Page 17 of Surrendering to the Obsession
The car doors shut.
Sound dropped.
He turned his head toward her, his expression serious.
“You know Harold?”
Mia swallowed. “Yeah… we met last time at the club. Hazel introduced us. He’s her friend.”
Alexander didn’t react right away. His profile stayed locked, jaw tight, eyes staring ahead. But something restless flickered beneath his calm.
Then he said, too casually,
“Harold is about the same age as you.”
Mia nodded. “Yeah, I know. He told me the last time we met.”
Alexander’s hand tightened around the steering wheel, leather groaning under the pressure. His face was calm—too calm, like still water hiding a storm underneath.
“Do you like men older than you, Mia?”
A pause.
“Or men your age?”
Mia blinked, her brows pulling together. “Does… it matter?”
His answer was immediate. “Yes.”
He turned his head, eyes locking onto hers with a quiet intensity. “It matters to me.”
Mia’s breath stilled. There was no teasing in his voice, no softness. Just a raw need he wasn’t even trying to hide anymore.
His grip remained locked around the steering wheel, veins standing out along the back of his hand. For a moment, the air in the car felt too intimate.
Before either could speak again, his phone rang, breaking the moment.
His jaw twitched in irritation before he answered the call.
A short, clipped conversation. A curt, “Right.”
Then he hung up and looked at her again.
“I’ll take you somewhere,” he said softly. “You’ll see something worth seeing.”
He turned back to the road, one hand on the wheel. The engine roared to life and shot forward.
They drove for a while. Then, the car slowed to a stop near a construction site. A commotion surged outside—voices raised, dust in the air, the sound of metal against metal.
Mia looked out the window and froze.
William was there—face red, hair disheveled, shouting at the top of his lungs. He was shaking with frustration, pointing wildly as the demolition crew continued working without acknowledging him.
“This building complies with every regulation!” he shouted hoarsely. “You can’t just tear it down without notice—do you hear me?!”
But no one was listening. The machinery kept moving, the building kept falling.
Mia’s chest tightened. The scene looked painfully familiar.
