Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Varlam
"Miss Cox moved out this morning."
The woman behind the door eyed me warily, one hand still on the chain.
She was Briony's next-door neighbor. She clearly wanted to shut the door but didn't dare do it to my face.
"Was she alone?"
"There was a young man with her. Black sports car."
Makar again. The hospital nurse said he'd picked up Briony. Now he'd helped her move too.
I pulled my hand off the door. The woman quickly shut it.
My phone buzzed.
Gleb worked fast. He'd already sent the files over.
Turned out Brinny had deliberately spilled water on herself and blamed Briony. Turned out Brinny had pushed Briony into the water, then jumped in herself.
It hit me like a punch to the chest.
Briony kept saying it wasn't her in the office. I didn't believe her. I made her apologize. Made her wipe up the floor. She called for me in the water, begged me to save her. And I swam right past her. Chose to save the one who could swim, who'd planned it all.
The next message came two seconds later.
"One more thing. Hospital records show Miss Cox is about two months pregnant. The hypothermia and oxygen deprivation from the water nearly caused a miscarriage. Mother and baby are stable now, but she needs rest."
A child. I'd almost lost my child. What did Briony's face look like when she saw me walk past her room and into Brinny's? Did she wait for me? Or did she know from the start I wouldn't come?
The urge to kill woke up inside me.
I could go find Brinny right now. Make her pay for every single thing. But Briony was weak, carrying my child. Who I needed to find first wasn't even a choice.
"Find Briony. Now. Check Makar's car, properties, recent accounts. Airports, train stations, hotels, short-term rentals. Everything."
Walking out of the building, I looked back at that third-floor window. The curtains were open. No lights inside.
I'd always thought Briony would be there whenever I wanted her. At the office. At her apartment. Within reach. I was dead wrong.
Back at the office, I joined the search. I just wanted to find her fast. Apologize.
When the door opened, I thought it was Gleb.
"Varlam." Brinny stood in the doorway.
Saved me a trip. She'd come to me.
"I didn't mean to hurt her." She walked to my desk.
My lungs filled with fire.
"You pushed her into the ocean."
Brinny stopped. For a split second, the surprise on her face was too real. Not because she was innocent. Because she hadn't expected me to know.
"She can swim." The words rushed out. "I just wanted to scare her. There were so many people on the boat. Nothing could've happened to her."
"She almost died."
"I jumped in too."
"So I'd save you."
Her breathing skipped.
I stood.
Brinny stepped back. But she quickly steadied herself, forced her chin up.
"You've seen it clearly now, haven't you?" she asked. "If this hadn't happened, you'd still be wavering. Taking care of me while keeping that woman around. At least now you know who you're really worried about."
"So you think you were helping me."
I walked toward her. Her eyes started darting away.
"I was helping us." Her voice shook. "And helping you see what's in your own heart."
"You're right." My voice was nothing but cold.
Brinny froze. A glimmer of hope lit her eyes.
"You did make me see clearly."
I used to think love should be habit. Twenty years of unbroken obligation, reaching out instinctively when I saw her pale, remembering what she couldn't drink or eat.
I'd mistaken protection for love. Guilt for commitment. The memory of that gentle, kind girl who needed me—I'd believed that was the woman in front of me.
Until Briony showed up. She argued with me. Slammed my desk. Called me a bastard. She made me think for the first time about what love actually was.
Now, remembering her sinking in the water, my heart still clenched.
"The person I love is Briony," I said. "Not you."
The office went so quiet I could hear Brinny's breathing change.
"You're lying." The color drained from Brinny's lips. Her voice pitched higher. "Before I left, you said you'd marry me. And all these years you never let another woman stay close. When I came back, you were so gentle. Stayed at the hospital. Slept next to me. Was all of that fake?"
"I loved you once. But I only just realized I was in love with someone who doesn't exist."
She stared at me, eyes reddening, and stepped back in disbelief.
"The girl I remembered was gentle and kind. You know damn well that person was never you."
"You can't erase everything we had because of one accident!" She grew agitated, chest heaving.
This time, I wouldn't give a damn if her heart felt uncomfortable. Her fragile body was just leverage to hold my attention.
"Accident?" My voice stayed calm, but the rage inside nearly burst through my skin. "Was the water in the office an accident? Throwing away her necklace—was that an accident? Pushing her into the ocean, then pretending you couldn't swim—still an accident?"
My questions backed Brinny against the door.
"Do you know she was pregnant?"
Brinny's eyes went wide.
"What?"
"She's carrying my child." I was almost shouting now.
The flames in my chest shot up my throat. I slammed my fist into the door beside her. The heavy thud made her flinch.
"When she went into the water, she had my child inside her. You almost killed them both."
"I didn't know."
"That doesn't make what you did any lighter."
She started trembling. It wasn't an act.
I should make her kneel. Make her confess every frame-up to Briony. Make her return every humiliation Briony endured.
But Briony wasn't here. Neither was my child. Even if Brinny knelt and begged forgiveness, it wouldn't mean shit.
And compared to Brinny, my sins were worse. I'd enabled her to hurt Briony. I'd never once firmly chosen Briony.
"Get out."
