The Morning After

Lorenzo jolted awake in the dead, suffocating hours of the night. A heavy, crushing dread pressed down hard against his broad chest, pinning him to the mattress. His head throbbed with the lingering toxicity of premium whiskey, a rhythmic pounding that hammered behind his eyes. He blinked, staring up at the shadowed ceiling as the fog in his brain rapidly cleared. The sprawling master bedroom was