Never Trusting

Myra's POV

Resting right there in the corner was my silver bracelet. I had searched everywhere for this, completely convinced I’d lost it at the bar or dropped it on the street the night I went home with Jade. But he had it the entire time.

Which only meant... No.

I reached into the drawer, my fingers wrapping around the cold silver, and brought it up between us. When his gaze landed on it, a shadow of recognition crossed his features, stripping away his casual boss persona in an instant.

"You've had my bracelet this entire time?"

"Yes," he replied, his tone dropping an octave lower, thick with a gravity that made the room feel smaller. "You left it at my place that night."

A breathless shock rippled through me, making my chest tighten. "So you knew who I was this whole time?" I demanded, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

Jade shrugged, though his shoulders remained tense.

"Then why didn't you say something?" My voice pitched higher, a cocktail of irritation and sheer frustration bubbling up in my chest. How could he sit across from me day after day, letting me believe he didn't recognize me? I felt like a complete idiot, a puppet in some twisted game he was playing.

"What did you expect me to say?" Jade countered, a sharp edge cutting through his voice. "How was I supposed to react when the woman I had a one-night stand with runs off the very next morning without even leaving a note, only to suddenly show up in my office as my secretary?"

I fell silent, the heat of my anger evaporating into a stunned, hollow quiet. I didn't know what to say to that.

"For a whole week, I kept searching for you... I was even about to..." He paused, running a hand aggressively through his hair and cursing under his breath. The raw frustration rolling off him was palpable. "You were the one who acted like you didn't want to meet me again. So I thought we could play a pretend game for a bit because you're married. But fuck it."

"Jade," I breathed, my professional armor completely shattering.

"No, let me finish. I can't pretend anymore," he said, taking a heavy stride toward me, then a couple more until he was standing directly in my space. "I can't pretend that night never happened, and I can't pretend like you haven't been the only thing stuck in my fucking head since then."

His cologne hit me—a rich, woody scent that was oddly calming, pulling me right back to the safety of his bed. The intensity in his eyes was so raw, so utterly exposing, that it held my gaze like a vice, making it impossible to look away.

"Tell me that night also meant something to you?"

My lips parted, a trembling mess. That night had been etched into my memory, surviving even through the heavy haze of tequila. How could it not? It was the only moment in my entire life that a man had truly treated my body like it was worth worshiping, worth loving. He had made me feel beautiful, moving far beyond the weight I’d been ridiculed for my entire life.

But what if he was just being kind? What if all those beautiful things he whispered had just been the alcohol speaking? I wanted to hope it wasn't, but the phantom pain of Vincent's betrayal flared up inside me. I didn't know how to trust a man again. Not after what Vincent did to me. I wasn't sure I could ever trust another man, no matter how sweet, gentle, or loving he seemed.

"Jade, I was drunk that night," I lied, forcing my gaze to snap to the side to hide the moisture gathering in my eyes. "I can't really recall what happened... or if it even meant anything."

I couldn't look at his face as I broke both of our hearts.

"Are you saying this because of your marriage?"

I tensed, my fingernails digging painfully into my palms. Does he already know I was married to Vincent?

"I don't care if you have a husband," he whispered. His fingers brushed my jaw, tilting my chin up with agonizing gentleness, forcing me to face him. "That night I met you, I could clearly tell you were unhappy in your marriage."

He didn't know about Vincent. The thought felt relieving.

The sheer heat radiating from him nearly had me melting right there on the marble floor. His face inched closer to mine, and gods, I wanted to pull away and stop this craziness, but my body refused to move. My heart, traitorous and desperate, wanted to cling to the man in front of me—a man I was certain I was a good two years older than.

"Ehm."

Someone cleared their throat near the doorway.

My gaze snapped toward the sound, and my eyes widened into dinner plates when I saw Brandon standing there.

I immediately stumbled a massive step back, tearing myself away from Jade’s touch.

"I–I'll be taking my leave now," I stuttered, my face burning with a mixture of embarrassment and panic. "Excuse me, Mr. Dantrix."

I scurried away from the desk, my hands shaking.

"Good night," I muttered, offering Brandon a tight, mortified nod as I brushed past him and fled the room.

The frantic click of my heels seemed to echo deafeningly in my ears as I rushed back to the safety of my own desk.

"Stupid, stupid, Myra," I hissed in self-reprimand, my voice cracking as I snatched up my handbag.

I didn't even bother organizing my things.

The only thought screaming in my mind as I made my way to the elevator was that I was running. I was running from Jade, running from the truth, and running with the stolen files hidden beneath my shirt.

I took a cab straight back to my apartment, staring blankly out the window the entire ride. When the car pulled up to my stop, I climbed out and hurried into the shelter of my building, desperately wanting to lock the world out.

But the lobby wasn't empty as I'd expected.

A man was leaning over the front desk, arguing with Elisa, the receptionist. I couldn't see his face, only his back, which was swallowed up by a baggy, thick hoodie that looked completely out of place.

"There is no mistake here," the man said, his voice laced with a desperate, frantic edge. "I know I'm in the right place. The woman I'm looking for lives here."

Elisa crossed her arms and leveled him with a glare that could cut glass.

"And I'm telling you for the third time, no one by that name lives here, you crazy goat. Now back away from my desk."

I wanted nothing more than to slip past them, sprint up the stairs to my apartment, and ignore their squabble.

My head was already spinning with everything that had happened with Jade and the stolen documents burning against my skin.

But I felt a sudden pull to stop. Elisa had helped me out a lot when I first moved into the building, and she shouldn't have to deal with unhinged strangers alone.

Letting out a tired sigh, I changed my course away from the stairwell and walked over to the desk.

"What seems to be the problem here?" I asked, my voice echoing slightly in the quiet lobby.

They both snapped their heads in my direction. The man pulled back his hood, and the exact second I saw his face, the air left my lungs. My eyes widened in pure terror.