Her eyes shimmered as she looked up at him, one hand slowly lifting to rest over the one still cradling her cheek “You’re not angry?” she asked, her voice a fragile whisper.
Liam shook his head slowly “No,” he said simply, his gaze steady “I was scared. Worried. But not angry” He hesitated, then added, “I don’t need to know everything right away, Elena. I just need to know you. And I do.”
His words struck something deep inside her, a place that had always braced for rejection, for suspicion, for betrayal—never for acceptance. Never for this.
Elena closed her eyes for a moment, breathing him in—the steadiness of him, the strength he gave her without asking anything in return. When she opened them again, her voice was steadier “I don’t deserve this,” she said quietly.
Liam frowned, not harshly, but like he hated hearing her say it “Don’t do that,” he
