Tony's back was ramrod straight, but his fingertips trembled slightly.
The hard shell of arrogance and stubbornness he had built over three days and nights cracked under the direct blow of Pepper's words.
But after taking a deep breath, he forcibly pressed that crack shut.
Because he still had a trump card.
Yongye had called Pepper ugly.
He had never told Pepper about it.
When he received that reply, he had been so furious he nearly smashed his phone. But afterward, he had never breathed a word of it.
Because he knew that if Pepper found out Yongye had called her ugly, she would be angry, hurt, and...
He didn't want her to suffer that kind of pain.
So when Pepper stared at him now with worry bordering on fear and said, "He'll have his way with me," Tony simply opened his arms and gathered her into his embrace.
"Don't worry."
His voice came from above her head, muffled and heavy with a resolve that had only hardened after being crushed over and over.
"I'll protect you."
Pepper buried her face against his chest, her breathing catching for a beat.
She said nothing more. But her fingers curled slightly at her sides, her nails digging into her palms before slowly relaxing.
Protect me?
With what?
You can't even protect yourself.
You went from the Iron Man the whole world admired to the Thirty-Second Hero the whole world laughed at!
But Pepper didn't say it aloud.
She only buried her face deeper against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and feeling the faint warmth he barely managed to muster in a weary body that hadn't rested properly in three days.
Then a thought surfaced from the deepest recesses of her heart.
Like a dark silver coin resting at the bottom of