Brinny pressed against the door, like she hadn't understood.
"Varlam..."
"I won't kill an unarmed woman."
A flicker of hope appeared in her eyes. Then I kept talking.
"But starting today, all cooperation between Petrov and Vasiliev ends. Tell Vigo everything he spent decades building—I'm taking it. Every last piece."
"My father doesn't know anything." She was crying again. "Varlam, you can't go after my family because of her."
"You almost killed my family."
Family. The word had always felt foreign to me. But now it came out like it belonged there.
Brinny stared at me like she was seeing me for the first time. The fear in her eyes deepened. Finally she yanked the door open and fled. That always-straight back finally lost its elegance as she disappeared down the hall.
My phone buzzed on the desk.
Gleb sent a photo and an address.
"Found her."
I boarded my private jet to Philadelphia.
Briony was pregnant. Every time that fact surfaced, my heart clenched hard.
If she wouldn't forgive me, I could wait. As long as she was there. As long as she and the baby were safe. I'd do anything.
The plane finally landed. I rushed to the apartment in the photo and ran straight into Briony and Makar returning from outside.
Briony held a hot drink. Makar walked on her outside, shielding her from passersby and traffic. Briony smiled and said something. Makar scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. Their dynamic looked easy, like there was no room for a third person.
Then Makar reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. My sanity melted.
"Don't touch her." I crossed the sidewalk in two strides and grabbed Makar's collar.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Makar shoved my hand away and immediately moved in front of Briony.
That gesture stoked the fire in my chest even higher.
"Move."
"Why should I?" Makar sneered. "Now you remember Briony exists? Where's your first love? Didn't she come with you?"
Briony stepped out from behind Makar. The smile from a moment ago had vanished completely. The change stung my eyes.
"Briony." I looked at her.
"What are you doing here?" Her brown eyes held only calm.
I'd rather she charge at me and hit me.
"I know what Brinny did to you," I said. "I sent her away. There won't be any relationship between Petrov and Vasiliev anymore."
"What's the point of saying all this now?" Makar's voice was infuriating.
"I'm talking to her."
"She doesn't want to hear it."
"Let him talk." Briony's voice wasn't loud.
Makar turned to look at her. She shook her head slightly. He reluctantly stepped back half a step, still within her reach. I hated that closeness.
"I did a lot of things wrong." Every word felt carved out of my chest. "In the office, I shouldn't have believed her. On the yacht, I shouldn't have swum past you. At the hospital, I shouldn't have—"
My voice stopped.
There wasn't a trace of warmth left in her eyes.
I wanted to tell her I'd make it up to her. But I didn't even know if she'd give me the chance. The helpless panic crawled up my spine.
"I'm sorry."
Her lashes trembled.
"I don't love Brinny. I loved a past I remembered wrong." I kept going. "Now I see clearly. The person I love is you. Briony."
The corner of Briony's mouth twitched. But it wasn't a smile. My chest suddenly ached.
"You know I'm pregnant, don't you?"
"Yes." My breath caught.
"So you came." She nodded calmly, like she'd finally confirmed something. "You didn't come into my room once in two days at the hospital. You didn't even know when I was discharged. Now you know there's a baby, and suddenly you love me."
"I went looking for you before I knew about the baby. But you'd moved."
"Yet you still spent two days with her first."
I couldn't argue. Facts don't need to be shouted. They just sit there, making any excuse look ridiculous.
"I don't dare ask for your forgiveness." My throat felt blocked. "But come back with me. You need a doctor. You need rest. Rory needs somewhere safe too."
"I'm not going back with you."
"Briony—"
"Makar and I are back together."
The air felt sucked out. I looked at Makar. He flashed a triumphant smile. Then he walked to Briony's side and put his arm around her shoulders.
"You heard her, brother." He looked at me smugly.
My eyes locked on that hand.
"Hand off her."
Makar didn't move.
"Briony's done with you. She doesn't want to be with you. Let her go."
I only wanted to hear it from Briony herself!
I stepped forward and grabbed Briony's wrist gently. But the instant I touched her, she frowned and her face twisted with disgust.
That reaction froze my heart.
"You can't go back to someone who hurt you just because you're angry at me." My heart felt like it was bleeding.
"Should I go back to the other person who hurt me instead?" Briony looked down at my hand.
My fingers lost their strength. The disappointment in her tone cut deeper than anger ever could.
"You're always like this, Varlam. You think you've been through more, know more, so your decisions must be right.
You bought the company and made me your assistant.
You didn't like me leaving, so you pulled me back.
Now you find out I'm pregnant, and you want me to come home with you.
" Her voice was soft, but every sentence pressed down on my chest. "You never once asked what I wanted. "
I wanted to say I could change. That I'd learn to ask. But if I kept holding her now, those words would just be another order.
I let go. Briony's wrist slipped out of my palm. The emptiness traveled up my arm and drilled into my chest.
"Let's go," Briony said to Makar.
Makar glanced at me and led her away. Their backs grew smaller and smaller.
I stood there, heart tearing apart. Was this what Brinny had felt all along?
For the first time, I truly understood what it meant to be abandoned by the person you loved—that suffocating, desperate feeling.