"A building? You bought me a building?"
"Twelve floors with a corner office on the top floor that has a view of the city. I picked out the furniture and the paint colors myself." I pause. "With some help from Anya."
She laughs through her tears. "Of course you did."
"Do you want to see your office?"
She nods. I take her hand, lead her to the elevator. We ride up to the twelfth floor in silence, her fingers gripping mine so tight I can feel her trembling. When the doors open I lead her down the hallway to the corner office at the end.
I push open the door, let her walk in first.
The room is bathed in late afternoon sunlight that pours through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Everything is exactly as I planned it. The honey-colored desk. The dusty rose chair with the rose gold hardware. The cream-colored walls. The pink peonies in a ceramic vase on the windowsill. The view of the city spread out beyond the glass.
Iris walks to the center of the room, turns in a slow circle, takes it in.
"This is my office?" she asks.
"This is your office."
She walks to the window, places her hand against the glass. I watch her look out at the city below. The sunlight catches her red hair, makes it glow.
"I can see everything from here," she says.
"I know."
She turns back to me with tears streaming down her face. "Why do you do things like this?"
"Things like what?"
"Things that make me feel like the most loved woman in the world."
I cross the room and take her face in my hands. My thumbs sweep across her cheeks, wiping the tears away. Seeing her cry distresses me. Even when it’s from happiness.
“You are the most loved woman in the world.” I press my forehead to hers. “I will remind you every single day until you believe it.”
She rises onto her toes, pulls me down to her. The kiss is slow. Soft. Her fingers curl into my shirt like she’s afraid I’ll disappear. When she pulls back, that smile is there. “I don’t deserve you,” she whispers.
“You deserve more than I could ever give you.” I brush my nose against hers. “But I’ll die trying.”
She laughs, watery and warm, her hands sliding up to cup my jaw.
“There’s more, isn’t there?”
“For you?” I kiss the corner of my mouth. “There’s always more.“
Viktor drives us across the city as the sun begins to sink toward the horizon. The sky turns shades of orange and pink. Iris sits beside me with her hand in mine, her head on my shoulder. She has stopped asking where we're going.
When the car stops in front of the hotel Iris goes very still beside me.
"Ilay," she says quietly. "Is this..."
"The place where you drugged me and had your way with me? Yes."
She lifts her head from my shoulder, turns to look at me with wide eyes. "I can't believe you brought me here."
"I thought it would be fitting." I step out of the car, walk around to open her door. "This is where it started."
"This is where I made a terrible decision that somehow turned into the best thing that ever happened to me."
