Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
VIKTOR
It was past afternoon when I woke to a knock on the door. My head was pounding with pain, and it pulsed with every movement.
Sophie wasn’t in the room, though her nightgown lay on her side of the bed. I brushed my hand across her pillow. Cold. She must have woken much earlier.
How much sleep had she gotten?
She’d been restless the first few hours while I lay awake, unable to sleep. Forced to keep my hands to myself after learning what it was to touch her skin. Lost that privilege the same evening I gained it.
When she shifted in her sleep and her hair spread across the pillow, it was too late when I noticed my fingers rolling the end of one of her locks.
She opened her eyes for a second, gave me an angry look, but then reached for my hand, intertwining her fingers with mine.
I wasn’t sure if she was fully awake, but I didn’t dare move after that.
The question now was: had I dreamed it, or had it actually happened?
When I finally got out of the room and spotted one of the house workers, I didn’t wait for pleasantries. “My wife?”
“Mrs. Rowks left for lunch with Mrs. Korolyova.”
“Left?”
“To the riverside.”
Oh, how kind of Nessa to torture my wife with a picnic and an endless walk.
In this heat, no less. I hoped Sophie was at least enjoying it.
But even under the canopy by the water, it wasn’t as calm as one might expect—not to mention the mosquitoes.
Though the mosquitoes should also all be taken care of.
Not a single valid reason to go and save her.
“And Mr. Korolyov asked for you to join him on the west terrace.”
Of course. I thanked them before going down.
When I get closer, my cousin didn’t act as if he hadn’t been waiting for me.
“Did you forget your manners when you’re a guest?” he asked even before I managed to sit down.
I waved my hand. “Don’t.”
As a glass of cold coffee appeared in front of me, I wasted no time gulping it. A second glass would also be appreciated. Perhaps to enjoy more slowly, but first…
“Sophie. Was she okay?”
I needed to know.
Yann shook his head. “We finished reviewing the plan for Atlas expansion an hour ago.”
“Already?”
“Why the surprise?” Yann side-eyed me. “I told you I’d approve Atlas expansion here.
But since she had prepared so much, I thought it would be rude not to hear her out.
Besides, I wanted to understand the way she thinks.
” He tilted his head in approval. “She’s smart.
Practical. Knows what’s important, what’s not. I like it.”
My smile grew smugger with each praise. “She is.”
“So, what happened?” He reached for his plate before gesturing to the staff not to disturb us. “Why did you say you’d join me for an evening whisky and then didn’t?”
“I thought I would. But then…” I looked down at my plate. “Would you allow me to eat, or do you want me to stay hungry?” I glanced around. “And where is Aunty?”
“In her wing. She’s also angry at you.”
“What did I do this time?”
“Made your wife attend your family’s breakfast. Alone!”
“Oh.” I winced.
“Oh? You little prick. One would assume a married couple can do only one thing to have a sleepless night. But I guess that’s not what happened? You both look as if you survived a war.”
I scoffed, gesturing for him to finish his food, and asked for a second coffee.
Did Sophie have coffee, though? She loved the ones I prepared for her. Accepting them even when I behaved like an asshole. If we were at home, would she drink one I prepared after yesterday?
I wanted to believe she would.
“Did she eat at breakfast?”
“Not much. But she mentioned she was hungry when they left with Nessa.”
Good. “Did she mention anything else?”
Yann gave me another stern look.
There were several issues to discuss related to business, so I managed to dodge any further questions, but when the sun had shifted much lower and we moved to one of the nooks in his garden, his demeanor changed. I’d be a fool to believe he hadn’t heard I was changing Rowks’s asset ownership.
Or perhaps the coolness in the air had nothing to do with him. Perhaps it was from the fountain splashing nearby and the tall trees that surrounded us.
Sitting down on one of two benches hidden under the tree branches, I leaned comfortably against the back and sipped from my second coffee—enjoying each drop. Yet the moment Yann spoke again, the drink’s bitterness stung on my tongue.
“If I were you, I’d transfer several properties to her name. Perhaps some shares. Much simpler than all these contract changes.”
“That might work for you and Nessa. But Sophie… I want her to be able to protect herself. Not rely on others.”
“My suggestion still accomplishes that. Transfer Atlas to her fully, and it’s done.”
“No.”
“Making everything equal the way you’ve decided will complicate so many things. But it won’t make you feel less guilty. If that’s why you—”
“That’s not why!” I set the glass down hard on the table in front of me. “All I want is for her not to feel like her fate depends on my decisions. And as long as I have even an ounce more power, she won’t.”
