Chapter 52 —There's nothing between usNarrator:Aylin felt the weight of her own words as soon as she uttered them.She heard them hanging in the air between them like a sentence, like a taut string about to snap.Her pulse pounded furiously in her throat. She had no idea where she had found the courage to say it, nor was she even sure she had thought it before uttering it.But there they were, those damn words.“If I marry you... will he stop hating you?”God... what had she just done? She felt her chest tighten. She couldn't take her eyes off Roman, off his closed expression, off the way his gaze darkened with something she couldn't decipher. It wasn't anger, it wasn't mockery, it wasn't triumph.It was something deeper. Something that somehow made her feel more vulnerable than ever.She clenched her hands at her sides, as if that would help her hold on to her own determination.Was she going crazy? She knew exactly what she was doing.From the moment she heard Sasha scream, she kne

Chapter 54 —RoxanneNarrator:Aylin pushed him away forcefully, separating herself from him as if her sanity depended on it.Her breathing was ragged, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to ignore the heat that still burned inside her.“No.” Her voice sounded firm, though the tremor in her lips betrayed her. Don't ever do that again.Roman narrowed his eyes, a dark, crooked smile playing on his lips, as if he were enjoying her inner struggle.“No?”Aylin clenched her fists at her sides, forcing herself to look him straight in the eye.“What happened between us before...” She swallowed, as if the words were stuck in her throat. It doesn't matter, it didn't mean anything.“ Roman tilted his head, assessing her with that exasperating calm of his, but said nothing. ”This marriage will be purely for convenience. There is nothing between you and me, and there never will be.“The silence that fell between them was thick, almost suffocating.Until Roman spoke.”We'll see."His ton

Chapter 56 —The Wedding NightNarrator:The door closes behind them and the atmosphere changes. There is a heavy silence, the kind that heralds the inevitable. Roman looks at her as if he wants to devour her whole. There is no haste in his expression, but there is a dark, intense determination.Aylin, still wearing her wedding dress, feels her skin burn without him even touching her. She knows what is coming, what it means, what he is about to do. And yet she does not move. She does not back away. She waits for him.Roman takes a step forward, closing the distance between them. With one hand, he takes her chin, tilting her face up. With the other, he wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her against him.“I'm going to take this dress off you, Mrs. Adler. Slowly. Very, very slowly.”His voice is a deep murmur, a touch of liquid fire on her skin. Aylin feels a shiver run down her spine. And then he kisses her, slowly, deliberately.A kiss unlike the ones before, because this one he sa

Chapter 58 —RulesNarrator:Aylin was barely catching her breath when she felt Roman's hand slowly run down her back, making her skin tingle. It wasn't a tender or sweet caress. It was possessive. As if he still didn't want to let her go completely.“Shit...” he murmured, his voice raspy, burying his face in her neck. “I knew I wanted you, but I never imagined you would make me feel this way.”Aylin opened her eyes slowly, her heart still pounding in her ears.“This way?” she asked, her voice rough with exhaustion.Roman smiled against her skin.“This fucking edge.” He slid his fingers down her thigh, where there were still marks from his grip. “This lost.”Aylin felt her skin burn.“And is that good or bad?”Roman leaned on one elbow, leaning over her, his hair tousled and his dark gaze fixed on her lips.“It depends.” He ran his knuckles along her jaw. “If it were anyone else, I would have fucked her and forgotten her. But you...”Aylin looked at him, frowning.“Me what?”Roman looke

Chapter 60 —PerfumesNarrator:The morning light filtered through the curtains, bathing the room in a soft, warm glow. Roman blinked a couple of times before focusing on reality.And the reality was that Aylin's body was practically on top of him.Her leg was tangled with his.Her arm rested on his chest. Her warm breath caressed his collarbone with every quiet breath. Roman tensed. “Shit.” The last time he woke up like this with a woman was... Never. He sighed, sliding a hand across her face and gently pushing her away. Aylin groaned in her sleep and clung to him even tighter.Roman let out a dry laugh. “Of course,” he murmured.He had no patience for this. Not after last night.So he simply slid his hands around her waist and pulled her away without further ado.Aylin grunted again, stirred, and, still half asleep, mumbled in a slurred voice:“Let me sleep...”Roman rolled his eyes.“If I don't get off you, I'm going to fuck you again.”The threat was enough to make Aylin open her ey