22. Tori
TORI
I was in big, big trouble. After last night, I knew without a doubt that I was really and truly falling for Stefan.
I’d known that I had feelings for him, sure, but this was bigger.
Stronger. Deeper. I was falling in love.
And it wasn’t just the blazing hot sex, or the fact that he had come to my event to support me, though that had been the impetus for everything I was feeling.
It was the way he’d spent the entire night at my side, charming and schmoozing with everyone I was going to be working with for the next several years.
He impressed them, and impressed me with his knowledge about the classes I’d mentioned to him in passing or the professors I liked best. It was a side of him I’d never seen before—a side that was interested in me and cared about the path I was on.
I also knew people would be asking me questions later about my extremely handsome, charismatic husband.
I wouldn’t blame them; because of my unusual relationship with Stefan, I hadn’t said much about him to anyone.
Seeing him show up out of the blue at an event like that, and considering the way he’d made such an effort to chat everybody up, I expected I’d be fielding a whole slew of questions.
And I wouldn’t mind answering them. I was proud that he’d been by my side. Proud to call him my husband.
After we’d left the party, I had wanted to thank him, to show him how much his attendance had meant to me. And the only way I could think of doing that was with sex. It was the way we communicated best.
I could still remember the way his hand had felt on the back of my head as he guided my mouth up and down his cock. I’d never done anything like that before—had never even wanted to. But with Stefan things were different. Everything about him turned me on.
I’d loved that brief moment of control, when he was thrusting in my mouth with his eyes closed and his head tilted back. Completely at my mercy.
But I loved it even more when we got back to the condo and he had taken that control back. It had almost felt like Stefan had needed to fuck me. Needed me.
I thought about it all night, long after he fell asleep. Part of me had wanted to move across the bed and lean my body against his, get as close as we’d been on the plane from Budapest. But I knew that doing that would be too much. It would be rushing things.
It would be a bad idea.
Because even though I was falling for him, there was no way to know if he was feeling the same way.
We had agreed that this marriage was temporary.
If I wanted things to change, if I wanted him to see that I could be more than just a convenient trophy wife, I’d have to show him how much sense we made as a couple.
Not just in the bedroom, since we seemed to be doing pretty good in that arena, but in our day-to-day lives.
I had to show him that I could be there for him, the same way he had been there for me at the UChicago mixer. It would only draw us closer together.
That’s why I was walking through the lobby of the KZM building during my lunch break with a takeout bag in my hand.
I’d forgone my afternoon study session at Harper and instead had taken an Uber back to the condo to change into something sexy and short and black.
I normally wouldn’t wear something like this during the day, but the dress was for him.
I wanted to tempt him into taking a long lunch.
Wanted to tempt him into taking me during his long lunch. Maybe on his desk. Or against the door.
“Where’re you going to today, miss?” asked the security guard at the front desk.
“KZ Modeling,” I told him.
“Do you have an appointment?” he asked.
My face flushed. “I…don’t. I’m just here to drop off lunch for my husband. Stefan Zoric?”
I held up the takeout bag.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t let you up without an appointment. If you like I can call up there and talk to—”
“Oh no, please don’t do that,” I interrupted. “It’s a surprise. He just works so hard, all these long hours, and I thought it’d be nice to bring him a hot meal. I’ll be so quick.”
Then I broke out my secret weapon of a smile that I’d honed over the years.
His expression melted. “Of course. That’s very sweet of you. He’s up on the twenty-ninth floor. You can check in with the receptionist up there.”
“You’re my hero,” I gushed. Worked every time.
As I stood waiting at the bank of elevators, my skin tightened with anticipation at the thought of having sex with him in his office.
That would be all the proof I needed that I drove him to distraction—successfully seducing him at work.
Because no one worked harder than Stefan.
His entire life revolved around his job, and I wanted to change that.
I wanted to be a part of his life. Wanted him to make space for me.
I knew I’d have to fight dirty to get that. So I hadn’t bothered with underwear when I’d gotten dressed.
I gave my hips a little extra swing as I stepped out onto the twenty-ninth floor, my excitement growing at the thought of seeing him. Even the reception area full of beautiful women, clearly waiting for an audience with the casting executives at KZM, didn’t faze me.
When I got to the receptionist’s desk, I thanked my lucky stars that after the wedding, Michelle had taken charge of getting me a new ID with Stefan’s last name on it.
“I’m Stefan’s wife, Victoria Zoric,” I said, sliding my ID across the desk.
