My Wife, My Rules – 29. chapter

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Aiden returned earlier than she had expected. From outside came the heavy thud of hooves, the harder opening of the door, and his heavy steps in the entry hall. Tess loved those sounds. As always, he headed straight up the stairs.

“Hello, kitty,” he greeted Tess with that beautiful smile of his as he closed the room door behind him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

“How was your day?”

“Um… and yours?” She did not want to lie. Nor did she want to tell the truth.

“Nothing remarkable. I was looking forward to seeing you.”

He stepped closer. His hand brushed her cheek, gentle and sure. Then he pulled her into his arms. Not abruptly, but fully. Like someone who knew he needed it just as much as the other person. Tess rested her forehead against his shoulder and breathed for a moment.

“I missed you,” he murmured into her hair, quietly, without a trace of restraint.

“You haven’t eaten,” he frowned when he noticed the full tray of food.

“I forgot.” It was not a lie.

“You forgot? Will you eat with me now?”

“I would like that.”

“I’ll run down for something. I’ll be right back.”

He gave her one more smiling kiss and closed the door behind him. 

And then it happened. First came the quick, hard sound of a shoe slipping. Then the crash. Long. Resonant. Like wood breaking under weight in a hearth. Tess flinched. A second later, she was running. She knew it was him. She knew he was falling. She heard it in every blow of his body against the stairs, in every metallic clink echoing off the walls. She knew what was happening. And she knew it was no accident.

“Aiden!” she screamed in panic.

She found him below. By the time she raced down the stairs, he was already getting up.

“I’m fine,” he said, trying to sound reassuring.

She stared at him in panic.

“I mean my ‘fine’, not yours,” he added, almost cheerfully.

She could not even smile.

“I slipped,” he explained. “The top step is… all sticky, or slippery, or whatever.”

She took hold of his shoulder and supported him, though he did not need it. His breath was a little ragged, but he did not seem shaken. He was angry. Slowly he straightened and took hold of the railing.

That was when Tess lifted her head. Viktoria stood on the upper landing. She did not move. Her arms were folded across her chest, her hair smoothed, her face expressionless. But her eyes…

In them glimmered something impossible to mistake. Not a smile. Not anger. Not mockery. Only a cold reminder. A final warning. The silence hanging between two shots. She had been there. She had seen it. And though she had done nothing, Tess knew she knew everything. That it was her. That it had been her. The realization and horror numbed Tess.

And in that instant, something returned to her. A faint, uncertain flicker from the moment Viktoria had learned Tess was still in the house. Tess had entered her chamber and, for a brief second, sensed a strange scent. Something oily, sharp. And in her peripheral vision… someone bending near the top step. Just a fragment of a moment. Perhaps that hair. Perhaps the dress. She had paid it no attention. The image had vanished before she could become aware of it.

Now it froze in her memory.

It had been Viktoria.

No one waxed the stairs during the day. Not without instruction. Not in that manner. And not when Aiden moved freely through the house.

Tess did not look at Viktoria again. She placed her hand on Aiden’s shoulder and listened as he grumbled and tried to make light of it. But she knew now.

It had not been a mistake. It had not been an accident. Viktoria had added weight to her words. And it had caused exactly what she wanted.

Tess truly understood the stakes.

And in that very moment, with Aiden’s arm around her shoulders, feeling the weight of him and the scent of his skin, she made her decision.

If she stayed, there would be another fall.

Or something worse.

And next time, it might not end with him conscious.