Cyrus - The Wife
Cyrus
This little shit.
The words sit hot on my tongue. I’m ready to snap, but before I can say a word, my father raises his hand with final authority that silences rooms.
“Okay, that’s it,” he says flatly. Then he turns to look at Scuderi, his consigliere and my father-in-law. “Scuderi, why don’t you go and prepare all the things we’ll need. And before we leave, we can meet. You’ll debrief me on the candidates we have for Alex Volkov.”
Scuderi nods, gives me a slight glance, and then exits the room without a word.
Cullen narrows his eyes at me... cocky little bastard, before following Scuderi out and closing the door behind him.
I inhale sharply, realizing just then that I’ve been holding my breath. When I open my eyes, my father is staring at me.
“What?” I snap in frustration.
He lifts a single brow, calm and unreadable. Then it hits me, who I’m snapping at. I swallow and pull myself together.
“Sorry,” I say quickly.
He doesn’t respond. Just shakes his head slowly. Then, like he’s stating something obvious, he asks, “Why do you let him get to you like that?”
I tense. “What do you mean?”
But I know exactly who he means. Cullen. I just want him to say it so I can pretend I didn’t know.
“Cullen,” my father says, gesturing with his hand like he’s explaining something elementary. “Why do you even let him get under your skin? You do know he can’t have Bella. He knows he can’t have Bella. You’re her husband. You have a family together.”
“I think he knows that,” he adds, eyeing me. “And I think he knows how much it eats you up. That’s why he keeps bringing their relationship up.”
“There is no relationship between him and Bella,” I bite out. “They used to be friends. He acted like an idiot. Bella saw through it. She ended it. There’s nothing between them.”
My father gives a mockingly thoughtful nod. “Yes, of course. How could I forget.”
I clench my jaw. “Us moving down the street really doesn’t help. He’s in my house nearly every damn second of the day. And when he’s not there, Bella’s always here.”
"And what's your point?" my dad asks, calm and firm.
"We shouldn’t have moved here," I say, trying to keep my voice steady. "It’s not helping Cullen get over her. You and I both know Cullen is madly in love with Bella. He’s not moving on. He’s not planning to move on. For all we know, he’s waiting for his chance..."
My father lets out a laugh, “And you’re worried Bella will want him? What... that she'll cheat on you?”
"That’s not the point," I grit out. "We should never have moved here."
“You moved here because we don’t trust you.” His voice cuts sharper now, more real. “That girl is beautiful. She’s amazing. She is the prime jewel. You took her and we trusted you. And what did you do? The fucking Russians had to save her from you."
I feel my face flush. That truth still burns.
"So unless you have another point,” he says, standing firm, “you’re going to stay in that house until the day I die.”
“It’s not about the house,” I bite back. “Whenever I go home, I can’t even find my wife there. She’s either here, or at her parents’ place. She’s never home. And when she is home, it’s always my mom, her mom, her dad, and not to mention Cyrus.... I should probably hire him as Bella’s damn bodyguard at this point.”
My father doesn’t say anything for a moment. He just stares at me, and then says, “You’re not acting like the future Don right now.”
I swallow hard. That one hits deep.
“I’m trying,” I whisper. “In fact… maybe this marriage thing is good for him. He’ll have his own life. He’ll fall in love with his wife. Maybe then he can finally stop hanging around my wife.”
My father just kept looking at me for a long moment before he finally spoke.
“I don’t know where I went wrong with you.”
“Me? What about Cullen?”
He let out a tired sigh.
I stood up. “Can I see the pictures you got of his wife? I want to take one to him. Maybe if he sees how beautiful she is, he’ll actually start learning how to start liking her before the wedding.”
“Don’t you already have a picture?” my father asked.
I gave him a dry look. “Why the hell would I have one?”
“You were supposed to marry her for years before Cullen just decided three years ago that he was going to.”
I gave him a tight-lipped smile.
Without another word, he opened his drawer, pulled out a picture, and handed it to me.
I smiled, took the photo, and left his office.
As I made my way down the stairs, I heard voices coming from the dining room. Familiar ones. My wife was here. That soft cooing sound, my son was here too.
Of course.
When I stepped into the room, I found my mom, Bella, our little boy, Bella’s father… and Cyrus.
Cyrus was sitting next to Bella. Too comfortable next to her.
And Bella’s dad was holding his grandson, smiling softly.
Watching Bella and Cyrus side by side, relaxed, and laughing, it made something inside me twist. This was the exact scene I didn’t want to walk into.
“Cyrus,” my mom was saying, smiling warmly, “it’s so good that you could join us. I was just talking to Bella, we’ve decided it’s time to bring back the Sunday family dinners. We haven’t done them in a long time, and with the new addition that’s going to be joining the family soon, we need to get back to tradition. Every Sunday of the month. Just like it used to be.”
“We’re here almost every day,” I muttered. “Do we really have to do Sunday dinner too?”
My mother gave me a look.
I sighed, nodding, I walked towards Bella, kissed her, and then looked at Cyrus.
“Hey, Cyrus. Can we have a word?”
He gave me that smug little smile and got up, we walked together towards the hallway.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Here,” I said, slipping the picture into his hand. But there’s absolutely no recognition, no flicker of interest in his eyes as he looks at the picture.
“What am I looking at?” he asks flatly.
“That’s your future wife,” I say.
What happens next surprises me.... not the words, but the pure, instant reaction. Hatred. Cold and unfiltered. He crumples the photo without a second thought and hurls it straight at my face.
Then he turns, just like that, and walks away. Goes right back to sit next to her.
And then I hear him say it—loud enough for everyone to hear, for me to hear.
“I can’t wait to plan my wedding with the two most important women of my life.”
He says it with that familiar charm, taking Bella’s hand in one of his and my mother’s in the other. Like this is some warm, family moment. And the two of them, smile at him like he’s their world.
My mother beams. “I can’t believe you want to help plan your own wedding. I just know your marriage is going to be a happily ever after.”
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