“Is he with someone new?” I choked from the pain of it. I’d run athousand scenarios in my head, but none of them had involved another woman.
I don’t know why, but they didn’t.
The black car slowed to a stop and waited. It felt like it was watching me.
Viktor was behind that darkly tinted window.
“Go, Leah. Don’t come back.” Stephen turned on his heel and walked away. “Please look after yourself, though,” he added quietly.
I didn’t move. It was like I couldn’t. The gate opened, but the car in front of me didn’t move.
And then the passenger door opened, and the world tilted around me. I held my breath and waited to see him for the first time in five months.
I was about to see Viktor again. My whole body tightened as I prepared myself. And then Ivan stepped out.
It was like I had prepared myself for nothing. He strode forward. His expression was completely blank.
“Hey, Leah, is something wrong?” Stopping right in front of me, he took me in, and the smallest of smiles tilted up the corners of his mouth.
“I-uh?” I stammered, suddenly tongue-tied. Why couldn’t I get the words out? “I’m.—”
A knowing look entered his eyes. Carefully, he took my elbow and began guiding me back to the car slowly because I couldn’t do much more than shuffle.
“Do you need something for the baby? Is there something wrong?”
I shook my head. “I just wanted to see him.”
The understanding turned to sympathy as we reached the car door, and he opened it for me. “I know you do, Leah, but you can’t. You’re marriage is over. If you need more money, then I will arrange it.”
I dragged my arm out of his grasp. “I don’t want his money, Ivan. I don’t want anything from him but to talk.”
“He doesn’t want to talk to you, Leah. You need to go home. How about I come and talk to younext week?”
“It’s fine, Ivan. I’ll talk to her.”
Over Ivan’s shoulder, I watched Viktor unfold himself from the car. The sun shone on his dark hair and made it shine. It was longer now and looked ultra soft.
He strode forward, looking like a million dollars in his shirt and pants. The top two buttons were open. I could see a gold chain around his neck.
He’d never worn a chain before, so that was new.
He looked completely relaxed, like he didn’t have a care in the world.
In other words, he looked the opposite to me because I was a hot, sweaty mess.
He came to a stop in front of me, so close that I could smell his aftershave and the manly cinnamon scent of his skin.
It affected me, the very sight of him, and being this close to him made me breathless.
“Hello, Printsessa.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Viktor
God, she was beautiful.
I had seen her in the most expensive gowns with diamonds around her neck. I had seen her in PJs with her glossy hair messed up around her head. I had even seen her nude and glazed with sweat, with my hand around her throat as she screamed my name.