CHAPTER 20

I woke up the next morning to find the bed empty beside me. My head ached slightly from the lack of sleep, but that wasn’t what concerned me the most. The lingering warmth on the other side of the bed told me Thiago had only recently left. I sat up, staring at the rumpled sheets where he had slept, my thoughts drifting to the night before.

Shaking my head, I tried to push the memories away, but they clung to me like a second skin. What happened between us was... intense, to say the least. I couldn’t let it distract me, not with so much at stake.

With a sigh, I reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out the small pack of contraceptive pills I kept hidden. Popping one into my mouth, I swallowed it dry, a small comfort in the face of the chaos my life had become. Thiago and I had a contract, and while one of its clauses addressed the possibility of pregnancy, the very thought of carrying his child made my skin crawl.

I couldn’t deny the raw, carnal pleasure he gave me—a satisfaction