CHAPTER 43: AFTERSHOCK

The heavy door of Nadia’s office creaked open, and Devon stepped out, his broad shoulders filling the frame for a moment before he strode into the research department’s open-plan workspace. His dark hair was slightly mussed, his shirt wrinkled at the collar, and a faint sheen of sweat glistened on his brow, but his gait was all swagger, his lips curled into a smug half-smile that dared anyone to comment. The air in the office seemed to freeze, the hum of fluorescent lights and the distant clatter of keyboards falling silent as every pair of eyes turned toward him. The colleagues hunched over laptops and charts, their coffee cups and notepads scattered across desks, stared, stunned, their faces a gallery of shock, disbelief, and something akin to scandalized awe.

Nadia had tried, God, how she’d tried to keep her moans stifled, biting her lip until it bled, muffling her screams against her arm or the desk. But the walls of the hospital’s research wing were thin, and the sounds of their frenzied coupling, the rhythmic slap of fat ass, the creak of the desk, the occasional guttural grunt or gasped curse had bled through, painting a vivid picture for anyone within earshot.

These were adults, after all, they knew exactly what had been happening behind that door, and the realization hung heavy in the air, a scandal too raw to voice.

Dr Elena Marquez, the department’s lead statistician, sat closest to the door, her pen frozen mid-scrawl, her dark eyes wide behind her glasses. Her lips parted, but no words came, only a faint flush creeping up her neck as she watched Devon saunter past.

Beside her, Dr Raj, usually unflappable, had his tablet propped at an awkward angle, his fingers hovering over the screen as if he’d forgotten how to type. Across the room, Sarah, the junior researcher with a penchant for gossip, clutched her coffee mug so tightly her knuckles whitened, her jaw slack, her blonde ponytail bobbing as she craned her neck to follow Devon’s path.

Even Dr Harold Weiss, the grizzled veteran who’d seen it all in his thirty years at the hospital, looked up from his stack of patient data, his bushy brows knitting together, his mouth a thin line of disapproval laced with morbid curiosity.

They all knew Nadia, Dr Nadia, the formidable head of the research department, with her silver hair always pinned neatly, her emerald eyes sharp enough to cut through bullshit, her reputation as a no-nonsense leader who demanded excellence. And Devon? The idea of them together, let alone fucking with such reckless abandon in her office, was unthinkable.

Where was the shame? The propriety? The decorum? This was a hospital, not a back-alley motel, and yet here they were, confronted with the aftermath of something so primal it left them all reeling.

Devon didn’t acknowledge the stares, though his smirk suggested he felt every pair of eyes boring into him. He adjusted his cuff, a casual gesture that somehow screamed defiance, and strolled toward the hallway, his boots clicking against the linoleum. Sarah’s gaze followed him, her lips twitching as if she wanted to say something, anything, but the words died in her throat.

Elena’s pen finally slipped from her fingers, clattering onto her desk, the sound jarring in the silence. Raj cleared his throat, a nervous tic, and pretended to refocus on his tablet, though his eyes flicked back toward Nadia’s door. Harold muttered something under his breath, too low to catch, but his scowl spoke volumes.

"Jesus," Sarah finally whispered, her voice barely audible, breaking the spell. She leaned toward Elena, her mug still clutched like a lifeline. "Did that really just happen? Dr Nadia and... Dr Devon? In there? During work hours?"

Elena shushed her, glancing at the still-ajar door, but her own expression betrayed her shock warring with a flicker of intrigue. "Keep your voice down," she hissed, though her eyes darted toward the hallway where Devon had disappeared. "I mean... it’s Nadia. She’s always so... controlled. How does this even...?"

"Controlled?" Raj interjected, his voice low but edged with disbelief. "You heard that, right? The desk was practically screaming. I thought it was going to collapse." He shook his head, pushing his glasses up his nose. "And Devon just walks out like he owns the place. No shame at all."

Harold snorted, finally breaking his silence. "Kids these days," he grumbled, though his tone carried less judgment than fascination. "Nadia, though? Never would’ve pegged her for this. Thought she’d eat him alive, not..." He trailed off, gesturing vaguely toward the office, his weathered face reddening slightly.

Sarah leaned back in her chair, her shock giving way to a sly grin. "Oh, come on, Harold. You’ve seen how Devon look, he’s very handsome. I just didn’t think she’d go for someone very young And in the office? That’s next-level ballsy." She paused, her grin fading as she glanced at the door again. "Think she’s okay in there? I mean... that sounded intense."

Elena frowned, her fingers tapping nervously on her desk. "Should someone... check on her? I mean, professionally speaking, this is... irregular. What if she needs to, I don’t know, report something?" Her voice wavered, caught between concern and the awkwardness of acknowledging what they’d all overheard.

Raj shook his head. "Report what? You saw Devon’s face, he looked like he just won the lottery. And Nadia..." He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "She didn’t exactly sound like she was fighting him off. Not by the end, anyway."

The group fell silent again, the weight of his words settling over them. They exchanged glances, each grappling with the same unspoken question.

As Devon’s footsteps faded down the hallway, the door to Nadia’s office remained slightly open, a sliver of darkness hinting at the chaos within. No one moved to check on her, not yet. They were too busy wrestling with their own shock, their own imaginations running wild with what they’d heard, what they knew.

Finally, Sarah set her mug down, her voice a conspiratorial whisper. "Well, one thing’s for sure, this department just got a hell of a lot more interesting."