Sleep never came easily after unexpected visitors.
Long after the conversation with my father at Lawson Customs had ended, I found myself sitting at the small kitchen table in the apartment above the garage, staring into a mug of tea that had long since gone cold. The apartment was quiet.
Outside, the town had settled into its usual peaceful rhythm, and the occasional motorcycle passing in the distance was the only reminder that the world hadn't stopped simply because my family had decided to reappear.
A gentle knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts. For a brief moment I wondered if Jace had forgotten something. Instead, I opened the door and found my mother standing in the hallway.
Victoria Lawson.
She looked nothing like the confident woman who had spent years pretending every
