17
Chloe
The dinner party lasts late into the evening, so I don’t get a chance to hang out with Alina afterward. By the time Nikolai carries me up to my room and helps me shower and change, I’m so drunk and exhausted I all but pass out in his arms.
It’s not until the next morning that I realize that, contrary to my fears, I didn’t end up in Nikolai’s bed. Once more, he’d been the perfect nursemaid, taking care of me without demanding anything in return. Even the copious amount of alcohol hadn’t undermined his self-control—though I’m guessing the fact that I was more or less comatose when he brought me upstairs helped his resolve.
After that scene with his son, I turned to wine to manage my unruly emotions, and between that, the painkiller I took earlier in the day, and my still-healing
