"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 iming 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 whates next."fn5bd8 Latest content published on find·novel/fn5bd8

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

Nichs'' private vi crouched beneath thick midnight clouds, its stone fa?ade an obsidian silhouette of locked shutters and sleeping balconies.

Jocelyn stood at the wrought-iron door and pressed the bell again. The chime echoed through the silence—long, unwavering, unanswered.

She mmed both palms against the mahogany. "Mr. Nichs!" Her voice cracked under the weight of worry.

Inside, Nichs'' eyelids fluttered. The pounding dragged him from a brittle, exhausted sleep.

A frown cut across his brow. He offered no reply.

"Mr. Nichs, I know you''re inside," she called, fists drumming the panels. "Say something!"

Her name slid through the fog in Nichs'' head. rity returned, jagged but sufficient.

Bracing against the wall, he staggered upright, reached the inte, and pressed the button.

"What is it?"

The question sounded calm, almost indifferent-the same measured cadence he had always used.

Relief hit Jocelyn like sudden rain. At least he was alive.

"Mr. Nichs, thepany has tried all day to reach you. Are you all right?"

Nichs studied her image on the security monitor. "I''m fine," he said, barely moving his lips.

"Good, good." The breath she had been holding escaped atst.

She lingered a moment and said, "If there''s nothing else, I''ll head back."

She cast onest, searching nce at the vi, then turned, her heels crunching on gravel.

"Wait," Nichs called suddenly.

Jocelyn stopped mid-step. "Is something wrong?"

"Just wait. I''ll be right out."

"All right." She sped her hands and waited, as proper as a student outside a headmaster''s door.

Atst, the door opened. Nichs appeared in fresh clothes, stubble trimmed, a hint of color in his face.

Even so, Jocelyn could see the weight he had lost. Lines of fatigue etched his cheeks, and dark shadows clung beneath his eyes.

"Mr. Nichs." She moved toward him. "You look..."

The rest of the sentence dissolved, swallowed by unspoken concern.

Nichs caught the concern forming behind Jocelyn''s eyes even before a single syble left her lips He raised a hand, the gesture gentle yet final, as if drawing a line through her concern. "I''ve just been short of desights sleep these past few nights nothing more. My health is fine."  s

"Oh." Jocelyn nodded, but when she stepped closer, a faint trace of liquor from his breath and settled in

drifted

the

between them

between

belongs to s

She frowned. Nichs had once refused alcohol for the sake of his health. Why

doe she smell like alcohol now?

Worry gathered like storm clouds in her gaze. "Mr. Nichs, please take better care of yourself."

iet

Nichs answered with a quiet smile that never reached his tired eyes. "will." He slipped his hands into the packets of his overcoat and asked, "How have you beentely?"  s