Chapter 92
It was desperate and raw, filled with the longing he’d carried for weeks. The taste of her was both familiar and intoxicating. calling to mind memories he’d tried to bury. He poured everything into that kiss; regrets, apologies, unspoken love. It was his way of saying what words never could: I’m sorry. I need you can’t live without you.
For one brief moment, he thought she might not kiss him back. But she did, hauling herself as close as she could against him and moaning into his mouth.
But no sooner had it formed than it shattered. Emnia jerked away, the palm of her hand connecting with his face in a sharp. ringing slap. The sting on his cheek was nothing compared to the pain in his chest as her furious eyes met his
“How dare you?” she spat, her voice shaking with anger and something deeper–betrayal. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, as if erasing his touch, and stared at him with a coldness that cut him to the core. “You don’t get to do this.” “You don’t get to walk back into my life and ruin everything all over again.
“Emma.” Alexander started, his voice hoarse, but she was already walking away, her back rigid.
She didn’t stop, didn’t look back as she stormed out of the bar. He followed her with his eyes, helpless as Jaden joined her, his hand resting lightly on her back as they walked out together. His jaw tightened in an uncontrollably anger as he saw this.
The heavy–set businessman opposite him coughed loudly once more, trying to gain Alexander’s attention once again. Whatever he said thereafter was no more than a muffled echo somewhere at the back of Alexander’s consciousness. Alexander’s world had shrunk into a single inescapable fact: Emma was slowly slipping away from his life.
He sat there, his fists shaking under the table, his heart in pieces He’d acted on impulse, and now he was afraid that he might have pushed her even farther away. To watch her leave with Jaden was to add salt to a wound that refused to heal
Annie paced the length of their lavish living room, heels clicking against the polished floor as her mind raced. The news of Adam Hershel’s survival had come as cold a slap in the face as she’d ever known. She’d been so sure everything was going to go along without a hitch, that Adam would be out of the picture and her loose ends neatly tied up. But no. Instead, he was in good hands now because Adam had survived the attack and taken care off by the Blackthorn Foundation.
She breathed in shallow bursts, her fists clenched as she fought the panic rising and threatening to overwhelm her. The plan had been foolproof–or so she thought. She had taken every precaution this time around, gone through back channels, and avoided any direct link to gang. The gang she’d hired had been contacted anonymously through a dark channel, But now, with Alexander involved, everything felt like it was unraveling before her eyes.
“Damn it!” she hissed, biting her bottom lip so hard it almost drew blood. She cursed herself for being so careless, for underestimating just how much of a problem Adam could become. She had thought killing him would solve the whole Issue. But now, instead of dead, he was alive–in a secure hospital no less–with Alexander’s resources behind him.
She dropped onto the nearest armchair, her hands trembling as he dug into the armrests. Visions of what would happen if Adam spoke surfaced. She could see it now–Alexander uncovering her involvement, her name surfacing like some buried corpse digging itself out of the ground, humiliation and scandal and losing all that she had toiled to gain. It was to be her
end.
“No,” she whispered to herself, shaking her head violently. “I can let that happen. I won’t let that happen.”
Her heart pounded as she tried to formulate a plan, but her thoughts were a chaotic jumble. What could she do now? The options seemed limited, each one riskier than the last.
“The thought of Alexander’s piercing gaze as he uncovered her deceit made her shiver. She had seen him tear apart people with just his words, his icy calm more terrifying than any outburst. He would not just destroy her, but he would make her regrel ever crossing him, ever fooling him.
Annie sprang to her feet then, pacing as it somehow movement would settle her nerves. Her manicured nails dug into her
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Chapter 92
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palms as she bit back the frustrated and scared tears threatening to spill. She couldn’t afford to break down now; she needed to stay sharp, think clearly, and find a way out of this mess.
She glanced at her reflection in the ornate mirror on the wall. Her face was pale, her usually perfect composure cracking under the weight of her panic. She barely recognized herself. Her hair was messy and her face paler than she wanted.
“You’re stronger than this, she muttered to her reflection, as if saying it aloud could make it true. “You’ve faced worse. You’ve survived worse. You’re not going to let this ruin everything”
But deep inside, she was not that sure at all. The stakes were higher this time, and the failure so disastrous.
While staring at her own reflection, an idea formed in her mind–one of desperation, one which was dangerous.
She have to rectify the issue herself–without the gangs or middlemen. She have to silence him finally and irrevocably. She headed back to the couch. A glass of wine in her hand and the bottle of the same wine in her other hand. She really needed it to get over today. She drowned herself in the alcohol, smiling like a mad woman as she gulped down the alcohol.
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