Chapter 21 – The Art Of Surrender

• The scent of turpentine and oil paint lingered in the air like a whisper from another life.
• Alina stood at the threshold of the studio, the one place in the estate that didn’t feel like a cage. The late morning light poured through the tall windows, throwing soft gold across the dust-covered floor and half-finished canvases. She hesitated, fingers hovering at the edge of the doorframe, unsure what had pulled her here today.
• She knew what pulled her here. She needed to clear her head after the kiss with Luciano and this was the only way she knew how.