“Indeed. I argued that the delay with our marriage license should be considered, and all they conceded was that she could reapply, but she would need to go offshore to do it.”
“So, go offshore. Take her somewhere and reapply. You can work from anywhere in the world, Bax.”
“It’s not that simple. Atlas is being … fractious at the moment—I can’t just disappear. I need to sort out a few things with him before he heads back to the States and starts running his mouth to more people in the industry.”
“So, we keep her safe here for the next couple of weeks, and once you’ve got things under control, you can take her anywhere you like and get the application sorted.”
I sighed. “I don’t like it, but it’s really the only option. I will not send her off on her own, not even with a security detail. If she leaves the country, I leave with her.”
Lucian nodded. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you, Bax.”
“Also … we won’t be telling her about this … not until it’s time to go.” My stomach lurched at the thought of lying to her. The feeling intensified when I saw the incredulous look on Lucian’s face.
“I don’t want her worrying. After what she told me about her uncle, her fears about having to return home are real. We keep her safe, and that includes emotionally.”
Lucian didn’t look convinced, but he nodded. “You’re the boss, Bax.” He got up to leave.
“I thought you disapproved of her,” I muttered, almost as an afterthought.
Lucian turned back to me, a glimmer of a smile on his lips. “She’s a loose unit, your Ri. But … I’m beginning to believe that she’s hiding a heart of gold under the snark.”
He left the room, and I turned unwillingly back to my computer. I was in no state to decipher a property contract. And I was a billionaire, after all. I didn’t need to be looking this over. That’s what lawyers were for.
I needed something to take my mind off this entire day. Just a few hours of mindlessness.
Gravitating towards the living room, and the big screen television that I hardly ever used, I navigated to YouTube. It was probably past time that I did a bit of background research on my new business partner.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
The Biggest Idiots Known to Man
IRINA
“Gah!” I growled at my reflection. My face was still swollen from my night of shitty sleep and panic sobbing into my pillow. I’d given up on trying to sleep and had taken the world’s longest shower. Not even that could save me—I still didn’t look even close to presentable.
It had been bad enough that just asking Henry to chase up my visa had brought on a fresh round of tears. I probablywaspremenstrual. That would explain my ridiculous emotions. My cycle had never gotten into any sort of routine after I got the IUD, so I could never quite tell when or if it was going to make an appearance.
The walls felt like they were closing in on me, all the way from Romania. I scowled down at the open box on my bed and thrust the hated string of coins back inside, slamming the lid shut and picking the whole thing up to shove in the bottom of the wardrobe.
But out of sight didn’t mean out of mind. And Stefan’s messages had brought that into stark, terrifying reality last night.
Kat had warned me that there was a risk my family would discover the Tickle account, but I’d really thought the geo-lock I’d set up on my account would be enough to prevent it. With hindsight, that was a stupid mistake
I managed a choked laugh. If I’d told Henry everything, he would probably have set up a spreadsheet to weigh up the risks involved in everything I’d done since deciding not to go home.
Or he would have run screaming rather than get involved with me and the extreme fucked-upness of all the secrets I was still keeping from him.
I was well and truly screwed now. I’d set my Tickle account to private, and I was teetering on the edge of pulling the plug and deleting it entirely. I shuddered, bile rising in my throat as I pictured Stefan … my uncle …him… watching my content.
I sucked in breath after breath, but it felt like I was never getting enough air. I couldn’t stay in this tiny room. Wrenching open the door, I stumbled out into the hallway. It still felt claustrophobic, so I made my way towards the living room. The large, light-filled space might be helpful.
As I emerged, the first thing I noticed was a familiar theme song playing on the television.TheRileys of Emu Grove, and their smiling faces gleamed on the screen. The parents, Simone and David, and then River and his sister, Tallulah, both in their early teens. This was an older episode.
It was then I saw Henry’s curly head and shoulders on the lounge. And something loosened in me, enough to let me take a proper breath.
He must have heard my sigh because he turned, eyes inscrutable behind his glasses.
“Hey, Hubby,” I mumbled, waving idiotically. A smile ghosted around the edges of his mouth, and he patted the space beside him.
