Chapter 36
Thirty-Six
Caroline
The move happened in silence, under the cover of dawn.
Noah packed my things himself, loading everything into the back of his car. He didn’t say where we were going, but I trusted him.
The estate was an hour outside the city, set on a hill with sweeping lawns and old trees. The drive wound through a security gate, then up to a house that looked like something out of an architectural magazine.
Inside, the light was soft, the rooms open and full of air. Every window looked out on green.
There were people everywhere—staff, security, a chef who offered to make me anything I wanted. But none of them hovered. They nodded, smiled, kept their distance unless called.
Noah walked me through every room, explained the security measures. “You can go anywhere,” he said, “do anything. If you want to leave, just tell me. This is for you, not to trap you.”
I believed him. But even if I hadn’t, there were no locks. No keys.
Just space.
He set up an office for me in the library, and a kitchen stocked with everything I’d ever wanted to bake.
He checked on me a dozen times that day, making sure I was okay.
At first, I felt like a guest on house arrest.
But after the first morning, it started to feel different.
I walked the grounds, breathing in the smell of wet grass and late roses. I found a shaded path lined with birch trees, a pond with ducks, a tiny greenhouse full of lemons.
Every time I came back to the house, Noah was waiting. Sometimes with coffee, sometimes with a story, sometimes just to hold my hand and ask how I was.
I felt safe.
Safer than I’d ever been, even when I was married.
One night, we sat on the back porch, watching the moon come up.
“You’re not afraid?” he asked, voice soft.
“Of you? Never.”
He smiled, almost sad. “Of what I am?”
I shook my head. “I’m only afraid of losing this.”
He turned, cupped my face, kissed me slow and deep.
“You won’t,” he promised.
And in that moment, I knew it was true.
The world outside could burn. But here, in this place, I was untouchable.
His—if I wanted.
And I wanted nothing more.