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I stilled, and my stomach tensed with restraining knots. “Why would you think that?”

“I just— I was curious. You know I’ve always been by your side, and we’ve never kept anything from each other.” His eyes gleamed while a small smile flashed across his lips. “But the Christmas Ball is around the corner. And there’s nothing about another scheme.”

A sigh of relief constricted within my throat. “Christopher’s stuck to his word.”

Raphael nodded as he looked around. Then he quickly hid behind my back. He had yet to reach my shoulders, but his knees bent to fully conceal himself. I followed what he’d stumbled on and noticed Sonia roaming around the inner gate.

“Maybe you might not fear the tailors, but surely you’ll dread Sonia’s wrath if she catches you.”

“Fine,” he huffed as if defeated. Once Sonia vanished, he bowed and stepped back inside.

Though sunlight poured onto the sunflowers, what captivated my eyes was Katerina as she walked across the grounds. Her speed picked up as another guardian followed behind.

Who was he, and why was she running away from him?

“Ms. Eli!” I called, the tone nearly aggressive, her title unsettling against my tongue. The keen desire morphed into a greedier sensation. One that had never emerged before and was too absurd to entertain.

Was my mask slipping?

The answer bloomed instantly, and once Katerina’s eyes cemented against mine, it was a realization that burned my cheeks.

It was never there to begin with.

She bowed when she stepped inside. “Yes, Mr. Alek?”

My title also didn’t sit right against my skin. The discomfort was apparent in both of our expressions.

“Katerina,” I lowered my voice as if needing the correction, “Would you like a tour of my garden?”

If her laugh was my death, her smile was my revival. “Sure.”

I commenced the trek on the left side, introducing each flower as we followed the stone path. It first led through the roses, zinnias, and calla lilies. We then turned to the right side through the gladioli, the forget-me-nots, and the irises. Never did distance grow between us. Instead, we walked as if it was a tight space, our arms brushing against one another; our hands hovering, never touching. It was enough.

Anything she gifted me was enough.

Though she looked immersed in the tour, her gaze still roamed to what was outside. Or potentially, who could still be.

“Is everything alright?”

A shadow loomed over her expression, the line between her eyebrows prominent. “I don’t know.” She continued her walk while her eyes were firm on her steps, and for the first time, she seemed puzzled with no sense of a truth lingering.

“Do you have a favorite flower, Katerina?”

In a garden, she was a flare of light. In the midst of the day, she bore an air of mystery that paired with the night. In my presence, she was an iris that encapsulated me fully.

“I never really thought about that,” she said while she walked toward the sunflowers, my eyes naturally following her. They towered at the center where the pathways intersected. Her eyes softened as if admiring the sunshine before her. “But the sunflowers are beautiful.”

The familiar flare in my bones caused a shudder to pierce through me as it sank. Being with Katerina felt as natural as breathing. The greatest intoxication, the strongest craving. I wanted to be bound to it —to her— without escape.

“Yes, they are.”

ChapterTwenty-One

KATERINA ELI

As if it wasn’t bad enough witnessing Sonia doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing, she knocked at my door early. Regardless, it wasn’t as if I was sleeping— thanks toher.

The hairs on my nape rose.