Chapter 36.

NORA CARUSO I stood in the center of my walk-in closet, I pushed the silk aside and reached for the back of the shelf. I pulled out a pair of black leggings and a fitted, long-sleeve athletic top. My hands were shaking as I tied my hair back into a severe ponytail. I stared at myself in the full-length mirror. You don't have to do this, a voice whispered in the back of my head but the memory of the warehouse flashed behind my eyelids, the smell of rust, the sound of the gunshot, the weight of Nikolai's bleeding body in my arms. "No," I whispered to my reflection. "I'm not hiding." Nikolai was right. Guards bled, walls broke. If I wanted to survive this marriage, if I wanted to survive him, I needed to know how to hold the weight of death in my hand without crumbling. I took a deep breath, smoothing down the front of my shirt, and walked out of the room. Nikolai was waiting for me at the top of the stairs that led to the basement levels. He watched me approach, his dark eyes scanning me