ASTRIDThe raw truth of my words hangs in the air between us. He just stares at me, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his own eyes suspiciously bright. The mask is gone, completely. All that’s left is the man beneath — wounded, fierce, and so, so vulnerable.He brings a hand up, his fingers trembling slightly as he brushes a tear from my cheek. The touch is so tender it makes me cry harder.“You,” he whispers, and the word is a raw, broken thing, torn from the deepest part of him. “I’ve only ever wanted you. Since the moment you walked into my office, all fire and defiance, and told me my contract was an insult to your intelligence. I was a goner. I have been in love with you for so long, Astrid, it’s the only truth I’ve ever been sure of. It’s the bedrock under all the lies I’ve had to tell, all the terrible things I’ve had to do. You. It was always you.”The air leaves my lungs in a rush. I knew. Of course, I knew, in the way my soul recognized his, in the way my body relaxed
Last Updated : 2025-09-30 Read more