Carter POV
Being with Mishka during my visit to my parents’ estate—despite the constant chaos my mother kept choosing to create—felt like breathing clean air for the first time in years.
For once, I could enjoy peace.
I could laugh.
I could feel… happy in my own home.
And that alone made me want to fight for this moment, to protect it from ending under any circumstances—even though deep down I knew Cullen would eventually try to take his chances with her, simply because he didn’t carry the same burdens I did.
Cassian didn’t either.
Neither of them had to deal with my family.
Neither of them was drowning under the weight of expectations, politics, and my mother’s cruelty.
That responsibility fell on me.
So I had to make this work—not just for Mishka, but for us—all while secretly
