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Chapter 23
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2024-09-24 06:17:16Related chapters
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 24
AIDEN'S POVI lay in bed, staring at the ceiling while my mind worked and worked in circles. I just could not get the image of Jason's hand on Tessa, the way they smiled across meeting at one another.The bare idea of them together, laughing, talking, maybe more than that pulled at me like some sort of virus that wouldn't cure. And every time I closed them, there it would be: the picture of his hand, her smile, that touch of comfort in them.I rolled to my side toward the clock. 10 p.m.Was she even back yet?I wasn't thinking when I reached for my phone and dialed her number. It rang once, twice, and she answered."Aiden?" she said softly, as if she hadn't at all expected my call.“Are you back at the hotel?" I asked, trying to be conscious not to let any interference into my voice, though I knew it was seeping through."Yes, I got back a little while ago," she said, her voice light; yet something inside me was monitoring the flicker of a hesitation. "Why?I didn't answer. I merely s
Last Updated : 2024-09-24Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 25
Tessa's POVAiden's kiss, hot and demanding latticework against my lips as my brain caked with the fog-fog of bemusement and longing. My heart slammed hard in my chest as I stared at him-all attempts to decipher what had happened, what was happening.“What are you doing, Aiden?" I whispered, shaking, trying to regulate the crazy pounding of my heart. His hands cupped my face and the warmth off his skin pressed against mine refused to let me think right. Anger in his eyes was second to turmoil churning inside me.He said nothing. His thumb stroked over my lower lip, the touch sending a shiver down my spine. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, gravelly. "You have no idea what you do to me, Tessa.”My breath caught, my pulse racing unchecked. The hunger in his gaze, raw and palpable, the weight of those words jolting my heart-too much, the way he looked at me. The weight of his gaze upon me was enough to steal my breath-away from the nearness of him, the touch of him. He overwhelme
Last Updated : 2024-09-24Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 26
Aiden's P.O.V.I came to consciousness when the soft, soundless rise and fall of Tessa's breathing beside me registered in my brain. Muted morning light peered through the curtain, casting an incandescent glow across her skin. She was so peaceful-once her body was all relaxed, there was even a slight dancing smile on the edges of her mouth, even while she slept. My heart was this big in my chest, and once in a really, really long while, I was truly satisfied, really.It was a weakness. One I should have never given into. Too much time in my head, warring over what I felt for her, telling myself it wasn't right-getting tangled up with her, complications that would come with it. Lying here beside her now though, I knew how foolish I'd been. If I'd just admitted it sooner, all that tension could have been avoided, all those games.My hands brushed the soft curve of her shoulder, and I couldn't catch the real smile oozing right across my face. She stirred a bit in her sleep, burrowing clo
Last Updated : 2024-10-01Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 27
Tessa's POV“Apologizing doesn't make it okay." I snarled, pacing across the room. Still wired from what had happened-so raw from the emotions.How could Aiden have done such a stupid thing? Reaching Carson's message like that-as if he could control everything in my life."Tessa, " Aiden whispered softly behind me, but I didn't turn into him. I wasn't ready to let him off the hook. Not yet. "Tessa, I'm sorry.I stopped pacing, didn't turn into him. My head was just a jumble of frustration and. something else. Something that drugged my anger, pulling at it wanting me to let go, even when I tried hard not to."You can't do things like that, Aiden, "I finally forced the words out tight with emotion. "You don't get to decide who I talk to or go out with."One step closer and he was an inch away from my face; his voice low and soft-even sincere. "I know. You're right. But you have to understand, the thought of you with someone else drives me crazy.”How he said it just kinda caught my hear
Last Updated : 2024-10-01Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 28
Damien's POV"She'll regret this," I muttered, pacing the length of my living room as my mind raced to come up with some form of a way in which to get her to crawl back. To think after everything I did for her, she had the nerve to just walk out on me? No. That wasn't happening. I wasn't going to let it happen.I picked up my phone off the nightstand and scrolled down the names until Chloe's came up on the screen. She seemed resourceful and the closest to Tessa. If there was one person who could help me turn this around, then it was her. So I dialed the number without too much thought."Damien," Chloe purred into the phone almost as though she'd been waiting for my call. "What's up?""I need a favor," I said, no-nonsense, because I utterly had no patience for games at that instant.There was a silent pause, and I could have sworn I heard the smile across the phone. "A favor? Interesting, what's in it for me?"I utterly ignored her question-interest in one thing and one thing alone: be
Last Updated : 2024-10-02Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 29
Aiden's POV"That went better than expected," I muttered, scrolling through the final numbers on my phone as I stood near the exit. Carson's company had agreed to every term we'd laid out and the deal was sealed. Tessa had been instrumental in getting the whole thing done smoothly-as always.I now turned sideways to her, and she was standing not more than a few feet away from me. She leant back now that finally the meeting was over; her eyes scanned the room as if she was already mentally checking off her tasks for the following day.We were just about to leave when Carson stopped us. He was donning that look on his face-that one, where he acted super casual, yet I knew that he wasn't done talking. The minute I saw him head right for Tessa, my teeth clenched."Tessa, can I talk to you for a minute?" Carson asked, stepping in her direction, completely disregarding me.I was too unmoving, my curiosity piqued by this brief interaction.She did not wait but one heartbeat before turning to
Last Updated : 2024-10-02Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 30
TESSA'S POVThe wide grin on my face was so well stuck-on when I walked into the office that morning. All this sounded unreal on paper, a business trip with Aiden, but it was just the feeling that we had our world, one so, so far removed from the real one. Once in my life, when I did not feel horrified coming to work, the soft brush against the waist, the manner in which he treated me, something worth counting, finally dissolved Monday blues.I could feel Chloe looking at me as I trudged over to my desk. Here it comes. I hadn't said anything to Chloe about Aiden, but then she wasn't stupid either. She'd always know something was up with me."Spill," Chloe said, wheeling her chair around as I sat down. "You're practically glowing. What happened on that trip?"I shrugged cool, but this stupid grin tugging my face in a hundred different directions was giving me away. "Nothing huge, just you know, business."One of Chloe's eyebrows arched upward as she obviously bought absolutely nothing.
