Page 116 of Alien War Daddy's Got Rizz

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“That matters,” he says quietly.

“It does.”

I stop in front of him, close enough that the air between us tightens, but I don’t touch him. I let him feel the distance. Let him understand the shift.

“I didn’t choose you because I was afraid,” I say. “I chose you because Iseeyou. And because I know exactly what you are.”

“A monster,” he says, without bitterness.

I smile, slow and deliberate. “My monster.”

The corner of his mouth twitches. “Careful.”

“No,” I murmur. “Intentional.”

I step back, reclaiming my space, and gesture toward the window. “Watch.”

He does.

I move through the next hour like a conductor, calling in department heads, issuing directives, dismantling remnants ofTidball’s regime with calm, brutal efficiency. Grau stays where he is, silent, observing. No interference. No posturing.

Just presence.

I see it dawn on him as he watches—the way people respond to me now. The way they listen. The way they don’t interrupt. The way they look at me like I’m inevitable.

I’m not being protected.

I’m beingrecognized.

When the last meeting clears and the office settles into late-afternoon quiet, I turn back to him.

“Well?” I ask.

He stands slowly. “You don’t need a guard.”

“No.”

“You don’t need a savior.”

“No.”

His gaze darkens. “Then what do you need?”

I step into his space, tilt my head, let the question linger. “A witness.”

Something in him shifts. Deep. Foundational.

“I can do that,” he says.

“I know.”

I reach up—not in need, not in desperation—and straighten his collar. The gesture is intimate, controlled, deliberate. His breath stutters, just once.

“I chose you,” I repeat softly. “And I’m still choosing you. Not because I’m weak. Because I’m strong enough to want what I want.”

“And what you want is me,” he says, voice rough.

I meet his eyes. “Exactly.”

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