-Theodore-I hated surprises.Not because I didn’t appreciate them.Because surprises meant uncertainty.And uncertainty meant something was happening outside of my control.I built my entire life around eliminating uncertainty.Contracts.Plans.Strategies.Everything had a purpose.Everything had a reason.Everything had a predictable outcome.Except Evangeline.She was the one variable I had never accounted for.And lately, I was starting to think she was the only thing in my life I didn’t want to calculate.That realization should have bothered me more than it did.I sat in my office, looking through reports while my mind was somewhere else entirely.Again.It was becoming embarrassing.A man who could negotiate multi-million-dollar deals was losing focus because he remembered the way a woman laughed at his terrible opinions about books.Ridiculous.I closed the file in front of me.There was no point pretending I was working.My phone buzzed.Kennedy.I stared at the screen.Then

-Evangeline-I should have known peace never lasted long in my life.It always showed up quietly, like it was testing the waters.Then it left the same way chaos entered—without warning, without apology.That morning, I woke up earlier than usual.Not because I wanted to.Because my mind refused to let me rest.There was something about the night before that sat wrong in my chest.Not Theo.Not Kennedy.Not even the dinner, which had gone better than I expected.It was something else.Something I couldn’t name.Something I didn’t want to name.I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, listening to the silence in the house.Too quiet.Theo’s presence always made silence feel different.He didn’t have to speak to fill a space.He just existed and somehow everything became aware of him.I turned over and reached for my phone.Nothing new.No messages.No threats.No Lucas.That alone should have been comforting.Instead, it made me uneasy.Because Lucas never stayed quiet for lon

-Theodore-I had faced people who wanted me dead.People who wanted to destroy everything I built.People who smiled while planning my downfall.I knew how to handle those people.You didn't reason with them.You didn't trust them.You watched.You waited.You struck when they least expected it.But Evangeline standing in front of me, holding my phone with a look of fear I had never seen from her before?That was different.Because for the first time, I wasn't looking at an enemy.I was looking at someone I cared about being hurt.And I hated that I couldn't immediately fix it.She stared at the picture on my screen like it had dragged her into another life.A life she had tried to leave behind."Evangeline."Her eyes lifted slowly."I'm sorry."Two words.The first thing she said.Not anger.Not explanation.An apology.And something about that immediately bothered me."Why are you apologizing?"She looked away."Because this is becoming another problem for you."I frowned.Another p

All Chapters of Contracted to him: Chapter 31 - Chapter 33

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