30. Tori
TORI
My hand was tight on Stefan’s knee as we sat in the back of the Town Car on our way to Konstantin’s penthouse.
My father-in-law had invited us over for Sunday dinner with the stated intent to discuss my role in the family.
The timing was almost too good to be true—Stefan and I knew we wouldn’t get a more perfect opportunity to put our plan into action and convince my father-in-law that I didn’t care what he or KZ Modeling did behind the scenes.
But I was going to have to act my ass off convincing Konstantin that I wasn’t completely disgusted by what he and his company did to women. Stefan’s years of hard work depended on me pulling it off. It was the only way we’d have a chance in hell of taking KZM down.
Luckily, I’d had days to prepare.
Stefan and I had practiced endlessly for what I’d be up against when I spoke with Konstantin. I knew exactly what I would need to say to convince him that I was a team player.
As I’d dressed for dinner that night, I was so nervous I could barely put on my dress, my hands were shaking so badly. As he zipped me up, Stefan had kissed the back of my neck, making me shiver.
“You’re going to do great,” he had said. “My father’s ego is so big, he’s going to eat up every word you say like candy.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m just nervous.”
“I’ll be by your side the whole time,” he reassured me.
I nodded, trying to take a few deep breaths.
Then I looked myself over in the mirror for a final once-over.
I’d chosen to wear something simple and demure.
A modest black dress that covered practically everything and went down past my knees.
It was cotton—no silk or satin or lace tonight.
I didn’t want to look expensive. I wanted to look as if I knew my wealth, my privilege, was a gift that Konstantin and his family business had bestowed upon me.
A gift that I was aware could just as easily be taken away.
My heels were modest as well, nothing like the sexy stilettos I usually wore when I got dressed up.
No labels. No designers. My hair was pulled back in a smooth, nondescript bun, my makeup subtle.
I needed to look innocent and contrite. Like the kind of girl who’d consider herself lucky to be included in such a wealthy, well-situated family.
Regardless of how dangerous—or illegal—their activities were.
Now that we were actually sitting in the car, though, I was nauseated with anxiety.
“Can we go over the lines one more time?” I whispered.
Moving my hand from his knee to his lips, Stefan gave my knuckles a soft kiss.
“Of course,” he said, squeezing my hand. “First of all, he’s going to start with a lecture about how you’ve behaved. Probably saunter around the room with his chest all puffed up. And I can guarantee you he’s been going over his speech all afternoon. So don’t interrupt.”
“Right.” I nodded, my knee bouncing rapidly in time with my racing heart. “Contrition.”
We had run through this over and over again. How Konstantin would chastise me for my selfish behavior and how I would pour on the apologies.
“He’ll call you ungrateful and spoiled,” Stefan prompted. “He might yell. It’s okay if you’re scared. Don’t hide it. He’ll like that.”
I hung my head, practicing how I would react.
“I’m sorry,” I recited. “I know I’ve been acting like a child. Everything in life has been so easy for me up until now, and…I guess this is the first time I’ve had to learn that this kind of money doesn’t come from legitimate businesses. It’s been a hard lesson.”
“Good,” Stefan said. “The entitlement angle is good. It’ll make it more believable for him when you play the shame card.”
What made this part of the speech so easy was that it was partly true.
I had been given a lot of opportunities and financial help in my life, and I was well aware of that fact.
And there were times I did feel ashamed about it—especially now that I knew what kind of man my father really was.
Stefan had coached me to lean into my feelings, to let some honesty bleed into the lies I would tell.
Otherwise my words would ring hollow and false.
I cleared my throat and continued. “But the truth is, I love our lifestyle. And more importantly, I love my husband—and I’ll stand by him and whatever methods he chooses to provide for us. I have no plans to interfere or fuss about any of your dealings ever again.”
“And?” Stefan gestured for me to continue.
I swallowed. “And I will be more grateful and understanding going forward. I will be nothing but supportive.”
It made me sick to say the words even in practice, but I knew it was for the best. That this final lie would hopefully be exactly what was needed to lay the pathway to Konstantin’s end.
It was all for the greater good.
