As Zack ended the call, he sat back in his office chair, feeling an ache that had nothing to do with work. He could sense the shift in Nia's tone, the brittleness that hadn't been there moments ago. Her quick goodbye, the quiet strain in her voice—it left him uneasy. She was building her walls again, slipping away despite all his efforts to bridge the chasm between them.
The hum of his computer screens offered no comfort, nor did the success they'd achieved. He'd saved PixelWave from Tech Xclusive, but protecting her company was only part of what he wanted to do. He wanted to earn her trust back, to prove that he'd never truly left her. Zack sighed, running a hand over his face as he stared at the city skyline from his office. If he couldn't reach her now, they'd slip back into the cycle of guarded words and missed chances. He couldn't let that happen.
