Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Amy
I woke up groggily, and at first I didn’t remember where I was. Then it all hit me in a rush, and the just-woken-up contented feeling disappeared as everything about last night came rushing back.
The disastrous party, my sister. Violet.
I had so many questions about the woman who had spent the night hanging on my husband’s arm.
Alexei had said we would talk today, and boy, did we have a lot to talk about. I wanted to know who Violet was to him, and if I had anything to worry about, and more than anything, I wanted to know why he didn’t send the paperwork off for my sister’s transplant.
I turned, ready to reach him, but the sheets were cold and empty. His side of the bed was completely unrumpled. My heart sank. He hadn’t been to bed, not with me anyway.
Smoothing my hand over the cold sheets, I felt tears prick behind my eyes and closed them quickly, squeezing them together to stop the tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks. I wouldn’t cry.
I had to be strong, not just for my sister, but for myself as well. Plus, I was sure he would have had a good excuse as to why he didn’t come to bed. Maybe he had gotten drunk and instead of waking me up had slept somewhere else.
He was probably downstairs, completely hungover and in need of looking after. I swung my legs out of the bed, my heart filling with fresh hope. I could look after him and take him breakfast before I went to the hospital. I could do that for him because he would do the same to me.
I was halfway down the stairs when I heard them. Alexei said something, and a female voice giggled.
“Oh, Alex. You are terrible. I think she’s adorably sweet. But I know you love a bit of experience between the sheets.” Violet giggled, her voice carrying around the quiet house.
More laughter floated up, and I froze halfway down the stairs. Were they talking about me and my lack of experience in the bedroom? The blood drained from my cheeks.
“She’s enthusiastic,” Alexei said gruffly.
“And yeah, she is adorable.” A hint of softness entered his voice, but it might as well not have been there.
They were talking about me, laughing at me, actually.
Alexei had told her the most intimate details about our love life, and they were both laughing about it. Laughing at me.
My heart did a weird sort of lurch.
“Well, I think she’s a little dove. A little na?ve, maybe, but—” she lifted her head and smiled as her eyes landed on me.
She knew I was there, I realized with a start. She had known the entire time.
“Amy, come and join us for breakfast.”
Alexei almost fell out of his chair, standing so quickly that it almost fell backwards. He turned towards me. A look of shock tightened his features
“Amy, I didn’t expect you to be up so early. We were just having breakfast.”
Slowly, I made my way towards them, my eyes taking in the spread on the table, which was already half eaten.
“I can see that,” I said, and by some miracle my voice came out normal. “You guys must have got up early as well.”
The gentleman, Alexei, pulled out a chair for me, and I fell into it with a sigh. Maybe it wasn’t our usual breakfast in bed, but at least he was still acting like my husband. I couldn’t expect him to spend the morning with me if his old friend was visiting, could I?
“Good morning, Amy.” He pressed his lips to my hair.
“Oh, we haven’t been to sleep yet.” Violet giggled and my happy feeling evaporated. “We have been up all night reliving old times.”
I threw Alexei a startled look as he took his own seat and poured himself another coffee.
What did she mean, reliving old times?
“Alexei?” This time my voice did shake.
He barely glanced at me. “It wasn’t like that, Amy. Violet just meant we had spent the evening talking.”
Violet made a show of looking shocked. “Oh, goodness, I didn’t mean that,” she stressed the word theatrically. “You mustn’t think such silly things, little dove.”
Under the table, my hands balled into fists. She was mocking me, and Alexei was letting her. Not only had he told her about my inexperience, but now he was letting her make fun of me because of it.
“Alexei, I was hoping to talk to you in private about some things,” I said quietly.
He lifted an eyebrow. “About?”
Us, I wanted to scream, but I knew that wouldn’t do. It would just give Violet more fuel. “My sister’s care,” I said instead.
“You can order whatever she needs, Amy. You don’t need my permission for that.”
“I was hoping you would come with me to discuss things with the doctor.” Please, I begged silently. Please come with me and hold my hand. I needed him next to me, so I had someone to lean on.
“I can’t today. Violet needs me to take her shopping. She has got nothing, and I want her to be comfortable here.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. Did he just say here?
“She’s staying here?”
