Bound To The Broken Alpha (Amy and Daniel) novel Chapter 101

5 Pearls

Chapter 101 Walking Away

AMY

The following day, work went in its usual rhythm. By the time I looked at my table clock, I realized that time was far spent. The cleaning crew had already gone, and only the faint hum of the air conditioning

filled the silence.

I was seated across him, scanning through the last page of a document while he scribbled notes beside me.

His handwriting looked like something even a doctor would struggle to read. I tried to stay focused, but after a while, I couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“Daniel,” I said, looking up from the papers. “You do realize no one can actually read this, right?”

He looked up, confused. “What do you mean?”

I pointed at the messy lines. “This. Whatever this is supposed to say.”

He leaned over to look at his own handwriting, squinting like it might suddenly make more sense. “It says ‘adjust timeline for board review.”

I smiled slightly. “It could just as easily say ‘attack tomorrow at dawn.”

He laughed, and his face softened. “You’re exaggerating.”

“Am I?” I asked, amused. “You have the handwriting of a man plotting something illegal.”

He leaned back in his chair. “If that’s the case, you’re the accomplice. You sign off on all of it.”

That made me laugh, and for a moment, it didn’t feel like we were two people carrying the weight of an entire company or a past filled with lies and betrayal. It felt normal. Easy.

When I finished organizing the files, I stacked them neatly and said, “That’s it for tonight. I’ll have the final version sent to your email by morning.”

Daniel nodded. “You’ve been working too much lately.”

“So have you,” I replied, grabbing my coat.

“The difference is, I’m the boss.”

“Right,” I said, pretending to think. “Which means you set a bad example.”

He smirked. “I’ll try to do better.”

I shook my head but smiled anyway. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

When I turned to leave, he stood up too. “I’ll walk you to the elevator.”

He always did that lately. Maybe it was now a habit, or maybe it was something else we both pretended not

to think too much about. The walk to the elevator was quiet. The sound of our footsteps echoed through the empty hallway.

mway

+5 Pearls

When we reached the doors, I turned to him. “You don’t have to walk me every time. Cole is always around somewhere.”

“I know,” he said quietly. “I just want to.”

Something about the way he said it made me pause. He looked tired, but calm. His usual guarded expression wasn’t there anymore. He was free around me now and it helped me know him better.

He studied me for a moment, “I can’t lie to myself anymore, Amy.”

I frowned slightly. “About what?”

His voice lowered, “I love you.” he blurted I could tell that confession was unplanned.

The words hung in the air, simple and certain. My mind went blank. I didn’t know what to say or even how

to react.

D

I stared at him, waiting for him to take it back, but he didn’t. He just stood there, his gaze steady on mine, like he’d been holding it in for too long.

“I…” I started, but stopped. I didn’t want to say something careless, something I might regret later. I didn’t see that coming and now it felt like a reply was stuck in my throat.

He took a slow step closer, not too close, just enough to close some of the distance between us. “You don’t have to say anything,” he said.

“I’m not sure what I feel,” I said finally, my voice quieter than I expected. “But I know I feel something.”

He nodded once, his expression was unreadable, but I could tell my answer mattered to him.

Then, without another word, his hand brushed against mine. I didn’t pull away. I didn’t want to.

The elevator doors opened behind me, but neither of us moved. The silence between us was so tense and I could feel goosebumps all over my skin.

When the doors finally closed, I found myself staring at the floor, my heart was beating really fast and my mind was restless too. I turned away and walked briskly to my car. Cole opened the door and I got in without looking back at Daniel.

***

The next morning, things went back to normal- at least on the surface. We worked like we always did. Meetings, calls, reports. But something in the way we spoke to each other had changed.

Later that week, he called me into his office around lunch. “You’ve been in back–to–back meetings all morning,” he said, holding out a takeout bag. “Eat something before you pass out.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re ordering food for me now?”

“Think of it as repayment for saving me from my own bad handwriting,” he said.

I smiled and took the bag. “I’ll add it to your growing list of debts.”

2/3

Chapter 101 Walking Away

+5 Pearls

He sat across from me at the small table by the window. We ate in silence for a few minutes, though it wasn’t awkward.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify