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"What?" he breathed.

"I don't think Richard ever really saw me."

Soren frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He looked at me every day." She shrugged. "But he never actually saw me." She touched Soren's chest. "But you did."

His eyes softened. "I always will." Lily believed him too—with all her heart.

Later that evening, Lily wandered upstairs to their bedroom while Soren took a call in his office. She changed into one of his oversized t-shirts before climbing into bed with her sketchbook. Instead of drawing flowers, she began sketching him. She drew the concentration line that appeared between his eyebrows whenever he read reports and the slight curve of his smile when he looked at her. She sketched the quiet strength in his hands. She didn't hear the bedroom door open or see Soren stop just inside the room.

"What are you working on?" he asked.

She instinctively covered the page. "Nothing."

His lips twitched. "So—” He walked closer. "It's me."

She groaned. "How do you always know?"

"Because that's exactly what you say every time you're drawing me."

She laughed. "I suppose I do."

He sat beside her. "May I?"

She hesitated for only a moment before handing him the sketchbook. He studied the unfinished drawing in silence. She watched his face nervously.

He looked up. "Lily."

Her stomach fluttered. "Is it terrible?"

"No." His voice was quiet. "It's the first time I've ever seen myself the way you do."

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I look happy.”

She smiled. "You are happy. At least you seem to be."

Soren looked back down at the sketch. Then he reached into the bedside drawer. "What are you doing?" Instead of answering, he pulled out a charcoal pencil, opened the next blank page, and began to draw. She watched his hand move across the paper with confidence.

"What are you drawing?" she asked.

"You,” he whispered.

She laughed. "We're quite a pair.”

Soren glanced up, smiling. "Probably, but I don't intend to stop." Neither did she. As she curled against his side and watched him sketch, Lily realized that life after surviving wasn't about forgetting the past. It was about creating something beautiful in spite of it. And together, that was exactly what they were doing.

Epilogue

One Year Later…

Soren

Soren Kane wasn't accustomed to waiting. He had built an empire by making decisions, solving problems, and eliminating threats before they reached the people under his protection. Waiting was torture.

Luca leaned against the hallway wall, grinning like an idiot. "You've worn a groove into Maria's hardwood floor." Soren ignored him. "I think you've walked past this door thirty-seven times."