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Chapter 28 – Face to Face
Last Updated:
2025-03-13 02:48:51
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Bound by deception Chapter 29 – The Truth No One Told Me
The world narrows to the man in front of me.Ethan Sinclair.A man I thought I knew. A man who just told me he’s known me far longer than I’ve known him.I stare at him, my pulse a violent drum against my ribs. My hands tremble, but I curl them into fists, forcing myself to stand still.“What do you mean you knew me before?” My voice is tight, laced with something dangerously close to panic.Ethan doesn’t flinch. His expression is unreadable, a mask so carefully placed that I can’t tell what’s behind it.Elias shifts beside me, stepping forward. His presence is like a dark cloud pressing into the moment, heavy and foreboding. “That’s what I’d like to know too.”Ethan exhales, slow and measured. “Not here.”Elias chuckles, but it’s sharp, humorless. “Where, then? Your penthouse? A private island? Somewhere you can control the situation?”Ethan’s jaw tightens, a flicker of something flashing in his eyes. “You know damn well this isn’t something to discuss in the middle of a hotel lobby.
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The glass shattered before I could react.I ducked as shards rained down, my pulse hammering in my ears. The penthouse was in chaos—Ethan’s rage tore through the room like a storm, his movements sharp, deliberate.“Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” His voice was dangerously low, but it held more power than if he had shouted.I forced myself to meet his gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”Ethan’s jaw clenched. He took slow, measured steps toward me, closing the distance between us in a heartbeat. He held up a folder, fingers tightening around the edges.He threw it onto the coffee table between us.I didn’t have to open it. I already knew what was inside.“I trusted you,” he murmured, voice eerily calm. “I gave you protection. And in return, you lied to me.”I exhaled sharply, schooling my expression. “You don’t get to talk about trust, Ethan.”His smirk was cold. “Oh, but I do.”He yanked the folder open, pulling out the papers—proof of my meeting with Elias.His eyes bu
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The air in the room turned electric, the kind of tension that came before a storm.Ethan’s entire demeanor shifted in an instant. His expression hardened, his eyes darkened, and a dangerous silence settled over him like a second skin. Every muscle in his body coiled tight, like a predator poised to strike.The guard in front of him hesitated, clearly aware that delivering bad news to Ethan Sinclair was like stepping into a minefield.“What do you mean, gone?” Ethan’s voice was too calm, too measured—like the eye of a hurricane just before it tore through everything in its path.The guard swallowed hard. His stance was stiff, his fingers twitching against his sides. “Vanished, sir. He slipped through our surveillance. We had men tailing him, but—”Ethan held up a hand, cutting him off mid-sentence. His sharp gaze flicked to me.I held my breath.“Isabella.”Just my name. No anger, no accusations.But I knew exactly what he was thinking.My heart pounded against my ribs as I met his sta
Last Updated : 2025-03-13Bound by deception Chapter 32 – Nowhere to Run
My heart slammed against my ribs as I stared at the message.Run.One word. No sender name. No explanation.But I didn’t need one.I knew exactly who it was from.Elias.A cold shiver ran down my spine as I shoved the phone into my pocket, my mind racing.He was out there. On the move. Running.Which meant Ethan was right—Elias knew what was coming.I needed time. A plan. A way to keep both Elias and myself alive without Ethan seeing straight through me.But time was the one thing I didn’t have.Because Ethan was watching me. Always watching.His voice cut through the thick air like a blade. “Who was that?”I forced a neutral expression even as my pulse roared in my ears. “Wrong number.”Ethan didn’t blink. Didn’t move. The silence stretched just long enough to make my skin prickle.Then—“Give me your phone.”My stomach lurched.I hesitated.Too long.In a flash, Ethan reached for it.I twisted away, but he was faster—he was always faster. His fingers closed around my wrist in an uny
