I nod and take a sip of my coffee since it’s finally cool enough. The sweet, mellow, chocolate and cinnamon flavor is a miracle on my tongue.
“Okay,” Suzie says and dumps out the rest of her coffee into the sink. She shrugs when I give her a questioning look. “I tried something new and didn’t like it. It was kind of gross.”
I giggle because Suzie sounds just like Eliza.
We chat on the way back to my office. It’s barely bigger than a closet, but at least it’s mine, courtesy of the fact that my mother helped start this firm, and her name is still included among the named partners in respect to her legacy.
“It’s a shame you got rid of all of Eliza’s baby things.”
“I needed the space when I moved in with Peter. I figured, if we have a kid, we could buy all new stuff.”
I stop short in my office doorway because there is an enormous bouquet on my desk. A small, oblong box sits next to it.
“What the hell?” Suzie is staring, too.
I approach the bouquet carefully, as though it’s going to bite me or explode, or maybe both. But I already know who it’s from. At least, I suspect. Who else would send me flowers like this?
“It’s one of the most incredible bouquets I’ve ever seen.” Suzie is inspecting the flowers with admiration; I can tell she’s impressed. I think Viktor just earned a few points in his favor with my best friend.
And the admiration goes up a few more points as I open the smaller box to reveal a necklace glittering with tiny diamonds that makes it look like it’s made of a million shimmering drops of water.
“Holy shit,” Suzie breathes, looking over my shoulder. I’m too stunned to get out any words at all.
A card rests on the velvet beside the necklace, and I nudge it open to read the brusque, angular writing:
Leah,I saw this and thought it would look beautiful on you when you accompany me to a gala in two weeks’ time. Please tell me you’ll come as my date. – Viktor
“Holy shit is right,”I finally manage, agreeing wholeheartedly with Suzie.
“I wantto buy this property, Mom.”
“Are you sure?”
I’m not asking my daughter because I think it’s a bad choice. She’s a Monopoly shark. I’m trying to get her to question herself so I can buy the property. But it’s a no-go. She gives me that look, the one where she narrows her eyes and thins her lips, a look so much like my mother, and buys it anyway.
“Well, there goes that.”
I’m staring at the board, trying to figure out my next move, or if there even is a next move, when someone knocks on the door.
“Who is it?” Eliza whispers.
I shrug. “Not sure. Maybe it’s Jade?”
Eliza gives me that look again, because Jade is never that quiet or reserved, even when she knocks.
“We’ll see,” I tell her, getting to my feet to pad across the apartment so I can peer out the peephole.
I’m not entirely sure if I’m surprised when I see Viktor on the other side of the door, in his suit as always.
I feel Eliza come up behind me and peer around me as I open the front door. I smile at Viktor. “Hi. What are you doing here?”
From behind me, I hear Eliza whisper, “It’s you.”
I know she means the guy with the big car and the bodyguard, who hasn’t scared my kid one bit.
Viktor smiles, a soft, warm, sexy smile that makes my heart flutter. “I hear there’s a food fair going on in the park,” Viktor says smoothly. “I’m wondering if you two might want to go? Unless you have somewhere else to be. I won’t take offense if you do, but I’m in the area, and I thought it might be fun.”
His eyes meet mine. I have to take another deep breath as my heart skips a beat. His eyes slip down to my mouth and then lower to where the necklace he sent me sits around my neck. Do I imagine it when his eyes flicker for a moment? Is it out of surprise, or something else? I can’t tell.
