Page 17 of Tyrant

“Tomorrow?” he was saying.

“For what?”

“To get married.”

“That soon? I mean, I have a flight tomorrow evening …,” I hesitated. “Moreover, I’d need to prepare things.”

“I can provide all you need. Moreover, I wouldn’t want to have to murder someone who tries to prevent this marriage, specifically your ex.”

“Gary wouldn’t…”

“Wouldn’t he?” he countered. “Look, I know women want the fairytale stuff. We can do that later. The sooner we make this legal the better it is for both of us, especially me.”

“You’d like to do this before your father passes.”

He’d told me about his father earlier and I didn’t want him to miss that opportunity. From what he told me, he’d followed his father’s footsteps to take care of the business and neglected building his own family. I knew this wasn’t a normal marriage, so I didn’t have any fantasy about it. Linda wouldn’t mind not being here and there was no one else I’d like to be with me.

“I’m going home this weekend, and I would like you with me.”

“Okay, let’s do it,” I agreed. “But I’ll need to fly back to the US right after.”

“How soon after can you join me in Russia?”

That I wasn’t sure of. “We have a financial situation in the company that I’ll have to deal with.”

“I can help with that.”

“No, I’d like to deal with this on my own.”

I got the feeling that this might be the last time I did anything on my own, which wasn’t a bad thing. Doing things alone was what got me here in the first place. I guess I needed to assert my independence before I married Zakhar as I didn’t know what to expect. Or perhaps I feared the worse.

Why am I doing this? The question played over in my head. You’re doing this because it will be a great fit. Stop doubting this.

“If you need me, just call. You have my private numbers.”

“Will do.”

“Will a week suffice? I can delay my departure.”

“No,” I responded. “I’ll fly over in a few days.”

“That’s good,” he smiled again, making my heart flutter. “Oh, I have something for you. One of your wedding gifts.”

“One of my wedding gifts?”

Reaching into his briefcase he took out a rectangular gift wrapped in gold paper and pushed it across the table.

“What’s this?”

“Let me know if you like it. If not, I can have it replaced.”

Fumbling to open it, my hand shook as I tore off the wrapper revealing a black velvet box that was indicative of something containing jewelry. There was a logo on it that seemed familiar. I opened it and my breath caught. It was the most beautiful diamond necklace with a sapphire pendant.

“I can’t accept this!”

“You will wear it when we get married.”

I snapped the lid shut and pushed it over. “That is too much. I have jewelry I can wear tomorrow.”

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