He refused Katherine's offer to pay rush rates.
She accused him of financial incompetence.
He accused her of believing invoices created quality.
Olivia appointed herself mediator.
On the fifteenth evening, James called Katherine.
“Come.”
She was in a board meeting.
She left.
Forty-eight minutes later, she entered the garage.
The Ferrari sat on the floor.
Hood closed.
James stood beside it.
Olivia sat on the workbench swinging her legs.
Katherine stopped.
“You fixed it.”
James shrugged.
“Maybe.”
“James.”
“Get in.”
She approached slowly.
The red paint reflected the lights.
Her father’s car.
Silent eight months.
She opened the driver's door.
Leather.
Wood.
Metal.
Memory.
James leaned through the open window.
“Don't flood it.”
Katherine looked at him.
“I have driven this car longer than you've known me.”
“And it hasn't run during our entire relationship.”
“Our relationship?”
His face shifted.
“I meant—”
She smiled.
“Relax.”
Olivia called from the bench:
“You two are painful.”
James pointed at her.
“Homework.”
“It’s summer.”
“Find some.”
Katherine turned the key.
The starter engaged.
Once.
Twice.
Then the V12 caught.
The sound filled the garage.
Deep.
Mechanical.
Alive.
Katherine froze.
James stepped back.
The engine settled into an uneven idle for three seconds, then smoothed.
Katherine gripped the steering wheel.
Tears came immediately.
She did not hide them.
Her father was dead.
Nothing changed that.
Yet the sound carried him into the room in a way photographs never had.
Sunday mornings.
Leather seats.
His hand on the wooden wheel.
Her mother complaining about exhaust smell.
A six-year-old girl unable to see over the dash.
James stood outside the car and let her have the moment.
That made her love him a little.
She realized it instantly.
It terrified her more than Adrian Cross.
Katherine shut the engine off after a minute.
Silence returned.
She stepped out.
James said:
“How does she sound?”
Katherine crossed the distance between them.
She grabbed the front of his coveralls again.
“Acceptable.”
“High praise.”
She kissed him.
Longer this time.
Olivia groaned.
“Oh, come on.”
Katherine laughed against James's mouth.
He whispered:
“I have a child.”
“Apparently.”
“She's judgmental.”
“I like her.”
“Dangerous.”
Olivia called:
“I can hear you.”
They separated.
Katherine wiped at her eyes.
Then her phone rang.
Daniel.
Her expression changed before answering.
“Yes?”
She listened.
James watched.
Katherine's face hardened.
“When?”
Another pause.
“Don't let him leave.”