LOGINShare
116: The Photo
publish date:
2026-09-04 06:02:34
Latest chapter
Bound By The Desk 117: Scaredy-Cats
Silas’ POV I am halfway through a perfectly peaceful late dinner at one of the quieter Rex places when my phone lights up with Vorian’s name. Then Zephyr’s. Then Vorian’s again. By the time I answer, I already know my evening is over.“We need to meet,” Vorian says.“I am eating.”“Now.”Twenty minutes later they walk in looking like two men who have argued with the sea and lost. Vorian’s jaw is set. Zephyr has the expression of someone trying not to laugh at the wrong moment. They sit across from me without ordering anything. I set my fork down and look at both of them.“You left a yacht,” I say. “A private yacht. On the water. With no board members and no HR. And you came back to the city to disturb my meal. Explain.”Vorian places his phone on the table, face up. The photo is already open. I did not have to ask them what it was because I already knew it shouldn't exist.I glance at it, then back at him. “Okay. Old photo. Creepy. Noted. Why am I looking at it over my pasta inste
Bound By The Desk 116: The Photo
Zephyr's POVI wake up to the sound of the yacht moving and to the absence of the body that should be beside me. The cabin is dim. The sheet on Vorian’s side is cool. For a moment I think he has only gone for water. Then I notice the quiet is wrong; too controlled and too still.I push myself off the bed and pull on a shirt and walk barefoot toward the main cabin.Vorian stands near the side table with his phone in his hand. His shoulders are set in the way they only get when something has landed wrong. He does not turn when he hears me.And that is my cue that something is actually wrong.“How long have you been up?” I ask.“Long enough,” he answers.I move closer. “What is it?”He unlocks his phone and holds it out without ceremony. The screen shows an image I never imagined to see as a picture.The picture of our first kiss; office light, the edge of the desk. Vorian's hand on me and my mouth on his. The angle is slightly high and off-center, the kind of shot that only exists if so
Bound By The Desk 115: Open Water
Vorian's POVThe yacht cuts cleanly through the water. My father’s old vessel, refitted years ago and kept in quiet condition ever since. It has white lines, dark wood, and enough space to forget the city exists.I had the crew reduced to the minimum required for safety and then told them to stay out of sight unless called. The rear deck belongs to us.Zephyr stands at the rail with the wind in his shirt. He looks different out here; he is less guarded, and more open to the horizon. I watch him for a moment before walking up behind him and resting both hands on the rail on either side of his.“You are quiet,” I murmur.“I am adjusting,” he answers. “Most people get a normal evening. You produced a yacht.”“It was sitting unused. And sitting unused is a waste,” I say.He leans back slightly into my chest. “Of course. You are very practical,” he teases.I kiss the side of his neck lightly. He does not pull away. The water stretches out in every direction, blue and indifferent. For the
Bound By The Desk 114: Unwanted
Selene’s POV Lunch is supposed to be simple. A long table near the window, trays of food, three of my teammates talking over each other about a client who keeps changing the brief every other day. I am halfway through a salad and only half listening when the air at the edge of the eatery changes.I looked up and saw Adrian walking towards me with a very intense gaze. For a second I think I am imagining him. He should not be here. He has no reason to be in this building. Yet he is, in a plain shirt and jeans, looking at me like the last months never happened. My fork stays in the air.“Selene,” he says.My teammates notice the shift. One of them, Priya, glances between us. “Selene, are you okay?”“I will be right back,” I answer. I do not sound convincing even to myself.Adrian, the jerk, does not wait for permission. He steps closer, takes my wrist, and pulls me; not hard enough to make a scene that security would notice immediately, but firm enough that I either follow or turn it i
Bound By The Desk 113: Overlap
Zephyr's POV The car is quiet for the first few minutes after we leave the hotel.Silas breaks it. “That was unnecessary.”“What was?” Vorian asks.“The universe putting his sister in the same building as my meeting.”I turn slightly in my seat. “You say that like I arranged it.”“I am not accusing you. I am accusing fate. Fate has a sense of humor and it is not funny.”Vorian glances at the rearview mirror. “You handled it well.”“I handled it like a man trying not to catch fire in public,” Silas replies. “There is a difference.”I laugh. “She looked more composed than you did.”“She has had years of practice dealing with you. I am still new to this level of family exposure.”Vorian’s mouth curves slightly. “You chose the sister of the man who sits in my office every day. This was always going to happen.”“I chose a woman,” Silas mutters. “The rest of you came as a surprise package.”We stop at a light. The light turns green and we move again.“Are you free later?” I ask Silas.“Why
Bound By The Desk 112: Same Hotel
Zephyr's POV The hotel lobby is polished and quiet in the way expensive places usually are.Vorian walks ahead with the calm of someone who has done this a hundred times. Silas is beside him checking the time. I follow with the folder for the Aegis briefing under my arm.We are here to meet a potential partner; an infrastructure firm interested in early access to the defensive system for their own client networks.“Conference room B is on the second floor,” Silas says. “They are already upstairs.”“We are not late,” Vorian answers.“I did not say we were. I said they are already upstairs.”We cross the lobby toward the elevators. That is when I see her.Selene is standing near the far seating area with a woman in a grey suit. She laughs at something the woman says, then turns her head and looks straight across the lobby.Our eyes meet.For a second she only stares. Then her gaze moves to Vorian, then to Silas, then back to me. The realization lands on her face in stages. I watch it
Bound By The Desk 47: Family Lights
Zephyr’s POVThe door snaps closed behind me, and the soft glow of the family room greets me like a focus.Selene rises quickly, hands folded, her black hair tied up in a messy bun, gaze squinted with that protective stare she has mastered since we were kids.Dad rests on the worn tan recliner, his
Bound By The Desk 18: Echoes in the Shadows
Zephyr’s POVI am sprawled on the couch in Vorian’s office, my laptop balanced on my knees, cross checking employee access logs with Silas, who is slouched beside me, tablet in hand, scrolling through data.The room is tense, the investigation of the leak hanging over us like a storm, but Silas kee
Bound By The Desk 5. Fire in the Fight
Vorian’s POV “Time is slipping away from me,” I murmur, checking at my timepiece. Six o’clock; NexusVibe’s shutting hours, and I am deeply involved in AI contract outlines. The office glows with Chicago’s skyline, but my mind is stuck on that damn red-ink envelope from last night. No answers, just
Bound By The Desk 6: Pulse of the Kiss
Zephyr’s POV“Get it together, Zephyr,” I mutter, slouched at my cubicle in NexusVibe’s silent office, the glow of my screen cutting through the dark. The city's horizon shines outside, but my mind is stuck on Vorian; his lips crashing into mine, his hands grasping my waist, his scent, all fragran
You May Also Like
![The mafia King's Pet [M×M]](https://www.goodnovel.com/pcdist/src/assets/images/book/43949cad-default_cover.png)
The mafia King's Pet [M×M]
Collyn37.3K viewsSTEPBROTHERS WITH BENEFITS
asteria27.7K viewsProfessor Grayson's Favorite sin
Ophelia13.5K viewsHis accidental husband
Swiwi17.7K viewsBeauty And The Beast
Ayesha1.5K viewsFierce Omega: Born To Bond The Alpha Captain's Heart
mditandaru408 viewsMy Heat and the Three Alpha Vampires
DML Escapades485 viewsPREGNANT AFTER MY STEP BROTHER KNOTTED ME
ojbrian688 views
