She dressed differently this time.
Not the full arsenal of the first dinner — no open back, no V-neck designed to stop a man mid-sentence. Something more measured. A deep green dress, fitted but not aggressive, the kind that said I made an effort without saying I made an effort for you specifically. The line between those two things was doing a lot of work tonight.
She'd done her makeup carefully. Hair down. The gold necklace — she'd reached for it automatically and stopped herself. Put it back in the box. Chose something else. Something that didn't have a history.
Her driver took her.
She sat in the back of the car and watched the city and thought about Ricky walking out of her office two nights ago without turning around. About the specific quality of his silence. About I'm going to take the law into my own hands.
She hadn't heard from him since.
That was its own kind of answer.
***
Ray had chosen differently this time.
