I chose to trust that he spoke the truth about Michael. Assuming that was the only obstacle we had to surmount, I saw no reason we couldn’t finally have the life together that we’d always dreamed about.

This time, I had no trouble drifting off into a dreamless sleep with Nico’s body pressed tightly to mine. Sometime in the deep hours of night, I woke alone when a haunting piano melody drifted into the room. Nico’s side of the bed was cold, and I wondered how long he’d been up. Grabbing his button-down shirt, I slipped my arms in it and padded in search of the music. Around the corner and down the hall, a door was cracked open, and beautiful music flowed from within.

I pressed the door open farther and leaned against the frame, watching Nico play a gorgeous grand piano in the dark, clothed only in his boxer briefs. The sinewy muscles of his back flexed and flowed as his adept fingers danced across the keys. The song he played was moving—not altogether sad, but heavy with longing and need. It made my heart swell to see him playing when he’d been so passionate about it as a boy.

Slowly, the tune came to an end, and Nico turned toward me. “Come here,” he ordered in a raspy voice.

When I was close enough, he pulled me between him and the keys, staying seated and gently pulling apart the shirt to expose me to him.

“I thought you said you didn’t play much anymore.”

“I may have fibbed. I did stop for a while, but when I got this place, I soundproofed this room and started playing again.” He absently traced a line down between my breasts and to my navel.

“Why would you fib about something like that?”

He peered up at me, his cobalt eyes fathomless. “I think I wanted you to know that I didn’t just carry on without you. I hated myself for what I did. That’s why I quit. I didn’t deserve the peace and beauty I got from playing. Not after what I did to you.”

“No more guilt, though, right?” I trailed my fingers along his stubble-lined jaw, the tickle stirring a warmth in my belly.

He leaned in, kissing his way down my stomach, then pressed my backside onto the keys, making a cacophony of sound. Lifting my feet onto his bench, he spread my knees wide between him and dove in to play his other favorite instrument.

I would have liked Sofia to stay naked in my bed all day, but she insisted on going to work. After fucking her senseless in my shower, I drove her to the gallery and went in to check on my own business matters. Not only did I have work to do, but I also needed to figure out how to get Sofia untangled from the Russians and quietly. She’d never want her parents to know, so that made things tricky.