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The cold night air gnawed at my skin as I stood at the entrance of Pier 17, the damp wind carrying the scent of salt and rust. My breath came in short, uneven bursts, my fingers curled into fists so tight my nails dug into my palms.I was running out of time.The quiet lapping of waves against the wooden pillars did nothing to mask the tension thrumming in the air, thick and suffocating.Behind me, Ethan leaned casually against a sleek black SUV, the dim glow of the pier lights casting long shadows across his face. His stance was relaxed—too relaxed—but his sharp blue eyes were locked onto me, waiting. Calculating.Beside him, Damien checked his gun with a smooth efficiency that made my stomach churn. The metallic click as he slid the magazine into place echoed in the empty night.I clenched my teeth against the nausea rising in my throat.Elias was walking into a death trap.And I was the bait.Ethan’s voice sliced through the silence, smooth and deliberate. “Nervous?”I turned to fa
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Elias’s footsteps echoed against the concrete pier, slow and deliberate. Each step sent a fresh wave of panic crashing through me, my pulse hammering so loud I could barely hear anything else. The cold air stung my face, but the tension in the atmosphere was far sharper—electric, suffocating.Then, he came into full view.Elias moved with that same lethal grace I remembered—tall, composed, and unreadable, but I could see the tightness in his jaw, the way his shoulders squared as his sharp gaze flickered between me, Ethan, and the armed men surrounding us. He was assessing, calculating. Reading the danger in an instant.I had seconds to act.“Elias.” I forced my voice to remain steady, even as the terror clawed at my chest. “You shouldn’t have come.”He didn’t answer me. His dark eyes locked onto Ethan, ignoring everything else. “You really can’t stay out of my business, can you?”Ethan let out a quiet chuckle, tilting his head slightly, his hands slipping into his pockets like we were
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Ethan’s gun was steady, his finger resting lightly on the trigger. His expression was unreadable, but his dark eyes held one message loud and clear—this ends now.I skidded to a stop, my breath coming fast and hard, my chest rising and falling in uneven gasps. The cold night air clung to my skin, thick with the salty scent of the ocean. My pulse hammered against my ribs, the adrenaline in my veins making it hard to think past the raw instinct screaming at me to run.Elias’s grip on my wrist tightened—a silent warning.No sudden moves. No mistakes.Ethan took a slow step forward, his lips curving into a mockery of a smile. “Running, Isabella?” His voice was smooth, almost amused. “Again?”I swallowed against the lump in my throat, forcing my voice to remain steady. “Let us go, Ethan.”His eyes flicked to Elias, then back to me. “You already know that’s not happening.”Elias let out a low chuckle, but there was no humor in it. His body remained poised, his muscles coiled like a predator
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The blindfold came off.Light slashed into my eyes, burning through the darkness I’d been trapped in. I flinched, squeezing them shut against the sudden sting, my head jerking to the side. My pulse slammed against my ribs, erratic, panicked. A dull ache throbbed at the base of my skull where I must have hit something (someone) during the struggle.Cold air licked at my skin, sending a shiver down my spine. The room smelled of damp concrete, metallic like rust. My wrists ached, bound tightly behind the chair, the rope digging into the flesh. My ankles were secured to the legs, keeping me completely immobilized. The rough fibers scraped against my skin with every tiny movement.I tested the restraints once, twice, pulling, twisting, but they held firm. My breathing quickened.I wasn’t in Ethan’s penthouse anymore.This was something else.Something worse.A door creaked open.Footsteps. Slow, deliberate. Each one measured, unhurried, as if the person walking toward me had all the time i
Last Updated : 2025-03-21
