Free Two Weeks in Geneva: Book Three by Lydia Rowan Page A

Montagues, especially back then, had money to burn. You can figure out the rest.”
    “So it was a marriage of convenience?”
    “Yeah, but no one told me about it.”
    “What?”
    “Yes, it seemed my blushing bride and conniving parents hatched a little scheme, and fool that I was, I didn’t see it until it was too late.”
    “Oh, Alexander. She broke your heart.”
    He laughed a mirthless chuckle.
    “No. My interest in Magda was always centered a bit below my heart, and the more I got to know her, the more I lost interest, even there. She had different concerns, parties, the social scene, and I was all about my work. Without meddling, we likely never would have been in the same room. But to Magda’s credit, she’s no quitter.”
    “Alexander, I could do without the hosannas to your wife,” Quinn said sharply.
    “Ex-wife, and I wouldn’t exactly call that a compliment. The years have given me some perspective, and I can imagine that she didn’t necessarily enjoy being stuck with me either. But she held on for about a year, tried to keep her the charade. Then one day, about a year into the ‘marriage,’ I was at wit’s end and we were barely speaking to each other. At that point, she just exploded, said she hadn’t signed up for a ‘real’ marriage and that we needed to lay down some ground rules. I was stunned, made her sit down and tell me everything.”
    “So your parents basically arranged a marriage so that they could be more popular at the country club, or the Swiss equivalent, I guess. That’s so fucked-up.”
    Quinn leaned back, trying to picture a scenario where her parents, who loved her far more than she probably deserved, would do something like that. She failed. They simply wouldn’t, and she knew she would never do something like that to Ethan.
    “It’s a little more complicated than that. Name, status, they still mean something here that Americans don’t understand. My parents saw it as a way to secure everyone’s legacy, and I guess me married to a woman like Magda, who isn’t without her charms, seemed a small price to pay.”
    “No, it’s a big price to pay, and it’s just plain shitty.”
    “I’ll agree with you, but I’m just trying to give their side, what I imagine they were trying to do. Mind you, I did not react well at the time. I moved out, got my own place, and cut them all off. I only talked to my father about work and didn’t talk to my mother at all, though that relationship had thawed a bit over the years, mostly at my grandfather’s urging. And, well, as for Magda, she partied her way through Europe, or so I heard. I didn’t keep track.”
    “And that was that?”
    “Pretty much. I mean, I had lovers, but never anything serious, never someone who meant anything. Not until you.”
    She didn’t doubt his words.
    “Alexander…I-I know I shouldn’t ask, but why? Why didn’t you tell me?”
    He held her gaze but stayed silent, considering.
    “No reason? Every reason?” he finally responded. “I thought that part of my life was over, and in some way, I guess I still wanted to please my parents. Staying married seemed like the best of all worlds: they’d get their precious status, Magda would get her precious money, and I’d have my precious freedom. It seems stupid when I say it out loud, but it’s the truth. After so many years, I couldn’t think of a good reason to change.”
    “And after…?”
    “After you, after Ethan?”
    She nodded.
    “At first, I didn’t even think about it. I mean, with everything that came with finding out about him, Magda, my…marriage, never crossed my mind. And then the thing with you, being with you, seeing what all three of us together was like…I was terrified. I never expected not to; I knew I had to tell you, but the time never seemed right.”
    He grabbed her hand and laced his fingers through hers, held her gaze with his own intently.
    “Quinn, please, if you don’t believe anything else, please know that I