Serena Vale
~•~
My heart was trying to crawl up my throat, but I pretended everything was fine. Instead, I tugged on the wrist of my sweatshirt, trying to keep my voice steady as I resumed speaking.
They were both staring. Waiting.
I swallowed once. Twice.
“I don’t want to lose you,” I repeated, my throat tight. “But I can’t keep doing this either. Not the way we’ve been doing it.”
Rafael leaned forward, his hands on his knees. He looked like he was holding himself from grabbing me. Nikolai just watched me, his dark eyes unreadable.
I forced the rest of my words out before I lost my courage.
“I need more than stolen nights and locked office doors. I need to know that one day, I won’t randomly go back to the woman who works for you. I need to know there’s a direction for this, even
