Chapter 30
April
Ican’t move. I’m frozen in place, feet glued to the expensive marble floor, my brain screaming at me to do something, but all I can do is stand there like a malfunctioning robot staring at the man who drove me across the country. Who kissed me under the stars and whispered my name like it meant something.
Maximiliano freaking Durán.
My brain races through a thousand things I could say.
Oh, hi Max, what’s up?
Thanks for the driver you sent this morning?
Thanks for the ride to LA… TO INTERVIEW AT YOUR COMPANY?
Thanks for making me fall in love with you without ever telling me your last name.
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out, so he speaks first. His voice is even, cool, professional. A stranger’s voice.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Moreira.”
I blink.
“…April,”
I say, because it’s all I can manage.
His expression flickers—something almost soft underneath the layers of composure—but it vanishes quickly. He steps out from behind his desk, and I swear gravity just shifts and drags me forward.
We meet halfway and shake hands. His palm is warm, familiar, yet foreign.
“Welcome to Verve,”
he says.
“I heard great things about you during our morning meeting. I can’t wait to see your work.”
I nod. My voice? Still missing.
Violeta stands to the side, polite and unreadable, and Max turns to her.
“Would you mind giving us a few minutes? I’d like to speak with Miss Moreira one-on-one.”
Violeta looks between us—at him, then at me—her eyes flickering with… awareness, maybe. Suspicion? Or just a gut feeling that something’s off.
“Sure,”
she states.
“Would you like me to wait outside?”
Max shakes his head.
“I’ll make sure April finds her way out when we’re done. Don’t worry.”
Another pause. I still haven’t said more than two syllables. Violeta gives me a kind smile, but there’s curiosity in her eyes now.
“My contact info’s in the folder,”
she says.
“And you have my email. Please reach out with any questions.”
“Thank you,”
I manage, and shake her hand. She exits with one last glance over her shoulder. The door clicks shut behind her, and now it’s just me… and Max… and about a thousand emotions trying to claw their way out of my chest.
“How long have you known?”
I ask, my voice quieter than I expected.
Max doesn’t hesitate. But his eyes soften.
“Which part?”
he says.
“How long have I known that I’ve fallen in love with you… or how long have I known you were coming here to interview at this particular company?”
My brain short-circuits.
Did he just say he’s fallen in love with me?
What?
“The latter,”
I manage, after a beat.
His jaw tenses.
“Yesterday,”
he says.
“When we were having lunch and you mentioned Violeta’s name. It clicked.”
He pauses, runs a hand through his hair—those green eyes watching me carefully.
“I should’ve asked more questions about your job before,”
he continues, voice low. “Maybe I would’ve made a few different decisions during our trip. But I didn’t. And by the time I found out… we had already…”
I blink.
“I need to sit down,”
I say after a moment, and I don’t wait for a response. My legs move on autopilot, and I sink onto a plush white two-seater couch tucked near the window.
The view is unreal. The skyline, the sunlight, the sheer weight of what’s happening. Max Durán. CEO. My Max. The man who drove me across the country. Who carried me to the car. Who kissed me like I was his entire world.
And now… this?
He sits beside me slowly. Our knees brush, and it’s like touching a live wire.
“I’m sorry,”
I say, my voice shaking.
“I should’ve told you. Given more information. I didn’t mean to—”
“Please don’t apologize. I don’t regret a minute of the last four days. They were… the best four days of my life.”
My breath catches. I glance at him, unsure if I’m supposed to feel relieved or overwhelmed or both.
He keeps going.
“When I found out, we were already too involved, and I didn’t want you to feel like if you got the job it was because of me, and if for some reason you didn’t get it, I didn’t want you to think I had anything to do with that either.”
I watch him. Still confused. Still stunned.
“I wanted you to have a fair chance. To know it was all you. Because knowing you the way I do now”—his voice dips, and he looks down for a second, then back up—“I knew you’d impress them. I knew they’d love you, and I didn’t want to take a single ounce of that away from you.”
My heart is pounding as I squeeze the fabric of my skirt.
“So you had nothing to do with me being hired?”
I ask, my voice barely steady.
Max shakes his head.
“Absolutely not.”
His tone is gentle but resolute. He leans forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees, hands folded between us.
“This morning, we had our leadership meeting—like we do every morning. Anytime a department is hiring, it’s customary for them to run the final decision by the CEO. In this case, Paul had already interviewed you once before, and he never forgot you. He was confident today would go smoothly, so he presented your portfolio with a glowing recommendation. He was impressed then, and he’s even more impressed now.”
He pauses for a moment, his expression softening.
“And I have to say—I am too.”
The breath I’ve been holding finally slips out of me.
“I asked Violeta to go over the employee expectations with you,”
he continues.
“To be sure everything was clear.”
“Oh,”
I say, blinking.
“So... does she know?”
He shakes his head again, this time slower.
“No. I didn’t tell her anything. I just said we’ve met before, and that I got the feeling you didn’t know my role here. I asked her to make sure you understood the policy on internal relationships—just in case. I didn’t want there to be any surprises later on.”
I nod. Everything inside me is trembling and stilling at the same time.
“I see…”
Max turns toward me fully, his knee brushing mine. His voice drops to something softer. Something more fragile.
“April,”
he says, and the sound of my name in his lips makes my chest tighten.
“I don’t want to pressure you into anything. I know this job is something you’ve dreamed of, and I would never do anything to take that away from you. I don’t want to taint it—not with my title, not with my name, not with anything that could make you doubt you earned this.”
My heart is in my throat.
“But I also need you to know this—”
he exhales slowly, eyes locked on mine. “I’ve fallen for you. Truly and deeply, and maybe it’s too soon to say it out loud, but I’ve never been more certain about anything in my life.” He reaches for my hand. “I’m yours, April. No titles, no job offers, no power dynamics, just me, Max. If you’ll have me... I’m yours.”