?Chapter 204:


    “Hey, are you okay?” she asked cautiously, waving a hand in front of his face.


    Without warning, Cole caught her hand in his own and raised it to his lips, pressing a feather-light kiss to her fingers.


    Elliana exhaled, finally letting go of the tension in her chest. She stared at him in surprise—how could someone endure this kind of pain so effortlessly? And without anesthesia, no less.


    She was just about tomend his astonishing pain tolerance when he groaned dramatically, doubling over. “Ow—ow! It hurts! God, it hurts so bad!”


    Elliana blinked, stunned. Wasn’t that cry of pain just a little too dyed? The worst part of the procedure had been earlier—when she sliced open his skin and fished the bullet out with a pair of tweezers. But back then, he hadn’t so much as flinched. Now, with everything cleaned, stitched, and bandaged, he suddenly felt pain?


    As she pondered how to respond, Cole buried his face against her chest, wrapping his uninjured arm around her waist like a sulking child seekingfort.


    Elliana sighed and rolled her eyes, stifling augh. Who would’ve guessed? The infamous Cole Evans—stone-faced, razor-sharp, feared in boardrooms and battlefields alike—was aplete baby in private.


    And just when she thought it couldn’t get more ridiculous, he mumbled against her chest in a pitiful tone, “I feel so weak, like my heart’s copsing and I might die.”


    She stifled augh. “Then maybe you should lie down and rest.”


    But Cole tightened his grip, refusing to let her go. “Resting doesn’t help. What I need is affection. Hugs. Kisses. That’s the real medicine.”


    Elliana shook her head, amused by his plea. “You really don’t quit, do you?” she muttered under her breath.


    Still, her tone softened. “Lie down properly. I’ll get some water and help you change into clean clothes.”


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    At that moment, she felt more like a patient, older girlfriend coaxing her clingy younger boyfriend than a woman tending to a dangerous, unpredictable man.


    “Okay,” Cole said, shing a boyish smile as he allowed her to help him lie down on the bed.


    She fetched a basin of water from the bathroom and began wiping down his upper body with a towel, methodically and gently.


    Coley back in silence, watching her every movement like she was something rare and exquisite. He’d seen her fierce. He’d seen her cold.


    But this version—quiet, gentle, attentive—made his heart stir. Elliana tried to ignore the weight of his stare and, once finished, turned to take the basin away.


    That was when his hand suddenly shot out and caught hers.


    She turned back toward him. “What is it now?”


    “Is that it?” Cole asked with a pout that didn’t suit a man of his stature. Elliana narrowed her eyes. “What else do you want?”


    He pointed unashamedly toward his lower half. “You missed a spot. I’m sweaty all over, you know.”


    Elliana’s cheeks immediately flushed. Was he seriously turning this into that kind of situation?


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