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down Cassidy’s cheek, and Alex felt her heart sway in her chest. “Why are you crying?”
    “I don’t want to disappoint you, Alex. I want this baby as much as…”
    “I know that,” Alex said as she wiped away her wife’s tears. “You could never disappoint me, Cassidy Toles. Not ever. Stop worrying now, okay?” Cassidy shook her head as her tears continued to gain speed. “Cass? What is this about?”
    “What if I can’t, Alex?”
    “What if you can’t get pregnant?” Alex asked. Cassidy nodded. Alex sighed and pulled Cassidy to her. “Then I guess we look at other options…if you still want to have a few more.”
    Cassidy laughed through a sob. “A few more? Alex, we might have to consider other options if what you are looking for here is a football team.”
    “What do you have against football?” Alex joked. She felt Cassidy’s laughter mix with her tears and kissed the top of her head. “As long as I have you and Dylan, I will be happy.”
    “I love you so much,” Cassidy said through a few remaining tears.
    “Well, that’s a good thing since you are married to me,” Alex said lightly. “
Je t’aime plus que tout
(I love you more than anything). It will all work out; you’ll see. We’ll be in the Super Bowl before you know it.” Cassidy laughed and closed her eyes. She didn’t care if they fell asleep exactly as they were. She washome. Home was wherever she could be with Alex and Dylan, and it was the one place she never intended to leave.

    “Edmond.”
    “Jonathan, how are things in the states?” Edmond Callier inquired.
    “Tense,” Krause replied.
    “And the family?”
    Krause took a deep breath. “They are not my family, Edmond. They are Alex’s.”
    “Mm. And, Alex?” Callier continued.
    “She’s all right. Wondering why her father would suddenly stop the flow of funds to ASA,” Krause replied.
    “Interesting. What do you mean he stopped the flow?”
    “It seems he stopped funneling the usual amounts to ASA shortly before his death,” Krause explained.
    “Anywhere else that she has noted that action?” Callier asked cautiously.
    “Not that she mentioned, no.”
    Edmond Callier rubbed his chin and released a heavy sigh as he headed to the bar at the far side of his office. Slowly, he opened the bottle of scotch that sat atop it and poured himself a glass. “Nicolaus Toles was an enigma, Jonathan. The Broker…. well, he had access to the inner workings of everything in The Collaborative; as it once stood. If we were the ship, he was the engine room.”
    Krause considered the statement carefully. “Edmond?”
    “Yes?”
    “You still haven’t told me much about Mr. Toles.”
    “What makes you so curious?” Callier asked. Krause did not immediately reply. Edmond Callier let out the hint of a nervous laugh. “You’re worried.”
    “Of course I am worried. We are on very shaky ground…”
    Callier interrupted. “No. You are worried about your family. Why is that so hard for you to admit, Jonathan?”
    “I told you. They are not
my
family.”
    Callier laughed. “Families can be complicated.” He took another long sip of his scotch and savored it for a moment. “Come to Paris.”
    “Why?” Krause asked abruptly.
    “You have questions that you want answers to. I may not have the answers you seek. And, the answers I have may not be what you want to hear,” Callier explained.
    “I don’t have expectations,” Krause replied.
    “Good. Then I will see you soon.”

    The door to the warehouse rolled up slowly and then swiftly closed. Claire Brackett walked deliberately through the spacious room that was filled with boxes and pallets toward the singular door that resided at its opposite end. She pressed a few numbers into a keypad and the door opened. She stepped through into the narrow corridor that led to yet another door and stopped abruptly, waiting as the camera scanned her presence. She pressed her thumb against another small pad and watched as the