Bonds

Chapter 49

-Maya’s POV-

My head spun as I stumbled out of Alex’s office. The unexpected kiss hung heavy in the air, a phantom touch that sent shivers down my spine despite the anger that still burned within me.

How could he have done that? After everything, after his callous disregard for my pain, he dared to kiss me? The audacity of it all fueled a fresh wave of fury. Yet, beneath the anger, a traitorous warmth lingered, a flicker of something I couldn’t quite define.

You had kissed him back, a tiny voice filtered through my thoughts. I immediately shut it down refusing to let it play in my head.

The kiss itself had been a brutal collision, devoid of the tenderness that had once infused our touches. But there was an undeniable spark there, a raw energy that both repelled and attracted me. It was confusing, maddening, and utterly inappropriate.

Lost in the tangled mess of my emotions, I barely registered the bustling office around me as I made my way back to my desk. The kiss replayed in my mind. I could still feel it. His taste. His touch. I could feel him everywhere and I knew it wasn’t going away anytime soon.

No one kissed like Alex. No one made me burn like Alex.

Slipping into my chair, I tried to focus on the work in front of me, the design plans blurring into an incomprehensible mess. The image of Alex’s face, etched with a mixture of anger and something else-something more intense than lust kept flashing before

me.

I slammed the folder shut, the sound echoing in the sudden silence. This was ridiculous. I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted by him, not anymore. My father was still in jail, my life was in shambles, and Alex… Alex was simply another complication I didn’t need.

Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to focus on the task at hand. Ignoring the insistent tug of emotions, I opened the laptop and started typing, determined to drown out the confusion and the lingering taste of betrayal with the cold logic of work.

The insistent tap-tap-tap of Sarah’s manicured nails on my desk jolted me back to reality. My head throbbed, a dull ache radiating from the remnants of anger and confusion swirling within me.

“Amaya, you’re back,” Her voice broke through the fog clouding my mind. “I’ve been calling you. You okay?”

seemed to register.

Sarah,” I began, forcing the words past the lump that had formed in my throat, “if this

not about that,” she interjected, a note of urgency lacing her voice. “You have a visitor. I mean had a visitor. That’s why I was trying to reach you. He said it was pretty urgent. Something about your father. He got

sentence slammed into my brain breaking

She continued, “but he said he had to go. Apparently,

Chapter 49

Fri, 21 Jun tie

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my phone buzzed, the screen lighting up with a notification of fourteen missed calls. I had put my phone

McCall. He

in her voice cut through my emotional paralysis, a much-needed jolt that brought a sharp retort to my lips. “We’re married, Sarah,” I snapped, the harshness of my tone surprising even myself. She flinched at the unexpected

my mouth. I hadn’t meant to lash out at her, not when she was simply trying to be friendly. Taking a deep breath, I forced myself

I mumbled, my voice thick with remorse. “That was out of line. You

being married. By the way he said your father was taken back home. He – your husband,

over me, “Thank you. I really need to get going. If

a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I’ll

now.”

I practically sprinted out of the office, the urgency of the situation pushing all thoughts about Alex and the lingering kiss to the back of my mind. I hadn’t gotten around to acquiring a car since returning to the city, so I hailed a taxi and

passing streetlamp, every screech of brakes seemed amplified, a physical manifestation of the

taxi finally pulled to a stop in front of the familiar house. The air itself seemed charged with a tense silence as I paid

my arrest. It looked how it had always been in the tears I spent

startled me. “Amaya. Where did you keep your phone? I’ve been calling you.” Ivan emerged from the hallway, his face a mask

I stammered, momentarily flustered. “I had a meeting and had to silence

had a meeting with Alex. You’re leaving that part out. The voice in my head nagged

really am sorry,” I repeated, my voice softer now.

his gaze lingering on me for a beat

Chapter 49