Chapter 140

• Derulo's POV
• I had dismissed everyone who might interrupt my private study tonight, secured the space from pack business, and prepared for the conversation I had been postponing for too long.
• Mia would arrive in minutes. I reviewed what I wanted to say. How to explain years of suppressing the bond, the engagement arrangement meant to protect her, the careful distance I had maintained thinking it was for her benefit. And how to admit I had been wrong about most of it. The knock came at exactly 9 PM.