“Of course. A hotel isn’t safe, and anyway, it’s much easier for her to stay. We have lots of room. You don’t mind, do you?” he eyed me, and his look seemed to dare me to say something.
It was like he had reverted back to the man I had first married. The one who was always angry and thought I couldn’t do anything right.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to smile at them both. “Of course not. Excuse me, I want to go and see my sister early. Have a fantastic day.”
I didn’t bother with makeup, so it didn’t take long for me to get dressed and leave. Alessia wouldn’t care if I was bare-faced. The only person I had ever wanted to wear makeup for was too busy making puppy dog eyes at a woman who didn’t need it.
And then there was the fact that it was hard to hide your tears if your mascara was running down your face. So, I left, casually dressed with my hair tied back severely. Alexei had been too busy laughing at something Violet was saying to even lift his head when I said goodbye.
“Are you OK, Mrs. Petrovov?”
I shook myself, lifting my eyes to meet Micah’s in the rearview mirror. In all the months since he had become my driver and bodyguard, I had never seen him look so kindly at me. Usually, it was wary indifference.
I averted my eyes quickly so that he didn’t see the anguish in them.
His sigh was loud. “Amy—”
My eyes snapped back to his. If he was calling me Amy, then things were worse than I thought. And last night, Mrs. Coles had called me Amy as well. It was like the staff knew that bad things were beginning to happen.
“I’m OK, Micah,” I said with a sigh. I didn’t need the staff to know how bad things were getting or how worried I was. “Honestly,” I added because he kept looking at me, “actually—” My head shot up. “Youve been with Alexei for a while, haven’t you?”
“I’ve known him since school, and I came to work with him a little over ten years ago.” A look of apprehension tightened his features. “Why?”
Sighing, I weighed up my options, and really, there were none. I needed to know about Violet. Gabriella had said I had nothing to worry about, but clearly I did, and Alexei wouldn’t give me the time of day, so really I had no choice.
“So you met Violet before?” I asked quietly.
“I knew them when they started dating in school, yes. They are older than me, but everyone knows them. They were kind of the it couple back then.”
They had been together since high school. The news hit me like a punch in the stomach. No wonder they had seemed so familiar with each other. They had literally spent all of their adult lives together.
“I see.”
And I did see. I couldn’t compete with that kind of history.
“Amy, can I be blunt?”
I did a double-take.” Of course.”
“Violet ripped his heart out, over and over again, but the last time was the worst. We all hoped it would be the last we saw of her, but somehow she’s managed to worm her way back in.
Don’t let her fool you. Violet is extremely manipulative.
Do not be fooled by her. If she is back, then she has a reason. ” He went back to looking ahead.
“Was Alexei,” I began to say, in love with her, and stopped myself. Of course he was. You didn’t stay with a woman that long if you weren’t.
“When it comes to Violet, he’s a fool.” He shook his head. “And the last few days just go to prove that,” he mumbled.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve already said too much, Amy. Alexei would castrate me if he knew I was telling you his personal business. The only reason I am is that you deserve better.” For a second, his eyes flickered to me. “We all think so.”
I sighed. “He’s been spending a lot of time with her.” I didn’t ask it as a question because I already knew. No wonder we hadn’t been intimate. No wonder we no longer had breakfast in bed together. Alexei didn’t need an inexperienced girl in his bed when he had his first love back.
I was a complete fool to believe he ever cared for me at all. It had all been an act. To Alexei, I had been nothing but a warm hole to stick his cock in until the woman he really loved came back.
Tears prickled my eyes, and I blinked them away angrily. I wouldn’t cry. I just wouldn’t.
“Alexe is a smart man,” Micah said firmly. “He will realize you’re the best person for him, Amy. Anyway, you don’t need to worry. Nikolai won’t let him divorce you and marry her. He hates Violet. He would never let Alexei throw you aside.”
My head snapped up. That hadn’t even entered my mind. “Would Alexei do that?”
“No, his grandfather won’t allow it. The baby might complicate matters, but—”
I cut him off sharply. “Baby?” I swallowed hard. “She’s pregnant?”
Micah looked panicked. “You didn’t know?”
Mutely, I shook my head. But it made sense now. No wonder he was so doting towards her. Violet was having a baby.
My husband’s baby.