**Bad morning**

Valentina wasn’t a morning person, but she still came downstairs earlier than usual that day. She hadn’t slept much—if at all. The house had been too still lately. Suddenly she noticed Matteo's absence. If he was here, she'd probably be thinking of ways to tell Lucas to fire him, that ia if he'd agree. She didn’t miss him—he’d never say that — but the difference was obvious, and she couldn’t ignore it, no matter how often she told herself he was probably just ...