "I assud you would try again."
Franz almost smiled. "That assumption was optimistic."
"Why?"
Franz watched her for a mont before answering. "Because I don’t trust myself."
Arianne waited.
Franz finished the thought quietly. "If I start again, I’m not certain I would stop."
The silence that followed felt heavier.
Arianne considered his answer. "That sounds inconvenient."
Franz nodded once. "Yes."
For several seconds neither of them moved.
Then Arianne stepped forward. The movent was sudden enough that Franz barely had ti to react. Her hand lifted to the front of his shirt, fingers catching the fabric lightly.
And before he could say anything, she leaned forward and kissed him.
The kiss was brief. Calm. Certain. Nothing like the heated urgency of the night in his bedroom. Just the quiet press of her lips against his.
For a second Franz remained completely still.
Then she stepped back.
The entire mont had lasted only a few seconds.
Arianne studied his expression. "You looked like you needed reassurance."
Franz blinked once. "You initiated that."
"Yes."
"You never initiate."
"I noticed."
Franz ran a hand slowly through his hair. "That was unfair."
Arianne tilted her head slightly. "Why?"
Franz looked at her again. Because now that she had done it once, the restraint he had been maintaining suddenly felt much less reliable.
He exhaled quietly. "Because now I’m reconsidering my earlier decision."
Arianne raised an eyebrow. "About kissing ?"
Franz nodded. "Yes."
From sowhere down the hallway ca a faint whisper. Lily’s voice.
"Did sothing happen?"
A soft tapping sound followed. Leo’s tablet.
Franz glanced toward the doorway. Arianne followed his gaze.
The twins were almost certainly standing just out of sight around the corner.
Franz looked back at her. "You have an audience."
Arianne nodded once. "Yes."
Neither of them moved imdiately.
The quiet tension between them remained exactly where she had left it.
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