Owned By The Possessive Alpha, Bounded To My Mate novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Kieran POV

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I was aware she resumed on Monday. My schedule had a 9.am meeting with a consultant: A. Stones. I stared at the laptop and let my thoughts ran loose.

I had not called Alyssa, doing so would mean having a conversation that I wasn’t ready to have.

James brought coffee at eight forty-five. I took a sip and it tasted wrong. It was the kind of thing I overlooked but not today it seemed because I set the cup down and looked at it. “This isn’t right.”

James’ eyes flickered with something. “This is what you ordered.””

I stared at the cup and realized he was right. “Bring what you brought last Monday.”

He regarded me for a moment before nodding and taking the cup on his way out.

I checked the time; I had about fifteen minutes before the meeting.

I was crossing the lobby for a different reason when she came through the glass doors.

She was with an assistant and held a briefcase. She was appropriately dressed and composed as she walked down the corridor. Her ID tag displayed Ms. Stone.

I knew Alyssa deeply than most people ever will but it wasn’t her who crossed the Nightshade Group lobby this morning. Ms. Stone was a complete stranger’who stared at my company the way a consultant looks at a new client environment.

The introduction went pretty smooth all things considered. I came in with James and two project leads. Alyssa’s team was already seated on the left side of the table.

I introduced myself.

“I look forward to working with you on the merger, Nightshade.” Alyssa replied neutrally.

I almost called her Alyssa. I quickly recovered and hope no one noticed. “Ms. Stone.”

She went at the documents in front of her. During the meeting she called Nightshade whenever she addressed me directly with the same professional distance in her tone. She treated me no differently from the other executives and focused on the work.

There was a disagreement about the timeline for a European regulatory submission. One of the project lead underestimated the filing requirements while the other used the correct deadline in the wrong column.

Alyssa cut in with a practiced efficiency. “We have fifteen months not twelve. That’s the only way the third quarter works.”

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Chapter 148

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One of the project leads started to argue but she wasn’t having it. “ESMA amended the filing guidance in March. You can refer to the technical appendix.”

There was a charged silence as someone quickly referenced the appendix. I watched her wait for the room to arrive at the conclusion she was right. She never glanced it my direction not once during it.

I got a whiff of her scent and realized her notes was barely presence. Did she take more suppressants than usual just because she was here?

She knew what might have happened and had taken steps to make sure it didn’t. My jaw worked as tha understanding washed over me.

She had known this would be hard but it didn’t stop her from coming.

I became aware of Denise through the bond while the meeting was still in progress. She was completely neutral which was quite surprising. I could tell her state of mind but I couldn’t get a reading on her this time.

I wondered if she had no idea about the meeting or she was deliberately being calm. The two scenarios were very much possible.

The meeting ended before I could get any answers.

Alyssa gathered her materials with the air of someone who had no reason to remain.

She stood, shook hands with James, addressed the two project leads before leaving with her assistant, all without a glance at me.

I had asked for her discretion a few years ago and she was doing an excellent job so far.

Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it. Whoever said that had no idea how right they

were.

My office was quiet when I returned to it. I sat down and stared at my laptop screen. The blank screen gave me the same information the bond had on Denise: nothing.

I thought about what she had access to: The photograph that was in my drawer. It hadn’t been moved but there was a good change she might have seen it. She might have gotten Eli’s and Alyssa scent on me when I went to see her at the hospital. If she didn’t, then rejecting Alyssa’s calls while I was with her would be hard to miss. The bond didn’t help matters, it would have conveyed something and she was too quick to

miss it.

I had told myself I was waiting for the right time before the wedding took place; it’s been a few weeks since the wedding.

I had spent three years keeping Alyssa in one space and building Denise in another. It was easy managing both in the beginning because of the distance I maintained now Alyssa was on the seventh floor and Denise was on the fifth.

They weren’t mutually exclusive, they never were, I was the one who thought and made sure they were.

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