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Still, I wished I hadn’t answered the phone. I should have known my headstrong, feisty sister-in-law wouldn’t let me off so easily. But I also knew that she was right. It wasn’t fair to walk out on Stefan, and our marriage, without a word. He deserved at least a call from me.

I just wasn’t read to do it. Not yet.

“So will you call him?” Emzee pushed. “Please?”

“Give me a few days,” I said. “I need some time to get myself together and think. I’m sure Stefan does too. He needs to figure things out with Anja and Max. Okay?”

“Okay,” she finally said. “A couple days. But that’s it. If you don’t talk to him by the weekend, I will. I’ll tell him everything. Believe me, though, he’d rather hear it from you.”

“I know,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need you to be sorry,” Emzee said. “I need you to be honest.”

We said our ‘I love you’s and hung up, but unlike our usual calls, I walked away feeling even more upset.

I had a ticking clock now, but I didn’t know if it would give me enough time to learn how to be strong.

Stefan

Chapter 13

By Friday morning I had come to accept what Bruce had tried to tell me: that wherever Tori was, she was safe—but that she didn’t want to be found. Not by me and apparently not by anyone else, either. Taking into account that the last time Tori’s friend Audrey had seen Tori she’d been in Gavin’s arms, and the fact that Gavin wasn’t answering or returning any of my calls, it seemed almost certain that my wife had moved in with her conniving, back-stabbing little study buddy. It didn’t mean I accepted her leaving me, though.

I had to try to get her back. Take a final stand. I had no idea how to do that, but I’d find a way. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for Tori. She had to know that.

In the meantime, I had to take the situation day by day. The Tori I knew had integrity above all else, so I convinced myself she’d reach out when she was ready, come clean about her betrayal, give me a chance to talk to her…but until then, I was losing my mind.

Focusing at work all week had been an exercise in futility. Most of my days had been spent pacing the halls of the KZM offices, staring blankly at the paperwork piling up on my desk, or canceling the meetings and lunches on my calendar. My father was livid. I didn’t give a damn. I knew I needed to do my job, knew I was moping, but it was impossible to force myself to push paper when I was caught between my missing wife and my father’s criminal empire.

Regardless of the turmoil in my personal life, I needed to get my shit together. Get back to figuring out how to bring KZM down. I couldn’t count on my Gavin Chase connection anymore. It still infuriated me that he was too cowardly to pick up his phone when I called, didn’t even have the decency to text me and let me know Tori was safe. I had thought we’d reached an understanding—a place of mutual respect and cooperation, if not friendliness. But now he was ghosting me, when he had to know that all I wanted was to talk to Tori one last time.

Even showering was like a waking nightmare now. Standing under the scalding water, all I could think about was the first time I’d watched my wife come, while fingering herself in a hotel shower during our honeymoon in Vienna. Her head tilted back, her mouth open as she gasped and moaned. Or the time I’d eaten her out right here, sucking on her sweet clit while my hand fucked her to an explosive orgasm, drops of water rolling down her full, perfect breasts. The images were too vivid, impossible to ignore, my arousal almost physically painful. I handled it quickly, joylessly, the memory of her body in my hands torturing me the whole time.

After getting dressed, frying an egg for breakfast, and trying to convince myself to go to work, I gave up and dialed my private car. Desperate for a distraction, I told my driver to take me to my father’s penthouse. The only other person I wanted to see right now was Max.

If there was one thing that could take my mind off of things, help me step away from the emptiness and heartache, push me to at least go through the motions of being okay, it was my son. Just seeing Max’s face made me light up. The kid could talk about dinosaurs like nobody’s business, and he was at just the right age to be full of questions about absolutely everything. Maybe I could take him to a movie or the aquarium downtown. Hell, we could even order in a pizza and sit around playing videogames if that’s what he wanted. I’d let him decide.

I hated that I had to go to my father’s place to see Max, and I wasn’t looking forward to being in such close quarters with Anja again, but I’d grit my teeth and bear it for my kid’s sake.

Arriving at the penthouse, a member of the house staff let me in.

“Good morning, Mr. Zoric,” he said.

“Is Max here?” I asked. “I was hoping to take the kid out for the day.”

He frowned. “The boy and his mother aren’t in at the moment.”

My stomach dropped. “Do you have any idea what time they’ll be back?”

“No. I’m sorry,” he said apologetically. “I can make a call if you like—”

“That’s okay,” I interrupted. “I’ll call myself. Don’t worry about it. Thanks anyway.”

I turned to leave, but heard my father calling out from his study. I should have left, just pretended I didn’t hear him, but against my better judgement I went down the hall.

“Max and Anja aren’t here,” he told me as I leaned against the doorway.

“I gathered,” I said. “Where are they?”