Only You

Chapter 46

Alexey

What the fuck.

What. The. Fuck.

I remain frozen in place long after Elora's car has zoomed off, too busy trying to wrap my head around what she told me to make myself go back inside. Husband. Husband? Elora has a husband?

That's impossible. There's no way in hell. I must've misheard her. Or perhaps she was speaking hypothetically. Or she was just too upset to know what she was saying. Those are the only possibilities my mind can come up with because the lovely young woman I dated for months having a husband is simply not possible. I mean, there's no ring on her finger and not so much as a whisper of a tan line where one would be if she were married.

The sudden pressure of a hand on my shoulder makes me flinch as I'm ripped out of my thoughts. I look over my shoulder to see my cousin's worried gaze. His grip on me tightens and he tips his head toward the house. "Let's go inside before you freeze to death," he says softly, his earlier anger gone at the sight of my distraught appearance.

It's then that I realize that I'm shivering since my dress shirt does little to keep the biting cold of the night breeze out. I nod and follow Cai back inside. He leads me to the couch and pushes me down onto it before settling at my side. After a minute of silence, he asks, "What happened?"

A bitter laugh escapes me. "I don't fucking know." The memory of Elora's hurt expression flashes behind my eyes and I sigh, my shoulders slumping. I could tell she was about to cry but she tried so hard not to let me see. It's like she decided I lost the privilege of seeing her upset and comforting her.

"You think she heard?" my cousin asks.

I snap at the sheer stupidity of that question. "No, I think she found the layout of the bathroom so horrifying she had to flee the house. Of course, she fucking heard."

"Shit," my cousin curses, melting into the couch cushions. I couldn't agree more with him. "Guess you two weren't on the same page about your relationship after all. I mean, technically, you just said she was your client, which is true." I know he is testing me but I disagree with him nonetheless.

"Don't even try to defend me here. She had every right to leave. I called her my main source of income, for god's sake. That's not something anyone wants to be called. Especially not from the person they've been," I hesitate, not meeting my cousin's eyes. "dating," I finish because that's what we were doing. We were dating. We were more than a business arrangement.

God, I'm an ass. And a coward for only just admitting it now that shit's blown up in my face.

"Ah, so you were dating," Cai drawls, really getting on my nerves now.

"Gloating asshole. Stop being annoying and tell me what to do." I sigh, realizing that I quite possibly just lost Elora for good hitting me. "I don't want it to end like this." I don't know how I ever thought it would end but not like this. Not with her mad at me, thinking she was nothing more than a client.

"Well, what did you tell her outside? Did you catch her before she left?" he asks. My stomach tightens at the reminder of our encounter outside her car. The way I pulled her back to me, hurting her in the process. I don't think I've injured a woman before in my life. I hate that Elora accidentally turned into the first- and only.

"Yes. I don't even remember what I told her. I guess I said I wanted to talk shit out but she didn't want that. She snapped at me, something about our agreement being over because she was ready for her husband? Dude, I have no idea what that was all about."

"Husband?" my cousin damn near screeches. "You're telling me she's married?"

"No," I reply automatically. "I mean, there's no way. She's too sweet to cheat on someone or keep something like that from me."

Cai doesn't look convinced. "What if it wasn't cheating? She originally met you to get over her triggers, right? What if that was a plan she came up with with her husband?" he sounds almost scared to voice his thoughts.

I shake my head, the idea settling in my stomach like a bag of rocks. "No way."

My cousin shoots me an apologetic look before opening the laptop on the table next to the couch. He logs in and asks, "What's her full name?" without looking at me. Self-preservation makes me want to not reply, scared of what truth his research might reveal. I'm a coward, after all.

Despite that, my curiosity overshadows those tendencies. "Makis. Elora Makis." Cai types that in and presses enter while I peek over his shoulder. Our internet chooses now to suck completely and lets us wait in suspense for what feels like forever. By the time the entries pop up one by one, my nerves are eating at my chest.

The first results are links to her social medias and the shops for her photographs. Next is the link to a website featuring her last name only. Cai takes a brief look at her Instagram account. Something heavy drops from my chest when no man is mentioned on the page, much less anything about a wedding.

When my cousin goes to the website, it quickly becomes clear that it belongs to her family rather than hers. I read the introduction and the information about the Makis family. Her father is a merchant of Greek goods. One of the biggest out there, it says. There's a lot of information about his business and some family pictures.

I never did a background check on Elora. I knew her family had to have money to live in a place like Presidio Heights but what exactly her parents did never came up in a conversation.

At the bottom of the page, Cai reads something that makes him stiffen. I refocus on the screen to see a picture of the Makis family again, all three sisters and their parents plus another man. He's smiling brightly, standing between Elora and her father as he shakes the old man's hands. The other women are all lined up on the other side of the father. Below the picture is an engagement announcement.

I blink at the screen, my heart dropping painfully. No, I think. That's not possible. But I know my eyes are showing me proof in black and white.

We're happy to announce the engagement of Elora Makis and Leander Galanis, and the collaboration of Makis' Goods and Galanis Business.

The article goes on about how the wedding will take place in Greece in August. I don't keep reading, just stare dumbly at the blurring words. "Thanks for being so good at your job and teaching me everything I need to know to please him." Those were Elora's words. So that's what this was about all along? Every time she was with me she was thinking about another man? Jesus Christ.

I check the date below the picture. It was posted on the day Elora first canceled one of our dates. Before the date on which she wanted to learn how to please me. It was never about me, was it?

"What the fuck is this?" Cai exclaims, redirecting my thoughts.

"What?" I ask.

"They're using her to expand the business. Where are we, the nineteenth century? Fucking hell," my cousin mutters and I feel my brows pinch in the middle.

"What are you talking about?" I take another look at the picture, trying to see what Cai does. To me, everything looks normal.

"Dude, they're announcing the engagement right before the collaboration of the two businesses. Not just that but look at her face. That doesn't look like a woman in love. There's like a foot worth of space between her and her fiancé." I wince.

"Don't call him that." My whole being protests about hearing that word and Elora in the same sentence. I focus on what else he said and it finally clicks. He's right. Elora doesn't look like a newly-engaged woman. Her smile is stiff and forced. She looks nothing like the woman I got to meet every third night.

Acid sours my stomach. Is she being forced into this? I know there are still arranged marriages in some places but I didn't know Greece was one of them. Then again, Elora told me her family was traditional. Her sudden hurry to get over her triggers and be able to be intimate with someone makes sense. Hell, she wanted to be ready for her husband.

I feel sick.

"Maybe we're wrong," I force myself to say, unable to handle the small flicker of hope in my chest. I don't want it. Not after how she accentuated my job in that voice. Not after she deceived me for so long.

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Heading towards the end, my people. Please remember that a vote is always appreciated<3