News had wings, as the popular proverb went, but it often came last to those who were involved. Not so for Kyrillos Gazis. He had known from the first day about Adrian Pachis’ advances towards his wife, had known when the gossip mills started to spread malicious rumors about his wife and her ardent admirer.

He knew when everyone had started laughing at him behind his back, knew everyone thought that his wife was openly cuckolding him with a younger, shallow party boy. But Kyr forced himself to let it be, knowing better than most why it was happening.

The world didn’t know he was the one who had betrayed her first, didn’t know that it was only for their children’s sake that his Pollyanna had kept her pain to herself.

All the same, Kyr knew that it was only a matter of time before their paths crossed, and this came sooner than later. Following his meeting with a Russian investor, Kyr had left the hotel and gone out for a walk, something he tended to do when he felt too unsettled.

And that was when he saw them.

It was the familiar sound of laughter that had made him stop dead in his tracks, and when Kyr had turned towards the sound, everything inside him turned cold at the sight of his wife laughing at something another man was saying.

She and the boy were having dinner with a large group of friends, but they were acting like they had a world of their own, with the way their heads were bent close together. Although they weren’t touching at all, the air of intimacy about them was unmistakable, and Kyr’s jaw clenched at the way the two looked good together.

Both of them were the same age, both of them seemingly fun-loving. The boy’s dark good looks were perfectly complemented by his wife’s strawberry blonde beauty, and even their outfits were a cute match, with the boy wearing jeans while she had on a cute flare skirt.

When Pollyanna raised her cup of coffee to her lips, that was when she saw him standing outside the cafe, and a stricken look fell over her face. He only had to look at her to know it had just occurred to his wife how bad things looked now – and from the very start. It would have made him laugh if things didn’t feel so hopeless.

You’re married to me!

And you’re here, out with another boy!

Of course it would look bad!

But her innocence, no matter how much it frustrated him, was also what had attracted Kyr to her, and he knew he would never want her to change.

So he forced himself to move first, entering the coffee and heading towards where his wife was seated, stiff and pale-faced. People started to gape and whisper when they realized who he was and what was happening, but Kyr ignored this. Bits of conversation from his wife’s table reached him, and Kyr’s jaw clenched when he realized he had no fucking idea what they were talking about. Snap chat? What the hell was that? What if he just slapped the fuck out of the boy and have everyone chatting about it? Would that make sense?

By the time he reached his wife, everyone had become fidgety and silent. But he ignored this, too, his only intention to make sure that his wife didn’t suffer in any way. He could sense the crowd’s eagerness, their bloodthirsty need to see him shame his wife for her alleged act of adultery, and his face hardened.

Idiots.

Fucking idiots.

Didn’t they know he loved his wife to the point of madness?

He would rather kill himself than see her hurt in any way.

Bending down, he brushed his lips against one icy cold cheek and felt his wife jerk at the contact. “Sorry I had to miss you earlier.” It was a lie, but no one had to know that. The point was to help his wife save face, and just that.

The boy beside her had come to his feet, and Kyr was satisfied to see that he barely reached Kyr’s shoulder. He offered his hand, saying, “We finally meet, Mr. Pachis. My wife has told me a lot about you.”

The boy’s lips curled in a smirk. “I hope it’s been all good things, because I’ve been the sweetest with her.”

He saw Pollyanna wince and had an intense urge to knock the smirk off the boy’s lips with his fist. Couldn’t this brat see he was just making things more embarrassing and awkward for his wife?

Baring his teeth in a smile, he said silkily, “Let’s just say that she’s been completely honest with me, and I’ve been understandably amused.” Unspoken but heard was the implication that someone like Kyrillos Gazis could never take someone like Adrian Pachis seriously.

It made perfect sense, and the boy’s cheeks flushed with humiliation as the tables were turned and the crowd in the café started to snicker because of him.

Kyr raised a hand, and a smart waiter correctly interpreted it as a need for an extra chair. His efforts were immediately rewarded with a hundred-euro note. Taking a seat next to his wife, he waved a hand languidly, his smile as charming as his tone as he said, “Please don’t mind me. I’d just like to keep my wife company while I’m free from work.” He gave them another brief smile before directing his attention to his phone, and after a moment, the conversation picked up again. Pollyanna was silent beside him while, after a few moments of sulking, Adrian rejoined the conversation as well.

Without being obvious about it, he tried listening in but was unable to understand a thing about what they were saying. He didn’t think he was particularly stupid, but he was beginning to appreciate that there was a serious gap between his generation and Pollyanna’s.

The realization had Kyr’s jaw clenching. If he had to go through the ignominy of a fucking love triangle, couldn’t it be between two men and a woman? Did it have to be two kids and a dirty old man? The young people around him made Kyr feel so damn old, and it made him question himself and his relationship with Pollyanna.

When everyone finally stood and said their goodbyes to each other, Kyr didn’t give the boy a chance to ask Pollyanna about taking her home. He simply nodded at the group in general, curled an arm around his wife’s waist, and whisked her into his waiting limousine. And when they were inside, he didn’t waste a moment’s time, asking abruptly, “Do you find him easier to talk to…compared to me?”

While there had been various instances that Kyr had expressed his jealousy and possessiveness in their marriage, he had never once expressed any kind of insecurity.

Like now.

And she didn’t know what to do about it.

Finally, she chose her words carefully, saying, “I’ve never been nervous when talking to him.” And it was true, but it wasn’t necessarily better. Because the thing was, while Adrian could make her feel so unbelievably seductive, he had never made her heart skip a beat the way her husband had, from the very first day.

Kyr’s face was wiped clean of expression at her answer. “I see.” And he did. He saw that Adrian could provide his wife a shoulder to cry on, and who knew where it could go from there?

They didn’t talk for the rest of the ride, not even when she told him not to bother walking to her door. He still did, and only then did he speak, telling her good night in a quiet but unreadable voice.

It made her feel guilty, and she hated him for it. But even so, she couldn’t stop herself from sending him a text message.

Pollyanna: Thank you.

Because now she knew that he had been aware from the very start of what was happening, and she knew that he had done what he could to keep everyone from thinking and treating her like she was a two-timing slut. But most of all, she knew now that Adrian Pachis had been a phase. Maybe it was something she had to go through, but she also knew now that part of her life – that aspect of her personality – was over.

She had, unconsciously, wanted to make him pay by cheating on him, but she hadn’t been able to do it. Her lips twisted at the thought. More specifically, she hadn’t been able to do what he had done to her.

And wasn’t that the most pathetic thing in the world?

Her phone buzzed.

Kyr: There is nothing to be thankful for.

Kyr: I love you, psaraki.

Pollyanna: Stop saying that, PLEASE. It won’t change the fact that our marriage was a lie.

Kyr: I did think it was a lie, but I was wrong. I know that now.

Kyr: Because I love you.

Kyr: And I will never tire of saying that.

Pollyanna deleted all his messages.

Why couldn’t she forget him?

Why couldn’t she stop loving him?

Why?