Seth

My eyes widened in surprise when I saw Katya with my jacket over her mouth. She had a distant look in her eyes, but when she rubbed my jacket on her cheek, I noticed that her face was flushed and pink. My girl was horny, and that instantly made my cock jerk. Our last time had been a quickie in the shower.

No. No more quickies. I wanted hours, days of fucking my wife. We had been wild on our honeymoon. I gulped, thinking of how hard she would cum when I fucked her from behind with my fingers wrapped around her throat.

My desire took a sharp downward turn as I felt my coffee surge up my oesophagus at the thought of another man in my place. The thought brought tears to my eyes, and I began to blink rapidly. She would be forever lost to me if she loved someone else—someone who would feed and tend to her soul with love, someone who wouldn't neglect her.

I would murder him and take his place, slice him up from his neck to his belly. Crack his ribs open and pull all his organs and intestines out. I would dance with the intestines dangling from my fingers before I fed them back into his stupid, dead bastard face. I woul—

“, are you okay?” an angelic soft voice pierced my gruesome thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m all done,” I said as I forced myself to smile to alleviate her concern.

“What would you like to eat, baby?” I asked as I stood up and closed the gap between us.

I looked into her deep blue eyes, which were darkened with desire, and silently vowed never to let her go. There would be no divorce. I would do whatever it took to prevent it from happening. She had five days with Eliza, and it was time to rein her in.

Stabbing a tyre was only the beginning because I was willing to use every dirty trick in the book to get my wife back home where she belonged.

∞∞∞

I took her to her favourite Persian restaurant and realised how long it had been since we were there. Once we got through the small talk and niceties. I reached out to hold her hand.

“Katya, I can never imagine loving another woman the way I love you. I’ve done nothing but dwell on how badly I let you down. I deeply regret putting my needs before yours. I’m sorry for hurting you to the degree that pushed you to consider that divorce was our only option,” I said, pausing to see if she would talk to me, but her eyes shone with tears, and she tried to pull her hand away.

I gripped it and pulled it to my lips, gently dropping small kisses over her knuckles. Her ring would be back on her finger soon. I still didn’t like the bare fingers.

“Who bought the jewellery for our anniversary?” she asked with a sniff.

“Gloria did, but I swear to you that won’t happen again,” I stressed.

“You could have bought me cheap chocolates, and I would have been happy knowing that you made an effort to pick them out—that you cared enough about our marriage for it to mean something to you,” she said as she tugged her hand away from me.

She pushed her plate away and looked away from my eyes to the table.

“I don’t think you love me anymore, and I won’t remain in a loveless marriage. This isn’t about a few weeks or months. You ’ ve been on autopilot in our marriage for a long time,” she said, but she still didn’t raise her head.

I frowned as I considered her words. With every part of my life broken down on my whiteboard, the personal, social, and family sections had been almost non-existent. My company had grown and flourished while my marriage had withered away.

“I’ve made changes, Katya. Saul will shoulder more responsibility, and we are creating more senior-level management roles. I won't be absent from our marriage and only want to have children with you. I love you, baby,” I said, determined not to let my past actions crucify my future.

Her head finally lifted, but she eyed me with suspicion.

“Really?” she asked with scepticism.

“Please, can you put the divorce on pause? We can take things as slow as you want,” I lied because I was going to impregnate her. The thought had been whirling around in my brain for days. “I think you should move back home, and I will move out.”

She looked pained and glanced out of the window behind me.

“I can't. It’s too painful,” she whispered, and I couldn't take my eyes off her.

I took my wife’s love for granted, and it was something that I would never do again because I never wanted to see her in pain again.

“What if I bought an apartment for you and Eliza? She can pay the same rent. No matter where you are, I want you to be comfortable. I can make sure it has parking for two cars,” I said as her gaze returned to mine.

She needed her friend, and London was a nightmare for a property with secure parking. The less stressed she was, the more open she would be to see me again.

“All I want is for you to be happy, Katya. I need to make amends,” I said with a heavy sigh.

There was silence before she nodded.

“Okay, we can take things slowly,” she murmured.

I instantly beamed at her, and the fear that gripped my heart decreased.

“You won't regret this,” I vowed.

∞∞∞

I finally had all the missing parts for my wife’s needs on the whiteboard. Merging our mind maps was the easiest part because our long-term goals remained unchanged. I knew Eliza ’ s brother was due in town, and I needed to move fast. I picked up the phone and called the one person more desperate for us to have children than us.

“Mum, I fucked up and I need your help. Your grandchildren are depending on you,” I said.

“What do you need, son?” she said with a maniacal cackle. I was sure I heard her crack her fingers, but I couldn't be sure.

Within two days, my mum sourced an apartment in central London with a security concierge service and parking. It was purchased on the third day after our conversation, and she did it all without reprimanding me.

She left that to my Dad .