Page 99 of The Arrogant's Surrender

There’s no time or need for tenderness. What we need is this precious connection our bodies have already discovered, even before our minds fully realized it.

He finally moves, and we both tremble, passion exploding like a tidal wave.

There’s roughness in the act. It’s raw, hungry sex. Our desperation reveals the longing we’ve felt during these days apart.

“I can have children,” he says, thrusting hard inside me. “And I want to see your belly carrying them. Lots of them. A big family. Our world.”

My eyes fill with tears.

I shouldn’t want these promises, but I do. Every single one of them.

“I love you. I tried not to, but I love you, Athanasios. I’m giving you everything. My heart and my trust.”

“I’m crazy about you, Brooklyn. I’ll never hurt you.”

Athanasios

CHAPTER FIFTY

One Month Later

“So,from what I understand, you want information about your biological mother. To find out where she is, is that it?”

We’re at the Lykaios Systems headquarters. Our meeting had to be postponed for over a month, but it’s finally happening.

I run both hands over my face before looking at him again. I never imagined it would be this difficult to talk about my past to someone who is, technically, a stranger.

I haven’t even shared the details with L.J. or William, but if I want Odin to uncover the whole truth, I’m going to have to trust him.

“I know where she is. I found her about a year ago. She was in a coma. Still is. The doctors couldn’t say what happened, only that she’d been beaten and left unconscious in the middle of the street.”

“Fuck!”

“I admitted her to my hospital under a false name, but let me start from the beginning so you can understand the context. Itwas always just me and my mother. I didn’t understand why, but we were always on the run. Even as a child, it was obvious to me that she was very afraid.”

“Running from who?”

“I don’t know. She always told me we couldn’t stay in one place too long because they would find us and take me away from her—until one day, it happened.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know exactly. She woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to run, to get away as fast as I could because they would hurt me. I was terrified and obeyed. Barefoot, wearing just shorts. I never had a reason to doubt my mother. She was always good to me, so I did as she said.”

“But you were adopted, right? So how did you end up with the parents who raised you?”

“I was hit by a car while running. I woke up in a hospital. The authorities asked me questions, but I didn’t answer any of them except to give my first name because my mother had already told me that iftheycaught me, I shouldn’t say anything. A few days later, a couple showed up saying they wanted to adopt me temporarily—my parents, Medeia and Dardanos Pappakouris. Later, the adoption became permanent.”

“But didn’t they try to find your biological mother first?”

“Yes, the police searched for months, but they never found her. I grew up obsessed with reuniting with her, but as I said, I only found her about a year ago.”

“You said you were always moving. Didn’t you go to school?”

“No. My mother, Kassia, taught me everything at home—reading, writing, math. We never stayed in one city for more than three months, and she never allowed me to enroll in school, no matter how much I begged.”

“And you didn’t think that was strange?”

“No. Why would I? I was a child. I grew up happy with a mother who loved me. She was the best mom in the world to me. Of course, as I got older, I started questioning the need to keep moving since I never had the chance to make friends.”

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