“A nd here I thought you were going to make a big deal out of it,” I said, shifting my attention from Holden to Nikolai.

“Well,” Holden said, pulling up a chair. “At least you know she isn’t after your money. There’s nothing worse than a gold digger, am I right?”

I rolled my eyes and shoved Holden away from me. The room filled with Nikolai’s laughter as I noticed the admiration in his eyes. It was a relief to see Nikolai so at ease with everything. The weight on my shoulders from keeping so many secret is gone, and for the first time in a decade, I could breathe...