CLAUDE
MY HEART WAS pounding so hard against my chest that it felt like I might actually suffocate under the weight of it. Every breath was a struggle, each inhale shaky as I continued to stare at him, the words he’d just spoken echoing in my head.
I love you.
I love you.
I couldn’t make sense of it. I couldn’t understand how something so simple could make my entire world feel like it was cracking apart and coming together all at once.
“What?” I choked out, my voice barely a whisper, my hands trembling as I reached for him, pressing my palm against his chest, needing to feel something—anything—that was real, that would make this feel real.
Nikolai’s smile softened. It wasn’t sharp, it wasn’t cocky. It was raw. It was breathless. There was a quiet desperation in it, somethin
