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?”

me. Nothing seemed to register. The world felt muted, the sharp edges of

forcing the words past the lump that had formed in my throat,

it’s 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

last sentence slammed into my brain breaking through all the

the specifics,” She continued, “but he said he had to go. Apparently, he’d

Chapter 49

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up with a notification of fourteen missed calls. I had put my phone on silent and missed all of Ivan’s

her lips, “I didn’t know you know Ivan McCall. He

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

I hadn’t meant to lash out at her, not when she was simply trying to

voice thick with remorse. “That was out of line. You didn’t know, and I shouldn’t have snapped

I get it. I wouldn’t have said it if I knew. You never mentioned being married. By the way he said your father was taken back home. He – your husband, I mean – mentioned

you. I really need to get going.

in, a mischievous glint in her

now.”

my mind. I hadn’t gotten around to acquiring a car since returning to the city, so I hailed a taxi and relayed the address to the driver, my heart

ride to my father’s house felt like an eternity. Every passing streetlamp, every screech of brakes seemed amplified, a physical manifestation of the nervous energy churning within me. A million questions swarmed my

a tense silence as I

the day of my arrest. It looked how it had always

startled me. “Amaya. Where did you keep your phone? I’ve been calling you.” Ivan

“I had a meeting and had to

You’re leaving that part out. The voice in my head nagged again but I pushed

my voice softer now. “Where

lingering on me for a beat

Chapter 49