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.

not about the fire, darling. It’s about the embers. They’re still there, glowing under

in the air between us. Natalia, bless her bluntness, knew me too well to let it linger.

I admitted, 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 planning a redo of the wedding since I, apparently, need to finish my vows. A

Natalia’s tongue, her silence crackling with disapproval. I knew she wanted to cuss out my father but was

we ditch the dust and debris of today and paint the town red? Forget Daniel’s

started, the protest forming on my lips. “It’s past

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

a punch to the gut, jolting me

going?” I whispered, wiping

“There’s this new club 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 sing opera. I’ve been

what about Nathan

some girl time anyway, and you need a night to forget the bomb, the broken vows, the piece of shit that broke your heart. Plus, I have this new outfit that practically screams ‘watch me dance,’

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 town ruby red, Maya Stone, and for once, the only fireworks will

bubbling up 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

I agreed, the word slipping out on a breath

her voice already halfway

there’s dancing. Lots and lots of

the hallway.

chasing away the shadows of fear and resignation. The girl who punched Nathan in the face and defied her father wasn’t dead, she was simply hibernating. And tonight, Natalia was right, she was coming

air a welcome slap against my burning cheeks. My heart hammered in my chest, a wild hummingbird trapped in a

Rapunzel,” she teased, her voice a familiar melody

pulling the collar of my leather

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

the lie tasted bitter on my tongue.

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

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

mischievous glint in