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“The woman at the center of the storm.”Logan Pierce’s words hung in the air like an omen, sinking into the dimly lit room like a fog, thick and suffocating.I forced my expression to remain neutral, though every nerve in my body was on edge. The way he said it, like he already knew me. Like I was some predetermined piece in a game I hadn’t agreed to play made my skin crawl.“That’s dramatic,” I muttered, keeping my voice flat.Logan’s smirk deepened, the corners of his mouth curving with something that wasn’t quite amusement, wasn’t quite malice. “Isn’t it?”Ethan wasn’t amused. “Sit.”He didn’t direct the order at Logan. He meant me.For a moment, I considered defying him. Just to remind him I wasn’t some pawn he could push around. But the weight of exhaustion settled deep in my bones, and I knew I had to pick my battles. So, I sank onto the leather couch, my arms crossing over my chest.Logan, completely at ease, took his time settling into the chair across from me, stretching out
Bound by deception Chapter 48 – Into the Lion’s Den
The SUV sliced through the night like a silent predator, devouring the miles between us and the city. The hum of the tires against the road was the only sound filling the tense silence inside the car. Ethan sat beside me, his jaw tight, his fingers drumming against his knee in a steady calculated and controlled rhythm. His mind was somewhere else, far ahead of us, mapping out the next move, anticipating every possible threat. I stared out the window, watching as the towering skyscrapers and flickering neon lights of New York faded into darkness, replaced by vast stretches of highway and dense, looming trees. The further we drove, the more it felt like we were leaving civilization itself. A cold knot twisted in my stomach. Finally, I exhaled, breaking the silence. “Where exactly is ‘home’?” Ethan’s gaze flicked to me, but his expression remained unreadable. “Somewhere safe.” I let out a hollow laugh. “Safe? There’s no such thing anymore.” He didn’t argue. He didn’t need to
Bound by deception Chapter 47 – No Safe Haven
The room felt like it had been drained of oxygen. I stared at the phone in my hand, my fingers curled so tightly around it that my knuckles turned white. The screen flickered, casting a pale glow on my face, but all I could focus on was the image. The bold, jagged letters scrawled across my apartment door like a bloody warning. Nowhere is safe. A shiver crept down my spine. The words weren’t just a threat. They were a promise. I sucked in a shaky breath, but the air felt thick, heavy, as if the walls were closing in. Ethan moved first. His hand shot out, snatching the phone from my grasp. His grip was tight, controlled, but the muscle in his jaw ticked. A sign that the control was hanging by a thread. His gaze flicked over the image, scanning every detail, and then, with a sharp inhale, he turned to me. “Pack a bag.” I blinked, my mind still trying to catch up. “What?” “You’re not staying here. You’re not going back to your apartment.” His voice was clipped, edged with
Bound by deception Chapter 46 – The Line We Can’t Cross
“Let go of me, Ethan.” I kept my voice steady, but my body betrayed me. My hands trembled. My pulse hammered against my ribs, each beat screaming at me to run. Ethan’s grip on my wrist didn’t tighten, but it didn’t loosen either. His fingers, warm and solid, were the only thing anchoring me in place. He stood rigid, his jaw ticking, his body wound so tight it looked like he might snap. “I can’t.” A shiver rippled down my spine. Elias let out a low whistle. “Oh, this is getting good. What’s next, Sinclair? You gonna lock her up in your penthouse?” Ethan didn’t even spare him a glance. His gaze was locked on mine, intense and unyielding. “If that’s what it takes to keep her safe.” A sharp, bitter laugh escaped me. “You don’t get to decide that.” His grip flexed. Just a twitch of his fingers but I felt it everywhere. “I do when Damien Cross is hunting you.” Elias exhaled dramatically. “And there it is. The Sinclair control complex.” He smirked, shifting against the des
Bound by deception Chapter 45 – The Truth That Shatters
The room felt like it was closing in. The walls seemed narrower, the air thick with something I couldn’t name. The grainy video on the screen played in an endless loop, the scene burned into my mind. Ethan. A silencer. A body collapsing to the floor. Blood spreading like ink across white tiles. My breath came fast, uneven. It was like my brain refused to process what I’d just seen. “Tell me that wasn’t you.” My voice barely sounded like mine. It was strained and fragile on the verge of breaking. Ethan didn’t move. He didn’t speak. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes… God, his eyes. I had seen them dark before, filled with anger, with lust, with unspoken emotions I never had the courage to name. But this? This was different. His gaze was a void. Hollow. As if the man I thought I knew was locked somewhere inside, just out of reach. Something inside me cracked. I stepped back, shaking my head. “Say something.” Ethan finally exhaled, slow and control
