AUTHOR’S POV
Nik stopped a passing staff member in the foyer and asked where the ice garden was. The young man smiled politely and offered to take him there himself.
Nik followed him through one of the grand hallways, the mansion’s high ceilings arching overhead. Everything was polished to a sheen that made the place look like a winter palace, and he couldn’t help admiring it all over again.
This was what he wanted, an estate just like this, a house just like this. He couldn’t help running the numbers in his head, estimations of how much this kind of living cost, but the sight of Mr. Volkov interrupted his train of thought as he stepped outside onto the back path.
He stood near what Nik assumed had to be the ice garden. It wasn’t part of the regular grounds, the colorful ones with fl
