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He tugged her close to hih her hair His head dipped and he whispered, “Thank you for that But consider that, if everything goes smoothly with the data transfer and your laptop remains fully intact… Nik, I wouldn’t expect you to upload all of those photos to a cloud environ you to back up your data,” he quietly, pointedly said, “but I wouldn’t expect you to clean your computer of all those memories They’re a part of your life, they’re a part of you A part you’ve shared with me”

Tears burned her eyes once more “I like that we don’t have any secrets between us”

“It doesn’t solve our dilemma, but… I like it, too”

She gave a slow nod And added, “It also doesn’t help that… I’m in love with you”

Dahtly Then inclined to the side as curiosity flickered in his eyes

She rushed on, saying, “Really, how could I not be? You represent everything I’m drawn to But it’s so , there’s been a connection between us And you are fiercely protective of ood in so ain I never dreamed it was possible”

“Of course not,” he reasonably said “You’re loyal, Nik You’ve remained loyal, faithful, all this time—to one man Until you met me”

“I got lucky, to get a second chance at so” The tears tumbled down her cheeks “The difficulty, Damen, is that… I can’t predict how this will end Good or bad I don’t kno volatile one That terrifies me”

He pulled her to hiht

He said, “You already knoe have no choice”

“Yes”

“So unless you can figure out how to get this laptop from me, escape this campus with it and hide out someplace where I can’t find you, or locate soet to it… We have to do this”

“Yes”

Though theher from the inside out

“Okay,” he said, and released her “Then come with me, Nik Trust me to do my absolute best For you And for us…”