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Before she can add anything, I let my head fall back against the pillows, a low groan slipping from my chest—a warning rumble.

“Thalia, don’t try to irritate me before I’m fully awake,” I say, my voice thick with sleep.

I feel her chuckle beside me as her hand continues to wander over my body. Then she leans in, kissing slowly along the left side of my abdomen, dangerously close to my cock.

“Kitten, if you don’t want us to be delayed even more,” I growl, grabbing a handful of her hair to stop her, “I suggest you stop now.”

It only amuses her further, but she lets me guide her away, resting her head on my chest.

“I…” she begins hesitantly, then stops abruptly and sighs.

“What?” I ask, concern sharpening my tone. “Talk, kitten.”

“I’m so happy here, now… with you, Ethan,” she confesses, her voice so soft it barely reaches me. “Thank you… for choosing to believe me last night, and for understanding me.”

I smile, keeping my eyes closed, letting my hand trace slow, absent patterns along the back of her arm.

For a few moments, I let her words linger between us, turning their meaning over in my mind.

“Thalia, I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet,” I reply, sincere, firm yet gentle, “but I’m very possessive. Extremely so.”

I open my eyes and push myself up against the headboard, pulling her with me.

“I don’t know if I ever truly believed you did more during that date, or if you even wanted anything beyond it,” I admit, “but for me, the intention alone was reason enough to end things between us.”

She rests her head on my shoulder, one hand now wrapped around my waist. She says nothing, only listens, absorbing every word.

“I want it to be clear that I will not tolerate betrayal in any form,” I say seriously, my tone that of a CEO laying out the terms and conditions of a contract. “And my decision to give this a chance came from realizing that I’ve constantly put you in situations far harder to accept and endure than you ever should have had to.”

And it’s true. I told her I didn’t want anything serious, gave her the impression I was only interested in sex.

She caught me with Irina in that bathroom, on the verge of crossing a line. And even though I didn’t have anything with Thalia then, I know it hurt her. The conversation with Theo confirmed it.

She saw me kissing Antonia, even after I’d started sleeping with her. And on top of that, she saw me with Irina every day in the office.

Only now do I understand how I made her feel, what I conveyed without ever intending to. And though I can’t accept what she did, I understand her reasons.

I admit, it helped that she never spoke with John again, and that nothing happened between them. Had she allowed him to touch her—even a kiss—there would have been no chance for me to move past it.

“Yes, you did,” she teases, tapping my abdomen lightly with her hand. “And yet… I ended up being the one who had to apologize and wait to be forgiven.”

Laughing, I lean toward her and kiss her, lifting her chin gently with two fingers.

“I’m sorry for everything, Thalia,” I whisper against her mouth. “I can’t change what I’ve done, but I promise you that from now on, I’ll give you the kind of relationship you’ve always wanted.”

She doesn’t answer, only kisses me back with deeper, more intense hunger—a silent declaration of our own.

I let her take all the time she needs, let her consume me exactly the way she wants to, let her prove herself that everything she’s experiencing right now is real.

But I know we need to clear every misunderstanding between us, to start this relationship without doubt, without hesitation, without suspicion.

So when she finally pulls back from kissing me, I slide two fingers beneath her chin, guiding her gaze back to mine, making sure she doesn’t look away.

“Two nights ago, I was on the phone with Beatrix,” I begin. I already see the way her eyes darken, but I’m certain she’ll understand once she hears everything. “She’s Zayn’s assistant…” I pause briefly, my gaze drifting past her shoulder toward the window. “And Irina’s friend.”

At the sound of her name, Thalia tenses against me, her breathing turning uneven.

“Ethan…”