Julia left the office an hour later, her cell phone turned off. She wasn’t sure where she intended to go, but she knew she couldn’t stay at work any longer. She started walking with no destination in mind and ended up at the Pike Place Market. People were bustling about and, not wanting to be in a crowd, she headed for the waterfront. Not the tourist areas, but much farther down where the large cruise vessels docked.
She walked for hours, trying to sort through her emotions, and eventually gave up. She was in too much pain to think clearly.
She didn’t cry. Not once. She figured this numbness was her body’s protective device.
It was well past dark and she’d wandered into an unsafe area of town. She finally realized she had to make her way home.
When she reached her building, the security man looked surprised to find her arriving so late. He greeted her warmly and held open the heavy glass door for her.
The elevator ride up to her apartment seemed to take forever, but it wasn’t long enough. Soon she’d face her husband.
She’d barely gotten her key into the lock when the door was wrenched open. Alek loomed above her like a bad dream.
Eleven
She saw the same signs in Alek that she’d seen in Roger. The indignation. The hurt, angry look that she could believe such a terrible thing of him. As if she were the betrayer. As if she were the guilty one.
Roger had turned the tables on her with such finesse she didn’t realize what was happening until too late. Julia studied her husband and if she didn’t know better would’ve believed with all her heart that he’d never betray her.
“Where have you been?” Alek demanded. “I’ve been worried sick.”
“I went for a walk.”
“For five hours?”
She moved past him. “I should’ve phoned. I’m sorry, but I needed to think.”
Alek followed her. “Why didn’t you come to me yourself? Instead you sent Jerry.” His voice revealed his pain. “I don’t deny talking to Roger Stanhope, but at least give me the chance to explain why.” “You can’t deny seeing him since we have the evidence,” she responded lifelessly. “You called him, too, from the lab. We know about that, as well.”
If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. “I called him because I wanted him to stay away from you. He wouldn’t listen. Our meeting at Henshaw’s was an accident, he was arriving just as I was leaving. He taunted me, said he could have you back anytime he wanted. He said other things, too, but I don’t care to repeat them. Ask the man you hired to take photographs what happened that day. Stanhope and I nearly got into a fistfight.”
Julia desperately wanted to believe that he was telling the truth about his motives. Her heart yearned to trust him. But this was like an old tape being played back again and the memories it brought to the surface were too compelling to ignore.
“That man Stanhope is slime. I won’t have him anywhere near you,” Alek said heatedly. “If you want to condemn me for protecting you, then you may. But I would rather rip out my own heart than hurt you.”
He was saying everything Julia longed to hear. She pressed her hands to her head, not knowing what to do. “I have to think.”
He nodded, seeming to accept that, but he was hurt and she felt his pain as strongly as her own. Rather than continue a discussion that would cause them both grief, she showered and dressed for bed.
Alek appeared in the doorway to the guest bedroom when she’d finished. “Anna left you some dinner.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You’re too thin already. Eat.”
“Alek, please, I’m exhausted.”
“Eat,” he insisted.
Julia’s appetite was gone. She’d thrown up her lunch and hadn’t eaten since. Unwilling to argue with him, she went into the kitchen, took the foil-covered dinner plate warming in the oven and sat down at the table.
His sister had cooked veal cutlets, small red potatoes and what looked like a purple cabbage stir-fry. Even after sitting in the oven for hours, the food was delicious. Julia intended to sample only a few bites to appease Alek and then dump the rest in the garbage disposal, but she ended up eating a respectable amount of food. When she’d finished, she rinsed off her plate and retired to the guest room. Alone.
In the morning, Julia woke to the sound of Anna and Alek talking in the kitchen. They were speaking in Russian and it was apparent that Anna was upset.
Donning her robe, Julia wandered in and poured herself a cup of coffee. Anna eyed her with open hostility.
“My brother would not do this thing,” she said forcefully.
“Anna,” Alek barked. “Enough.”
“He loves you. How can you think he would ever hurt you? He is a man of honor.”
“It isn’t as simple as it seems,” Julia said in her own defense. Anna didn’t understand, and she didn’t expect her to.
Alek said something sharp and cold in Russian, but that didn’t stop Anna from turning to Julia once more. “You do not know my brother. Otherwise you wouldn’t believe he could do this terrible thing.”
Alek reprimanded his sister harshly. Julia didn’t need to understand Russian to know what he was saying.
Anna responded by yanking the apron from her waist, throwing it on the kitchen counter and storming out of the apartment.
“I apologize for my sister’s behavior,” Alek said after she’d left. He was so formal, so stiff and proud. He hesitated, as if trying to find the words to express himself. “There is a meeting with the marketing people this afternoon. It is a very important discussion. I need to be there to answer questions. If you’d rather I wasn’t, I’ll see if someone can take my place.”
Julia felt incapable of making any decision, even a straightforward one like this.
“I suggest you attend it, too,” he said. “If you feel I am doing or saying anything that would hurt Conrad Industries, then you can stop me. I suggest Jerry be there, as well.”
“Alek, please try to understand how awkward this is.”