Bound by deception Chapter 44 – Torn Between Devils
“Put the gun down, Ethan.” Elias’s voice was smooth and calculated like a snake slithering through the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He stood in the doorway with the ease of a man who owned the world, his fingers lightly brushing against the frame. His other hand was tucked in his pocket, casual, almost lazy, but I knew better. Nothing about Elias Carter was ever lazy. Every move was deliberate. Every word, a weapon. Ethan, however, was a fortress. His stance was unwavering, shoulders squared, his gun aimed with lethal precision. He wasn’t just holding a weapon. He was a weapon. “You’re trespassing.” His voice was razor-sharp. Elias smirked. Smirked. Like none of this mattered, like he hadn’t just shattered the world I’d built with his sudden presence. “And you’re holding something that belongs to me.” The words sliced through the air, thick with meaning. My breath caught. Me. Ethan’s hold on the gun tightened. “She doesn’t belong to you.”
Bound by deception Chapter 43 – Shadows of the Past
I shook my head, my chest rising and falling too fast. “No.” Ethan didn’t move. Didn’t blink. “Yes.” My pulse pounded against my ribs like a trapped animal. I took a step back, needing distance, but Ethan was relentless, closing in, his presence thick like a storm cloud about to break. “Elias is gone,” I whispered. “He has to be gone.” Ethan tilted his head slightly, studying me like he was waiting for me to figure out the truth on my own. “Do you really believe that?” I wanted to. God, I wanted to. But Ethan’s voice carried the weight of something inevitable, something unshakable. I clenched my fists at my sides. “He used me. Lied to me. Left me.” I swallowed against the tightness in my throat. “Why the hell would he want me back?” Ethan’s eyes flickered with something unreadable before he spoke. “Because you’re the only thing he ever lost.” The words slammed into me. For a moment, the room faded, replaced by the ghosts of memories I had fought to bury. Elias’s hands
Bound by deception Chapter 42 – The Only Way Out
I stumbled back, shaking my head, my breath coming too fast. My heartbeat slammed against my ribs, a wild, frantic rhythm that made my chest ache. “You’re lying.” Ethan didn’t move, didn’t blink. “Am I?” His voice was maddeningly calm, like he was talking about the weather and not completely tearing my world apart. I wanted to believe that. Needed to believe that. But the video kept replaying in my mind, every detail slicing through me like a serrated knife Elias smirking, rolling that damn cigarette between his fingers like I had been nothing more than a business deal, an asset. A job. My stomach lurched. “How long have you known?” My voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. Ethan exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his jaw like he was debating how much to say. “Long enough.” I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “And you just let me keep believing he cared?” He arched a brow. “Would you have believed me if I told you earlier?” I opened my mouth, ready to snap ba
Bound by deception Chapter 41 – The Target
The walls of Ethan’s hidden room closed in around me, suffocating, too full of secrets I wasn’t ready to face. My pulse pounded in my ears as his words echoed inside my skull. “You were a job.” It wasn’t possible. It wasn’t real. I took a step back, gripping the edge of the desk to steady myself. The folder with my name on it sat between us like a loaded gun. My life, reduced to paper. Dates. Records. A complete history. Ethan watched me with maddening patience, as if waiting for me to process the truth or waiting for me to break. I wouldn’t. I lifted my chin. “You’re lying.” He sighed, rubbing a hand along his jaw. “I don’t lie, Isabella.” Something in his voice made my stomach churn. He sounded tired, almost resigned, but there was an underlying certainty that terrified me. I turned my back to him, gripping the folder so tightly my knuckles ached. I flipped through the pages again, my eyes scanning too fast, desperate for something. Anything to prove him wrong
