Se connecterNikolai’s POVThe first call came at 6:17 a.m.Dmitri’s voice was tight, the kind of tight that meant trouble was already brewing somewhere. “Pakhan, the eastern shipment update. The lieutenant we thought was gone… he’s been spotted in a warehouse outside the city. Our men are moving, but we need your order.”I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. The fever had left me drained, but the moment I heard that name Elias’s ghost still trying to bite us, the Reaper woke up inside me. “Give me the details.”He rattled them off in short, clipped sentences: routes, names, a possible connection to a new player who might be offering protection to Elias’s old people. I listened without interrupting, jaw tight, the same cold focus I’d worn like armor for years. “Mobilize the eastern team. Quiet entry. No blood if we can avoid it. And get me the new name on that player — I want to know who he’s working for.”While I spoke, my mind was already spinning. New player. Someone testing the waters. Testing *m
Liora’s POVI was still half-asleep when I felt the softest little pecks on my cheek. Like tiny kisses that weren’t quite awake but were definitely trying to get my attention. I smiled even though my eyes were still closed, and leaned into them. They kept coming, gentle and warm, right at the corner of my mouth.“Mmm… baby,” I murmured, half in sleep. My hand found his jaw and I tugged him closer, kissing him back lazily. He tasted like mint and sleep and the man I loved more than anything in the world.Nikolai pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against mine. His voice was rough and sleepy, the way it got when he’d been sick. “Let me get some rest, Nikolai,” I whispered, my voice thick. “I’m really tired.”He let out a dramatic little sigh, like a toddler who didn’t want to go to bed. “Nooo. I’m not done kissing you.”I smiled into his neck. “You’re being such a baby right now.”“I’m not a baby,” he mumbled, but his voice gave him away. He was acting like one. Then I felt h
Liora’s POVThe night air on the balcony was cool and quiet, the stars above us bright and steady like they were watching over our little family. I leaned back against Nikolai’s chest, his arms wrapped securely around me, his chin resting lightly on the top of my head. His heartbeat was steady under my ear, a comforting rhythm that matched the gentle waves of the sea in the distance. After Alora had fallen asleep and Maria had taken over her bedtime routine, we had slipped away to this private spot under the stars. It felt like our own little world.He sighed softly, the sound warm against my hair. “This is nice,” he murmured, his fingers tracing slow, lazy circles on my hip. “Just us. No doctors, no reports, no little ones waking up needing cuddles. Just… us.”I smiled, turning my head to look up at him. The moonlight painted his sharp features in silver, making him look almost like the man I fell in love with all those months ago. “I like it too,” I whispered. “But I miss Alora al
Liora’s POVThe morning light felt gentler today, like the mansion itself was breathing easier along with us. I woke to the sound of Alora’s soft giggles drifting from the medical wing monitor, a sound that lifted the weight from my chest like nothing else could. Nikolai was still asleep beside me, his breathing steady and his fever finally broken overnight. I pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before slipping out of bed, careful not to wake him.Alora’s room smelled like fresh flowers and healing. She was sitting up in bed, her broken arm still splinted but her eyes bright and alert. The doctor had just finished his morning check and gave me a reassuring nod as he left.“Mommy!” Alora reached for me with her good arm, her face lighting up in that way that always melted me completely.I gathered her close, mindful of her injuries, and breathed in her familiar scent. “Good morning, my brave girl. How are you feeling today?”“Better,” she said, snuggling into me. “Arm still ouchy bu
Liora’s POVThe door to our bedroom clicked softly behind me as I slipped back inside, the weight of the medical wing lifting slightly from my shoulders. Alora had been resting peacefully when I left her, her small hand still clutching the seashell we’d brought from the island. Seeing her like that, healing, surrounded by love, had filled me with a quiet kind of hope I desperately needed.Nikolai was still in bed where I’d left him, propped against the pillows with a slight flush to his cheeks from the lingering fever. His stormy gray eyes found me immediately, softening with relief and that deep, addictive warmth that always made my heart skip.“You’re back,” he murmured, voice still raspy but full of quiet joy.I smiled, crossing the room and climbing onto the bed beside him. “Of course I’m back. I promised, didn’t I?”He reached for me without hesitation, pulling me gently into his arms until I was curled against his chest. His body was still warm from the fever, but his hold wa
Liora’s POVThe hallway felt longer than usual as I walked from our bedroom to the medical wing where Alora was resting. My heart tugged in two directions, one part still with Nikolai, feverish and vulnerable in our bed, the other pulling me toward our daughter who needed her mother just as much. The mansion was quiet this morning, the usual hum of security and staff subdued out of respect for what our family was going through.I slipped into Alora’s room quietly, the soft lighting and gentle beeps of monitors greeting me. She was propped up in bed, her broken arm carefully splinted and elevated, a few colorful bandages on her forehead from the fall. Maria sat in the chair beside her, reading from a picture book, but Alora’s eyes lit up the moment she saw me.“Mommy!” Her voice was still a little weak, but the joy in it wrapped around my heart like a warm hug.I crossed the room quickly, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling her into a careful embrace, mindful of her injuries. “
Liora's POVNikolai was healing, but something in him had changed.The bullet wound was closing, the stitches were out, yet the man who emerged from that bed was colder. More possessive. More terrified of losing control.“You don’t leave this wing without me or two guards,” he ordered on the sixth
Liora's POVDay five of Nikolai’s recovery felt heavier than the others.The doctor had come again that morning, changing the bandages and muttering that the wound was healing better than expected. Nikolai had only grunted in response, still hating every second of being confined to this bed.But s
Liora's POVThe next three days became a strange kind of hell.Nikolai was the worst patient on earth.“Stop hovering,” he growled on the morning of day two, trying to push himself up against the pillows. His face twisted in pain the second he moved his injured shoulder.I gently pushed him back do
Liora's POVThe mansion felt almost peaceful that evening.I was reading Alora a bedtime story in the connecting room, her small body curled against my side. Nikolai had been quieter since our fight, but he’d checked on us twice already. His presence felt heavier now, more protective.“Again, Momm