Last Updated : 2024-10-03Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 31
AIDEN'S POVI sat and smiled across the office and watched Tessa. God, there was just something about her that made her glide through life, melting the background into a vague blur. The way she smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear when she was concentrating-it all just flowed together so smoothly, yet effortlessly captivating. And, dammit, if I'd only known just how fast I'd fall in love with her-this being an innocent attraction mushrooming into something else-it really wasn't what I had bargained for.It really was not about sneaking around the office anymore like we've been doing since we returned from the business trip; no, I wanted more than that. I wanted something real with her. I wanted her mine officially.This was supposed to be the day I knew that finally, I would garner the guts to ask her on a date for the first time-no more hiding and no more masquerading that nothing's happening between them, because it meant everything.I checked my time once more. In just a little
Last Updated : 2024-10-03
Latest chapter
Falling for my cocky Boss Epilogue
TESSA'S POVSunlight streamed through the huge window panes of our house onto the invitations laid across the dining table. I sat with a pen in hand, writing down final guest names, while Aiden leaned against the counter sipping his coffee."We could just elope, you know," he joked, the corner of one lip tugging upwards with a mischievous smirk.I turned a mock glare his way. "After all this planning? Not in your life, Aiden GRAY. We're doing this properly."He laughed, setting his mug down as he ambled over to me. "Properly, huh? That's why you've been vetoing half my suggestions?""You wanted a firework display during the vows!" I reminded him, laughing.“And what’s wrong with that? It would’ve been epic.” He leaned down, pressing a kiss to my temple. “But fine, no fireworks. As long as you’re there, it’ll be perfect.”It was what he said that always made my heart flutter, and the words this time were not an exception. It was one of those weddings that put me into anticipation and j
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 130
AIDEN'S POVMonths melted away.Weirdly, life went on since it all came crashing down. It had been months since Damien's death, Chloe leaving the city, Tessa and me over his grave saying our goodbyes. Time didn't heal everything; that it never could. But the space it gave. to breathe, rebuild, and put pieces of our lives back into place-was something all of us had desperately needed.That, with me and Tessa, gradually slipped into rhythm, and whatever in our daily life had disappeared with time turned into the time worth living. The daily morning coffee on the balcony, the late evening lying on the couch curled up, making small talks about the future-this had become a routine thing with us. Indeed, chaos seemed to bypass us somehow, yet the shadows took one corner of my mind with the coming night.But as I watched Tessa, humming to herself and arranging flowers in the sitting room, it suddenly hit me-the ton of bricks they say are always used in such situations. I loved her; I had alw
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 129
AIDEN'S POVI did not want to come here. I had told myself that I wouldn't-that some things quite simply were not worth a second chance. But here we were. Tessa stood beside me, her hand in mine, as we walked through the cemetery toward Damien's grave. The wind was cold, a bite into my skin, but nothing compared to the chill now setting into my chest.There it lay, the newly turned soil, the headstone, and the blunt inscription stating his name: "Damien Gray." Seemed so … normal. No great sentences of poetically flowing verbiages, no flowery platitudes of an exaggerated regard. A plain, uneventful name to denote an end of the life so full of promise to me and torn by just so many things… in particular by myself.I had stopped in front of the grave, said nothing. All these emotions warred in my brain, jumbling anger, guilt, sorrow. And it wasn't just because of what happened to him. It was for everything, things that could have gone differently, which I should have done."Do you think
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 128
TESSA'S POVChloe sat up against the mountain of pillows that propped her back. Her skin was a dull white; those alert features dulled by exhaustion and pain. When her gaze locked with mine, something flickered over her face-shame, perhaps? Regret?"Tessa," she husked out, her voice husky, yet steady. "I didn't expect you to be here.”"I did," I said, stepping inside. The door clicked shut behind me, and the soft hum of machinery in the room served to fill the brief moment of silence.A minute swept by with neither of us speaking. I had absolutely no idea where to begin, while Chloe seemed to fish for the right words. Then she spoke.“I'm so sorry," Chloe said, her voice breaking. She looked down at her hands, which were twisting the hospital blanket over and over in a nervous fashion. "For everything. For what I did to you. For what I let Damien do.”Her words were like a wave, and all the anger and hurt I'd been trying to bury surfaced. I crossed my arms, my voice sharper than I mea
