Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 26246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Her phone kept ringing, and Kyara’s conscience started nagging at her. Shayla would be too courteous to ever ask her why Kyara had failed to answer her call, but God would know, and right now...
“Hey.”
Right now, she needed all the help she could get from God, and so she did her best to sound cheerful as she answered Shayla’s call.
“Sorry it took me so long to answer.”
“—ara! Can you hear me?”
The line was crackling badly, and in the background, she could also hear people speaking in a mixture of Italian, Greek, and English, along with the sound of roaring engines and the loud cheers of the crowd.
Oh, right.
Shayla had told her two weeks ago about flying to Monaco for some racing event with Adriano.
“I’ve been—reach you!”
The words came out choppy, but Kyara understood them enough that she knew Shayla was basically asking why she hadn’t been answering the other woman’s emails. And the truth was—
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me! We can talk when you’re back from Monaco! Love you, bye!”
The truth was something she still didn’t know how to handle, and so here she was, lying through her teeth again even though she knew it could never lead to good.
I’m sorry, Shayla.
The logical and hopeful part of her was aware of how Shayla and Adriano had the means to help her. She only had to ask. But at the same time...asking for their help also felt so selfish because that could potentially make things worse for Lyrius. And she just...she just couldn’t bear taking such a risk when Lyrius...
Don’t cry. I don’t want to cry. So don’t cry.
But it was too late.
The moment she allowed his name to pop in her mind, it was all over for her. The moment she thought about him, she just couldn’t stop remembering all the times he had been so, so good to her while she...
I’m sorry, Lyrius. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.
She hated herself for being so weak. For not being able to do anything but cry and say ‘sorry’ after uttering one lie after another to the very people who cared for her and—
A pair of hands closed around her own, and Kyara’s dazed tear-filled eyes flew open in panic.
No!
She was already struggling without even trying to see who it was holding her. All she knew was that she was frightened beyond her wits, and that if this was her worst nightmare come true—if this was Cyrus coming back to—
“Kyara, look at me. It’s me.”
That voice.
That...that voice was his.
It took a while to make her realize whose voice it was that was trying to calm her down, and her vision slowly cleared, and she realized it truly was Lyrius Havington, kneeling on the carpet in front of her. He was as handsome as ever, but at the same time, he also didn’t seem as...as impeccable as he usually did, with his silky black hair looking as if he had run a hand through it more than once, and his tie unusually crooked, and...oh.
Oh no.
She forgot everything else the moment she looked into his sky-blue eyes—
Oh God, no.
And what she saw in there made her start crying again.
Why now?
She found herself crying harder as the truth became undeniable...and undeniably too late.
He loved her.
Lyrius Havington...loved her.
Just like how she...loved him.
And that was why when he pulled Kyara to her feet and into his arms, she couldn’t even think of resisting, her arms wrapping around his neck, her tears falling even as her lips parted under his.
Finally, oh finally.
The words formed in her mind and his, both of them hearing the same thought and knowing that it was also why both their hearts were aching.
Three years Lyrius had waited. Patiently and not-so-patiently. But he had waited and respected her boundaries...all the while unable to keep himself from fantasizing how it would feel, if he were to have the right to call her his own.
So many times he had imagined this. But all of it paled in comparison to what was happening now. All of it was no match for the reality of how her lips were moving against his, and how her mouth tasted under his. Nothing he imagined came even close to how his whole body burned as the kiss deepened, his need for her so desperate and fierce that he couldn’t stop himself from lifting her until Kyara was sitting on her desk, the keyboard pushed aside with the back of his hand without him looking.
He wanted to take it slow, but he couldn’t. His other hand was bracketed against the desk beside her hip while the kiss had Kyara leaning back and back and back into the careful cradle of his hands until the back of her head bumped against the side of her monitor—
No!
The little bump jarred Kyara out of the sensual haze that had blanketed her thoughts the moment her boss started kissing her, and when she realized what was happening, and how getting caught could put Lyrius in danger—