Sora pulled herself together. She didn't break down over love anymore. Anthony couldn't have her peace of mind and her heart.

She was just about to make her way to the private elevator leading to the office of the CEO when she heard not one but two familiar voices raised in false politeness.

"What brings you to my neck of the woods, Rav?"

Sora rose quickly, moving to the door to listen. Ravi's here. She disregarded the happy thrill that came over her at the sound of his name. Ravi hated when Anthony shortened his name. It was meant as a sign of disrespect and it landed. Sora winced. She'd hate to have to separate the two of them. They'd nearly come to blows once already this year over Hana.

"I came to see Sora," Ravi finally replied.

"And what, pray tell, do you want with my wife?"

"She's your ex-wife, in case you've forgotten that. You made that happen; it ought be right in the forefront of your mind. Say it with me, 'ex-wife.'"

"You don't want to have that conversation with me, not here."

"I can't think of a better place for it." A pregnant pause ensued, leaving Sora tense, waiting for the sounds of fists striking flesh. God save us all from hypermasculine bullshit.

"What's your business here," Anthony prompted, testily. "I won't ask again."

"I wanted to say hi."

"That's cute. Don't you have a craft store to run?"

"I get it, that's funny. I'm just a dressmaker, I make dresses. I took a break from making dresses to visit my ex-sister-in-law."

"See, that doesn't make sense to me. You've got Hana throwing herself at your feet and you're standing in my place of business for no good reason. It's enough to make you wonder." It made Sora wonder.

"At the risk of drawing out this conversation, I'll ask the obvious question: Wonder about what?"

"What kind of man looks at all Hana has to offer and walks away? I don't understand a man like that."

Sora dropped her head against the wall. Anthony's true colors were rarely far from the surface. It was a shame his motives had never been so transparent.

"I don't know what you're talking about, which doesn't surprise me much. You're like a dog walking on its hind legs: you don't make sense."

"Maybe you should leave."

"I will, after I've seen S." Some shuffling ensued and Sora wondered where Sam had gotten to so quickly. He would have known better than to leave his father unattended. "I have to ask, why are you so worried about Hana? Haven't the two of you done enough damage by now?"

"You're a fine one to talk about collateral damage. How many homes have you wrecked?"

Ravi's response was terse and dismissive. "Enough to know that one more is too many. If you'll excuse me..."

Those were the last words Sora overheard before the doors to her private elevator closed.

...

...

When a sighing Ravi dropped into the chair across from Sora's desk a quarter of an hour later, Sora was more composed. He'd sent her a text early this morning mentioning his plan to stop by, only she hadn't expected to see him so soon. She glanced away from the memo she was drafting to see her former brother-in-law scrub a hand down his face. He looks exhausted and fed up. Sora was sensing a pattern.

"Don't tell me, Hana's at it again." Her sister was relentless about getting what she wanted, and she wanted Ravi back. A habit of decades remained unchanged.

"When isn't she?"

Sora saved her document and shut her laptop, clasping her hands together on the lid. She was trying not to enjoy how much Ravi confided in her over Hana, but she was only human.

"I'm not much of a therapist, but if you're going to make these Hana-related visits a habit, I'll have to start charging by the hour."

Ravi huffed a laugh. "I probably need my head examined anyway. I don't know what I'm doing."

"You're trying to put your family back together. You're doing what you think is right." Sora came around to sit on the edge of her desk.

"Am I? Is this the right thing to do? Because it doesn't feel like it, not anymore." Ravi slumped in his chair, glaring at the ceiling like its name was Hana. "I shouldn't have come back. I thought I needed the closure. I needed to be sure."

Sora noted how disheveled he looked compared to his customary grace and felt the first stirrings of real concern. "What did you need to be sure about?"

"Myself. Hana. This town. I don't think I belong here anymore. How weird is that? My own home and after a year away, I don't know where the hell I am."

"It must be a shock to hear so much has changed."

"It's a shock to hear what hasn't." Ravi pulled himself upright. "I compare what I hear to my memories and it's all the same, it's all business as usual. Just none of it is business as usual for me. I'm the one that's changed."

Sora pulled a chair over to sit next to him. "Why'd you change?"

"I woke up and realized how old I am. I'm too old for scandal and too tired for mayhem. I'm not ready to die, but I can't live like that anymore. Only that's all Hana wants. She thrives on the forbidden." Ravi lowered his head to rub his eyes. "I'm just too old."

Sora took his hand. "You're not too old, Ravi. You're not too anything. You're just the way you're supposed to be."

"Nobody thinks that but you."

"Nobody thinks I'm—what was it? I think it was 'imperturbable.' Nobody thinks that about me except you. Between the two of us, somebody has to be right some of the time."

He squeezed her hand. "My money's on you."

She squeezed back. "Mine's on you."

"I guess that means we can't lose."

"Not this year. This is our year."

Ravi cracked a slip of a smile. "I'm holding you to that."

"You can count on me."

He inhaled deeply and let it out, grasping her hand that little bit tighter. Underneath the natural light brown color of his skin, he was paler than he should have been, almost sickly. So much so that she wanted to take his pulse and count the beats of his heart, because hers was the one that was supposed to be unreliable. She was counting on his to keep the time.

"Hana really did a number on you today." Sora found herself fighting the need to confront her sister than keep letting her get away with all the damage she did.

"Hana...is Hana and I should stop expecting another woman's sense of morality to dictate what she does."

"She did something unforgivable and you're trying to justify it so that you can justify forgiving her."

"I'm trying to remember why I always have."

She warned herself to be fair. "Because love is blind."

"And deaf and dumb. Love is headless. I can't live or love with my eyes closed. Only it feels like that's the only way that's left. Where did I go wrong?" He turned to her like she might have the answer. She had an answer, she supposed.

"You didn't go wrong, you grew up. Everybody has to sometime." Sora backtracked. "I say 'everybody'; I obviously don't include Hana in that." Charitable wasn't on Sora's list of virtues today. The spark of humor in Ravi's eyes hushed the voice inside her forever preaching, forgive and forgive again.

"I don't think I do either."

Sora felt validated by the knowledge that she wasn't the only who couldn't go back. She knew Ravi wouldn't tell. That molasses comfort extended up past their linked hands to her heavy shoulders—she could have rested on his. Leave it to him to comfort me without a word. This camaraderie livened the hours Tommy didn't fill. Sora cautioned herself on relying on it when it could disappear at any moment. Gently disengaging their hands, Sora went to pour each of them a glass of mineral water.

"A word to the wise: Anthony's sniffing around your time in Rome, looking for dirt on you. If you've got any secrets you don't want Hana to find out in the worst way possible, you may want to enlighten her."

Ravi massaged the bridge of his nose. "It might be easier to let him dig up everything. That'd save me the trouble of telling people."

Sora was curious. "Can't be any worse than what Anthony and Hana pulled on me last year."

"I don't know about that. They don't seem to have much sympathy for the sick and infirmed." Sora hid her reaction as best she could. She found the thought of Ravi being sick shocking. He was strong and resilient, his hallmark as much as his creativity. But what if he couldn't be?

"Empathy hasn't ever been Hana's strong suit and Anthony's been worse than ever since they got together. Is that what made you change? Looking your mortality in the face will—allegedly—make you a better man."

Ravi grunted. "So I've heard. When you can count the days of your life, it's hard to justify being a jerk."

Sora drank her water to conceal her nerves. She wouldn't know where to begin asking questions.

"You and Anthony had very different near-death experiences."

"So it would appear."