All Chapters of Appealing To His Gaze : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

DEVIN’S POVI couldn’t stop pacing. Every part of this situation was messed up. Stella had gone behind my back and called my father before even talking to me. It was supposed to be our marriage, our issue, but apparently, that didn’t matter anymore. I couldn’t tell what she was trying to prove. Maybe that I didn’t have control anymore. Maybe that she could pull the strings too. Either way, it burned.I ran a hand through my hair, walking from one end of the room to the other, trying to calm the anger that was bubbling up in my chest. I was tired of feeling like a guest in my own damn house. The walls felt tighter lately, like everything I’d built around me was closing in. I changed into my sweatpants, grabbed my laptop, and walked off to the foyer trying to distract myself with work. Maybe if I focused long enough, I’d forget how fucked everything had become.Except I couldn’t. Because, of course, the door opened, and the one person I didn’t want to see again today decided to show up

DEVIN’S POV.I woke up pissed. My head was pounding, and my chest felt tight, like I’d been grinding my teeth all night. I probably had. I barely got two hours of sleep. Every time I shut my eyes, that smug look on Aiden’s face came back. I’d let him get to me twice now, and that wasn’t something I could swallow easy. I wasn’t the kind of man who got walked over, not in my own house. Not by him.I sat up and rubbed my face hard. My hands were shaking a bit. I wasn’t sure if it was anger or nerves, but I felt wired. The light coming through the curtains made me squint, and I thought about how fucked up it was that the first thing I saw this morning was proof that I’d lost control over my own damn house. I didn’t even want to go downstairs because I knew he’d be there.“Good morning,” Stella said from the doorway. Her voice was too soft, like she was trying not to startle me. She leaned against the frame, hair tied up, one of my shirts hanging off her shoulder. I looked at her and forc

DEVIN’S POVThe day dragged on, and it did not want to end. I had been on calls since dawn, trying to fix all that went wrong in the last twenty-four hours. My head ached, my shoulders hurt, and two people who hated the very sight of each other deserved more room than this hotel room provided. Aiden had been there since morning, making himself comfortable as if it was his place and not mine. He worked out for hours, dripping sweat, music low, the dull thud of his movements echoing off the walls. He didn’t care that I tried to work. He never did.I tried to keep my eyes on my laptop, focus on the numbers and reports that didn't mean anything more, but it was useless. Every time he moved, my attention shifted. Every noise he made, the way he stretched, leaving the bathroom door half open like he'd forgotten what privacy was, pulled at my patience until it was thin enough to tear. I told myself I wasn't reacting to him, just to the noise, the chaos, the lack of control. That lie worked f

AIDEN POVI crossed the street without slowing down, eyes on the crowd forming near the curb. My chest tightened with every step, and the air felt thin, like I couldn’t pull it in right no matter how hard I breathed. People were standing around in a circle, talking over each other, making noise that didn’t help anything. Some had their phones out, some were whispering like they enjoyed the drama, and I didn’t wait for any of them to move. I pushed my way forward, ignoring every look they threw at me, because the closer I got, the worse the pressure in my ribs got. I scanned faces, jackets, hair, shoes—anything that could be Devin. He wasn’t there. That didn’t make the panic stop."He just stepped out and the car didn't see him," someone said; someone else replied, "Ambulance is on the way," and the words slammed into me hard, because Devin absolutely walked without looking when he was annoyed or deep in his own head. My stomach twisted and I pushed deeper into the crowd until two ol

DEVIN POV.By the time the plane touched down the next morning, my nerves were already hot. My stomach felt like it had been tied into a tight knot since the second I closed my eyes on the flight and immediately saw the same scene replaying in my head—the hotel room, Aiden's breathing, the heat of his anger in my face, the grip of his hand on my arm, the way I grabbed him back without stopping to think, the way I kissed him because for one second I stopped fighting everything inside me—and then the way I panicked right after and walked out like an idiot who couldn’t handle the consequences of something he initiated. I kept reliving the look on his face when I stepped back. I didn't know if it was shock, or anger, or disappointment, or something I wasn't brave enough to name. I didn't know if he hated me for leaving. I didn't know if he told Stella anything. And because all those thoughts kept circling nonstop, I barely slept. My head was buzzing when the driver dropped me at the gate