The woman smiled broadly. “Hello, Mrs. Zoric,” she said. “Nice to finally meet you.”
Mrs. Zoric. I liked the sound of that.
“I’m just bringing him lunch and then I’ll be on my way. Is he in his office?” I asked.
She handed me a clipboard so I could sign in and then looked at her computer. “I believe so,” she said, pointing toward one end of the hallway.
I thanked her and headed in that direction.
The KZ Modeling offices were absolutely stunning. There were modern, black and chrome details everywhere, but the colorful, blown-up photographs on the walls kept everything from feeling too cold and stark. I wondered if Emzee had shot them.
As I passed offices with frosted glass doors, and conference rooms with more glass, I started to get nervous.
What if I couldn’t find his office? What if he was in a meeting?
Maybe this had been a mistake. I walked faster down the hall, reading name plaques, peeking into open doors, and letting my gaze skim the faces in the conference rooms.
Most of them were occupied by men in suits, though some of the smaller offices had models inside, chattering excitedly as they perched on chairs.
At the end of the hallway, I finally found Stefan’s office.
It was across from his father’s and both of them looked like they had incredible corner office views.
Konstantin’s door was closed, and I wondered if the elder Zoric was inside.
I hadn’t seen him since the night of the Zoric family dinner, and I was hoping to keep it that way.
I ducked into Stefan’s office, a huge smile on my face. He wasn’t there.
Dismayed, I set the bag down on his desk. Maybe the receptionist had been mistaken. Maybe she’d read the schedule wrong. At least the food would be here for him when he returned, I reasoned.
As I came out of Stefan’s office, the door to Konstantin’s was opening. I immediately recognized Stefan, but he wasn’t alone. He had his arm around a woman in her early 20s—a KZM model, by the looks of her—and he was saying something to her in a low, soothing tone.
It was the same tone he’d used with me after my father’s heart attack, on the private plane back to the States. It was his comforting voice.
I felt a twinge of jealousy until I realized the woman was crying.
Her eyes were red and puffy, and she looked distraught.
Even so, she was striking. With her pale skin and red, curly hair that looked like a halo of flames, I pegged her for an Eastern European redhead, not Irish.
She had a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth, almost giving her a redheaded Marilyn Monroe look.
Stefan’s whispers stopped abruptly when he looked up and saw me standing there.
“Just go home, try to relax,” he told the young woman, who was sniffling into a tissue. “We’ll reach out soon.”
He gestured for her to head down the hallway toward the elevators. She nodded and did as she was told. The moment she was out of sight, Stefan had his hand around my arm and was pulling me into his office.
It was exactly as I had imagined.
Only right now, he was angry, not turned on.
“What are you doing here?” he asked as soon as the office door was closed.
“I—I brought you lunch. I just came to see—”
“You shouldn’t be here.” His voice was so harsh, I stepped back involuntarily.
I couldn’t believe he was talking to me like this. Especially after the way he’d behaved at my event. My feelings had changed, but it was clear that his hadn’t.
I couldn’t help but think it had something to do with the woman he’d been comforting. Had I walked in on something he didn’t want me to see?
“Why was that woman crying?” I asked. “Did somebody—assault her?”
“That’s none of your business,” he snapped. “Stay out of it.”
I flinched. It was clear he was hiding something. “Is she…do you have a relationship with her?”
His eyes softened, and I saw a hint of the man I’d seen the other night. A hint of the man who, only moments ago, had been comforting a woman in distress.
“Of course not,” he said, some of the edge gone from his voice. “But she’s pregnant, and it’s…come as a surprise.”
Relief flooded me.
Then I realized the situation. “I guess her career’s going to be on hold for a while.”
No wonder she was so upset. This industry was impossible to get into, and who knew if she’d even get a second chance after having a baby.
Stefan nodded, letting out a long breath. “That’s right. She won’t be able to model anymore.” Then his expression hardened again. “You need to leave now,” he ordered. “Don’t ever stop in unless you’re invited. Are we clear?”
I nodded, even though I still felt like there was something he was hiding. Did he just not want his private life tangled up with his work life?
It made sense, but it still hurt.
I shouldered my purse and was just about to leave when he spoke again.
“And Tori?”
“Yes?” I turned eagerly. Maybe he’d finally noticed what I was wearing. Maybe he was going to apologize for being so gruff. Maybe he was going to thank me for thinking of him and bringing him lunch, or come clean to me about whatever he was hiding.
“I’m working late tonight. Probably all this week. Don’t wait up.”
I slammed the door on my way out.