Semua Bab The Mafia King's Collateral : Bab 191 - Bab 198

Nikolai’s POVThe house had finally gone quiet.Alora had fallen asleep after lunch, curled around her stuffed wolf, and Maria had taken her to her room with a soft promise to keep the door cracked. I stood in the hallway for a moment longer than necessary, listening to the silence settle. No small footsteps. No bright voice calling for either of us. Just the low hum of the mansion and the knowledge that, for the next stretch of hours, Liora was completely mine.I found her in our bedroom, standing near the window with her hair loosely tied back. The afternoon light caught the side of her neck, and the small word behind her ear was just visible. ‘Yours.’I had looked at it more times than I could count since the studio, but seeing it here - in our home, in ordinary daylight - still pulled something tight in my chest.She turned when she heard me and smiled. “She’s out?”“Yes.” I closed the door behind me. “Maria has her.”“Good.” She walked toward me, soft and unhurried. “Then you’re

Nikolai’s POVThe morning had started the way I wanted most mornings to start now.Alora was at the table with a half-eaten piece of toast, talking with her mouth full about a bird she had seen in the garden. Liora sat across from me in one of my shirts, hair still loose from sleep, smiling at our daughter and stealing small sips of tea. I watched them over the rim of my cup and thought, not for the first time since we came home, that this was the part of my life I had no interest in handing back to anyone else.Then Liora set the cup down a little too carefully.I noticed the change before she said anything. The color left her face in a slow fade. Her smile stayed in place for Alora, but her fingers tightened around the handle of the cup as if she needed it to stay upright.“Liora.”She looked at me and shook her head once, small and quick. “I’m fine.”“You’re not.” I was already standing. “What is it?”“Just dizzy.” She tried to laugh it off. “I stood up too fast. Or I didn’t sleep

Nikolai’s POVThe doctor’s footsteps faded down the hall, and the bedroom returned to a kind of silence that did not feel empty so much as full. Liora was still sitting against the pillows, one hand resting loosely over her stomach as if she had not realized she put it there. Her eyes were red. Her mouth kept trying to form a smile and then losing it.I stayed on the edge of the bed, watching her, because if I moved too fast I was afraid I would say all of it wrong.“You’re looking at me like you’re waiting for me to fall apart,” she said quietly.“I’m looking at you because I don’t want to miss this.” I reached out and took the hand that was not on her stomach. “How do you feel?”She let out a small, shaky breath. “Sick. Scared. Happy. Guilty for being scared. I don’t know which one is winning.”“You don’t have to pick one.” I lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “You can have all of them.”Her eyes filled again. “I keep thinking about Alora. About whether I can do this. About w

Nikolai’s POVI knew the compromise was going to break the moment I walked into the sitting room and found her on her feet.Not just on her feet - moving. Alora was on the rug with a pile of picture books, and Liora was bent over the low table, gathering scattered crayons into a box. She had changed out of my shirt into a soft dress. Her hair was tied back. To anyone else, she would have looked perfectly fine.I saw the way she paused halfway through and put a hand on the table.“Liora.”She did not look guilty. That was the first sign. “Good morning.”“You were supposed to stay in bed.”“I stayed in bed yesterday.” She dropped the last crayon into the box and straightened. “Today I want to be in the same room as my daughter without looking like I’m recovering from surgery.”Alora glanced up. “Mommy’s helping.”“Mommy can sit and help,” I said, keeping my voice even for her sake. Then I looked at Liora. “Sit down.”She sat. For about four minutes.The next time I turned, she was in th