Page 30 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

“Yes, sir. I haven’t looked at the footage yet out of—”

“Delete all the footage from today that captured everything in the elevator.”

Howard goes silent. Winter holds her purse in a tight grip.

“Done, sir. Apologies once again. The elevator should be up and running by now.”

No sooner does Howard finish his apology than the elevator reaches its destination. The doors open, and Winter steps out of it like the snarling air inside chokes her.

A wise man should let her leave.

A good man should not question how she feels about what we did just there.

We might have fucked, but I felt her in my system. I felt the pull in her heart as I kissed her and made her mine after so many years. I might go ahead and say I didn’t just fuck her. I claimed her.

Goddess sake, my cum is peppering her thighs as we speak.

Since I’ve never been wise or a good man where Winter is concerned, I get out of the elevator in time to catch Winter’s wrist before she runs to her car and shuts me out again.

Touching her makes Winter stop, and instead of turning around to face me, she gives me her back.

“It’s late. I’ll offer you a ride home,” my voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard to my own ears. I don’t want to offer her a ride home. I want to take her to my place.

“I have a car, Deacon, and I know how to drive in case you missed it. I’d appreciate it, too, if you let go of my hand.”

The silence in the parking lot is so ironically loud in my ears.

“You can’t run away from this Winter. Not after what happened in that—”

This time, Winter turns around, her cold green eyes boring into mine like a scorned woman out to prove a point.

“And what do you think happened inside that elevator, Mr. Cross? Pray tell, what exactly do you think happened in there?”

“Don’t do this.” I’ve been pissed about a lot of things for years, but her denial sure as hell takes the cake.

Don’t do this to us, baby.

“I was having a panic attack, and you fucked me to help me get over it. Nothing special. Nothing worth speaking about.”

Crossing the distance between us, my jaw ticking, my anger billowing around me like steam, I call her bullshit. “The way our bodies moved in sync was like they were calling to each other. It wasn’t nothing, Winter. The way we could barely keep off each other because of this bond that ignited the minute I kissed your lips wasn’t nothing. What? You want to tell me you didn’t feel our bond, like a tight thread connecting us? You can try to feed yourself that bullshit of it being nothing because you are still hurt, but we both know something happened in that elevator. Something you feel right in that little heart that you keep on hiding from me.”

Raucous laughter slips from her lips, the type that sounds mocking and agitating. Then she decimates me with her words.

“For sex to mean anything with you, I would have to care about you first, Deacon, and I stopped caring about you a long time ago. Whatever happened in that elevator? I regret it. I regret every single minute I let you touch my body again.”

I let her wrist go.

I watch her walk down the parking lot all the way to her car.

But deep inside? I feel like I got served a cold dish of humble pie.

XXX

The next day has me tending to work emails, employing new managers for each department that are capable enough to handle the workload awaiting them, and cross-checking everything with the CFO and the board of directors.

It has been five hours since I arrived in the office, and although I’m trying to make my sour mood not too obvious in front of everyone, the truth of the matter is that I’m one knuckle away from breaking something.

Winter has been getting me every file I ask for without a word. She’s barely looked at me, and I’ve done the same. Regardless of the situation between us, the outfit she has for the day, which is a navy-blue pantsuit with killer heels, makes her stand out more than any female who’s been in here, and it’s all I could appreciate in this dull morning.

---