Ivy’s POV

My pulse wouldn’t slow, no matter how hard I willed it to. Every second in his presence felt like standing too close to a fire, certain I’d be burned if I breathed wrong.

It was moments like these that I wished the ground would swallow me whole. I looked at Lucien whose expression had now turned rigid.

I could still see the pieces of the portrait. It didn’t occur to me until now that the person in the frame looked somewhat like him. A little younger though.

“You ...