Cara was an amazing businesswoman, but she sometimes didn’t see patterns. There was something here, I could see it.

Closing the file, I placed it to one side, handled a few emails, checked over some inventory. Called men to arrange meetings with, and handled my district one. Sergei regularly checked in with me about my wife’s whereabouts, and today wasn’t any different. He texted me that she was still inside the apartment.

What was different this time was she’d taken a quick detour to the gym, followed by the pool.

She normally sat and read.

My wife’s calendar was always empty.

Sitting back, I stared at the text message.

Aurora was hurting.

Her family hadn’t been in touch. Everyone she’d ever known had left her behind as if they didn’t care about her.

I didn’t understand her pain.

My family was dead to me.

Ivan’s words about children came back to me.

Getting to my feet, I texted Sergei to let him know I was heading home.

Everyone moved out of my path as I made my way to the car. I climbed inside the back and handled some more business as I was driven to my apartment. I didn’t give Sergei any instructions.

After arriving, I climbed out of the car, took the elevator, and entered my apartment, dismissing Sergei with a single look.

Aurora was nowhere to be seen.

I checked the kitchen, living room, dining room, and then opted for the spare bedroom I’d turned into a library for her.

She sat in a chair, reading a book. Exactly how I found her more often than not. This time though, she wore large clothes. They completely covered her body. Her glasses were perched on her nose, and she did look incredibly cute.

I entered the library.

“Hi,” she said.

I stayed silent, glancing around at the bookshelves. When I’d married, I’d been determined to ignore this woman, but each day, I found her invading my thoughts. It was very fucking annoying.

“You like to read?”

“Yes.”

It was a dumb question. Anyone could see she loved to read.

Spinning around, I found she now stood, looking at me. Her hands held the book close to her as if it was a protective shield. It wouldn’t ward me off.

“We have a duty to produce a baby,” I said.

“Oh.” She nibbled on her lip. “I didn’t think there was a rush.”

There wasn’t, but the truth was I wasn’t used to going without fucking and so far, I hadn’t been with any other woman. Again, it was fucking beyond me why I hadn’t. We had willing women at our fingertips, and it would be so easy to find a woman.

“Get in the bedroom. Get naked.”

I wasn’t a good man. I didn’t know how to have a wife, or to be nice to a woman.

She was the enemy.

Aurora left the library.

I didn’t trust her. For all I knew, she could be running off and telling her dad all of our secrets. The moment I had the thought, I quickly squashed it. There was no way it would happen. All her actions were monitored. There was no way she’d be able to do it without us noticing.