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Instead, I felt like I was a raft being tossed about on a sea of uncertainty. I didn’t want to believe my father. But he had proved that he was telling the truth. He didn’t have Luca’s pin. At least not in his office.
So now, I had to search a second place. I had to confirm with my own eyes that Aleksey had been lying to me.
“Welcome home, princess,” Boris announced from his seat across the aisle, standing up as the jet finally came to a jerky halt.
I avoided his eyes as I undid my seat belt, hoping that he wouldn’t notice any immediate change in me. I had done my best to look impassive and unreadable, but something told me that Boris saw right through everything.
I wasn’t even sure if I could trust him. After all, he worked for Aleksey and was one of Aleksey’s most trusted men. If I couldn’t trust Aleksey, then I needed to have my guard up against him as well.
Suddenly I wished that I had called Lana while I was in New York. I had resisted the urge to call her because I didn’t want to get her further involved than necessary. But now…
The stairs were lowered from the plane, and I walked down them carefully, Boris hot on my heels. To my surprise, Aleksey wasn’t waiting for me outside with a car.
“Where is he?” I asked lightly as I reached the bottom step.
“He must be still busy. He told me that he would meet you back at the penthouse,” Boris replied.
I tried not to let his words bother me as I walked to the car and climbed into the cool leather interior. I had texted Aleksey to let him know that I was returning home today. I’d told him that all was well, even though nothing was.
He had only told me good night, and I’d spent the rest of the night lying in bed, wondering what it meant. There was no follow-up text. He didn’t even bother calling. It was almost as, if in the short time that we were apart, both of us had remembered the circumstances of our marriage.
Had he realized that he was happier when I wasn’t here? I had thought we were in a different place right before I left. But now, after my own realizations, I wasn’t so sure anymore.
I hated that my father had gotten into my head! It was what he did best. He poisoned people against themselves and made them believe that he was their savior before he crushed them. I had seen his manipulations and been the target of many instances of it my entire life.
Yet this…this didn’t feel like he was manipulating me. This felt genuine. And that was what frightened me the most. Because now, as the car raced out of O’Hare airport, I kept asking the same question over and over again:
Can I keep trusting Aleksey?
As much as I wanted to do so, I knew I wouldn’t be able to move forward until I could confirm that he hadn’t been lying to me either. And there was only one way to prove that.
My future and my child’s future all depended on it.
The car wound its way toward the city, and I tried to push aside the nagging doubts starting to grow in my gut. What would I even say to him when I saw him? Would he immediately notice that something was up with me?
Biting my lower lip, I pressed a hand to my stomach. If Aleksey had lied to me about the pin, what else would he lie to me about? Did Luca really even die like Aleksey claimed he did? Or did it happen as my father said—Aleksey butchering Luca in the streets and leaving his body to rot?
When we arrived at the penthouse, Boris didn’t enter the elevator with me.
“It’s been a pleasure, princess.” He gave me a mocking bow.
“Thank you,” I muttered. He gave me a short nod before the doors closed behind me. The elevator rumbled upward, and I prepared myself to see my husband.
It was funny. When he’d sent me back to New York, I had begged him to let me stay. And now that I was on my way up to see him, all I wanted was to run far away.
But I couldn’t. I shouldn’t. I needed to find out for myself.
Straightening my shoulders, I took a deep breath and reached for the strength that I normally reserved for meeting my father. What would I even say to him right now?Hi, so it turns out that you were lying to me about everything, so I need to search your desk?Somehow, I doubted he would accept that so easily.
The doors to the elevator opened, and reality came crashing in.
“Elia.”
There was no smile on his face. His eyes were cold, and I knew something had happened. Something had changed.
Oh God.
Forcing my feet to move, I stepped out of the elevator, laying eyes on my husband. “Aleksey.”
