Chapter 187

The black car glided to a quiet stop in front of Volkov Manor. The gates stood open, the long driveway lit by warm garden lights that cut softly through the evening mist. The estate was silent, the kind of silence only large homes carried, distant, peaceful, almost detached from the outside world. The moment Sloane stepped out of the car. A loud bark shattered the calm. A golden blur shot across the lawn. “Bruno!” Sloane barely had time to react before the big dog rushed up to her, tail wagging so wildly his whole body swayed with it. Another smaller dog followed behind him. Or rather. Tried to. Summer ran with all her might, her short legs pumping furiously as she struggled to keep up. She was hopelessly slower. By the time she reached Sloane, she was already panting, her little tongue sticking out in dramatic exhaustion. Sloane laughed softly. The tension that had been sitting on her shoulders all evening finally loosened. She crouched down. First she rubbed Bruno’s head, her fingers