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.

now, filled with understanding. “It’s not about the fire, darling. It’s

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

Daniel, of course, is already planning a redo

simmering on Natalia’s tongue, her silence crackling with

today and paint the town

lips. “It’s past

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

punch to the gut,

whispered, wiping the tears

she chirped, her excitement infectious. “Big Shot, it’s called, and rumor has it they have a dance floor that hypnotizes and cocktails that sing opera. I’ve been dying to check it out, and

what about Nathan and Ivy?” I

bomb, the broken vows, the piece

your inner warrior goddess on fire, and meet me by the back gate

from a place I thought had been buried under the rubble of the day. The Natalia Rant, as she affectionately called it, had a way of doing that, of

out on a breath of newfound defiance. “Just

promised, her voice already halfway out

dancing. Lots and

echoing down the hallway. “Tonight, my friend, we dance like there’s no

and resignation. The girl who punched Nathan in the face and defied her

the cool night air a welcome slap against my burning cheeks. My heart hammered in my chest, a wild hummingbird trapped in a cage of

she teased, her voice a

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

eyes, sharp as diamonds, seemed to pierce through my flimsy excuse. “The alpha throwing another tantrum?” she asked,

though the lie tasted bitter

“I get it,” she said, “It’s been a

words were a balm to my bruised spirit. I let out a shaky laugh, feeling the tension seep out of my

a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Now,