Page 155 of The Encore’s Crown

“I’m not putting all of this out there so strangers can dissect every choice you made. I’m not watching you lose everything in some stupidly long legal battle because you punched an asshole who deserved it.”

I cup her face.

“But what if I hadn’t been there?”

She stills.

“What if I hadn’t heard what he had planned? What if there hadn’t been someone close enough who…” My voice catches on the truth. “Who cares about you?”

Natalia looks up at me without flinching.

“But you were there.”

“That isn’t the point.”

“It is to me.”

She takes my hands from her face and holds them between us.

“It didn’t happen, Kiri. Because you were there.”

Her grip tightens.

“This is what I want. I want to be with you. I don’t want you dragged through court, ripped apart in public, having to defend your entire fucking life because you protected me.”

“Nat—”

“No. Listen to me. I want this. Us.” Her eyes begin to shine, but her voice stays steady. “I don’t want to lose it the second we finally have it.”

The words go straight through me.

“If I fight Julian, he gets more of me. More of you. More of us. He gets years of our lives, and every headline, every interview, every stranger deciding what I should’ve done differently. What I must've said or worn to encourage him. They'll rip us both apart.”

She presses my hands against her chest.

“Please. I know what I want. I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”

I stare at her. Every instinct in me wants to argue. To tell her justice matters, that she shouldn’t have to swallow what he did all because I lost control. But this is her choice, not mine.

Finally, I nod.

Then I pull her against me and kiss the top of her head.

“You’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met, Kroppy.”

She laughs into my chest. My arms tighten around her.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You should.”

We spend the entire day finding out how many surfaces one penthouse can offer. The answer is too many. Or not enough.

The bed first, because neither of us has the energy to pretend we’re going anywhere else. Then the shower again, but the second one, because the penthouse has two and Natalia insists that makes it a scientific obligation.

We don't bother with clothes for the rest of the day. We wear robes when we have to move through the suite, though even that starts to feel like a waste of time. At some point, hunger finally forces us into the living room. We drag a throw from the back of the couch and spread it across the floor beneath the windows, then empty the complimentary basket between us like two people hiding from civilization.

More crackers and chocolate. Fancy dried fruit. Tiny jars of things neither of us can pronounce. Natalia finds the caviar and eyes it suspiciously.