Chapter 79

Maya’s POV

Everything had been going smoothly for the company. I’d handled every contract expertly, and we were now firmly ahead of the Brooks. Even though I missed Elias terribly, I still felt a sharp anger at him. The photo he’d sent me a week ago still cut through me like a knife, and that wound made it all too easy to honor my promise to shut my phone off. He could only reach me now through Annie or Christopher.

Lately I’d grown uneasy around Christopher. Ever since he’d brushed my thigh last Wednesday, his eyes had been locked on me like a predator stalking its prey. He’d acted embarrassed afterward, but his shame felt more like a show—he seemed disappointed instead of contrite.

Annie had stayed with me every single night, and her presence did wonders for my frayed nerves. Outside my door there was never a sound. Annie, too, harbored suspici