Chapter 12
EIGHT HOURS.
That was how long it had been since Kyara had been moved to Accounting, and five hours of those were overtime that wouldn’t be paid.
Cyrus had told her as much, leaning over her new desk the same way he’d once leaned over a diner booth to tell her about Vegas, and Kyara could only nod because if she didn’t. ..
What would happen to Lyrius?
Her body felt so heavy as she finally started gathering her things.
Cyrus had pretty much treated her like a slave in the past eight hours, making her run errands until her feet had blisters, and it was all she could do not to cry every time the back of her flats scraped against her ankles.
By six, the floor had started emptying out.
By eight, it was just her at her new desk with the overhead lights down to half-brightness and the cleaning cart parked at the end of the corridor.
Her phone rang just as she rose to her feet, and she was so, so tempted not to answer it when she saw Shayla’s name on the screen. While Shayla was one of the kindest persons she had ever known, she was just so, so tired, and she just wanted to be alone.
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—
No, no, no!
Kyara somehow found the strength to wrench her mouth away from his and press her hands against his chest. She tried to push him away even as her tears fell faster, but he didn’t budge at all, and instead his hand came up and cupped her chin, and he made her look into his eyes...
Oh, those eyes.
Oh, if only.
“Come back to me,” he said hoarsely.
She could only cry harder as heartbreak threatened to swallow her alive. “I c-can’t.”
“Why?” he demanded rawly.
“I j-just—”
“He’s cheating on you, dammit!”
“I k-know.”
Lyrius couldn’t believe what he had just heard...but the way she was looking at him now told him he hadn’t imagined anything.
“You...know,” he repeated hollowly. “You know he’s cheating on you and yet you’re still choosing to stay...because you’re in love with him still. Is that it?”
Kyara could only cry.
“I’m s-sorry.”
Because her boss...wasn’t even trying to hide anything now.
“Why can’t you choose me?” he demanded tautly. “Choose me, and I’ll—”
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed out. “I’m so, so sorry but I can’t choose you.”
Choose me, Kyara.
Choose me and I’ll handle the rest.
Choose me and you’ll never have to be afraid again.
She didn’t know what the rest of his sentence had been going to be, and she struck out every version her brain tried to supply because every version was the version that would have undone her.
The way he was staring at her now, like she had stabbed him over and over—
“I’m so, so sorry.”
And then she was pushing past him and running away because she had no choice.
If she’d stayed another second, she would have surrendered. She would have been a coward and chosen her heart over saving him.
I’m so, so sorry.
Her heart broke to pieces as she dashed into the elevator, and as soon as the doors closed, she crumpled to the floor, sobbing her heart out. All she could see in her mind was the look on his face when she’d told him she couldn’t choose him.
He really believed she was choosing Cyrus over him.
And she had no choice but to let him think that.
Because she loved him.