Page 88 of The Last Hope

He started filling the bathtub, and… and…”

I tried to breathe, but the air wouldn’t come. It felt like my lungs were filling with water.

“Breathe, Selina. Breathe. I’m here,” Nikolai said, his voice calm but firm.

I clutched his shirt in my fists, struggling to regain control, to return to the present.

“You don’t have to say it…” he began, but I shook my head. I had to. I had to let it out.

“Water… there was so much water. He… he held my head under, over and over, asking if I was going to run away again. I couldhear Rafael’s voice behind the door, calling for me—‘Mamma, Mamma, Mamma…’”

I spoke too fast, too softly. I wasn’t even sure he could hear me.

“I kept telling him no, that I wouldn’t try again. But he didn’t stop. He never stopped…”

I sobbed. My entire body ached—my thoughts, my memories, everything hurt, except the arms holding me. Everything hurt except the lips brushing my forehead. Everything hurt except this man, showing me a tenderness I had never known.

I lifted my face, and my lips trembled at the sight of the tears on his cheeks.

Nikolai Ivanov was crying.

Nikolai Ivanov was crying for me.

He was doing what no man had ever done for me.

“But I didn’t give up, Niko,” I whispered. “I kept fighting. I tried to escape again and again. I never gave up.”

He cupped my face in his hands, wiping away my tears.

“No, you never gave up,Solnychko. You survived. You saved your son. You saved yourself. And a lifetime wouldn’t be enough for me to thank you for that. For giving me time to find you. Thank you, thank you, Selina, thank you…”

He repeated the words over and over, pressing his lips against mine as I closed my eyes, letting myself sink into his warmth, his touch, searching for something missing, something lost.

Myself.

“Do you trust me,Solnychko ?” he asked suddenly.

I opened my eyes and nodded without hesitation.

He nodded in return, helping me to my feet. Then he stepped back and began unbuttoning his soaked shirt. I froze.

“What are you doing ?” I asked, carefully keeping my gaze locked on his.

He didn’t answer. His shirt fell to the floor. Then he reached for his belt.

Panic rose in me, and I spun around, covering my eyes.

“I… I don’t know what you’re trying to do. Maybe I should go to my room…”

My words vanished when I felt his warmth behind me. His hands gently wrapped around my wrists, lowering them from my face.

Our eyes met in the mirror.

I swallowed hard as my gaze dropped to his body.

Muscles. Muscles. More muscles.

I felt like a twig compared to him.

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