They spent Christmas Day quietly at home, and the city looked magical when it started to snow. It reminded her of how much she and Axel had loved it at the château when it was snowing and they had snowball fights in the orchards and on the front lawn. It made her wonder too if the new owner’s wife would love it when she saw it. It was the perfect way to see the château for the first time, under a blanket of snow. She remembered how romantic it had been when Matthieu took her there for the first time. The new owners were arriving the next day and everything was pristine after the kidnapping attempt. Everything had been cleaned, repaired, or replaced. There was no sign of the carnage that had happened there.

Mike had been watching Theo as she sat lost in thought. He had made a fire in the fireplace in her study.

“What were you thinking about just then?” he asked her gently. Her face looked so innocent and faraway.

“I was thinking about the château and wondered if the woman will love it when she sees it. It looks so pretty in the snow.”

“It’s quite a Christmas gift,” he said, thinking how far he had come from his own origins to his life with her. Her need for protection made him feel at home with her, and as though he could provide something useful in her life. “I’m sure she’ll love it.”

“She wouldn’t have if she could have seen the mess it was a week ago. It looked like a horror movie.” She smiled in spite of the impact of the memory. “I’ve never seen anyone get shot before,” she said matter-of-factly.

“It’s not a pretty sight. I’m sorry you had to see that, Theo.”

“Thank God he shot him, or I’d be history by now.”

“I won’t ever let that happen,” he said calmly, and she believed him.

They sat in front of the fire for a long time, talking about their Christmases when they were children. Hers had been everything traditional, with unexciting but rock-solid, loving parents, who had always given her their full support. They had been bothered about Matthieu because he was so much older, but they had eventually come around when they saw that it worked well and he was kind to her. And now all of her family was gone, her parents, her husband, and her son.