Because I had chosen this.
Paris.
Kane.
Mila gestured toward the windows.
“Come see the courtyard,” she said. “It’s the quietest place in the city.”
I followed her.
The courtyard below was enclosed in stone, ivy climbing one wall, a fountain at the center.
Still.
Safe.
“Hard to believe this is in the middle of everything,” I murmured.
“That’s the point,” Mila said softly.
Behind me, I could feel Kane and Connor speaking in low tones.
I watched Mila adjust the lens on her camera.
“Does it ever feel strange?” I asked. “Living here?”
She considered that.
“Yes.”
“Does it ever feel wrong?”
“No.”
The certainty surprised me.
“Why not?”
She smiled slightly.
“Because when someone chooses you in a place like this, it’s not casual.”
I felt that.
In the way Kane had looked at me earlier.
In the way he’d said,You already know the answer.
Mila leaned closer.
“Just … don’t let the building intimidate you,” she added. “It’s not about power. It’s about refuge.”
Refuge.
Sanctuary.
I exhaled slowly.
