When Her "Death" Couldn't Break Him (Cecilia and Nathaniel)

Chapter 2046

"Neither do I," Yannick admitted. "My friend says that if he lets go now, he'll wake up every day regretting it hurting far worse than any embarrassment he feels today."

He was painfully aware that he had fallen for a woman as unusual as Jocelyn.

He wasn't claiming eternal love, but if she asked for a breakup, he doubted he could survive the blow.

That fear was what had made him cut her off mid-sentence earlier.

Perhaps true love really did turn a man into something small and timid.

"Then continue being with her," Calvin said simply. "It's always better than separating."

He spoke from experience; he himself had never even been granted the chance to stand beside Cecilia.

Those were exactly the words Yannick had been hoping to hear.

"Okay," Yannick said, his tone light yet edged with amusement. "Stay together it is. When the thrill dries up, we'll talk about what comes next."

He doubted he could adore Jocelyn forever. Sooner or later, the excitement would fade—just as it had with every woman before her, even that first love he once swore he would remember until his last breath.

Yannick ended the call, tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, and fixed his eyes on the dark highway. The car surged toward Sven's townhouse, neon streaks sliding over the windshield like restless ghosts.

Nicholas' private villa crouched beneath thick midnight clouds, its stone façade an obsidian silhouette of locked shutters and sleeping balconies.

stood at the wrought-iron door and pressed the bell again. The chime echoed through the

against the mahogany. "Mr. Nicholas!" Her voice cracked under the

The pounding dragged him from a brittle,

his

know you're inside," she called, fists drumming the panels. "Say

fog in Nicholas' head. Clarity returned, jagged

staggered upright, reached

"What is it?"

sounded calm, almost indifferent-the same measured cadence he had always

like sudden rain. At least

has tried all day to reach you. Are you

the security monitor.

had been holding escaped at

"If there's nothing else, I'll head

the villa,

"Wait," Nicholas called suddenly.

mid-step.

wait. I'll be right

and waited, as proper as a

in fresh clothes, stubble trimmed,

lost. Lines of