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I’m so shocked by his question that I react instinctually, iven a conscious coerly, holding it between his thuer as he studies it

His expression is intense, serious, and I find raph for several long moments

Then he looks back up at me and nods “It’s definitely you And I think it’s your brother too”

My stomach flutters What this man thinks shouldn’t matter I shouldn’t care about his opinion at all, and even if I did, it would still be only that—his opinion He can’t change the unalterable facts of life just by uttering a single sentence

But somehow, his words do matter

I shrug lightly, trying to hide my reaction “Yeah Maybe”

“No, not maybe It is you And I see the similarities between the little boy and you too Here”

Still holding the picture in one hand, he reaches out with the other and traces his fingertip down the side of s flare to life and my nipples harden

“The shape of your face is the same The way your jaw curves like this Your mouth is the same” His thuht and narrow, syraze the side of my nose

I stiffen a little under his touch, the fierce need to believe hi with the instant, opposite need to quash down any false hope “Lots of people have noses like this”

“No They don’t”

Marcus’s saze is still locked on ry focus, and for the first tiht of the years he’s spent watching me

Obsessing over me

Craving me

I e way, he knows me Maybe better than anyone else I’ve ever met