And I couldn't just abandon her. Not when I'd barely seen her in a year.
"Five minutes," I said. "Then I’ll be right back."
But when I looked back, Katrina was gone.
I tried to extract myself as quickly as possible. Made Mila hot chocolate. Listened to her chatter about school. Got her settled in her room with Adrienne in the guest house.
All while my mind screamed at me to find Katrina. To explain. The moment I could leave, I did. But her room was empty. Her phone went to voicemail. It was like she'd vanished.
"Where is she?" I demanded when I found Elena.
"Katrina? She said she wasn't feeling well. Said she was taking the rest of the night off."
"Where did she go?"
"I don't know. She just—left."
Panic clawed at my chest. I pulled out my phone and called her again. Voicemail.
Katrina
We need to talk. That wasn't what it looked like.
No response.
Katrina. Please.
Nothing.
"Boss?" Mikhail appeared. "Everything okay?"
"No. Everything's not okay." I ran my hand through my hair. "I need to find her."
He didn’t ask who ‘she’ was because he already knew. “What happened?”
“Adrienne kissed me and said she wants to get back together. It all happened in front of Katrina.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.” I growled, trying to keep my composure.
"Maybe give her some space? Let her cool down?"
"I don't want to give her space. I want to explain what the hell happened."
"Daddy!" Mila called from the living room. "Come see! Uncle Mikhail got me a present!"
I closed my eyes. Breathed. My daughter needed me. But so did Katrina. And I couldn't be in two places at once.
"Go," Mikhail said quietly. "Be with Mila. I'll try to find Katrina. Make sure she's safe."
"Tell her…" What? What could I possibly say? "Tell her I need to talk to her."
"I will."
I went back to Mila, forcing a smile, pretending everything was fine. But every minute that passed without hearing from Katrina felt like a knife twisting in my chest. I had a daughter I hadn't seen in a year. And a woman I was desperately in love with whom thought I'd betrayed her. And no idea how to fix either situation without destroying the other.
Katrina
