Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
SOPHIE
“Once the sun is more merciful, I can show you the gardens,” Nessa told me, playing with a glass full of lemonade and ice.
The weather was awfully hot. If not for the coolness from the river below and the cover over our heads, I couldn’t imagine being outdoors during the day.
Especially good was the watermelon on my plate. Cold and sweet. Like the ones I had as a kid at my father’s summerhouse. The Rowks summerhouse now belonged to Cecilia, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t buy another one. Or build.
I could ask Viktor once we were back and he’d woken up.
He was still awake when I opened my eyes around seven, but was asleep when I got out of the bathroom to come down for breakfast. So I let him rest, and asked his cousin to not wake him up.
He joked something about not expecting Viktor to abandon me at my first breakfast, while his mother clicked her tongue in disapproval.
Overall, Yann, as he asked me to call him, wasn’t as scary as I had imagined. And while I thought it would take our entire stay to negotiate Atlas expansion, it actually took only a few hours.
Was it because I was Viktor’s wife, or because he had indeed liked my ideas? I couldn’t tell, but maintaining a good relationship was what was required.
The downside was that now my brain was empty of work-related questions. So instead, last night’s conversation kept flooding back.
Even now I wanted to go back and talk to him. Be around him. Yet I wasn’t sure what exactly to tell him. Or what to ask.
I shook my head, pushing the thoughts down.
“Are you not feeling well?” Nessa waved her hand in front of my face.
I squinted, looking around. Right, she asked me a question. And instead of answering I got lost in my head. Again.
“Would the sun even manage to be merciful?” I speared another cube of watermelon with my fork.
“In a few hours,” she said. “Or you can ask Viktor to show you around,” Nessa added. “He knows this place like the back of his hand.”
“Does he?” I chewed slowly, oddly pleased that the conversation had turned to him.
“When he was younger, he was constantly running and hiding from us when he stayed here.” She smiled.
“Was he often here?”
“Yes. Especially during the holidays. His father would send him here to stay with us.”
“Oh… And his mother?” The question left my mouth even before I managed to stop it. The one time I asked Viktor about his mother, he said he had never met her. Since then, I never had a chance to ask about it again.
All I knew was that she was someone Viktor’s father had an affair with right before his marriage.
“His mother… She was young when she gave birth. And her family quickly married her off to avoid a scandal.”
“Ah.” My grip tightened around the fork. “Did she ever try to meet Viktor?”
Hesitation crossed Nessa’s face before she answered. “She passed away when Viktor was only a few years old. They said it was an accident, but the truth was her husband beat her to death.”
“Did he…” I mumbled. “That man… Did he just… walk away?” My throat dried as a sharp sense of injustice burned through my ribs.
“At first,” she said. “It took many years, but eventually Yann and Viktor took care of him.”
A feeling oddly close to relief washed over me for a woman I never knew.
My only intention was to make sure you were safe. Viktor’s words suddenly took on new meaning.
“As they always do when someone harms their loved ones,” Nessa added more quietly.
I nodded, remembering Viktor’s recent declaration of war with the Durets over only a single comment. But then something twisted in my thoughts. If I remembered correctly, Mamma once mentioned that Nessa’s marriage to Yann was her second one. And her first husband was much older than her.
“Did… someone harm you?” Perhaps the question wasn’t a polite one considering we didn’t know each other well, but her posture seemed open to conversation.
“I am capable of taking care of myself.” Nessa let out a small laugh before adding, “When I was barely eighteen, I was married to a man who was in his seventies. Was actually his fourth wife.” She sipped her lemonade. “He was a prick. So I poisoned him.”
“Oh.” I blinked.
I didn’t expect that much openness. But I couldn’t tell if I was shocked at her confession, or at the fact that she managed to get herself out.
Another laugh came from Nessa, a bitter one this time. “But those two years I was married… It affected some things.”
I bit my lip, waiting for her to continue.
“I’ve actually had several miscarriages…” she confessed.
Yesterday she seemed unaffected by Yann’s mother’s comment, but judging by her tone it was paining her. And while I could relate to her in some aspects, miscarriage was not one of them. So I wasn’t sure what to say.
But the next second a smile lit up her face. “That’s why this time we waited long enough to announce.”
For a moment I stared, doubting if I understood correctly.
“It’s actually the fifth month,” she said, getting up and putting her hands on her stomach.
My eyes widened. She didn’t seem pregnant at all. But when she came closer, gesturing for me to place my hand on her belly, the gentle curve was palpable.
I couldn’t tell who reached out first, but soon we were hugging and laughing. And despite my fears my skin didn’t crawl.
“My sister made me promise she would be the second one after Viktor I would touch,” I said, and a proud smile spread across Nessa’s face.
“Well… Considering you might agree to be this little one’s godmother, your sister may have to accept she came in third. Or is it correct to say fourth?”
My heart squeezed, and my eyes burned. For the first time in a long while not from pain or disappointment. I nodded frantically, afraid that if I opened my mouth, I wouldn’t be able to contain my tears.