“Good afternoon, Mrs. Gazis. My name is Helen, and I’ve been asked to work as your secretary.”

And just like that, she had her first employee, Pollyanna thought, more than a little overwhelmed. But conscious of the flicker of worry in the younger woman’s eyes, she managed a smile and offered her hand, saying, “I’m glad to meet you, Helen, and please call me Polly.”

Helen’s smile was relieved. “Ms. Polly it is then,” she said cheerfully, shaking Polly’s hand. Releasing it, she gestured towards the building in front of them. “If I may start the tour, Ms. Polly?”

She nodded.

And the tour began.

Their first stop was at the penthouse of the recently renovated Gazis hotel, which was where her corner office would be located. “While your firm is not part of Gazis Inc., it is an affiliate and having an office here shall serve as an essential assurance of your firm’s ties with your husband’s business. This office is an ideal place to meet with future and existing suppliers and companies that you plan to work with.”

Heading back to the resort, Helen continued, “Your second office, Ms. Polly, is located at the resort’s lobby. It will serve as a storefront of sorts for your company, and it is ideal for meeting with walk-in clients. While you have full discretion on how to conduct your company, a supervisor will also be assigned to us, and his main task is to ensure that our work is up to the standards for any Gazis affiliate. You have also been granted full authority and access over the resort’s staff and resources, but the company shall be expected to pay a fixed amount every month for leasing the space.”

Helen paused, and her voice was uncertain when she asked, “Do you have any questions, Ms. Polly?”

She shook her head faintly. “None at all.” Maybe another woman would have questioned the conditions that Kyr had set, but for Pollyanna, they were uncannily…perfect.

For her children’s sake, she had swallowed her pride and accepted Kyr’s offer of help. But there was also such a thing as too much, and she knew that she wouldn’t have been able to bear it if her company’s success had been spoon-fed to her.

In truth, she had expected and feared that, but instead Kyr seemed to have known exactly what she needed. He had taken a step back on the aspects that she needed to figure out on her own, but he had also interceded on the aspects she knew she would need help with.

It was almost perfect.

It would have been perfect, she thought numbly, if this had happened years ago.

But now, it felt like a little too late.

When she got home, it was already nine in the evening, and all her children were out for the count. Even so, she went to each of their rooms, pressing soft kisses to their foreheads. The twins looked tired but happy, and she smiled ruefully, remembering how they had pleaded with her and Kyr to be allowed to meet with their friends after their poolside lunch.

Going back to her room, she took a quick shower and changed into her pajamas. As she stepped out of the bath, the main door of the master’s bedroom opened, and Kyr walked in.

She stilled.

Kyr slowly closed the door behind him.

Breathe, Polly. Breathe. But she had to tear her gaze away from her husband in order to do so.

“Have you been home for long?”

“No.” She forced her limbs to move, careful not to meet his eyes as she took a seat in front of the vanity. She had promised herself that while they were living under one roof, she wouldn’t let her children see their parents sleeping in separate rooms.

But could she really do that, she wondered uneasily.

Because right now, if she had to make that promise again, she didn’t think she could do it. Right now, it just felt too…soon. It felt…too wrong. And, more than anything else, being this close to him…hurt.

Her heart started to ache, and fumbling for her comb, she quickly ran it through her still-wet locks, wanting to distract herself.

Behind her, she heard Kyr begin to move, and even without looking, she knew exactly what he was doing.

He would be taking off his blazer, then his necktie, followed by his cuffs. He would sit on the armchair by the window to take off his socks and his---

Does the other woman know him as well as you know him, a voice suddenly taunted her, and just like that her chest felt close to exploding, and Pollyanna dragged the comb through her hair harder and faster, desperate to distract herself.

Behind her, she heard Kyr say her name, and she jerked in her seat. “W-what is it?”

“School’s about to start and with the twins enrolled in Athens…”

Pollyanna bit her lip hard as she waited for her husband’s next words.

“I want to be with you.” The fierceness of his gaze burned her back as he spoke the words. “I want to be with you and the children…but I will also understand if you can’t face the prospect of living together right away.”

She sensed rather than saw him stand, and when she heard his footsteps, she couldn’t help but tense. When he finally came to stand behind Pollyanna, she was torn between wanting to cry and wanting to show him that she was strong.

But was she?

A shadow fell over her, and she blinked, only to realize that it was Kyr bending down to place something on the vanity.

When he straightened, she saw a pair of keys.

“Leave one of these keys if you think…if you think you could let me stay with you and the children there. But if not…” She heard Kyr expel his breath as if he, too, was having difficulties breathing. “I’ll be staying on the yacht.”

* * *

Kyr closed his eyes as hot water from the showerhead cascaded down on him.

Theo.

It had taken everything in him a while ago not to wait for Pollyanna to answer. Every cell in his body had been desperate for him to beg, but somehow he had managed to control himself. Begging was a luxury he hadn’t yet earned, and this time around, he was determined to treat his wife the way she deserved. This time, he had to give her a shot at making her own decisions.

Even if it meant risking having her decide to leave him for good.

When he finally switched the shower off, over an hour had passed, more than enough time for his wife to make that choice. Emerging from the bath, he found the rest of the bedroom plunged in darkness, but even so, he had no problems seeing that his wife had made her decision.

There were no keys on the table.

Ah.

For one long moment, he simply stood there, staring bleakly at the empty vanity before him.

Finally, he forced himself to move, and when he lowered himself to his side of the bed, he sensed more than saw that she was awake. She was facing the other side, her back stiff, her breathing too even.

He stared at her back, knowing that she was just within reach. So why, damn it, why did she feel too damn far from him?

Desperation clogged his throat, and he wanted to say a thousand things to her, wanted to say sorry for a thousand more things.

But in the end, Kyr knew that the only right thing to do was to respect her decision.

And so slowly, he turned towards the opposite direction.

They lay in the bed, not facing each other, and it was the first time in their eight years of marriage that they had done so.

It was an endlessly long night, and he lay awake, trying to memorize the feel of his wife, knowing that it might be the last time he could have her this close again.

I love you, psaraki.

I love you.

I love you.

But Kyr knew he might have hurt her too much for Pollyanna to hear him.