Page 89 of The Bittersweet Bond

“Can you at least stop and listen to me?” His voice carried, and he noticed the slight flinch in her posture. But she didn’t stop.

“Evin!” This time, his voice was calmer, but it held the kind of insistence he reserved for rare moments when he demanded her attention.

She finally paused in an empty hallway, though she didn’t fully turn to face him. When she did, there was something flickering in her eyes—unease, hesitation, something raw she couldn’t quite mask. And he caught it. It almost made him smirk. He’d struck a nerve.

“What do you want, Bas?” Her voice was sharp, her words a calculated defense. Oh, I love this.

He stepped closer, the space between them shrinking just enough for her to feel the faint warmth of his breath. “You know exactly what I want.” His voice was low, edged with something unreadable. No retreat. Not this time.

Evin rolled her eyes, but her cracking facade betrayed her. She wasn’t as unaffected as she wanted to seem.

“What do you want to talk about? The way you acted like an idiot? I got the message. Let it go.”

A crooked grin tugged at his lips. He planted a hand on the wall beside her head, leaning in even closer. “Is that really why you’re so pissed? Or does it bother you more that I’m right?”

Her eyes burned with anger. Good. Be mad. As long as you feel something.

“Arrogance always suited you,” she shot back.

He let out a short, dry laugh. “Maybe. But don’t think for a second that this doesn’t matter to me.”

She scoffed and made to turn away, but his hand remained firm against the wall. No escape.

“That guy? Seriously, Evin? Is that who you’re replacing me with?”

Her gaze dropped for a moment, hesitation flickering across her face before she masked it again.

“That’s my business, Bas.” Her voice was calm, almost provocative, but he caught the faint tremor she couldn’t quite suppress.

“Of course, it is. But I know you—better than you think.” His voice softened, low and intense. That was the only thing that truly frustrated him. That she didn’t see it.

His eyes flickered to her lips, and suddenly, the tension between them became something tangible. Every unconscious movement—the quickening of her breath, the way her fingers curled into her palm—told him she felt it too.

Evin took a slow breath and forced a mocking smile, but her gaze wavered. “Stop it. One minute you want me, the next you don’t. This has to end.”

She had every right not to trust him. But he deserved a chance.

For a moment, her gaze lingered on his lips. He struggled against the pull of the moment, and when he leaned in just a fraction closer, she whispered, barely audible, “Don’t.”

A flicker of triumph surged through him. She wasn’t as cold as she pretended to be.

“Don’t what?” His voice was dangerously calm, almost teasing. “Don’t tell the truth? That I’m standing here while you run away, pretending this is all just a game to me?” His tone was quiet but insistent. He wanted to pull her out of her shell.

She shook her head, trying to suppress the longing he could see flicker in her eyes. “You’re talking nonsense. You don’t even know what you want, Bas. I’m not—” She stopped herself, biting her lip as if she’d said too much.

“Say it.” His voice dropped to something rougher, more demanding. “What aren’t you?”

She hesitated, then met his gaze head-on. “I’m not just someone you can hold onto because it’s convenient.”

Bas let out a low, dry laugh, dropping his hand from the wall. Instead, he reached for a strand of her hair, twirling it between his fingers as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Convenient? You’ve got to be kidding me.

“This?” His voice dropped, deep and smooth. “This is anything but convenient, Evin.”

She stepped back slightly, but he saw how his words had landed. Just for a second, the heat in his gaze cracked through her defenses. But then she recovered, fast.

“You’re good at this,” she muttered. “At what you do. What you say. You’ll never stop."

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