48
Chloe
I want to stay like this, cuddled on Nikolai’s lap, forever, but I know that we eventually have to move. Out of the corner of my eye, I spy my dress on the floor next to his shirt—along with the laptop we knocked off the desk in our passion. We should retrieve the computer, make sure it’s okay… maybe talk about the cameras as well. Or better yet, about our future overall. But before we get there, there’s something I have to tell him.
Lifting my head from his broad shoulder, I pull back to meet his warm amber gaze. “Thank you,” I say softly. “Thank you for doing what you did to Bransford. I know it’s not a perfect solution—I know that even dethroned, he might be dangerous—but I think—”
A loud banging on the door makes us both jump. “Nikolai!” Pavel’s deep voice is tense, the st
