Hours passed. Bastien woke up and gently stroked Kate’s forehead. His favorite part of the day was watching her sleep. He always took pictures—his phone was full of photos of her asleep. And this morning was no exception.

She lay on her stomach, her hair cascading down her back in soft waves, her hips barely covered by a wrinkled blanket, one leg exposed. She looked like a goddess sent down from heaven. Bastien couldn’t help but take another photo, then saved it and kissed her bare back before getting dressed and heading to his laptop.

He sent an email to Fabio and then issued another order via voice message.

—Lucca, I’m returning tomorrow. How’s my request coming? I want it right next to the staircase. And I don’t want a single drop of blood left in the mansion.

The reply came instantly.

—Sir, your request is already installed. Don’t worry, I called the cleaning crew the same day everything happened. The windows were replaced. The mansion looks like it was never attacked.

Bastien smi