Chapter 82 82
Elliot’s POV
Things are turning out exactly as I want.
Better than I planned. My mother’s death wasn’t just an ending; it was the beginning. Kate is here, under the same roof as me.
She came to comfort me. To hug me. To let me cry on her shoulder as if I were the broken boy she thinks I am.
And while her arms were wrapped around me, while I felt her belly pressed against my abdomen and the baby moving as if it recognized me, my mind was already three steps ahead. The plan is in motion. Now all that’s left is one piece: making Andrew come back to the country. And the best way to bring him back is by giving him exactly what everyone wants.
Naming him CEO.
I have the entire play prepared. The company bylaws give me absolute power as the sole heir. I can appoint whoever I want as CEO without needing board approval for another six months. Andrew is the perfect candidate: loyal, ambitious, experienced running the Lisbon branch, and completely unsuspecting.
I name him CEO, offer him the job of his dreams, and he’ll come running. He’ll abandon Lisbon, return here with Kate.
And once he’s here… I… I’ll be close. Very close to her.
When the knock comes at my door, I startle. It’s late, but I know it’s her.
The house is silent. I adjust the black shirt I’m still wearing, take a deep breath, and promise myself: don’t be obvious. You can’t underestimate her. Kate already figured out once that I was her stalker. She saw the signs, the roses, knew it was me. She can’t discover that this is a plan too. That my mother’s death wasn’t an accident. That I’m willing to kill her husband to have her. To have them. To have the child who might be mine.
I open the door.
I have to calm down, suppress the urge the moment I see her standing there, under my roof, at this hour.
Beautiful. Always beautiful. Even now, with that mix of concern and distrust in her eyes.
“Elliot,” she says softly. “Is this a good time?”
I want to tell her yes. That for her it’s always a good time. That only she matters. That I could be dying and I’d still want her to come in. But I hold back. I give a small smile, tilt my head.
“Come in, Mrs. Ellis,” I say, opening the door wider.
She hesitates for a second, then steps inside. I close the door behind her.
God… we’re alone. This is dangerous. How can I hold myself back?!
“Are you comfortable? Did you like the room?” I ask. “Please, sit down.” I gesture toward the chair by the window. “Do you need anything? Water, tea…”
“No,” she answers. “I just wanted to know if you’re okay.”
I sit on the edge of the bed, facing her. She stands for a moment, then sits.
“More or less,” I say, voice low. “Some days I think I’m going to wake up and she’ll walk in yelling at me for something. And then I remember she won’t. That she’s gone.”
Kate nods slowly. I see her eyes scan the room, lingering on the bed. I know what she’s thinking. The last time we were both here… my mother and Andrew downstairs, and her beneath me, whispering my name while we tried not to make a sound so my mother wouldn’t hear us below. God. I shudder just remembering it. The heat of her body, the taste of her skin, the way she clenched around me like she never wanted to let go. I want to kiss her now. I want to throw her onto the bed and make love to her until she forgets Andrew, until she forgets everything except my name. But I can’t.
“I want to talk,” she says.
“Of course, Mrs. Ellis.”
She shifts to sit more comfortably, takes a deep breath.
“I’ve been worried. Now that everything is on your shoulders, according to what Andrew told me… the company, everything. It’s a lot for you. You’re barely in university… and you lack experience for these things. How are you handling it?”
I give a faint smile. This is the moment.
“I haven’t even taken over any of it yet. I’ve barely had time to grieve my mother. Everything has been so fast, so sudden…”
“Of course, I understand. I can imagine what’s going through your head right now.”
“I know they expect answers from me, that I take possession of everything. My mother handled things that way—she took charge of everything herself. She loved power, taking command, being the one in control… That’s what she expected from me.”
“Elliot… it’s important that you become who you want to be.”
“But I also don’t want to disappoint her.”
“You’re very young”—every time she says that word, my chest tightens—“and I think you should do things at your own pace. I don’t know if I’m overstepping, but taking over the companies without experience… What I mean is, maybe you want to keep studying at university. These years are very important for someone your age. Living such a hectic life isn’t good for you.”
“What are you trying to convince me of, Mrs. Ellis?”
“That you shouldn’t make decisions only thinking about what your mother would have wanted.”
“It seems… like you care about me.”
