Chapter Fourteen: The Portrait Beneath the Frame
Nikolai didn’t speak when she stepped back into the villa.
He only held her.
Not tightly.
Not possessively.
But like a man remembering how to hold something he feared might slip through his fingers again.
Lena stood still in his arms, forehead pressed to his chest, listening to the sound of him breathing. Steady. Measured.
But underneath?
Chaos.
“I expected you to be angry,” she said softly.
“I was.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m just grateful.”
They stood like that for minutes. Maybe longer.
Then he asked, “Did you find what you were looking for?”
She looked up.
“I found myself.”
His thumb brushed her jaw. “And was she worth finding?”
Lena’s smile was faint, but certain. “Yes.”
“Then you’ll stay?”
“I’ll stay,” she said. “But not a
