Chapter 44.

NORA CARUSO The slam of the front door didn't just echo, it vibrated through the floor, traveling up my legs and settling deep in my bones. A suffocating silence rushed back into the foyer to fill the space where Nikolai had just stood. I remained frozen in the center of the hallway, my chest heaving, my hands clenched into tight fists at my sides. The adrenaline was still pumping through my veins, but the triumphant fire of my anger was already beginning to flicker out. I had won. I had stood my ground, I had called him out on his hypocrisy, on his lies, on the blatant disrespect of coming home with another woman’s mark on his skin. "Good riddance," I whispered to the empty house. My voice sounded small, it sounded terrified. I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering as the damp draft from the storm lingered in the air. I told myself I didn't care, I told myself he deserved every word I had thrown at him. Dirty! Cheater! Monster! But as the minutes ticked by, the silence began to fee