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When Ivan told me I needed to get married for an alliance, I’d been happy to do it. I’d never intended to be faithful to my wife, or think about her.
Aurora had come as a huge surprise to me in so many ways. First, my desire for other women had faded. Even while we hadn’t been having sex but had been married, I hadn’t looked at anyone else. I hadn’t cared to. Women had tried to capture my attention, but I’d ignored them. Each time they did, Aurora’s face would flash in my head, and any desire for anyone or anything else faded.
It meant nothing to me.
Aurora opened a can of tomatoes, adding them to the pan, stirring, followed by some water from the kettle. She went to the cupboard, and I liked seeing her at home in the kitchen. The way she turned and worked. This was her home.
She had another pot boiling and I saw the packet of pasta on the counter.
I entered the room, alerting her to my presence, and she spun around with a smile. “You know I was just thinking, I don’t have a clue what you like or don’t like. I’m assuming you love pasta. I love it.”
“I like pasta,” I said, taking a seat, being careful not to pull the stitches. Tonight would hurt like a motherfucker, but tomorrow, I’d have no choice but to go back out there.
Aurora winced as she watched me. “Do you need to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Oh, well, Cara called a couple of hours ago,” she said.
I tensed up. “She did?”
“Yeah, she wanted to go out to lunch. At first, she said you wouldn’t mind, but then I recalled what you said about me going out or being alone with her again.” Aurora turned toward me. “Lunch would be safe, right?”
“Why do you want to go to lunch with her?”
She shrugged but her face went bright red. That was not the sign of a woman who didn’t know why she didn’t want to go.
“I just, I like her, and I think she’s nice.”
“Cara’s not nice,” I said. I didn’t want my wife going to lunch with Cara.
“Oh, fine.”
“Why didn’t it work out with that other woman?” I clicked my fingers, trying to figure out who she was.
“Bethany?”
“That’s her. I can talk to her. Andrei is visiting. I’m sure Bethany would love to have lunch with you.”
“No thank you.”
The smile on her lips faded. “Why not? Weren’t you constantly going out with each other? Having dinner dates?”
“It didn’t work out, and I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll let Cara know I can’t go.”
I didn’t like how she instantly closed off from me. There was something going on and I wasn’t sure what.
Glaring at her back, I locked my fingers together and waited.
She drained the pasta and served me some food before finally showing me attention.
“Where do you want to eat?” she asked.
“Dinner table, and you will join me.”
I got to my feet, spun on my heel, and went to the table, taking my seat at the head.
Aurora put my food in front of me and I ordered her to sit.
“Is there anything you want? Wine? Beer? Vodka?”
She’d never offered me vodka, and it made me smile.
“Sit.”
She lowered her ass into the seat and her gaze was averted from mine.
I picked up my fork, speared a piece of pasta, and put it in my mouth. An explosion of flavor hit my tongue. There was tomato and a hint of spice that made my mouth water for more. I took a couple more mouthfuls. “This is really good.”
She relaxed a little.
“What happened between you and Bethany?” I didn’t care. I kept on telling myself I didn’t care about the petty squabbles of women, but something gnawed at me. Something I was clearly missing about what went down, and I didn’t like not knowing.
“I’m really happy for Bethany and Andrei. I hope they have a happy marriage.”
“I’m glad, because we have to attend the ceremony in two weeks.”
“Wait? Two weeks?”
“Yes.”
“How did that happen? She told me it was going to be a December wedding.”
“I got the call from Andrei. It has been moved up for speed. I don’t question why. So tell me why you’re not interested in being around Bethany.”
Aurora ran her fingers through her hair as she sat back. “She … and I … she didn’t like me.”
“What?”
“It’s what I heard her say. She didn’t like me. I’m not going to force my company on someone who hates me.”
I frowned. “That’s not what I heard. You cut your lunch date short.”
“I did after I heard her talking to someone on the phone.” She shrugged. “She hated me and found me boring.” She chuckled. “Whoever she spoke to said you could do so much better than me.”
“What?”
Aurora told me in great detail what Bethany said. I knew for a fact she didn’t lie. There was no reason for her to, but hearing her say this shit, I wanted to hurt this Bethany.
