Page 74 of BounBound By Scars

“You know…” I said to no one in particular, dragging the words dramatically just as her lips met the glass, “I recently learned thatcockin Hindi is calledLing.”

Chaos.

Amelia choked—violently—on her juice, coughing as she leaned forward, her eyes wide and glass nearly slipping from her hand. I took it and set it aside like the gentleman I was.

Dylan, seated on her other side, didn’t even blink. He casually patted her back while continuing to chew.

I barely held in my laugh. Barely.

Logan wheezed from the other end of the table, clutching his side. “Ling? As in… Gao fucking Ling?”

And just like that, the table exploded with laughter.

Zane actually choked on his toast. Delara muttered something about morons with clearance levels. Kaylan was covering her mouth, giggling. Sebastian had his head in his hands, shaking it. If Ghost and Leora were here and not on their honeymoon in the next building, I was sure they’d be losing it too.

And Amelia?

She glared at me between coughs, face flushed. “You’re theworst.”

I just grinned, smug as hell, my hand still resting behind her.

“Ling,Heeriye,” I whispered, my lips brushing her ear. “There’s your answer.”

She blinked at me, still recovering from the near-death juice incident. “Is that… a nickname? Other than Lia?”

I tilted my head, eyes twinkling. “Yep.”

“Heeriye?” she repeated carefully, tasting it like it was a foreign candy.

I nodded once, like I hadn’t spent years obsessing over what to call her.

She squinted at me. “Okay but… what does it mean?”

I gave a nonchalant shrug. “My diamond. My powerful, unshaken foundation.”

And just like that—her mouth parted, her breath hitched, and the world fell away. No more plates clinking or Logan’s dumb laugh or Kaylan’s tiny snort at something I missed. Just her.

I couldn’t stop smiling. Couldn’t stop the urge crawling up my spine to grab her hand and drag her out of this lounge. Not to talk. Not to convince. To show her. She was it. My everything. My ending.

And then she ruined it.

She smirked, smug little menace. “You do realize your first ever romantic nickname for me is forever tainted because you said cock in the same breath, right?”

My smile died on impact.

A string of curses slipped past my lips. Hindi? English? I didn’t even know.

I sighed dramatically, slumped back into my chair like I’d been shot in the pride. “How can someone so beautiful be so damn cruel?”

But I rallied.

Because if she thought that was going to stop me, she didn’t know me at all.

“You know… maybe Ididmess up the timing,” I muttered, shifting close again, voice low and thick. “But there’s no way in hell I’m giving it up now. Not until I take my last damn breath,Heer.”

Her whole body went still.

I leaned even closer, my lips a breath from her neck. “And I’m definitely not giving you a damnchoice.”

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