My eyes darted slowly across both of Nikolai's eyes, my chest heaving. Slowly, my hand came to gently touch his face, and he immediately let his hand cup my hand, his face leaning in closer to me.
"Why did you have to leave?"
He swallowed. "It was me or you. Those pictures were..."
"Why did you do that for me? Now everyone thinks you..."
"I honestly don't care what everyone thinks, Iris. As long as I get to protect you. It wasn't your fault that you chose Matthew, even I... didn't know he would go that far."
I closed my eyes, my teeth gritting as tears ran slowly down my face, my chest heaving. I heard Nikolai let out a small sigh as he leaned away briefly, then suddenly pulled me back into him, his fingers wrapping around my waist, his Imber hand resting behind my head and bringing m