“We’re friends, Elliot.” I almost laugh when I hear her say that. Friends? You’re my life!
“I’ve been thinking about that,” I say. “And I wanted to mention something. I want to appoint Andrew as the new CEO.”
I see the surprise on her face. Her eyes widen slightly, her mouth parts.
“What? You’ve already thought about this?!”
“It’s the logical thing,” I continue, voice calm. “Andrew has experience. He ran the Lisbon branch perfectly. My mother trusted him. And I… I’m not ready. Not yet. I need to finish university, to learn. He can run the company while I prepare. It would be temporary at first, but… I think it’s for the best.”
Kate looks at me without breaking eye contact. I see her processing the words. I see the doubt, the suspicion.
“Why now?” she asks. “Why Andrew?”
“Because he’s trustworthy,” I reply. “Because he’s a good employee, because things went well for him in Lisbon… and because I know my mother would approve”—and having him close will make it easier… to kill him.
She swallows hard. Her hands tighten over her belly.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she says. “Elliot, you’re grieving. You don’t have to decide anything right now.”
“I know,” I answer. “But the company doesn’t wait. There are meetings, contracts, shareholders. If I don’t put someone trustworthy in place now, the wrong people will start moving in, and then I won’t know what’s right and what isn’t. I want to protect what my mother left behind. And I think Andrew is the right person.”
Kate falls silent. I see her struggling with herself. She knows I’m partly right. She knows the company needs direction. But she also knows something doesn’t fit. That I’m not as naive as I seem. As if the decision were too quick or too calculated. Did I do something wrong? Should I have talked to him instead of her?
“I’ll talk to him,” she says finally. “I’ll tell him what you want to do.”
Perfect. I think she doesn’t suspect.
“Thank you, Mrs. Ellis.”
She stands up. Heads toward the door. I stand too. I walk her there. When she reaches the threshold, she turns.
“When do you call me Mrs. Ellis and when do you call me Kate? I mean…” She lowers her gaze; suddenly I feel her a little shy. “…which one marks distance, respect… or desire?”
God… she wants to know! I’m not offended that she doesn’t know; on the contrary, I like it too much that she’s interested.
And damn it, I can’t hold back—not with that question.
I take her hand, pull her toward me, and close the door again, giving us privacy.
“Do you really want to know?”
She looks away, but I lift her face with both hands and move closer. She’s not a very small woman, but I’m much taller—I have to lower my face to meet her level, and I do, holding back as much as I can, breathing through my lips so I don’t lose control. But seeing her this close… I can’t help wanting everything to be done already so I can truly say she’s mine, that I have her only for myself… that she belongs to no one else.
“Yes, I want to know.”
“No matter that it’s his last name… I call you Mrs. Ellis when desire wins, when I look at you and remember I shouldn’t touch you, when I’m fighting to hold back but I’m losing the fight—as if that last name could create a barrier between us, but it’s never succeeded, not a damn time. When I say Kate… it’s when I stop fighting myself, when I stop pretending I can keep distance and I just want to take you, to show you that you’re mine, fuck. But when I say Katherine… it’s when I start thinking about staying with you forever.”
Her lips tremble as if she’s trying to say something. She steps back and the door meets her back. She takes a deep breath, now avoiding my gaze. God, how I want to kiss her.
“Y-You called me Mrs. Ellis the whole conversation.”
“While I was fighting to hold back, to not let desire win, trying to see a barrier that separates us—but I don’t care if there is one, I don’t care if it exists. I only know… I would cross it without hesitation.”
“I-I should go.”
“I think so.”
My hands drop and I step back, giving her space. She keeps one hand on the doorknob and turns again.
I want to kiss her, lock her in this room and keep her from going back to her husband, keep her by my side and stop sharing her—but I have to be strong.
I turn my back to her, avoiding all contact, wishing she’ll leave before I lose control.
“So, no matter what you call me, you always feel something,” she whispered.
“Always,” I reply, shoving my hands into my pockets to keep from pulling her back in here with me.
She closes the door as she leaves. I’m alone. My smile fades slowly.
Everything is going according to plan.
Andrew will come. He’ll stay. And when he’s here, when he thinks he has the power… I’ll be waiting.
Because he is the obstacle.
And obstacles get eliminated.
"The feeling of completeness will come when I can finally call you… my Mrs. Martins."
Mine.