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Nikolai got up and pulled on sleep pants before going to close the door.

I sat up and held my hair from my face, wincing.

“That wasn’t how I thought that would go.”

He sat with me, on the side of the bed, and cupped my chin so I’d face him.

“What’s this shyness for?” he asked.

I shrugged.

“Sweetheart…” He said it in a slow, teasing yet demanding warning of a drawl. “Tell me.”

“I’m worried.”

“About how he’ll react?” He scoffed. “It looks like he’s taking it fine. In fact, it seems like he’s already figured out more than we have been giving him credit for.”

“I’m worried that you’ll…” I cringed again.

“That I’ll what?” He picked me up, sheets and all, and brought me onto his lap.

“That you’ll think that me or Brady are going to get… clingy.”

He laughed, a deep, happy chuckle that was infectious. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Sweetheart,” he said softly, gazing at me and captivating me with the warmth in his brown eyes. He brushed my hair back and sighed. “I would be fucking happier than anyone in this universe if you cling to me.” Leaning in slowly, he teased me with the anticipation of his tender kiss. “I need you in my life. I want you to cling to me and let me call you mine. Both of you.” Another kiss from him melted my heart.

“You remind me that there is still goodness in this world despite the darkness that surrounds us.”

This time, I reached up to kiss him.

If he needed me for the light, and he wanted me for this soulful bond that I never wanted to hide or make excuses for again, then I was here for it.

All of it.

I was here for him and I couldn’t envision any other future I’d want to call mine.

Never mind the labels.

I was no longer the protected witness he was sheltering.

He wasn’t the assassin ordered to eliminate me.

We were simply a man and a woman… in love.

29

NIKOLAI

As tempting as it was to keep Louisa on my lap and kiss her until she was even more breathless, I knew that this was the opportune time to talk to Brady.

He’d found us and surprised us both, but this wasn’t an incident to brush off to the side.

If he was at all uncomfortable or confused about the idea of my being with his mother, I wanted to hear him out. Now. Not later. If he had questions—which I was sure he did because he was such a healthily inquisitive little boy—I wanted him to be able to ask me them now and not dwell on them and start thinking the wrong thing.

I reared back from Louisa, smiling at the desire in her eyes. She followed after me, not ready to surrender to getting up.

“I didn’t lock the door.”