Whatever that message was about, whether it was meant for me or not, I had long since brushed it off. My old life was literally thousands of miles away; my new one was thriving. The deal with the Koboyashis was rock-solid, and Rurik made sure to remind me what a big part I played in making the company—our company, as he always corrected me—so much richer and stronger.
A familiar, warm hand slid across my belly under the sheets, and I opened my eyes to a welcome nuzzle at my neck.
“Time to go home,” Rurik said, voice scratchy from sleep and tinged with regret. “As much as I want to keep extending, we’ve got a business to run.”
We were supposed to leave three days ago, but we kept coming up with excuses to stay. Things we had to see or do. New restaurants we simply had to try. Long walks we had to take, hand in hand. But the number of calls from both the office and his family began crashing in on him like an avalanche, and he finally arranged a flight back to LA.
“You know we can always come back,” I said, clamping my lips together and wishing I hadn’t said my deepest desire out loud.
It was as good as asking what was going to happen next. With the partnership with Koboyashi Corp in the bag, would we still have to keep up our ruse? Would I be moving out soon, since I was no longer needed to play the perfect wife in the perfect house… with the perfect husband?
He kissed me hard, crushing me to his chest, his strong arms holding on tight. When he pulled back, there was a smile on his handsome face that cracked the wall I had been struggling to maintain. Brick by brick, he was chiseling a way to my heart, which had gone from terrified to daring to hope.
“Yes, we can,” he said, sounding triumphant. “How does our one-year anniversary sound?”
“Rurik…”
I jammed the bricks back in place, telling my heart to shut the hell up and get back where it was safe from unnecessary pain. This was a business deal with benefits, nothing more. Maybe we’d still be playing along when that one-year anniversary rolled around, but it was more likely that we wouldn’t. If I wanted to keep my job, I had to stay aloof and professional, so my position at the company didn’t dissolve when this marriage did.
He liked to say we were staying married, and told me again and again that we were forever. And every day, I got closer to believing him. Like right now.
My reminder alarm jolted us both out of the fantasy. “We have an hour to get to the airport,” I said, slithering out of his embrace.
“To think one of the things I love about you is your efficiency,” he said, feigning bitterness. “I used to think those alarms were a good idea.”
I blushed, trying not to glom onto the easy way he threw around the L word. Of course, he loved my efficiency. I was his assistant. It was my job to keep him on time.
As we hurried out the door for the last time, Rurik wrapped his arm around me, waving his hand at the garden and the pergola where we’d spent many of our mornings and evenings.
“Should we take a last picture?” I asked, pulling out my phone.
He kissed me, then shook his head. “We already have at least a hundred. And I don’t need any of them to remind me what a good time I had here with you. It’s all right here.”
He placed his hand over his heart and then laughed at the tears that sprang to my eyes, noticing them before I could blink them away. “We’re coming back,” he promised.
He’d kept all his promises so far.
We raced to the airport only to find our flight was delayed, so Rurik got us coffees and pastries, and we found the most secluded spot we could in the crowded airport. He became immersed in his phone, a glance at his screen showing me a string of unread messages.
Time to return to normal. The real world was calling. And I had plenty of emails and messages he’d been telling me to ignore, that I could start making a dent in. I hadn’t looked at my phone since the day before, and I scowled at it now. Something that seemed like an extra appendage I couldn’t live without was now slamming the door on the fantasy I built up here on this fake honeymoon.
Operative word, fake.
I answered a few emails and confirmed a few requests for meetings, adding them to Rurik’s calendar, and watching him nod briefly every time he got the alert. He paused to smile at me, then went right back to his work, brows furrowed and fingers flying over his screen. Yep, playtime was over.
As a voice over the loudspeaker announced that our plane would finally begin boarding, a new message appeared on my phone screen. Another number I didn’t recognize. Rurik said something to me, but I only heard his voice as if it were coming from far away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him reach out to me. We were in first class and could board first, but I was frozen by this new message.
You made a huge mistake. See you soon.
There was no pretending this was a random accident. A completely different number, but basically the same warning. Cold fear rippled down my spine and I jolted when Rurik rested his hand on my shoulder, reminding me that I was safe.
But was I? Jumping up, I looked all around, studying the faces of strangers. I forced myself to relax and followed Rurik into the early boarding lane, where we were welcomed onto the plane.
It would be exactly like Jordie to get a new number to bypass my block and continue tormenting me. And by tomorrow, I’d be back in LA, where he promised he’d see me soon. As I blindly let Rurik guide me to our big first-class seats and stumbled into the one by the window, I managed to block this new number with shaking hands. The message disappeared into the ether as I deleted it, but the threat stayed burned into my brain.
“Hey, are you okay? You’re white as a sheet,” Rurik said, waving for the flight attendant to bring me a warm towel and a bottle of water. “And you’re shaking.”
He took the bottle from me and twisted off the cap, the concern on his face a beacon I tried to focus on instead of letting the message continue to bounce around in my thoughts. If I didn’t get it together, I’d be smothered with that sweet concern the entire flight, and soon enough, he’d demand answers. As if he didn’t have his own problems to deal with, and he wasn’t dumping his family issues onto me, though I wouldn’t have minded.