Sydney wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but Julian's kiss felt far more practiced than the first time they had ever kissed.Whatever he set his mind to, he seemed naturally gifted—always self-taught, always exceptional. Yet under that kiss, her body and heart finally, completely calmed.The only thing she still wished for was that her parents were not monsters, not the kind of people whose crimes could never be forgiven. If they were, everything she had worked for all these years would crumble to ash.'Please, just this once… God, please, be kind to me,' she prayed silently.Right now, she didn't want to think about any of that. She only wanted to lose herself in his warmth, to stop holding back. The man she had once called "brother" thousands of times truly saw her as the most important person in his world.All her worries, hesitation, and fear had been unnecessary. It was her own caution, that fragile, guarded heart, that had built the wall of misunderstanding between
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