Hear his expelled breath when he’d climaxed a few minutes later.

It stunned her to find out now that he’d never been with any woman except her.

She rested her chin on his chest to stare into his incredibly blue eyes. “Given how skilled you’ve always been in bed, I would have never guessed that I was your first.”

“That’s because I spend a lot of time thinking about what I want to do to you.”

She smiled as she remembered all the little things he’d done over the years that had made him such an important, vital part of her life. “Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?” he asked with a scowl.

“I assume you’re the reason my sister called me earlier.”

He stroked her hair tenderly. “I figured you’d want to talk to her. I know how close you two are and I’m sorry I didn’t get you in touch with her sooner.”

She should probably hold that against him, but for some reason she didn’t. “I also assume you’re… whatever that group is that’s sponsoring her scholarship?”

“DIG.”

“Yes, that was it.”

He shook his head. “It’s actually the company owned by Syn and his wife. They do all kinds of charitable deeds under it.”

Now she was confused. “So are they the ones funding her?”

“No, they just loaned their company name to me so that I could do it without her knowing.”

She would never fully understand him. But then he’d always been a contradiction. “Why did you do that?”

“I was afraid if she knew a Cruel or the Sentella was financing her degree, she’d refuse to take the money.”

Sorche would have. Zarya had raised her better than to take charity from anyone. “I still don’t understand why you would do something so kind for her when you hate me.”

He shrugged. “No one should work that hard and not be able to go because of something as trivial as money. I know how much it meant to her and I wanted her to have it. She deserves it after all she’s done to get in.”

“You’ve made her very happy. Thank you.” Zarya laid her head on his thigh as she watched him. He was such a contradiction. He hated her, but he protected her. He’d sold her, and yet paid for her sister to have her dream.

Nothing about him made sense.

He could be so frustrating.

But as they lay in the silence, one thing became clear to her. He wasn’t his uncle. She’d spent her entire life trying to bring down his family, but the real villain was dead.

Darling would be as good for their empire as his father had been.

Better if the truth was known.

As Maris had said, above all, Darling was always fair. He hadn’t punished Sorche for Zarya’s actions. He hadn’t even lashed out at Zarya herself. Not really.

And as a member of the Sentella, he’d been a hero for the working class even though he’d been born to one of the oldest and richest families in existence.