Page 36

Mikhail

“You know if you stay here any longer, you’ll miss out on Jason’s back from school episode for the night,” Enzo said, walking into my office like he owned the place.

“Why are you still here?”

“I got carried away with the new software I’ve been working on, but I’m not the one with a wife and kid waiting at home.”

I shot him a hard glare. “She’s not my wife.”

“Whatever you say. I have an early morning tomorrow, so I can’t babysit your emotional heart, but I’ll leave you with a few facts,” he said, getting on his feet and pacing my office like some scientist who was about to disclose the cure to cancer.

“Adopted at a young age and brainwashed into thinking she was working for the greater good. She is also a victim, and if that’s not enough for you, remember nothing was preventing her from getting rid of that baby the moment she discovered she was pregnant, but she risked her life to keep it. That’s not what a cold-blooded spy would do. I also know your days with her were the happiest I’ve ever seen you. Do with this whatever you choose. Adios amigo,” he said, walking out the door.

I spent the ride home, letting Enzo’s words sink in. They weren’t things I didn’t already know. Arielle was a victim, but that didn’t make up for the pain I had to go through for the past few years. I almost lost myself and everything I had to my name when she left. Pain like that wasn’t what you got over in a couple of months.

Granted, I’ve had moments where I’ve wanted to pull her into a hug and promise her everything will be alright. She was completely different from the sparkly ball of sunlight I knew. She moved around the house like she was scared of being seen, and she apologized repeatedly for every little inconvenience.

The only times I’ve seen her genuinely happy is when she’s with Jason, and in those moments, I’ve had to fight the urge to join them. She was a wonderful mother. I could tell from the amount of love Jason radiated and how happy he was.

It’s why I arrived home at the same time every day, to catch a glimpse of her carefree laughter and the warmth that seemed to only exist when she was with our child.

We’ve not spoken about our situation as co-parents or what the future holds for us. We’ve just settled into living like housemates who share a child, and I don’t know how I feel about it.

A part of me wished she had come to me when she figured out she was pregnant. I’d been upset, but I wouldn’t be as broken as I was when she left, and fixing things would’ve been a lot easier. But three years was a fucking long time, and I already forced my heart shut.

I opened the door, bracing myself to be tackled by Jason, but was met with total silence. I immediately jumped into panic mode, throwing my briefcase on the sofa and taking large strides into the house. Did she leave with him again? How far have they gone?

The questions died in my throat as soon as I walked into the dining room. Candles adorned the table, and an elaborate spread of food and wine were meticulously arranged on the table, and sitting on the table alone and picking at her nails was Arielle—in a fucking red dress.

“Hi,” she sprang to her feet, almost knocking a bottle over. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Oh,” I said, standing at the door and taking in the dim lights and the warm ambiance.

She cleared her throat. “I made dinner. Is that okay?” she asked, her eyes filled with so much hope I only mustered a small nod in response.

“Where’s Jason?” I asked, settling into the chair across from her.

“I errr.” she cleared her throat again. “I put him to bed early. Is that okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you were looking forward to playing with him a little. I can wake him up if you’d like that,” she rambled off, standing from her seat, but I stopped her.

“It’s okay, Arielle. I can always play with him tomorrow.”

She nodded and settled back into the chair, locking her gaze to the food on the table and chewing on her bottom lip. I found myself loathing how uncomfortable she had become around me. She was making an effort, a really huge one at that, and although it had caught me off guard, the gesture warmed my heart a little.

“So, how was your day?” I asked, scooping a heap of dumplings onto my plate.

Her eyes lit up briefly. I would’ve missed them if I had blinked before she relaxed into giving me a detailed rundown of her day, starting from the time she woke to this moment.

I had a feeling she was being overly transparent to let me know she had changed, and while I appreciated that, I wasn’t sure I liked it very much.

“How about you? How was your day?” she asked, peering at me through her lashes.

“Nothing as exciting as yours. Just work and stuff.”

Her face fell, and her lips shaped into a small ‘o,’ and I immediately realized my mistake.

