THE COUSIN
~MAYA'S POV~
Silas had sent me away.
It was not a request, more like a dismissal.
He had looked at his phone, jaw tightening into that hard line that meant business, and told me to take one of his cars and go home. "Urgent matters" to attend to.
He didn't explain. I knew better than to ask.
So here I was, pulling his sleek black sedan into the underground garage, feeling like a fraud in a vehicle worth more than my entire life.
The engine purred into silence.
I sat there, gripping the wheel, heart still beating. The smell of him—sandalwood, leather, and a cool musk—stayed in the room.
It stuck to me.
I opened the door and stepped out, legs feeling like jelly. The concrete garage was cold, but my skin felt hot.
I leaned back into the car, bending over the driver's s
