Damien didn’t look away. He locked his gaze on her, his eyes dark and unreadable, searching for something in the silence.
Maya tried to hold it, but the intensity was too much; she looked down at her hands, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs.
Jamie’s voice cut through the heavy atmosphere like a sharp needle. “May, you’re blushing really hard.”
“I am not!” Maya snapped, her voice a pitch too high as she stared at the mahogany table.
Her gaze flicked toward Damien—just for a moment—before she looked away.
A few seconds passed. Then Damien finally broke the stare. He checked his watch, the metal cold against his wrist as the forty-eight–hour countdown officially began.
“Then we’re done here,” he said, his voice settling back into that stony, absolute command.
He pau