“And what if she decides to divorce you?”
My throat burned at the question. Though it wasn’t the first time I’d heard it.
My advisers, my lawyers—all repeated the same thing once I announced my decision. That with the new contract I was only increasing the chances of destroying Rowks Group.
The chances would be higher if Sophie was a pawn in her father’s hands.
Or any other man’s. But she wasn’t. The woman I knew today wasn’t the broken girl I’d thought I was marrying.
So even if she decided to divorce—which given everything, wasn’t a small possibility—I believed she wouldn’t make any drastic decision that would harm Rowks Group.
Therefore, there was only one answer to Yann’s question.
“Then that means I failed as a husband.”
After everything I’d already put her through, my fortune was a small price to pay. In fact, she was the only reason I maintained any of it—the fortune, the power, the influence. All to ensure she was protected. Without her, none of it mattered.
There were no more questions, so I hoped Yann finally understood. Yet when with a tremendous hope of enjoying my coffee at last, I reached for the glass, my hand froze mid-air. A voice I didn’t expect made my insides jolt the moment I heard it.
“Now, don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Sophie.
She entered the nook alongside Nessa, and when I noticed their linked arms, I couldn’t help the relieved smile and a strange burning behind my lids.
Yesterday when she touched me, I was shocked. Happy. Excited. But she didn’t try to touch anyone else.
I’d wanted this for her, but I hadn’t let myself hope it would come so soon.
My stomach knotted when she let go of Nessa’s arm and sat down beside me. Leg to leg.
“We were beginning to wonder, ladies.” Yann laughed. “How was your picnic?”
“Nice, but we got thirsty on our way,” Nessa said. “I want something to drink.”
Swallowing hard Sophie looked around, and when her gaze fell on my glass, she licked her lips.
“Can I?” she finally met my eyes, and for a moment I forgot how to breathe.
“Wasn’t going to drink it anyway,” I said, ignoring Yann’s chuckle.
He waved to one of the workers arranging the drinks, while I tried to shift my attention from Sophie’s lips on the glass. Her eyes never left mine.
Shouldn’t she be angry, furious at me? Resentful at last?
“And another coffee for Viktor.” Yann’s words made me finally break the eye contact.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want one?” Sophie’s question caught me off guard.
“I don’t.” I shook my head, glancing at Yann with a plea to keep his mouth shut, then turned to the woman standing beside us. “Water with ice, please.”
“You sure you don’t?” Sophie leaned against my shoulder.
I blinked. Was she flirting with me? My breath came out uneven, and I tried to put some distance between us to hide it.
Another chuckle from the seat in front of us made Sophie straighten. She pulled back slightly, her expression shifting as she turned to face my cousin.
“Mr. Korolyov!”
“Yann. I told you, you can call me Yann.”
“Yann.” While she corrected herself, it was clear that addressing him by his name felt a bit uncomfortable. “You don’t need to worry about me demanding a divorce. He—” her finger pointed at me, “—is stuck with me till the end of his days.”
Oh. So was this her way of torturing me? By giving me hope? My jaw tightened as I tried not to show how much her words affected me.
But when she smiled and emptied the glass, I couldn’t resist reaching to take it from her hands. When I put the glass back on the table, she seemed pleased, following my movement.
“Would be stupid to divorce someone who’s under your thumb.” Yann smirked, and I was ready to tell him to shut up when I caught Nessa and Sophie exchanging a glance.
“That’s why you’re keeping yourself comfortable under Nessa’s?” Sophie asked, forcing all the air from my lungs.
Yann’s mouth fell open slightly. He turned to his wife. Then to mine.
“Not to mention that instead of divorce, isn’t it more convenient to poison him? Play the grieving widow while enjoying all the fortune to yourself?”
Fair point, but I didn’t manage to voice my agreement when Yann turned to Nessa. “Darling, you’re meant to balance out our reputation, not add to it.”
“Well…” She shrugged, a smile still on her face.
“You could’ve just said he died of old age. No one questions when a seventy-two-year-old man passes away.”
As the drinks arrived and their attention switched, I leaned closer, so only Sophie could hear me. “You seem comfortable with Nessa.”
“You can say so.” She tilted her head, and when my fingers found the ends of her hair, her eyes closed.
Was she enjoying it when I played with them like this?
“Did you sleep well?” she asked, making a shiver go down my spine as her breath touched my ears.