At some point, we just stared off at the water, holding each other as we stood there, like the world was about to end, and we knew it would be just us.
I sighed, turning to Nikolai. He turned to me too, his fingers immediately cupping my cheek, his eyes taking me in.
"Are you okay?"
I nodded slowly, a smile lifting the corners of my lips. "I think you succeeded in your quest to convince me to stay."
He chuckled, his head leaning to me. "I will do whatever you want."
I smiled, nodding. "I am sorry I reacted that way."
He nodded, kissing my forehead. "You don't have the best mother in the world. You, however, are so delicate. Beautiful. It's perfectly understandable that the one person who seems to at least owe you love feels more like a rival."
I swallowed hard, hating that every wo
