He nodded. “He’s always acted like a man who was crazy about you. One who would do anything to make you happy. I don’t think it’s over between you two. Not by a long shot.”
“Thank you,” I told him.
I felt a little better, but I was still so overwhelmed. Tears burned the corners of my eyes and my bottom lip trembled.
“Hey.” Gavin gave me a sympathetic look and opened his arms to me. “Come here.”
Setting my tea down, I leaned into his embrace and let my tears fall as his arms wrapped around me.
“You’re okay,” he soothed. “It’s going to be okay.”
I knew there might be witnesses around, or even photos of this scene between me and Gavin—photos that might get back to Konstantin later—but I didn’t care. It was safe to assume that even with Anja back in the picture, my father-in-law was still having me watched, but I wasn’t going to build my life around the man’s opinion of me or the way I lived my life.
Still, there was a twinge of guilt about what Stefan might think. After all, Bruce was out there somewhere watching over me. He was never far off, and sometimes I’d even bring my new bodyguard a coffee in between my classes. There was a definite possibility that he’d send pictures to my husband right away, that Stefan was already looking at them now.
But I didn’t care.
As petty as it seemed, after seeing him with Anja and their son, I couldn’t help feeling like he deserved to be hurt, too. That was, if my actions still had the power to affect him that way.
If he still cared about me at all.
Tori
Chapter 9
Stefan was waiting for me when I got back to the condo. I don’t know if I was more shocked by the fact that he was home so early, or that he seemed to be in such a great mood as he sat on the couch. The smile he flashed glancing up at me was almost painfully joyful. He looked younger, too, the recent stress and familiar worry lines suddenly gone from his face.
Obviously spending a perfect day with Anja and their son had had an impact on him.
“We should talk,” he said, full of energy.
“Yeah,” I agreed, my guard instantly up. “We should.”
I set my bag on the floor and dropped myself into a chair across from him, bracing for the worst. What I really wanted was to go to the guest room and hide under the covers with my hands over my ears, but now wasn’t the time to act like a little kid afraid of nightmare monsters; it was time to face the facts.
Besides, I’d thought of nothing but worst-case scenarios all day, and after seeing the paparazzi photo onThe Dirt, I felt like whatever Stefan had to say to me was already firmly decided. He was going to tell me he was leaving me for Anja and his new family. I could feel it. There was no point in putting off this discussion any longer.
“So here’s the thing,” he began softly, leaning toward me.
“I already know,” I said, cutting him off as I fought back tears. I couldn’t stand to sit here and let this play out in slow motion. The last thing I wanted was for him to stretch out the agony. “I know about you and Anja.”
Hearing him actually say the words, or beat around the bush in some well-meaning attempt to let me down gently, would have destroyed me. Maybe I could preserve some dignity by cutting him off at the pass.
A look of confusion crossed his face. “What about me and Anja? What are you talking about?”
I cleared my throat and regained control of myself. “I saw the picture of you onThe Dirt—one of the gossip websites,” I said calmly, trying to remove any hint of accusation from my tone. “All three of you, actually. At the zoo today.”
Stefan frowned and pulled out his phone, tapping at the screen for a moment before breaking out into a huge grin.
“Yeah, that’s us.” He turned his phone toward me. “It’s a great photo. I think it really captured the day.”
Refusing to look, I blurted, “A day I had no idea you were planning! How do you think I felt when I saw that?” Anger flickered in my chest at how callous he was acting. “I had to cover in front of my friends! Pretend I already knew you were out on the town having the best time in the world with another woman and her son—your son,” I quickly corrected.
“Didn’t you get my text?” he asked, seeming genuinely puzzled.
“No…” I said cautiously. “I left my cell home by mistake when I was rushing around this morning.” What kind of text could he have sent?
Holding his cell out to me, Stefan said, “Just look at the message. Please.”
