205
~Alex's POV
"She thinks I'm this… normal guy. Maybe a little mysterious, sure. Rich, charming, connected. But she doesn't know what kind of connections. She doesn't know the meetings I take at night. The kind of people who call me 'boss'. Or worse…Alpha."
I rubbed my hands together, the skin dry and cracked from years of gripping too many weapons, too many secrets.
"And when I look at her… I see everything I'm not. Everything I lost. She's light. She's good. Even with everything she's been through. I look at her and think… if I touch her too much, I might ruin her."
Micheal sat forward slowly. "Have you ever thought that maybe she needs your strength as much as you need her light?"
I looked up.
"Alex, you're acting like you're a monster," he said softly. "But maybe… just maybe, you're the only one strong enough to stand by her through all this. Through Mia's recovery, through her own healing. You think she hasn't seen pain? That she doesn't have shadows too?"