Thank god Stefan and I were doing this together. I knew I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the night—let alone the car ride over—without him supporting me.
“I believe in you,” he said now. “You’ve got this down. What you’re doing is incredibly brave and it’s going to make a difference.”
Nodding, I tried to smile, but it was strained. We were minutes away.
“I have something for you,” he said, pulling a small square box out of his pocket.
When I opened it, I found a pair of sparkling pendant earrings nestled in the velvet. Their beauty nearly took my breath away. The drops were round clusters of pavé diamonds set in platinum, and they had an Art Deco look to them. Subtle but incredibly sparkly.
“They’re gorgeous,” I said, taking them in with wide eyes. “I love them.”
“I wanted these to be a symbol of the two of us,” Stefan said, unhooking them from the velvet. “That we’re a pair now.”
I felt my chest get tight with emotion, and I blinked back the sting in my eyes. “Thank you,” was all I could manage.
“We belong together. Always,” he said. “Deal?”
“Deal,” I told him.
He swept my hair aside and helped me put them on. Somehow, having this gift from him, feeling it close to my body, calmed me in a way I hadn’t expected. I felt ready to face my father-in-law. Stefan and I were a team, and we would take down his father—and mine—together.
The Town Car arrived at Konstantin’s apartment and dropped us off in the front of the luxurious building. Our fingers entwined, Stefan helped me out of the car and we headed inside.
It was quiet when we entered the penthouse.
“In the library,” Konstantin’s voice echoed through the marble entryway.
“The library?” I whispered to Stefan.
Something was wrong, I could sense it. Judging by the way that Stefan tensed, I could tell that he was on edge as well. What was going on?
We made our way toward through apartment, my hand gripping Stefan’s the whole way.
When we entered the library, we saw that Konstantin wasn’t alone.
There were two people with him. One was a boy who was playing on his iPad, his attention fully focused on some kind of game that I could see reflected in his pale green eyes. Vaguely familiar eyes. He looked to be around seven or eight years old.
But it was the sight of the woman that made Stefan go still at my side.
I looked at her, at the way she looked at Stefan.
She was beautiful—there was no denying that—and she was beautiful in that particular way that KZM models were beautiful. Tall and leggy, with long, shining black hair and striking eyes that were a stormy shade of blue-green that was rare in someone with her coloring.
I’d never seen her before, but I could tell by the tension in the room that she was someone important.
Glancing at my father-in-law, I took in the way he was standing in the middle of it all, a drink in his hand and a triumphant, cruel sneer on his face.
It was that expression that had my stomach sinking to the floor.
He had planned all this, and even though I still didn’t know exactly what this was, I could tell it wasn’t good.
Was this one of the models that Stefan had helped to escape?
Had she betrayed him, or been caught? If Konstantin was onto Stefan, our plan was dead in the water.
Before he could ever bring the feds the bulk of the evidence against his father.
My heart was hammering in my chest, and I didn’t know what to say or do.
Finally, someone spoke first. It was the woman.
“Stefan,” she said, her voice like a whisper. She was staring at my husband with tears in her eyes.
“Anja,” he said, his eyes fixated on her.
Realizing who she was made me feel like the floor was tilting beneath my feet. This was Anja Borjan. The model Stefan had fallen in love with when he was seventeen. The model who had disappeared after Konstantin discovered that his son wanted to marry her.
Stefan’s gaze shifted and I followed it to the boy sitting on the couch. The boy who was still so engrossed in his video game that he didn’t even bother to look up. Stefan’s eyes moved back to Anja’s and she nodded.
“He’s yours,” she said, so quietly that the boy didn’t even hear her. “Your son.”
I heard the gasp that came out of me as my entire world shattered.
My knees went weak. I felt Stefan’s hand tighten around mine, but he said nothing.
How could he? What could he say? Just when our lives were finally beginning to come together—when we had finally found the love and trust and connection we’d been seeking—the woman who Stefan had loved, who he had been searching for all these years, was back.
And she was the mother of his child.
Stefan had a child.
He now had an impossible choice. Would this tear us apart? Would he choose a life with Anja and his son? Or me?
Everything was about to change.