Love had never been on his bucket list, had never been a priority. Love was something his brother had found, Victoria’s brothers had found. Love wasn’t something for a man who enjoyed women as much as he did or who didn’t plan on marrying and settling down.
Yet here he was married to the most precious woman in his life. And, if he were being honest with himself, he’d admit that being married to Victoria was amazing. But they’d not really been married long and they’d been jet-setting back and forth. They hadn’t lived in a realistic wedded atmosphere—or as realistic as it could get with being thrown into the proverbial spotlight as royalty.
As he slid off his own shoes and stripped down to his boxers, he slid in beside her and held her against his chest.
How would he manage if she stayed? Could he give her the marriage she deserved? She’d been engaged before—she obviously believed in happily ever afters—so why had she settled knowing he couldn’t offer her a bond any deeper than their friendship and sex?
There were no easy answers, and Stefan had a sickening feeling he was going to hurt her before this was over.
* * *
Victoria had been working via phone and email with her staff back in L.A. Between a few mishaps on the set of her brothers’ film that her assistant had to take care of and a glitch in the Italian silk she’d ordered not arriving on time, Victoria was ready to pull her hair out.
Added to all of the work tension, she was worried for Stefan. His brother was showing remarkable progress, but Stefan was so dead set on staying at the hospital to give his sister-in-law breaks whenever she needed them. Like any loving, dedicated woman, Karina wasn’t leaving Mikos’s side. Victoria envied their love.
On a sigh, Victoria sent off another email to her assistant to remind her to check on the dates for the bridal expo she hoped to be ready for...if that blasted silk would arrive.
As she was looking at possible backup outlets for material, her cell rang. Grabbing it from the oversized white desk in her suite, she answered.
“Hello.”
“Tori,” Bronson said. “So glad I caught you.”
Her stomach sank. “There’s another problem with a piece of the wardrobe?”
His rich laughter resounded through the earpiece. “Not at all. Your assistant did an amazing job coming to our rescue the other day. She deserves a raise.”
And she was going to give her one, for all that poor girl would probably have to take on in Victoria’s absence.
“So if it’s not the wardrobe, what are you calling about?” she asked.
“I’ve been trying to reach Stefan, but it keeps going to voice mail. Are you with him by any chance?”
“No. And he keeps his phone off while he’s at the hospital.”
“How’s his brother doing?” Bronson asked.
Victoria sank back into her cushy chair and dug her toes into the plush white carpet. “The doctors are astonished at the progress Mikos is making only two weeks after a near-death experience.”
“That’s great. You guys must really feel relieved.”
“Stefan is still like a mother hen,” Victoria told him. “He spends his days and evenings there. I think he’ll feel better once Mikos is released and a nurse is with him at home.”
“I hate to bother him,” Bronson said, “but when he gets a chance could you have him call me?”
Victoria drew her brows together. “Something wrong?”
“Not at all,” he assured her. “I just wanted to discuss that documentary we are going to be working on.”
Victoria sat up straight. “Documentary?”
“Yeah, the one on his mother’s death? Anthony and I are thrilled he came to us and trusted us to take on such a project.”
Stefan went to her brothers for a film? And didn’t say anything to her? A sliver of betrayal and dèjà vu spread through her. Had she been used again for her family name?
“Anyway, just tell him no rush,” Bronson went on, no idea of the instant turmoil flooding through her. “He can call me when he gets a chance.”
Victoria hung up, laced her fingers together and settled her elbows on the desk. Her forehead rested against her hands and she refused to let her past relationship make her have doubts and fears about this one.
Stefan was not Alex. Alex had used her to gain an upper hand in Hollywood. To be part of the Danes, to be on camera whenever possible and to gain access to her famous brothers.
Alex had never loved her the way she had him—or thought she had—he’d only been with her to see how far he could get with his goal of becoming famous.