Chapter 22 - Benedikt

It didn’t take me long to realize just how pleasurable it was to be able to see that unfettered happiness as it surrounded Gemma.

There was something about being able to offer her the chance to build something with her own hands and to put her mind to it. It was more fulfilling than even pursuing my own ambitions, and I knew it was an absolute privilege to be a part of her new endeavor.

I was glad that Gemma didn’t have to worry about her boss or the internship, and instead of busting her ass just for the mere chance at landing her dream career, she was able to work towards her success from the jump and decide every direction she wanted to take.

At every opportunity she had, Gemma was busy doing research and diving into every aspect of running a publication. Even if it could be overwhelming and certainly took a lot of care and determination, she never showed signs of stopping.

Watching as that fresh-eyed courage and inspiration returned to her was all the confirmation I needed to know I made the right choice in suggesting she skip the middleman and chase after exactly what she wanted. Even if I had to throw in some time to take care of the gritty details, especially when it came to the finances and resources, I didn’t mind. Seeing that passion return to her was all the reward I needed.

Regardless of the hurdles we would have to tackle, I was glad to see just how engrossed in the research and planning she was. She was committed and dedicated, and I did not doubt that she would blow it out of the water.

She was busy and didn’t have time to dwell on losing out on the internship or the fact that aside from me and my family, she didn’t have much. So long as she wanted to pursue the publication, I was more than willing to do whatever it took to mend every issue I caused for her.

While my home life had become a hopeful, reliable place for me and Gemma, it didn’t mean that progression was also happening at work. Instead, that had become one big open-ended question.

We were playing the waiting game with the Ivanov twins while we gathered more intel and tried to get a better grasp on what we were up against. During their moments of quiet, when we received nothing but radio silence on their operations, we were left to both question and try to anticipate their next move.

While we could’ve tried to arrange our manpower appropriately and storm in to cut them down, Ari wanted to handle it with more poise.

The Ivanovs had been a more neutral party before, and while they weren’t friend or foe at the time, they had been somewhat useful to us at one point. If it weren’t for them stepping on toes and causing problems with their ambition, we never would’ve injected ourselves into the situation.

Things would’ve been perfectly fine, but that was the problem with greed.

They couldn’t help themselves. The twins wanted more and more, and they were willing to put themselves up against us just to get it.

As lenient as we had been with them in the beginning, there was only so much bending we could do before that patience would inevitably snap.

Of course, I didn’t help matters by using Gemma’s article to paint a target on their backs and force them into hiding, but I couldn’t change what happened. I could only move forward and do everything in my power to guide us to the other side.

Finding myself in a conference with Luk and Kir while we waited for Ari to arrive so we could start our meeting, my mind lingered on Gemma, as it seemed to more and more with every passing day.

I couldn’t help but consider not only her ambition but also her tenacity in putting the new business venture together. Even if she had her internship to extract experience from, there was still a lot she needed to learn, and regardless of how monstrous of a feat that was, she was still prepared to shoulder that work.

With that fresh in my head still, realizing I hadn’t said anything about it to my brothers yet, I glanced between them.

“What do you think about publications as a business model?”

Lukyan and Kir both looked at me like I had too many heads before glancing at each other.

Luk shrugged and fiddled with the phone in his hand absently. “I can’t say I’ve put much thought into that before.”

“What I do know is we’ve been dodging reporters and bad press since day one. Why?” Kir questioned somewhat skeptically before he reached for his coffee and leaned back in his seat.

“Gemma was let go from her internship the other day because of me, so I suggested she start an outlet of her own. She’s been working hard on gathering the necessary information, but I wanted to run the idea by you guys,” I explained, trying to maintain a casual air about me as if her pursuing her dreams wasn’t consuming my thoughts. “I’d be backing her, of course, but the family has never dabbled in that sector before.”

They both looked surprised at first, as if wondering what happened to the Benedikt they had known their whole lives. I could see it written on their faces, and I didn’t blame them for it.

It wasn’t every day that I was volunteering my time and money for someone else’s dream. It was even rarer for me to take an interest in the first place.

As usual, Lukyan couldn’t hold back his smirk as he absently tapped his fingers against his armrest. “Color me impressed, Ben. You must really care about that wife of yours to take on that kind of endeavor.”

Kir snickered, clearly agreeing with the teasing sentiment. “It seems our tragically independent brother is turning soft after all. I didn’t think it was possible, but I guess I was wrong.”

