Page 141 of His Reckoning

The table erupts with laughter. Even Luigi chuckles.

Sawyer just stares at me, and I smile sweetly back.

“Anyway,” I continue, “I’ve been staying at Sawyer’s place while I finish a book.”

Livia raises an eyebrow. “And then?”

I shrug. “I’ve actually found some possible apartments.”

The reaction across from me is immediate. Sawyer goes completely still.

Across the table, Cole notices. Of course he does.

“You’re moving out already?” Cole asks.

“Eventually,” I say. “I’ve seen a couple of places in SoHo this week.”

Sawyer doesn’t say anything, but his jaw tightens slightly.

I notice.

And apparently, so does Brooklyn.

She looks between us, then hides a smile behind her wineglass.

Luigi cuts into his food thoughtfully. “You know,” he says, “this table hasn’t changed much in twenty years.”

Everyone looks toward him.

“Your uncle Tony used to sit right there,” he says, nodding toward an empty chair near the end.

The table quiets slightly.

Chase leans back in his chair. “Yeah,” he says. “He basically lived here.”

Hudson nods. “Half the staff thought he owned the place.”

Lucia smiles softly. “He loved this restaurant.”

I glance across the table. Sawyer has gone still again.

His hand tightens around his fork, just for a moment, and then he sets it down.

Luigi sighs. “He would’ve liked seeing all of you here tonight.”

Sawyer nods once. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “I’m sure he would have.”

The conversation shifts again after that. Someone argues about whose sauce recipe is better.

Cole tells a story about something that happened in the kitchen earlier. Brooklyn keeps asking me questions about writing.

But my attention keeps drifting back to Sawyer because something about that moment—about the way he reacted to the mention of his uncle—didn’t feel normal.

Watching his family tonight has been like stepping into another world.

They’re loud but warm. Constantly teasing each other. Touching shoulders and passing plates. Arguing over food.

It’s the kind of family dynamic people usually only see in movies, which makes one thing incredibly hard to understand.