Nikolai smiled at her with that bright, confident grin that made her heart ache because it reminded her of a man who once smiled like that only in her imagination.“Stop worrying,” he said, gentle now. “I’ll stay with security.”Sera cupped his face with both hands, kissing his forehead slowly, as if trying to seal her protection into his skin.“Good,” she whispered. “Because I mean it, Nikolai. Don’t scare me.”Nikolai nodded again, patient, obedient, sweet.Inside, he was barely hearing the details anymore.The tracker. The passport. The rules.His mother’s voice had turned into the comforting rhythm of love.She could yap for a hundred hours, and he would still sit there smiling because it was her.Because even when she was scared… she was still his mummy.So Nikolai nodded. Smiled. Let her lecture him like it was a bedtime story. And when she finally stood to turn off the light, she didn’t see the spark in his eyes.The secret determination.The tiny plan folded neatly inside his
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