Contamino, the root of contaminate, meaning to pollute or infect.
It wasn’t the distraction I’d hoped for. Everything reminded me of Stefan. The way he’d withdraw from me, leaving me bereft of his charm, our marriage contaminated by the truths Anja had hidden away for so long. I might lose everything.
Could I count on Stefan’s words from last night? Would he even remember what we’d shared? Or worse—would he remember, and regret it?
Turning the page, I saw Gavin’s square, blocky handwriting instead of my own neat cursive. These were the notes I’d borrowed from him when I had been either too lost in heartbreak over Stefan or too head over heels for him to focus in class.
Gavin Chase, younger brother of Frank Chase, agent with the Department of Defense. Looking at Gavin’s pages reminded me that he was now a part of this whole mess as well. That what was happening right now with the Zoric family was bigger than my marriage, bigger than just Stefan and I—and always had been, even before we knew about Anja and her son.
Regardless of our personal issues, I was still committed to helping my husband take down KZ Modeling and its sex trafficking ring from the inside. With Gavin and Frank’s help.
As I slid into a pair of jeans and a thick-knit cashmere sweater, I marveled at how worried I’d been about meeting Konstantin for dinner last night. How Stefan and I had spent hours going over what I should say to his father in order to convince him that I would be loyal to the Zoric family. All that practicing, all those words. For nothing. Konstantin had barely looked at me last night, let alone asked me to make some declaration of allegiance to him.
Did my loyalty even matter now? Had my father-in-law completely dismissed me the moment Anja came back into the picture? Did he see her as my neat and easy replacement?
I couldn’t think about it. I’d just have to focus on getting through this one day at a time.
Heading into the closet I shared with Stefan, I pulled out my favorite brown boots and tugged them on. Then I hoisted my backpack over my shoulder and walked into the hall.
Just in time to catch Stefan coming out of the guest room.
So much for slipping off to school before he woke up.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” he asked, his voice sounding a little hoarse, whether from the lingering effects of sleep or from the alcohol he’d drowned himself in last night, I wasn’t sure.
“It’s Monday,” I reminded him. “I have class all day. Remember?”
Looking at him was difficult. He was in last night’s wrinkled clothes, his shirt not even tucked in. His feet were bare and his hair was a mess. And yet, to me, he looked perfect.
I wanted to drop my bag at my feet and run into his arms. I wanted him to take me to bed. To hold me. To tell me again that he loved me. But I couldn’t. I had to get out of here.
Before I could turn away, Stefan reached for my arm. “Don’t you think we should talk first?” he asked. “Why were you sleeping in the spare room last night?”
My throat felt tight, but I refused to cry in front of him.
“Can we talk about this later?” I said, pulling away. “I’m going to be late.”
A look of confusion crossed his face, or maybe it was just his hangover. “Are you mad at me?” He ran a hand through his hair.
“Of course not,” I said, flashing a fake smile.
And it was true. I wasn’t mad at all. I was just trying to keep myself together so I wouldn’t be destroyed when he told me he was leaving me. Which was something I absolutely couldn’t deal with at the moment.
I looked at my phone, pretending I had a notification. “My Uber’s downstairs,” I lied. “I’m not mad, really. See you tonight. I’ll probably be home late.”
With that, I kissed him on the cheek, spun on my heel, and practically bolted out of the condo.
Stefan
Chapter 6
All I could think about was how quickly my life had imploded in the last twelve hours.
Tori was blowing me off right when I needed her most, Anja had shown up out of nowhere, I had a son that I’d never met, and my father was still an asshole. Add to that how precarious my plan to take down KZ Modeling was, and it was almost too much to handle.
I was at a loss over my wife. The way she was acting so distant today had me worried. Obviously she had to be feeling some shock and upset over the whole Anja and Max situation—who wouldn’t? I was upset too—but it almost seemed like Tori was trying to punish me for it, and I wasn’t sure why. Especially considering how close we’d been in bed, just hours ago.
Had I done something wrong? The events at the penthouse last night had been a total mindfuck, but Tori was the one who’d insisted that I stay at my father’s place with Anja. I had wanted Tori to stay, but she’d refused. What should I have done? Put off talking to Anja and gone home with my wife, instead of leaving her to sit in our empty condo and go to bed alone in the guest room? Should I have pushed harder to keep her at my side, so she’d have been with me during the discussion with Anja? Tori had been so adamant. Maybe I should’ve fought her.
