<b>Chapter 135 </b>


    We spent the morning in bed, alternating between passionate embraces andfortable silence. It was a kind of peace I had rarely experienced–a stillness of the soul that I hadn’t known I was missing.


    Eventually, though, the real world intruded. My phone buzzed with messages from Marcus about pack business that couldn’t be dyed. I reluctantly left the warmth of the bed to prepare for the day.


    As I dressed, Reba watched me from beneath the covers, her eyes following my movements with undisguised appreciation. The possessiveness I felt when I caught her gaze was tempered now by something else–a certainty, a sense of rightness that hadn’t been there before.


    Before leaving, I returned to the bed and kissed her deeply, my hand cradling the back of her neck where my mark still showed, a purple–red bruise against her fair skin. My thumb brushed over it, a surge of satisfaction flowing through me at the visible sign of my im.


    “Tonight,” I said, my voice low and serious, “we need to talk.”


    Reba frowned slightly, a flicker of worry crossing her features. “About what?”


    My finger traced the line of her jaw, memorizing the feel of her skin. “You’ve changed me, little doe. More than you


    know.”


    Her confusion was evident in the furrow of her brow, but I didn’t borate. This conversation needed time–time I


    didn’t have at the moment.


    As I turned to leave, she called after me: “Dominic? What happened? You look… you seem so different.”


    I paused at the door, considering how much to reveal. “We’ll talk tonight,” I promised, offering her a smile that felt unfamiliar on my face–open<b>, </b>genuine, without the usual guards and defenses.


    With that, I left, already counting the hours until I could return to her.


    Reba’s POV


    I watched the door close behind Dominic, my mind spinning with questions. Something had changed between usst night–something profound that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. The way he looked at me this morning, the tenderness in his touch, the openness in his expression… it was as if a wall hade down, revealing a Dominic I’d only glimpsed in rare<b>, </b>unguarded moments.


    I unconsciously licked my lips, remembering the impulsive urge to bite his neck when I lost controlst night, and felt my <b>face </b>flush with heat. The memory of our night together sent a pleasant shiver through me, but it was overshadowed by the nagging feeling that I was missing something important.


    <b>9:01 </b><b>Thu</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>25 </b>


    :.


    We need to talk, he’d said. About what? The seriousness in his tone suggested something significant, but his demeanor had been so… content. Not at all like someone about to deliver bad news.


    <b>01 </b>


    I sighed, pushing aside <b>the covers </b>and heading for the shower. There was no point in obsessing over it now–I’d find out tonight. In the meantime<b>, </b>I had the whole day ahead of me, and for once, I didn’t feel like brooding over <b>the </bplexities of my rtionship with Dominic or the limitations of the contract.


    For today, I would simply exist in the moment.


    After my shower, I was toweling my hair dry when my phone rang. Seeing Sofia’s name on the screen, I answered


    immediately.


    “Hey, Sophia. What’s up?”


    Her voice came through strained. “Ba, I need to tell you something serious. Dn… he’s out. He came to see me


    yesterday…”


    I froze, the towel slipping from my grasp. Dn Hurst–the man who had threatened me in the hospital garden, the man Sofia had helped expose for ckmailing women.


    “He threatened me at the hospital too,” I said, my voice steady despite the sudden chill that ran through me. “In the


    garden.”


    Sofia’s sharp intake of breath was audible through the phone. “Why didn’t you tell me? Or Dominic?”


    I sank onto the edge of the bed. “I didn’t want to worry anyone. Dominic has enough on his te with pack business<b>, </b>and you<b>… </b>you’ve already done so much to help me.”


    “Ba<b>, </b>this is serious,” Sofia insisted. “If he’s targeting both of us, he’s nning something. We need to be careful.”


    ‘What did he say to you?” I asked, dreading the answer.


    “Mostly that he was going to make us both regret crossing him. He was… different. Colder, more calcted than <b>before</b>.” She paused. “I think we should meet and talk about this in person. Are you free for lunch?”


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