Chapter 145

• Ivan's POV
• I sat alone in the suite, staring at the cityscape beyond the massive glass windows. The early afternoon sun glinted off the steel and glass towers of Sydney, but I wasn’t really looking at them. My thoughts were elsewhere—circling like hawks over last night, over Margeaux.
• Her laugh still echoed in my head, and the way she’d looked at me on that yacht—it had felt real, almost too real. I’ve been with women before, but not like this. Not where I’m left replaying every single second afterward. It wasn’t just her beauty, though God knows she’s stunning. It was the fire in her, that stubborn streak mixed with innocence. It’s rare. Maybe that’s why I can’t stop thinking about her.