Page 119 of Inked in Devotion

“I’ll definitely be around months after the change in CEO is announced,” I told her.

Dora stood. She’d been a busy woman. I didn’t know what I would do without her. This was really her baby. I just provided the funds and connections.

“You might be busy.” She grinned.

“With school, maybe.”

There was movement at the door. When I recognized my visitors, the blood drained from my face.

“Ivan?” I swallowed when my gaze fell on the woman beside him. “Mrs. Zahkarova?”

What were they doing here?

Dora shot me a hardened glance that said, “Do you want me to get rid of them?”

“Call me Irina, please,” Ivan’s wife said.

She and Dora exchanged unflinching stares. I wondered if Irina had been friends with the wife of the man who forced Dora to become his mistress.

“Please come in.” I stepped behind Dora to give her a light nudge. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

When Dora left, I extended my arm to the cozy sitting area in my office. “You must be swamped with wedding preparations. I’m surprised to see you here.”

Ivan and Irina sat on the long couch. I sat in the armchair opposite them. An odd desire to giggle seized me because it looked like I was a therapist about to counsel a couple, but I suppressed my humor because I was curious about the reason they were here.

Well, I knew the reason, but I thought the effort was coming from Theo.

“I’ll start,” Irina said softly. “Aralina told us you talked.”

“We did. I’m not saying we had profound insights about our past. But it’s a start, especially since we’re becoming family.” And I said family without wanting to vomit. I said family, and I actually believed in it.

Relief crossed Irina’s features. “That’s why we came. With the wedding in less than a week, I want to put whatever heartaches of the past behind us.”

“Can I offer you both anything to drink? I only have coffee and water at this time,” I added. I still couldn’t look at a tea bag and not shudder.

“We can’t stay long,” Irina said. “There’s that dinner tonight. You’re coming, right?”

“Kolya and Theo mentioned it.” A sheepish smile touched my mouth. “I told them I’d think about it, but…it’s because I wasn’t sure about…” I pointed at both of them.

“That is why I’m extending the invitation in person,” she said.

“You’re such a gracious person, Irina,” I said. I could almost see where Aralina’s aura came from.

“Not always.” She laughed lightly and nudged Ivan, who’d been quietly observing our exchange. “Give it to her.”

“What?”

Ivan produced a check and put it on the table. I imagined it was a donation for the foundation. “This is not a bribe for you to come to the party or stop being mad at me⁠—”

“I’m not mad at you anymore,” I said. “This resentment was something I built up in my head, but seeing Aralina. I can’t…” I just shook my head in bafflement. “I realized how unfair it was to hold someone responsible for my misery who hadn’t even been born.”

“It was my fault,” Ivan said gruffly, smoothing out the check before retracting his hands and curling them into fists on his knees. “Please don’t think I never cared for your mother or you.”

I gave an audible gasp as my eyes flew to Irina’s face. Her eyes filled with tears.

“We’ve talked about it over the years. It doesn’t hurt like it used to anymore.” She sniffed. “But the hurt never goes away.”

“Why are you telling me this? Because Renée might have caused a rift between you two, but you let it happen, Ivan.”