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NICK WALKER ©For the entire day at school after I broke down, Avery didn't bring up the matter.Or maybe she just didn't want to talk about it yet.I felt embarrassed after everything happened. It had been a long time since something like that happened.The last time was when I searched for my mum after she left Mira with me and left.“Let's go out this weekend,” Avery said, pulling me out of my thoughts.I turned to her.“Go out?” I asked and she nodded.“Yeah. Mira, you, and I,” she said as she opened the door to the house.“Well… the semester exams are coming, and we need to prepare for them,” I reminded her.She groaned.“Boring. That's exactly why people call you a nerd,” she said before walking inside.We met Mira working on her assignments when we entered.“Mira, what do you think about going out this weekend?” Avery asked as she sat beside her on the floorboard.“Going out?” she asked, looking up at me.“With Nick too?” she added and Avery nodded.I dropped my bag on the couc

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LORENZO GRAYSON\ VADIM KERZHAKOV ©I should have known better. Things shouldn't have gone that far with him. He was my student, a very young student. He was off limits.What was I doing?How could I risk him by putting my own desires first before his safety?He was young, but whenever we were together, all that didn't matter.Just because I cared about him didn't mean I should put his life in danger because of my feelings.How was I supposed to protect him?Nick didn't even have anyone. He was the one protecting his little sister.How was I supposed to protect him when Antonio finally came after me?He would hurt the people I cared about first, and that included Nick.I really needed to stay away from him.I needed to keep my distance for his own safety.Nick Walker.I wondered how he walked into my life and how I ended up letting myself get so close to him.Now, he was someone I couldn't ignore.I just needed to pull myself together and fix whatever was going on between us.I palmed

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LORENZO GRAYSON\ VADIM KERZHAKOV ©Nick held my shirt tighter, like he wasn't ready to let me go.And maybe that was the problem.Yes. I was making a mistake. And that mistake involved Nick.I was risking him again. I had put my own feelings before his safety.I slowly pulled away from the kiss and looked at his face.What the fuck was I doing?This wasn't right.A professor getting involved with his student wasn't something that should happen. It was something no one could know about, especially not my father.I was putting Nick at risk. He doesn't even know who I truly was.And if one day he found out my real identity, what would happen?What if I lost him?“Enzo.”He reached out to hold me, but I quickly moved away.“No... no, we can't… we can't do this,” I said.I didn't know what I was doing.Why on earth was I kissing him?I let out a breath and ran my hands through my hair.I was so stupid.I escaped from my father in Russia after he released me. I knew he would make me go thr

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LORENZO GRAYSON\ VADIM KERZHAKOV ©I sat in the lounge of my house, quietly sipping from a glass of whiskey.The house was empty.It was just like the way I lived before Vanya came back from Russia.The silence surrounded me, and my mind couldn't help but drift back to the time I was sick.I still couldn't believe Kyle brought Nick to my house to take care of me.I sighed.I found myself thinking about the kid again.When did things between us become this complicated?Before I could think further, I heard the door open.The sound of heels echoed through the room.“Drinking here all by yourself?” Vanya asked as she walked toward me.“There are so many ways to avoid seeing Nick at Kyle's, Vadim,” she said and took a seat on the bar stool.“When exactly are you leaving?” I asked with a slight grunt.“This again?” she asked, taking a sip straight from the bottle of whiskey I had placed on the table.“I’m here as Antonio’s right-hand person…” she started, but she didn’t get to finish befor

All Chapters of SHADOW AND BLOOD: THE PRICE OF LOVING YOU : Chapter 41 - Chapter 44

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