Page 269 of Secret Heir For The Billionaire Twin

“There’s so much history between us that I don’t always know what I’m reacting to anymore. There’s guilt, there’s grief, there’s what happened between us before, there’s Theo, and then there’s the fact that I still want you.”

Her voice softens on the last words.

Heat moves through me immediately, but I keep my eyes on hers.

“Those aren’t all the same thing,” I tell her.

“I know.”

“Then we don’t have to treat them like they are.”

Sophie gives me a small, uncertain smile.

“You make that sound easier than it is.”

“It isn’t easy.”

“No.”

“But I know what I feel.”

Her expression changes slightly.

I shift closer.

“I’ve been trying not to say too much because everything with Theo is already enormous, and the last thing I want is for you to think I’m confusing one thing with another.”

Sophie looks at me.

“What are you trying to say?”

I sit back for half a second, then decide there’s no point in protecting myself anymore.

“The truth is, when we were together before, I was falling in love with you.”

Her breath catches.

I keep going because if I stop now, I’ll probably never say it the way I need to.

“When you disappeared, something in my life went quiet. I filled every hour I had. Work, travel, the company, everything I knew how to control. I built more, achieved more, kept moving, and none of it changed the fact that there was always something missing.”

Sophie’s eyes shine, but she doesn’t look away.

“Julian…”

“I’m not saying Camille didn’t matter. She did. I cared about her. But even when my life looked complete from the outside, there was still this space I couldn’t explain.”

I lift my hand and touch Sophie’s face, brushing my thumb slowly along her cheek.

“Now I can.”

Her lips part slightly.

I move a little closer.

“Being here with you, being here with Theo, it feels like something in me finally stopped fighting itself.”

Sophie’s hand comes up and closes around my wrist.