King of Greed (Kings of Sin #3) by Ana Huang

“I don’t know much about pressed flowers, but if you need any help on the business and finance side, let me know.” I should’ve offered when she’d started her online shop two years ago, but my head had been so stuck in the sand I hadn’t realized she’d created an entire fucking business until weeks after it launched. She hadn’t said a word, probably because she’d thought I was too busy to care. Kai was the one who’d mentioned it to me.

Alessandra’s chin lowered. “Thank you.”

“I should’ve been there for the original launch.” Shame held me hostage. “Starting a company is a big deal.”

“It’s okay. It was just an Etsy shop at the time. It’s not like I was entering the Fortune 500.”

I didn’t smile at her joke. It wasn’t okay, or our relationship wouldn’t be where it was right now.

“I mean it. If you need anything at all, call me. If I’m in a meeting, my office knows to put you through.” Considering how well Floria Designs was doing, she didn’t need my help, but the overture was there.

An ember of pride flared to life. I hated missing a milestone as big as the launch of her first business, but I was so fucking proud of what she’d built.

“Why pressed flowers?” I asked, desperate to keep the conversation flowing. If we stopped, she’d withdraw again, and I wanted to prolong this moment for as long as possible.

“Honestly, I was bored and needed a hobby.” Pink tinted Alessandra’s cheeks. “I’ve always loved flowers, and I came across a DIY tutorial on how to press them. I tried it, it was fun, and, well.” She shrugged. “The rest is history.”

“What made you decide to turn it from a hobby into a business?”

“I don’t know.” Her face took on a far-off expression. “I guess I wanted something I could call my own. Everything we had belonged to you. Our house, our cars, our clothes. Even if I bought them, you paid for them. It got to a point where I…” She swallowed. “Where I felt like I wasn’t my own person anymore. I needed something to remind me I mattered. Me, as an individual, not as a wife or daughter or sister.”

We’d stopped walking. I didn’t know when we’d stopped or how long we’d been standing there, but I couldn’t move if I’d wanted to.

I knew Alessandra had been unhappy with our marriage. After all, we were divorced. But I hadn’t realized how deep-seated her unhappiness was, not just with our relationship but with herself.

I’d thought covering all our expenses and ensuring she never wanted for anything would make us happier. We’d struggled so fucking much in our early years, and I never wanted us to fall back into that hole again. What I hadn’t accounted for were the things we’d needed that weren’t material.

Time. Attention. Consideration.

They couldn’t be bought, and in my rush to bury any possible problem with money, I’d completely lost sight of that fact.

“You matter,” I said. “Always.”

She was the only person who’d ever truly mattered. Even if she didn’t love me anymore, even if all my efforts to win her back failed, she would always be the sun anchoring my universe.

Alessandra’s eyes glossed. She quickly looked away, but a telltale hitch disrupted her otherwise bright voice. “Well, that’s enough heavy talk for today. It’s not even noon, and we have a lot of stalls to get through before the boating trip.”

We stuck with safe topics for the rest of the morning—sports, food, the weather. But I never forgot the look on Alessandra’s face when she’d explained why she’d opened Floria Designs.

After we exhausted the market, we ate lunch at a nearby oyster bar (since she’d picked breakfast, I picked lunch) and made our way to the canoe rental. Alessandra and I had gone canoeing during our honeymoon, and I thought it’d be a nice throwback to happier days.

We were good together once. We could be good together again.

Unfortunately, neither of us had gone canoeing in years, and our skills were…rusty, to say the least.

“Maybe this wasn’t the best idea,” Alessandra said as the boat wobbled. She glanced around us with trepidation. The nearest boaters were mere pinpricks in the distance. “We should’ve asked for a guide.”

“We don’t need a guide.” I shifted, the canoe rocking with my movement. “We’re perfectly capable of maneuvering a little wooden boat.”

She glanced back at me. “Is this another one of those man things? Like how you guys refuse to ask for directions when you’re lost, but now you’re refusing to ask for help when you’re in danger of tipping over.”

“We’re in the middle of a lagoon,” I pointed out. “The time for a guide has long passed.” Besides, I wanted Alessandra to myself; I didn’t want a random third wheel ruining our date. “Trust me. It’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.” She sounded doubtful.

Despite her misgivings, our canoe steadied the farther we went. My tension eased, and I settled back to enjoy our surroundings. I understood why Alessandra loved Florianópolis so much. It was—

“Oh my God!” She gasped. “Is that a dolphin?”

“I don’t think there are—Ále, no!” It was too late. She twisted her body to the right, and the canoe tipped over, dumping us into the cold water.