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 127
AIDEN'S POVIt all boiled down to me standing against cold brick outside of a hospital. The sharp night air almost nipped my skin but couldn't take away what had been brewing inside of me since the night Damien was finally gone.Dead.The word reverberated in my mind, hollow yet heavy. He had not reached the hospital. Just a few minutes later, when the ambulance had speedily gone away from the warehouse, the police confirmed that my brother was no longer alive. In the pit of my chest, a tussle between relief and guilt twisted itself into this sensation, which has made me so ill.I stared upwards, trying to make sense of the darkened sky. It was a path he'd chosen, wasn't it? He'd refused every olive branch, clung to his rage, and let it consume him. Still, a part of me couldn't help but ask: What if?The sound of footsteps pulled me from my reverie. Tessa came forward, her face ashen, eyes red-rimmed from crying. She wrapped her arms around her middle, as if holding herself to protect
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 126
AIDEN'S POVThe ropes chafing my wrists were heaved into the painfully darkened room by two of Damien's men. My rib cage was racing, pounding within me like a war drum, as my eyes coursed over every inch, scanning the space for her. The echoes of my footsteps rattled through this large, high-ceilinged area, joined by the smothering tension in the air.Then I see her.“Tessa!” screams my hoarse voice in desperation while seeing her tied around the chair, white faced, and tear streaks covering it, her arms bound behind her back, a gag over her mouth, muffling her cries while her big terrified eyes remained fixed on mine, imploring for help.It came finally with the breaking of the silence from Damien's cruel laughter. "Well, well, your Prince Charming is finally here.""Let her go, Damien," I said, shaking all over with anger mixed with fear.Damienne cocked his head to one side, his face a mockery. "And miss this little family reunion? I don't think so.”Damien started to circle me wit
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 125
TESSA'S POVThe stench of that dark room shredded through my senses. My wrists throbbed, sore where the coarse ropes had lacerated into the skin, and with each weak inhalation, it was like the final one that could break this tenuous will hanging by a thread.I was not going to back away from him, not from Damien after what he pulled on Aiden, on me, and our lives.Standing in the doorway was a mountain of a man, with a great scar running down his cheek, scraping his boots on the floor and yawning and weighing his weight on one side. He had been left to watch me; now or never was the time to try anything that came into my head.I pulled carefully, testing the looseness of the rope binding my hands, my heart racing in my chest. Hours of subtly working at this knot had finally paid off; it gave way just enough for me to slide my wrists free.I glanced over to the guard, who now had his head leaned back against the wall, his eyes shutting.Go, Tessa. Now.Summoning every last shred of cou
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 124
AIDEN'S POVThe house was creepily silent when I went in-the kind of silence that twisted my gut. Something was off because it was too still, too empty."Tessa?" I called out, dropping keys on the counter. Nobody answered.My eyes scanned around the living room, the kitchen-nothing. My chest had already tightened as I tried again, louder this time. "Tessa? Marcus? Garret?"No response.And then I saw it-her phone. It lay on the counter, cracked at the screen, looking like she had dropped it there in haste. Tessa would never leave her phone lying anywhere.Now dread set in as my heart began racing, strode toward the security room for some answers, though my gut already told me otherwise.I burst through the door into the room to find Marcus and two other guards huddled around the monitors."Where the hell is Tessa?" I growled low, an edge to my voice that could cut through glass.Marcus slowly turned to me, white as marble, and seemed to fish for his answer. "Sir… we were reviewing the
Falling for my cocky Boss Chapter 123
TESSA'S POVIt wasn't until we stopped before Aiden's building that the car came to rest; it was my safe refuge now turned into a sanctuary in which the fears inside my head seemed to nestle. Those were instances from two weeks ago, haunting in my mind like some unsavable storm-accusations which memory just didn't seem willing or able to rid itself of."You're home," Aiden whispered, and immediately his voice was an anchor of solace amidst my rioting thoughts.Turning back to him, I pushed a small smile. "Home," I echoed, though the word felt wrong. Was I ever again safe?Aiden climbed out first, coming around and pulling my door open. His firm hand reached inside toward me, steady and reassuringly strong. "Come on; got you.I hesitated, staring at his hand. For a moment, the hospital was safer. Out here, the world was too big, too dangerous. But I chased the fear away, telling myself Aiden would never let anything happen to me.I took his hand and he led me out of the car."Take it e
