Chapter 26
Viktor~
I was still so fucking livid with Aurora that I didn’t even know how to behave.
She could say what she wanted about her phone dying and losing track of time, but I knew that she’d been lying, and she knew that I knew.
I also hadn’t expected her lies to feel like such a betrayal, but that’s how it felt, and it didn’t matter that we’d been expected to lie to one another, considering.
While I was falling uncontrollably in love with my wife, she still saw me as the enemy that I’d always been, and that was doing a serious number on how I viewed our marriage now.
So, unable to trust her, she’d been confined to the house, and when I couldn’t take her with me when conducting business, the house guards had been given specific instructions that it’d be their lives if they let her get away.
Luckily, Aurora had chosen not to test that, but I wasn’t stupid enough to put anything past her at this point.
There was also no mistaking the tension between us, making everyone tiptoe around us like we were two fragile bombs, ready to explode at any second. The only person who didn’t seem to care was Kasimir, but that was to be expected. Again, he really did dance to the beat of his own drum.
At any rate, when I’d been called down to The Akvarium, I had decided to bring Aurora along, but only to rub it in her face that she could no longer be trusted to act on her own.
One of the remodeling contractors had wanted me to review a few things, and call it petty, but I had wanted to torture my wife in the same way that she was torturing me by not choosing me.
Now, since it was only three in the afternoon, the place wasn’t packed, but there were still plenty of patrons and working girls to keep the staff busy, something that the contractor and his crew probably appreciated, but I didn’t care about that.
As long as they did solid work, who cared if they got their dicks sucked on the job?
I was more concerned with the results that my money was paying for.
Of course, Aurora was fuming as she stood next to me, but I also didn’t care about that.
She had brought all this on herself, and even though we knew what that collar represented, it wasn’t quite the glaring brand that she believed it to be.
Honestly, without knowing the particulars, it looked like a beautiful diamond necklace that had been designed to match her wedding rings, which it’d had.
However, this necklace just happened to have a tracker built in it, and it was also impossible to take off without the key.
“So, I was thinking, for security purposes, we could always take out the west wall of the office to convert it into a two-way mirror,” Alan Craft, the head contractor, said, “It’d also be bullet-proof, of course.”
“Which side would it reflect?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer. I was just trying to prolong Aurora’s misery.
“Let me show you,” he offered, and I quickly pushed Aurora in front of me as we followed Alan back out to the club.
Once we were positioned on the other side of the office wall, I said, “It’d be kind of obvious, no? I mean, as it stands now, someone would have to search for the main office if they made it to the back. A two-way mirror reflecting on this side would kind of announce it.”
“Not if we use the same reflective glass to decorate other parts of the club,” he replied. “We could put the same style behind the bar, and then maybe the restrooms. We could even replace the outside windows, so that it all just looks decorative.”
“That could work,” I said, pretending to mull over his suggestions.
“We could even bring in tables with mirrored tops,” he went on. “That’s a lot cheaper and-”
“I don’t care about the price,” I told him. “Security is the priority here.”
“Of course,” he quickly rushed out, probably seeing dollar signs floating everywhere now.
“Stil, I like the idea,” I said, hoping to keep him talking.
Then, as to not be rude, he looked over at Aurora, asking, “And what do you think, Mrs. Korolev? Or did you have a different vision for the place?”
“My wife will be happy with whatever we decide,” I said, answering for her and probably pissing her off at the same time. “Again, security is the priority here.”
Just then, before Alan could agree or Aurora could stab me with one of her heels, a very animated blonde walked up to us, and it was clear to anyone with a working pair of eyes that she was not one of the cocktail waitresses that worked here.
With her honey-blonde hair flowing down her back, her makeup a bit heavy for this early in the day, and her blouse and skirt showing off more skin than not, it didn’t take a genius to guess that she was a working girl, and though looking a bit...
experienced, there was no denying that she was still very attractive.
“Did I hear you guys talking about mirrors?” she asked, making it also clear that she had no idea who I was, or else the woman would have known better than to approach us.
“Yes,” Alan said, grinning at her. “Do you think mirrors would be good for this place?”
With Aurora to the left of me, that made it easy for the blonde to saddle her way to my right, her tits brushing against my arm. “Well, if you’re confident enough, mirrors sure can add a bit more fun to the evening.”
Now, while there was no excuse good enough for what I was about to do, my reasons were justified in light of just how pissed off I still was.
Sure, I wasn’t suspecting Aurora of cheating on me while she’d been missing during those few hours, but that didn’t matter.
Whatever she’d been doing, she was keeping secrets from her husband, and I wasn’t about to forgive that.
“And are you confident enough?” I asked as I glanced down at the woman.
“Is there any reason why I shouldn’t be?” she teased coyly.
“Not from where I’m standing,” I smirked, making Alan cough into his hand, no doubt uncomfortable as hell, what with knowing that my wife was standing right next to me.
“Well, let’s just say that I’m confident in all things,” she said, making it a point to push her breasts up against my arm with intent this time.
Ready to deliver the blow, I turned to dismiss Aurora, but the look in her eyes nearly dropped me to my knees.
Her dark gaze was looking at me like any hope that I’d had for us was no longer alive.
She was looking at me like I had just violated her, and it was making my lungs seize painfully.
She looked at me like I had just broken her heart, and a maddening desperation began to claw at my throat.
Looking over to find Armen standing near the front door, I waved him over, and when he was close enough to hear me, I said, “Please see my wife to the car, then take her home.”
“Konechno,” he automatically replied, but what else would he say but of course? After all, I paid him good money to follow orders.
Looking back at Aurora, I said, “I’ll be home shortly.”
Then in a voice that could freeze the deepest depths of Hell, she said, “Don’t hurry on my account, Korolev. It’ll probably be nice to finally be with someone who actually wants you, so you should probably enjoy it for as long as you can.”
With that swift reminder of the past two nights, it was all that I could do to not cave in front of everyone.
Even after telling me to stay away from her as long as she had the collar on, I had still taken her these past two nights, and it didn’t matter that I had kept her cumming all night long.
I had just killed whatever had been between us by flirting with another woman, and it was something that couldn’t be undone.
“I will be home shortly,” I repeated. “And you’d better be there waiting for me.”
Done with me, I watched my wife turn, then shake hands with Alan. “Thank you for everything, Mr. Craft. I’m sure the end result will be beautiful, no matter which direction is chosen.”
I watched as Armen escorted Aurora out of the club, and the second that the door shut behind them, I turned to the blonde. “Do you know who I am?”
“My newest friend?” she teased, and even though this was all my fault, it didn’t matter how unfair this was to her.
“I’m Viktor Korolev,” I told her, and that immediately had her backing up a step. “I’m Viktor Korolev, and the woman that just left is my wife.”
“I’m...I’m-”
I put my hand up to stop her rambling. “Do not ever approach me again,” I told her. “Do I make myself clear?”
She started nodding frantically. “Of course...of course, I’m...I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean-”
I put my hand up again. “Now, I want to be clear about something,” I said, determined to lie and say anything to restore Aurora’s pride.
“I only flirted with you to keep my wife from killing you. As I’m sure you’ve heard, my wife is Aurora Marchetti, and if you’re unsure about her, just ask anyone what happened with Georgi Aliev. ”
Her blue eyes widened frightfully. “Oh, please...tell her-”
Once again, I put my hand up to quiet her. “Stop,” I told her. “Just stop and go about your business.”
She quickly scurried away, and when I looked back at Alan, he was looking at me like I didn’t deserve my wife, and the scary part was that he was right.