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Behind her, she heard Kyr begin to move, and even without looking, she knew exactly what he was doing.
He would be taking off his blazer, then his necktie, followed by his cuffs. He would sit on the armchair by the window to take off his socks and his—-
Does the other woman know him as well as you know him, a voice suddenly taunted her, and just like that her chest felt close to exploding, and Pollyanna dragged the comb through her hair harder and faster, desperate to distract herself.
Behind her, she heard Kyr say her name, and she jerked in her seat. “W-what is it?”
“School’s about to start and with the twins enrolled in Athens...”
Pollyanna bit her lip hard as she waited for her husband’s next words.
“I want to be with you.” The fierceness of his gaze burned her back as he spoke the words. “I want to be with you and the children...but I will also understand if you can’t face the prospect of living together right away.”
She sensed rather than saw him stand, and when she heard his footsteps, she couldn’t help but tense. When he finally came to stand behind Pollyanna, she was torn between wanting to cry and wanting to show him that she was strong.
But was she?
A shadow fell over her, and she blinked, only to realize that it was Kyr bending down to place something on the vanity.
When he straightened, she saw a pair of keys.
“Leave one of these keys if you think...if you think you could let me stay with you and the children there. But if not...” She heard Kyr expel his breath as if he, too, was having difficulties breathing. “I’ll be staying on the yacht.”
KYR CLOSED HIS EYES as hot water from the showerhead cascaded down on him.
Theo.
It had taken everything in him a while ago not to wait for Pollyanna to answer. Every cell in his body had been desperate for him to beg, but somehow he had managed to control himself. Begging was a luxury he hadn’t yet earned, and this time around, he was determined to treat his wife the way she deserved. This time, he had to give her a shot at making her own decisions.
Even if it meant risking having her decide to leave him for good.
When he finally switched the shower off, over an hour had passed, more than enough time for his wife to make that choice. Emerging from the bath, he found the rest of the bedroom plunged in darkness, but even so, he had no problems seeing that his wife had made her decision.
There were no keys on the table.
Ah.
For one long moment, he simply stood there, staring bleakly at the empty vanity before him.
Finally, he forced himself to move, and when he lowered himself to his side of the bed, he sensed more than saw that she was awake. She was facing the other side, her back stiff, her breathing too even.
He stared at her back, knowing that she was just within reach. So why, damn it, why did she feel too damn far from him?
Desperation clogged his throat, and he wanted to say a thousand things to her, wanted to say sorry for a thousand more things.
But in the end, Kyr knew that the only right thing to do was to respect her decision.
And so slowly, he turned towards the opposite direction.
They lay in the bed, not facing each other, and it was the first time in their eight years of marriage that they had done so.
It was an endlessly long night, and he lay awake, trying to memorize the feel of his wife, knowing that it might be the last time he could have her this close again.
I love you, psaraki.
I love you.
I love you.
But Kyr knew he might have hurt her too much for Pollyanna to hear him.
Chapter Six
The first week of school turned out to be busier than usual for the twins, leaving them too distracted to ask more than a few questions about why their father had started living on his yacht instead of joining them in Athens. It was a much-needed respite, but Pollyanna knew that sooner or later, she would be forced to have a talk with her oldest children.
It was not, however, the only thing that occupied her mind.
Her company had also officially opened its doors to the public, and Pollyanna had gotten swamped with work in the blink of an eye. Inquiries about her rates and services flooded her inbox while her appointment book was filled with calls and appointments with potential clients.
She had never thought she would be this in-demand or this busy just a week after opening, but it was also something she knew she would never complain about. Finally, she was doing something she loved, something she had long thought she was destined to do, and she loved it.
