MasukMERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR IN ADVANCE đ¤đâ¨đ
âNoraâs POV,âUnknown Location...âPain wakes me.âSlow.âThick.âLike Iâm swimming up through tar.âMy head pounds.âMy mouth is dry.âMy limbsââHeavy.âToo heavy.âI try to move.âMetal clinks.âMy eyes snap open.âDarkness.âNot complete.âDim light flickers from somewhere aboveâyellow, weak, unstable.âI blink.âForce my vision to focus.âConcrete walls.âBare.âCold.âA single bulb swinging slightly from the ceiling.âIâm sitting on a chair.âNo, strapped to it.âWrists bound behind me.âAnkles tied.âRope.âTight enough to burn.âPanic surges instantly.âSharp.âViolent.âI jerk against the restraints.âUseless.ââEasy.ââThe voice comes from the shadows.âMale.âCalm.âFamiliar in the worst way.âMy heart stutters.ââNoâŚâ I whisper.âA figure steps forward.âAnd the world tilts.ââHello, Nora.ââLucien.âHe looks⌠composed.âUntouched.âLike he didnât just rip me out of my life and drag me into a nightmare.âMy chest heaves.ââYouââââSo many questions in those eyes,â he says
âMikhailâs POV âRomanov Warehouse ... âThe first call comes in at 18:42. âI ignore it. âNot because it isnât importantâbut because everything is important right now. âViktor is still a ghost. âIngrid vanished like smoke. âLucienâs trail is ice cold. âAnd every second they stay hidden feels like a personal insult and I'm losing my fucking mind. ââAleksei,â I say, pacing in front of the wall of screens, ârun the docks again. I want manifests, private shipments, anything flagged in the lastââ âMy phone rings again. âSame number. âDmitri. âI pause. Aleksei notices immediately. ââAnswer it,â he says. âSomething in his tone shifts the air. âI swipe to accept it, pressing the phone to my ear. ââWhat?â âSilence. âThenâ ââSir⌠Nora is not in the estate.â âThe words donât land. âNot at first. âThey just⌠hang there. âMeaningless. ââWhat do you mean sheâs not in the estate?â My voice is calm. Too calm. ââWeâshe left earlier. Said she needed air.
âNoraâs POV âI donât sleep. âNot really. âI lie there beside Elias in the dark, eyes open, staring at the ceiling as shadows stretch and shift across it. Every creak of the house sounds like footsteps. Every passing car feels like a countdown. âMorning comes too fast. âOr maybe it never left. âBy the time the first light bleeds through the curtains, Iâve already made up my mind. âI slip out of bed quietly, careful not to wake Elias. He needs the rest. One of us should have a clear head when we run. âI head to the bathroom. âLock the door. âAnd stare at myself in the mirror. âI look⌠the same. âThatâs the strange part. âSame face. Same eyes. Same girl. âBut everything inside me feels rearranged. Like someone reached in and shifted all the pieces without asking. âI turn on the tap, splash water on my face, grip the sink. âBreathe. âThen the nausea hits. âSudden. âViolent. âI barely make it to the toilet before Iâm on my knees, retching until my throa
Mikhailâs POV Romanov WarehouseAfter Calebâs revelation to Nora, I instruct one of my men to drive her back home, though she wanted to resist, but this place was no place for any woman, well, except Ingrid of course, as sheâs a fucking snake!Aleksei stands beside me, face carved from stone. He hasnât spoken since we arrived. He doesnât need to. We both know what this means.I finally break the silence.âShe talked before she got out. Every word. Repeat it.âAleksei exhales through his nose, voice low.âShe said Viktor contacted her three years ago. Offered her a deal: help take down Maxim, split the empire, and sheâd get you as the prize. She agreed. Fed him intel on operations, weaknesses. The ambush on Maxim was their first big moveâpaid the driver to divert the route, hired Albanian shooters to make it look like a rival hit. She said Viktor has been building alliances in exileâthe Albanians, the Irish, some Italians who hate Maximâs grip. The plan was to frame Nora, break you,
âNora's POVââI wake up to a pounding headache, the kind that throbs behind my eyes like a drumbeat I canât escape. The room swims into focus slowlyâthe massive king-sized bed with its black sheets, the high ceilings, the balcony doors letting in slivers of morning light. My body feels heavy, like Iâve been running a marathon in my sleep, and as I shift, the memories flood back: the confrontation at the hospital, Elenaâs tears, Calebâs face when Mikhail revealed the truth about him being Lucienâs son, the way everything shattered in that moment. I remember backing away from Caleb, the betrayal hitting me like a physical blow, and then the world tilting, darkness swallowing me whole.âI sit up slowly, propping myself on my elbows, and thatâs when I see himâElias, sitting in the chair beside the bed, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. He looks dejected, defeated, like the weight of the world has crushed him. His hair is messy, eyes red-rimmed from crying or lack of sleep or both. H
âNoraâs POVââI wake up alone again.He hadn't come home last night.âThe bed feels too big without him in it, the black sheets cold where his body should be. Sunlight cuts through the blinds in sharp white lines, turning the room into a cage of light and shadow. âI sit up slowly, pulling the sheet around me like armor. Yesterday's events all come crashing down on meâthe date, down to finding out Ingrid had escaped, to which I had no idea he had her . God, I feel so...used, and dumb, like I'm just being kept in the dark like a child. Tossing the sheets away, I stand up and head into the bathroom.âThe roses downstairs are starting to wilt, petals dropping like accusations. Everything he gives me feels like a leash disguised as a gift.âI shower fast, scalding water pounding my skin, trying to wash him off. It doesnât work. His scent is in the shampoo, the soap, the towelsâcedar and smoke and him. I step out, wrap myself in one of his shirts (too big, sleeves falling past my hands) a
âNoraâs POV â Hospital LobbyâI canât stay in that waiting room another second.âThe air is too thick, too charged with Elenaâs presence, with the way she looked at meâlike she expected forgiveness after two years of silence. Like her tears could erase the nights I cried alone, wondering why my bes
âNora's POV â âI lay tangled up in his arms for a while as we console each other. My thoughts keep spiralling after his breakdown. I never thought I'd see someone as strong as Mikhail Romanov cry real tears. All my life, he has always portrayed himself as this untouchable, inhumane man that I swor
Noraâs POV The door swung open with a heavy creak, and there he stoodâMikhail Romanov, framed in the threshold like a spectre from my darkest dreams. His presence filled the room instantly, sucking the air from my lungs, leaving me gasping in the vacuum. He looked ravaged, his once-impeccable shi
Nora's POVI donât sleep.I sit on the edge of the bed, back against the headboard, knees pulled to my chest, staring at the locked door like it might open and set me free.It doesnât. The room is too quiet. Too perfect.Too much like a cage designed just for me.Black silk sheets still rumpled from







