“Jesus Christ,” Harold muttered, drifting closer to Gregory. “Aren’t you going to tell him to stop? Look at him. He’s going to tear a muscle at this rate.”
Magnus reached the end of the pool again, breathing heavily. He gripped the edge tightly, water dripping down his face. He then turned sharply for another lap.
Gregory finally swam closer to Magnus.
“Haven’t you had enough already?” Gregory snapped.
Magnus ignored him and began another stroke.
Gregory stepped directly into his path.
Magnus stopped abruptly, water dripping down his face, his chest heaving.
“You’re angry because Sophia wants to divorce you?” Gregory asked calmly. “Wasn’t that why you married her in the first place? Now you don’t want the divorce anymore?”
Magnus let out a harsh, humorless laugh.
“Who the fuck said I don’t want it?”
He shoved his wet hair off his forehead, water streaming down his face, his eyes blazing with fury. He climbed out of the pool in one powerful movement, water dripping from his body onto the tiles.
Gregory hurried after him as Magnus continued, his voice rising with every word.
“But why the hell did she make that decision on her own? That’s what pisses me off.” He dragged a hand down his face, jaw tight. “If anyone should ask for a divorce, it should beme.”
His expression twisted, pride wounded.
Gregory shrugged casually. “Good. If it’s just anger, then you’ll get over it,” he said lightly. “It won’t matter much once she leaves the country.”
Magnus froze.
His body went completely still in the water. “What do you mean?”
Gregory blinked.
“You didn’t know?” he said, surprised. “She’s leaving Manhattan.”
“What the fuck?” Magnus growled. His eyes were dark. “What are you talking about?”
Gregory raised his brows, slightly surprised at Magnus’s reaction.
He wiped the water from his face with one hand and said casually, “After divorce there won’t be any relationship between you two anyway. So what does it even matter?”
He turned away as if it wasn’t a big deal.
Magnus didn’t move.
He stood there frozen, water dripping from his hair down his shoulders. His expression slowly hardened.
Harold swam closer and climbed out of the pool as well, grabbing a towel.
Magnus’s eyes flicked toward him, dark and unsettled.
“Why does she hate me so much,” his voice came out low. Controlled. But trembling with anger, “that she has to leave the entire goddamn country just to get away from me?”
Harold stared at him. “You really have to ask that?”
Magnus frowned.
