A ball of dread filled her stomach.
Was Stefan using her? He’d technically used her to gain his title, but she knew about that and was happy to help. But was he using her as a way to get to her brothers? To make sure that he was in the family and make it that much harder for Bronson and Anthony to turn him down?
And what was this documentary about his mother’s death? She had no idea he was even thinking such a thing. Oh, she’d known about the scandalous way the media had portrayed the accident, but Victoria had never believed the late King Alexander had anything to do with his wife’s death. The media just wanted to make it a Princess Grace type of story and glamorize something that was so tragic.
So why hadn’t he told her? And what else had he been hiding?
Had he lied about other things—like all those calls from other women? Had he not answered them because she’d been sitting right there?
Oh, God, she was going to be sick.
Before her humiliation with Alex she never would’ve entertained such terrible thoughts about Stefan and wouldn’t be analyzing this situation so hard, but she’d been burned so badly, she was still scarred.
On a groan, she dropped her arms, headed to the desk and tried to come up with some plausible explanation for all of this. But she couldn’t defend him. He’d taken her already battered heart and pressed harder on the bruise.
Victoria had to confront him, and she knew if he told her he had indeed used her, lied to her, she would not be able to stay married to a man who had humiliated her like that.
She’d thought Stefan was different. How could she have made the same mistake twice?
Fifteen
When stress overcame Victoria, she did what she knew best. She designed.
She grabbed a notepad and pencil from the drawer of Stefan’s desk in the master suite and took it to the balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The tranquility, the peacefulness of the crystal-blue water ebbing and flowing to the shore should’ve calmed her nerves.
Unfortunately when you were lied to, even by omission, nothing could relieve the hurt and betrayal. Not even the beauty of the country she was legally the next queen over.
But the deception wouldn’t have been so bad, so crippling if it hadn’t come from her best friend...the one person outside her family she depended on, cared for. Loved.
Victoria dropped to a cushy white chaise and began sweeping her pencil across the paper. Soon a dress formed, but not just any dress. Her wedding dress. The dress she’d taken vows in, promising to love, honor and cherish her husband. The dress she’d designed for a princess.
Letting the pad fall to her lap, Victoria closed her eyes and leaned back against the chair. Why did life have to be so complicated, so...corrupt? Didn’t anyone tell the full truth anymore? Was she naive in taking people at their word?
But she hadn’t just taken anyone at their word; she’d taken Stefan at his. The rock of stability who had always been there for her. How dare he do that to her emotions, her heart? He of all people knew how she’d been battered and bruised. Why hadn’t he come to her with the idea of the documentary? Why go to her brothers behind her back?
Another crippling ache spread through her, and she had no idea where to put these emotions. Did she cry, throw something, pack her bags and leave?
“There you are.”
At the sound of Stefan’s voice, Victoria turned her head. With a smile on his handsome face, he strode through the open patio doors. And she knew how to handle this situation. Right now she couldn’t look at him as her best friend, couldn’t see him as the man whom she’d confided in for years. No, she had to see him as was—a man who’d lied to her.
“Sketching another gown?” he asked, leaning down to her notepad. “That’s the dress you wore for our wedding. Why are you drawing it again?”
Laying the pad aside, she came to her feet, ready to take the blow of the truth...if he revealed it.
“Just remembering the day I married my best friend,” she told him, watching his eyes. “The day we promised to be faithful and honor each other. And even though I had my doubts and worries, I knew you’d never hurt me because we have something special.”
He tipped his head to the side. “Everything all right, Tori?”
A sad smile spread across her face. “Not really. You see, I married you because you needed me and I wanted to get over the pain and humiliation of my last relationship. You promised to provide me with that support and stability. You promised to never hurt me, and I assumed that meant honesty, as well. Obviously I was wrong.”