“Christian!” I shout again, pulling the door shut behind me. He spins at the end of the hall by the elevator, worry all over his face as I hurry towards him. “Iris!” he says, putting a hand around my waist and tugging me close protectively, look around for whatever is attacking, “what’s wrong!?”

I blush a little to hear Christian’s private nickname for me on Nico’s lips. “How do you…know about that?” “Oh my god,” Nico says, shaking his head and staring at me as he sits slowly down next to Frankie. “Whenever Christian ever does talk about the years before he came home, he changes names so

There’s a long, tense moment when I do seriously wonder if Christian is going to punch someone. But he shocks us all, I think, when Christian flicks his eyes to Nico’s beer. “Is there more of that?” he asks, his voice dry. “Yeah,” Nico says, immediately jumping out of the chair and heading for t

Suddenly, quite suddenly, it’s all too much. I burst into tears, burying my face in my hands again, sobs shaking my shoulders as I blubber against my palms. I start to cry so hard that I can’t even catch my breath, and then I panic because I know these tough mafia guys are looking at me like I’m a

“Christian,” I murmur, leaning forward to peer into his face after we sit in silence for a too-long moment. “Do you…do you not have any hope in this world?” He scowls a little, turning away from me and looking out at the dark city through the wide expanse of windows. “I don’t even know what that m