Page 73 of Slightly Married
“Convenient.” She spat the word, advancing until mere inches separated us. The ferocity of her anger was almost tangible between us.
“Did you know about his plans to destroy my father’s company and use my sister in the process?” Her eyes narrowed, searching my face.
I considered my response carefully, as I always did when confronted with difficult truths in business. This wasn’t business, though. This was my marriage, my family, my life.
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“I was protecting my aunt.” The moment the words left my mouth, I knew they were the wrong ones.
Kayla’s legs buckled suddenly, her body crumpling toward the carpeted floor. I moved instinctively, reaching out to catch her before she fell completely, but she recoiled from my approach.
“Don’t touch me!” The words lashed out with unexpected venom as she braced herself against the floor. “I don’t need your help!”
Every muscle in my body tensed with the effort to remain where I stood. My instinct to protect her warred with my respect for her boundaries.
I watched as she settled herself on the wall, still looking dangerously pale. Her hand pressed against her abdomen. The protective gesture toward our child provided me with a measure of relief despite everything else unraveling between us.
“I knew that my cousin had plans regarding your father’s company,” I admitted. “Though I had no specifics about his methods.”
“I’ll tell you how he’s gone about it. He’s been slowly buying up shares, all the while pretending to help my father identify who was behind it.” Her voice cracked with emotion. “That two-faced bastard. And now he’s forced Daddy out of his own company.”
The anguish in her expression cut through me more effectively than any bullet. I’d seen Kayla angry, joyful, passionate, but this suffering was entirely new.
Her eyes found mine again, burning with accusation. “All your talk about protecting me and our child was a lie. You used me, too. To get what you wanted.”
“I never wanted your family to be harmed—”
“Bullshit!” The word exploded from her. “You picked sides. And it wasn’t me and our baby!”
I exhaled heavily. “That’s not true. What Matthaios did or didn’t do has nothing to do with us or how I feel about you.”
She let out a harsh laugh. “Oh, really? Simone called me from the hospital, where our father had been admitted. Are you saying his health has no bearing on me and how it might affect my behavior in this marriage?”
“Your father is in the hospital? How serious is it?”
“Why do you care?” she challenged. “It’s not like he’s part of your family.”
I took a breath, fighting to maintain my stance when every cell longed to go to her and make this right. “You have every right to be angry with me. I should have told you earlier, but I didn’t, and there’s nothing I can do now to change the past except work to move past this.”
“Move past?” Her eyes widened in disbelief. “How the fuck do I move past being lied to by the family I was beginning to trust and by the man I loved?”
I stepped closer, careful not to crowd her. “Kayla, I...” I paused. The simple apology seemed inadequate. “Our arrangement was not meant to become this. When it did. When you became an important part of my life, I failed to disclose what I should have. The risk of losing you outweighed my obligation to honesty. That was... unacceptable of me.”
“That’s a shame.” She rose unsteadily to her feet. I remained rooted in place, though every fiber of my being wanted to reach out to ensure she didn’t fall again. “Because we’re done!”
“Michaela, don’t do this.” Five simple words conveying nothing of what I actually felt and what she meant to me.
Kayla’s laugh held no trace of the teasing quality I’d grown to crave. “Who’s going to stop me?”
The smaller Christakis jet cut through the clouds at thirty-five thousand feet, and the steady hum of engines failed to drown out my thoughts. I adjusted the papers before me, more from habit than necessity. The documents demanded my attention, but my mind kept returning to the closed bedroom door at the rear of the cabin.
True to her word, Kayla had spent the entire flight sequestered in there without uttering a single word to me. I video-conferenced with Andreas while ignoring the pain settling beneath my ribs.
Finalizing the deal with the Americans couldn’t wait, regardless of my personal crisis. I instructed him to finalize the presentation with my pre-approved amendments and to represent me if necessary.
Olympus Motors relied on my consistency, even when my personal life was shattering. I had failed Kayla, but I wouldn’t compound that by failing my other responsibilities as well.
