Bonds

Chapter Six

~Maya’s POV~

Natalia’s voice, muffled through the phone, jolted me out of a daze. “You really think he did it?” Her words felt like sandpaper against my raw nerves.

I let out a sigh, “I don’t know,” the confession scraping my throat, “But think of it, Natalia. If I were to bomb a place, why would I leave evidence that it was me on the bomb?”

“Exactly!” Natalia’s sharp tone crackled through the receiver. “My thoughts exactly. But still, he’s the only one with a motive to stop the wedding. Maybe he realized what he lost.”

I shook my head, the gesture echoing the hollowness inside me, “I looked into his eyes. The Alex that loved me… I didn’t see that man anymore. There was anger, yes, but also a stranger, someone consumed by something I couldn’t understand.”

A beat of silence hung between us, thick with unspoken doubts. “So maybe it was his way of making good on that threat. Maybe this was his way of showing Everton that he means to really go to war with your father.”

“And my father, of course, couldn’t help but blame me,” I muttered, bitterness lacing my voice.

“When are you going to stand up—?” Shebegan, her question hanging in the air.

“No, Natalia, please don’t,” I interrupted, my voice laced with a plea. “I did that once, and it ended with my heart in pieces. That fire…” I choked back a sob, the memory a barbed wire twisting in my gut. “It’s gone.”

“Amaya…” Her voice was laced with concern, reaching across the miles to wrap around me in a virtual hug.

I clutched the phone tighter, “It’s gone,” I repeated.

Silence followed as I stared at myself in the mirror. A stranger stared back, her eyes dull with pain, her lips drawn in a tight line of resignation.

the fire, darling. It’s about the embers. They’re still there,

us. Natalia, bless her bluntness, knew me too well to let it

picking at a chipped piece of nail polish. “He’s probably still knee-deep in damage control after the explosion. Daniel, of course, is already

on Natalia’s tongue, her silence crackling with

and paint the town red? Forget

lips. “It’s

shelved at his will. I know it’s easier to just comply, to shrink into the shadow he casts, but damn it, Maya, that’s not you. I miss the girl who could stare down a rogue wolf and laugh in his face. I miss the firebrand who started a rebellion in college because a professor misquoted Nietzsche. I miss the you that wouldn’t back down from anything, the you

a punch to the gut, jolting me out

we going?” I whispered, wiping the tears

that just opened,” she chirped, her excitement infectious. “Big Shot, it’s called, and rumor has it they have a dance floor that hypnotizes and cocktails that

Nathan

broken vows, the piece of shit that broke your heart. Plus, I have this new outfit that practically

she was already planning the escape. “Don’t worry about details, I’ll handle everything. I’ll text you the address, you wear something that sets your inner warrior goddess on fire, and meet me by the back gate in ten minutes. We’re painting the

couldn’t help but laugh, the sound bubbling up from a place I thought had been buried under the rubble of the day. The Natalia Rant, as she affectionately called it,

agreed, the word slipping out on a breath of newfound

she promised, her voice already halfway

Lots and lots of

mischievous laughter echoing down the hallway. “Tonight,

spark flickered to life in my eyes, chasing away the shadows of fear and resignation. The girl who punched Nathan in the face and defied her father

against my burning cheeks. My heart hammered in my chest, a wild hummingbird trapped in a cage of nerves and excitement. There she was, Natalia, silhouetted against the streetlamp,

her voice a familiar melody in the

the collar of my leather jacket tighter against the wind. “Just…

sharp as diamonds, seemed to pierce through my flimsy excuse. “The

though the lie tasted bitter on my tongue.

her smile soft and understanding. “I get it,” she said, “It’s been a hell of a day. But tonight, we

spirit. I let out a shaky laugh, feeling the tension seep out of my shoulders. “Ready when you are,

declared, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Now, about