"Open up both of you. Black thief, I know you're stealing."
"Sir, we just walked in."
"Shut up, Blacky. I've been watching you since you came through that door."
"Suspicious. We didn't touch anything."
"You filthy little rats. You people always come crawling in here thinking you can steal. I know your kind. I'm not stupid. Don't you dare cover for each other. You thieving Blackies. Get out before I kick you out myself."
15 customers watched through the glass and said nothing. What Wade Greer didn't know was about to cost him everything.
45 minutes earlier, Solomon Taylor was walking back into his penthouse on the Upper East Side. Sneakers damp from the leaves on the Central Park Loop. His hoodie said Yale across the chest in letters so faded you had to squint. He'd had the thing 15 years. Nina kept threatening to throw it away. He kept hiding it in the back of the closet.
The coffee machine was already humming when he stepped into the kitchen. Cinnamon and dark roast. Nina was at the marble island with her laptop open, scrolling through something with one eyebrow up.
"You said no work this weekend." She closed the lid without looking up. "I just opened it to close it."
"You opened it to close it. That's what I said."
She smiled. "Drink your coffee."
He kissed her temple.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, Madison Avenue was waking up. Yellow cabs, a doorman shaking out a rug, a woman in a fur coat walking a Chihuahua wearing a smaller fur coat. New York in late October. The kind of morning where the city looked almost civil.
"I want to do something for Saturday," Nina said. "Just us. No phones, no calls, no emails."
"What did you have in mind?"
"That watch. The Patek I showed you last week. The vintage one in the window at Sterling & Vance. I want to look at it properly. For our anniversary."
He set down the cup. "I don't need a watch. I have my grandfather's."
"I know you don't need one." She put her hand on his. "But I want you to have one from me. 15 years, Solomon. That earns a watch."
He couldn't argue with the math.
They left the building at 10:30. A black SUV waited at the curb, hazard lights blinking. Solomon waved through the tinted window, and the driver rolled it down.
"Marcus, we're walking today. Take the day."
"You sure, Mr. Taylor?"
"It's 70° and my wife wants to be courted. Take the day."
Marcus laughed and pulled away.
They turned onto Park Avenue and crossed toward Madison. Solomon's hand found the small of Nina's back. Nina noticed the way the doorman across the street straightened up as they walked past. She noticed the woman who tightened the leash on her poodle when they crossed her path. Solomon felt Nina go quiet for half a block.
"Don't let it touch you today," he said. "We're just getting coffee and a watch. That's it."
"I know."
"You sure?"