Letting go of an unimpressed breath, I waved them off as usual and tried to keep the conversation on track. While I was dismissive of them, I knew they were right. I did care about Gemma, and ever since we were legally married, I had changed in ways I never expected to.

Whether or not that made me soft, I didn’t care. So long as I was physically able to make her happy, that remained my goal.

She had been through enough in her life, and seeing as I had caused some of that more recent trauma, it was the least I could do to try and make amends.

I wanted her to know that there was more to life than struggle. That while married to me, she had a world of opportunity ahead of her, and so long as she wanted it, I would do my best to give it to her.

That was a foreign concept to me, but the more time we spent together and the more natural things seemed to become between us, the easier it became to swallow. The new business venture was exactly what Gemma needed, and regardless of how different my willingness to help made me seem, I wouldn’t stop until I helped her bring it to fruition.

“This whole ‘being a husband’ thing has some kick to it. You two should try it sometime,” I suggested in an attempt to return the jokes they so easily flung around.

Lukyan only chuckled while Kir scoffed and mumbled, “Yeah, right. You enjoy that all you like. You won’t catch me fussing over trying to make some woman happy.”

My brows went up at that, and I snorted. “Damn, Kir. I knew you were non-committal, but I didn’t think you felt that strongly about it.”

Luk pulled a knowing smirk. “He’s feeling particularly sensitive these days. His most recent plaything dropped him for a designer’s son or something.”

More surprise entered my features at that. It was the first I had heard anything about him entertaining someone behind the scenes. “What the hell did you do to manage that?”

Kir scowled and shook his head, clearly not amused. “This conversation is over.”

He may have avoided relationships like the plague, but it seemed whoever this woman was, she left her mark, and he wasn’t too happy about it. Obviously, he was in deeper than he thought, and it didn’t end well.

“See? Touchy.”

I did everything in my power to not laugh out loud, especially as Kir grumbled to himself thanks to Lukyan’s usual pestering. I didn’t need to make matters worse.

Luckily, before Kir could throw himself across the table at Luk in retaliation, the conference room door opened, and Ari pushed his way inside with a coffee in hand.

Despite how tense matters had been with everything unfolding recently, our eldest brother still managed to come back to work looking mostly refreshed and prepared to shoulder it all for the sake of the business. I had no doubt it was because of his family.

Before, I couldn’t understand how or why that was the case. I didn’t know the very real effects and healing qualities that came with having a significant other until I experienced it for myself. I had been completely clueless about how effective of a balm it was to give and receive affection regularly before Gemma.

But thanks to her, I could finally grasp what it meant to find a home in someone else. To not only show up for them in every way but to desire being able to offer them the entire world.

I had never been a sappy man before, but she changed me, and I was okay with that.

As Ari approached the table and did a quick scan over each of us, Lukyan concealed his knowing smirk as best as he could, and Kir chose to bury whatever difficult emotions he was dealing with for the time being. Even if he suspected something had been up, he apparently didn’t care to ask. I didn’t blame him.

A part of me was tempted to bring it up and tease the life out of Kir, as was the norm for us, but I decided against it. I was already on thin ice with Ari, and I didn’t want to keep the antics up. It wasn’t risk raising that delicate tension even more.

“Alright,” Ari began as he took his seat and reached for one of the folios of printouts that sat in front of him. “The meeting has officially begun.”

“What’s today’s business?” Luk asked casually as he leaned back in his seat, smug and nonchalant like usual.

“Since it has been on everyone’s mind recently, yet we haven’t been able to make any solid strides in bringing it all to a close, we’re diving into the Ivanov situation,” he began, pulling out various papers with crucial information on both of them, as well as the details we had on their operations. “We’ll go over what we have on them so far and go from there. Regardless, we will be getting to the bottom of this before it reaches a point of no return. So buckle in.”

I felt the slightest sting from his words, aware that despite my constant deliberation with myself over the matter, I still hadn’t come up with a way to amend the situation. At least, I hadn’t voiced my ideas yet.

Deciding it was as good of a time as any, I cleared my throat. “After we touch on all the details, I think I have the beginnings of a plan that might help us get back at them for good.”

While he had been somewhat on the fence about trusting me recently, there was no missing the obvious intrigue in Ari’s features. He cocked a brow at that. “Good. We’ll hear it after, but for now, let’s get started.”

Strapping in and feeling the desire to help sort the matter out, I reminded myself that despite how I had been pulling my weight, I had a job to do, and I was determined to see it through for both my family and for my wife.