“My day was fine, Arielle. Enzo came over, and we had a meeting with a company in London. I’m aiming to open a hotel there, and after that, I returned to my office and did some paperwork before returning home.”

A small smile touched her lips, and against my better judgment, I found myself smiling in return.

“So, did you cook all of these, or did Maya and Jason help?”

“Nah. I cooked everything myself,” she replied, and my eyes almost doubled in size.

“I worked in a restaurant in Italy, so I picked up some mean cooking skills,” she added, answering the question in my head.

She made it sound so easy, but I know it couldn’t have been that easy with a baby. I finally decided to open the conversation I’d been avoiding for a long time.

“How did you do it? The pregnancy, Jason, work. All of it. How did you do it all alone?”

Her smile faltered a bit, and she laid her cutlery down before taking a deep breath. “It wasn’t so bad in the beginning. I had some money on me when I left, and it sustained me for most of the pregnancy and provided adequate healthcare and housing, but the money eventually ran out. We had to relocate to a different neighborhood. That was when the challenges set in, and I had to start juggling jobs. Jason was only six months old, and I could barely afford a sitter, but thankfully, Anna came along and offered to sit him whenever I had work, and that made things a bit easier. So, when I saw that flyer about the vacancy in your company, I rushed in headfirst without doing any form of research.”

I sat in silence, letting her words sink in. I couldn’t fathom what she had gone through, and the fact that I hadn’t been there for her had me in pain.

“You should’ve told me, Arielle,” I muttered softly.

“I couldn’t. I was scared to my bones, and I had nowhere to turn. I have no family to love me unconditionally, and I knew Father would force me to get rid of him.”

“So, do you regret it?”

Her brows furrowed slightly. “Getting pregnant for you?”

“No. Applying to my company,” I clarified, holding her gaze. I needed to know where her head was.

“At first, I did, but with time, I came to appreciate it. Jason is so happy with you, and now, I can’t imagine a different life for him.”

“I’m glad Jason is happy, Arielle, but I’m asking about you. Do you regret running into me?”

“No,” she replied after a pause, and I felt myself release a breath I never knew I was holding.

From there, we went into her upbringing and life at the orphanage. If we were going to move forward, I needed to know everything about her. It turned out to be a very heavy topic, and by the time she was done, I had emptied a full bottle of wine, and anger simmered beneath me for everything she had gone through.

Tension eventually gave way to light conversations, and Arielle ended up taking me on a trip down memory lane. She showed me pictures and videos of Jason at various points in his life. When he sprouted his first set of teeth, when he took his first step, and when he said his first words.

“You know there was not a day that passed that I didn’t think of you,” her voice came out in whispers, her eyes not leaving mine. “I subscribed to every newsletter in New York and googled your name every morning in a desperate attempt to feel a bit closer to you.”

Her confession clung tightly to the air between us, and I felt something thicken in my throat, making it impossible for me to force out a word.

When I did not say a word, her face fell by a fraction, but she quickly replaced it with a smile. “Oh. I forgot to show you this one.” She cleared her throat, playing a video on her phone, and the moment was gone as soon as it arrived. It was my fault.

“This was his first day at school, and he wouldn’t let go of me. I intend to keep this one and show it to him when he starts feeling like a big boy.”

The video rolled by with Jason screaming out his lungs and holding on to Arielle as his teachers attempted to pry him from her arms. It was both hilarious and heartwarming, and I could totally see him growing to hate the video.

“He’s got quite a grip,” I commented, lifting my face to find Arielle’s very close to mine. We must’ve moved closer as we watched the videos together.

Tension sealed the room, and the air crackled with electricity as I stared into her sea of blue eyes. My eyes journeyed from her heavy lids to her parted lips and down to the delicate bob of her throat as she swallowed.

Heat suddenly spread through me, and I could feel her breath mingling with mine as we drew closer. I don’t know who made the final move, but I found my lips pressed against hers. I let myself relish the feeling for a second before caution kicked in, and I was up on my feet and speeding to my room in a flash.