The Secret Beneath the Veil

“I can make myself available after lunch.”

“It’s an exhibition of children’s art,” she clarified. “Is that something you’d want to see?” Now she felt like she was prying. Her belly clenched as she awaited rejection.

He shrugged, indifferent. “Art galleries aren’t something I typically do, but if you want to see it, I’ll take you.”

Which made her feel like she was imposing on his time, but he was already tapping it into his schedule. Later he paced around the place, not saying much, while she held back asking what he thought. She wanted to tell him about her early aspirations and point to what she liked and ask if he’d ever messed around with finger paints as a child.

She actually found herself speaking more freely to strangers over cocktails than she did with him. He always listened intently, but she didn’t know if that was for show or what. If he had interest in her thoughts or ambitions, she kept thinking, he would ask her himself, but he never did.

Tonight she was revealing her old fascination with art history and Greek mythology. It felt good to open up, so she shared a little more than she normally would.

“I actually won an award,” she confided with a wrinkle of her nose. “It was just a little thing for a watercolor I painted at school. I was convinced I’d become a world-famous artist,” she joked. “I’ve always wanted to take a degree in art, but there’s never been the right time.”

It was small talk. They were nice people, owners of a hotel chain whom she’d met more than once.

Deep down, she was congratulating herself on performing well at these events, remembering the names of children and occasionally going on shopping dates. Tonight she had found herself genuinely interested in Adara Makricosta’s plans for her hotels. That’s how her own career goals had come up. Adara Makricosta was the CEO of a family-owned chain and had asked Viveka about her own work.

Viveka sidestepped the admission she was merely a mistress whose job it was to create this warming trend Mikolas was enjoying among the world’s most rich and powerful.

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?” Mikolas asked when Adara and Gideon had moved on. “About wanting to study art,” he prompted when she only looked at him blankly.

Viveka’s heart lurched and she almost blurted out, Because you wouldn’t care. She swallowed.

“It’s not practical. I thought about taking evening classes around my day job, but I always had Hildy to look after. And I knew once I was in this position, looking to my own future, I would need to devote myself to a proper career, not dabble in something that will never pay the bills.”

She ought to be thinking harder about that, not using up all her brain space trying to second-guess the man in front of her.

“You don’t have bills now. Sign up for something,” he said breezily.

“Where? To what end?” Her throat tightened. “We’re constantly on the move and I don’t know how long I’ll be with you. No. There’s no point.” It would hurt to see that phoenix of a dream rise up from the ashes only to fly away.

Or was he implying she would be with him for the long term?

She did the unthinkable and searched his expression for some sign that he had feelings for her. That they had a future.

He receded behind a remote mask, horribly quiet for the rest of the night and even while they traveled back to Greece, adding an extra layer of tension to their trip.

* * *

Viveka was still smarting over Mikolas’s behavior when she woke in his bed the next morning. They were sleeping late after arriving in the wee hours. She stayed motionless, naked in the spoon of his body, not wanting to move and wake him. She often fell asleep in his arms, but she never woke in them. This was a rare moment of closeness.

It was the counterfeit currency that all women—like mother like daughter—too often took in place of real regard.

Because, no matter how distanced she felt from Mikolas during the day, in bed she felt so integral to him it was a type of agony to be anywhere else. When he made love to her, it felt like love. His kisses and caresses were generous, his compliments extravagant. She warmed and tingled just thinking about how good it felt to join with him, but it wasn’t just physical pleasure for her. Lying with him, naked and intimate, was emotionally fulfilling.