Page 23 of The Secretary Volume II

I don’t know if I’m right.

But I know I’ve shifted something.

“You always were clever,” he says, reaching for my wrist.His thumb strokes slow circles against my pulse.

It’s either a test or a warning.Probably both.

“Do you remember the last time we had dinner together?”

I should.

I don’t.

He tilts his head.“I don’t like being forgotten, Gillian.”

I want to say you’re impossible to forget.

I want to say I wish I could.

Instead, I say nothing.

Ellis leans in, his breath warm against my skin.“That’s why this time I made sure you wouldn’t.”

A chill slides through me.

No.

No, he wouldn’t.

He would.

The resets aren’t universal.They aren’t complete.

He chooses what stays.

His fingers slip beneath my chin, tilting my face to meet his.

“I don’t forget my nights with you, Gillian.”

His lips brush my ear.“You shouldn’t, either.”

The air shifts.

I remember.

The warmth of his hands, the press of his body, the way he peels away every layer like he’s entitled to what’s underneath.

He’s right.I shouldn’t.

But I do.

My fingers tighten around my glass.

Ellis leans back, satisfied.

“Finish your wine,” he says.

No command.No request.Just the weight of expectation.

---