Chapter 51.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE NORA CARUSO Three days. Four thousand, three hundred and twenty minutes, that was how long it had been since the black SUV disappeared through the gates of my father’s estate. That was how long it had been since Nikolai Volkov kissed me against a wall, told me he would miss me, and then vanished off the face of the earth. I sat on the window seat of my old bedroom, staring at the blank screen of my phone. It sat on the cushion beside me, I had checked it so many times that the battery was draining just from the screen waking up. No new messages. No missed calls. I want to leave you needy, he had said. I want you to crave me. Well, congratulations, Nikolai. You won. I wasn't just needy, I was spiraling. I was drowning in a sea of insecurity that I hadn't felt since I was a teenager. Every hour of silence felt like a rejection, every unread text I didn't send because I refused to be the clingy wife who chased him burned a hole in my pride. Was this part of the game? Was