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Alle Kapitel von Bound By The Desk : Kapitel 111 – Kapitel 120

120 Kapitel

111: After the Lights

Zephyr's POVThe hall empties slower than it filled. Cameras pack up. Reporters file out in clusters, already on their phones. The heavy backdrop still stands behind the empty podium like it is waiting for a second act that will not come. I stay near the side until the last external guest is escorted through the main doors. Only then do I let my shoulders drop.Rachel appears beside me with her tablet hugged to her chest. “Clean coverage so far. Most outlets led with Aegis. The interruptions are being framed as side noise.”“That is good,” I say. “Send the monitoring summary to Vorian and Silas every hour until evening.”She nods and moves off.I walk toward the executive floor. The energy in the building has changed. People speak faster in the corridors. Someone from product laughs near the elevators. The fear that sat in the walls during the offshore story is gone, replaced by a sharp, restless pride. We put something real in front of the world and it held.Silas is in Vorian’s of

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

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

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

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

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

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

118: Niece

Vorian's POV The intercom sounds just after ten. I am in the middle of reviewing the first set of pilot notes for Aegis when the front desk tells me Cassian is downstairs with Lila.A moment later the door opens and my brother walks in carrying a small backpack, with Lila holding his hand.She sees me and immediately lets go of him to run across the living room. “Uncle Vor!”I catch her and lift her once before setting her back down. “You have grown.”“I know,” she says proudly. “Mama measured me.”Cassian drops the backpack near the sofa. “Elena is buried in work and I have the final layout for the exhibition this afternoon. I need a few hours.”I glance at Lila, then back at him. “I am busy as well. Take her to Dorian.”Cassian’s face hardens immediately. “I am not taking my daughter to Dorian. I do not need her corrupted by his antics before she turns seven.”“She would survive.”“She would return with a new vocabulary and a plan to reorganize my studio. No.” He crouches in front

119: Outside Her Building

Silas’ POV The meeting ends later than it should have. Marketing people always talk longer than necessary. I step out of the building and reach for my phone to tell Selene I am downstairs. That is when I see her.She is near the side entrance. I am about to call her name when a man walks straight up to her. I do not recognize him. He says something I cannot hear. Selene’s posture changes immediately, then he grabs her wrist and pulls.I do not think twice. I move.The distance closes fast. He still holds her wrist when I reach them. I do not ask questions. I hit him across the jaw. He staggers back and loses his grip. Selene makes a short shocked sound and steps behind me so quickly I feel her hand fist in the back of my jacket.The man catches himself against the low wall. He touches his mouth and looks at the blood on his fingers like he cannot believe it is there.“What do you want?” I ask.He straightens. “It is none of your business. She is my girlfriend.”I turn my head just en

120: After the Call

Zephyr's POV My phone rings while I am still in the car with Vorian, halfway between the restaurant and the office. Selene’s name is on the screen. I answer on the second ring.“Where are you?” she asks.“With Vorian. What is it?”“Silas is here. At my office. There was a problem outside the building.” She pauses. “Adrian showed up again. He put his hands on me. Silas hit him.”The name lands wrong. I have not heard her say it in months. “Are you hurt?”“No. Silas is the one bleeding. Cheek and knuckles. Security took Adrian away from the entrance. I just… I needed to tell you before it turned into something else.”I look straight ahead through the windshield. Vorian glances at me once, reading the shift in my posture, but does not interrupt.“Stay inside,” I say. “Do not go back out alone. We are coming.”“You do not need to…”“We are coming.”I end the call. Vorian already has the car moving faster.“Selene?” he asks.“Her ex showed up at her office. Grabbed her. Silas put him on t

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