I breathe a sigh of relief when the contracts are finally sighed, irritation running down my spine. Four days of nearly endless negotiations and barely being able to see my wife despite having her here with me, all because of Luca’s expansion plans.
“We could’ve gotten the price down a little more,” Maria says, sounding somewhat disgruntled.
I glance at her. “And it would’ve cost me an entire extra day to do that. It wasn’t worth it.”
She frowns as we walk out of one of our meeting rooms. I own the building, so we kept everything operational, but a lot of our key staff had to be moved. “That one extra day of negotiations could’ve saved us a few hundred thousand.”
I shrug. “I don’t lack money,” I murmur, my tone irritable. The truth is that I want to spend some time with Faye and show her around the city I lived in for years. I don’t care what it costs me.
She falls silent as she follows me into my office, and I turn to face her. She clearly has something to say to me, and I’d rather get it over with as soon as possible. Faye asked to see my London office, and I don’t want her to arrive here only for me to still be working. I won’t make her wait.
“You’ve been different lately,” she says eventually. I raise my brows, unsure how to reply to that. “Your work is sloppier than usual, and you’re distracted. I’m worried about you, Dion. You don’t seem like yourself.”
I sigh, my irritation fading away. “Maria,” I murmur. “I’m sorry you feel the quality of my work has gone down. I’ll pay more attention and ensure none of our deals are affected.”
She nods. “Is it her? I’ve never seen you act the way you do around her.”
“Faye?” I correct, somehow irritated by the way she refers to my wife as her. “I suppose in some ways, yes. I’ve always thrown myself into my work because it was all I had, and that’s no longer true.”
She knows I had no intention of letting my marriage affect my life, so I can see why she might find it concerning to find me so enamored.
“I want to make things work with her,” I finally admit, more to myself than to her. I know I’m not worthy, but maybe I can be, if I keep trying. I can tell that she and I are made of the same cloth, that we both seek something that we find in each other. Maybe I’ll never be deserving of someone as wonderful as her, but fuck, I can try.
“I see,” Maria says, her expression unreadable as she walks up to me. She grabs my tie and straightens it, seemingly lost in thought. “I just want you to be happy, Dion,” she says eventually, her palm pressed against the silky fabric. “I could tell there’s something between you… on the plane. It wasn’t just lust. It was more than that. You sought her for comfort, and she provided it like she truly understood you.”
Shame tears through me as I look at my secretary. I’d forgotten she was even there, and no doubt she must have heard us. “About that,” I murmur. “It was not my intention to make you feel uncomfortable, but I’d understand if you no longer wish to fly with my wife and me. I would be happy to make alternative arrangements for you.”
She pats my tie and shakes her head. “It’s fine, Dion. That wasn’t the point I was trying to make. I’m just worried you’re mistaking your sense of loyalty and obligation for something else, especially because lust is clearly involved. I’m worried you’ll settle for her and you’ll both spend the rest of your lives wondering what could’ve been — or worse, you’ll miss out on what should’ve been.” She hesitates then. “But I hope I’m wrong, because you do seem calmer than you’ve ever been before. She seems to have a positive effect on you, even if it affects your work negatively.”
I stare at her, taking in the genuine concern in her eyes, and my heart softens. “Maria—”
The door opens, and Faye walks in, only to freeze as her gaze lands on us, her eyes zeroing in on Maria’s hand on my tie. Maria steps away immediately and excuses herself, but Faye doesn’t move, not even once Maria closes the door behind her.
“Faye,” I murmur, every instinct in my body telling me to be careful. She grits her teeth and lifts her face, hurt and betrayal flashing through her eyes. I tense and walk up to her, shaking my head. “Whatever is going on inside that pretty mind of yours, I can assure you it isn’t true. She was just fixing my tie for me.”
“Why?” she asks, her voice breaking.
I wrap my hands around her shoulders and smile down at my wife, a decidedly pleased but wicked feeling running down my spine. Fuck. I love it when she’s jealous. It’s so incredibly rare for her to act like my wife that I savor each instance.
“I’m not sure. I suppose it was crooked.”
She stares at my tie in disgust and grabs it, her hands trembling slightly. She seems to hesitate before pulling it off altogether, her fingers curling around the fabric for a moment before she lets it fall to the floor. I try my best not to smile — I’m relatively certain that’ll only make her more angry. “You don’t need a tie,” she says, her tone snappy. “Your workday is over now, anyway. There’s no need to straighten it.”
I bite my lip, intensely fucking pleased. “Look at me,” I murmur. She lifts her gaze, a hint of uncertainty in her eyes, as though her own reaction surprised her. I love it when she loses that control she holds onto so tightly. Watching her mask crack is such a delight. “Tell me you didn’t like her touching me, and it won’t ever happen again. Just say the words, Faye.”
Her lips part a little, and something I can’t quite decipher flashes across her face. “I don’t like it,” she whispers. “I really don’t like it when she’s so close to you, Dion. I don’t like that there’s so much history between you two, and I don’t like all the rumors surrounding you. I don’t like any of it.”
I smile then. I can’t help it. “Good girl. Tell me what you want,” I urge her. “You told me you wanted to let me in, so start by telling me that much.” She never makes demands of me, but I want her to. I need her to learn that she can ask for whatever the fuck she wants, and the world will obey her. She’s a Windsor now, my wife. I want her to start acting like it.
“I want you to draw better boundaries between the two of you,” she says hesitantly, as though she isn’t sure she should be admitting that. “I don’t want her standing so close to you again, and she definitely has no business touching your tie like that.”
I nod, my heart pounding wildly. It took a few weeks, but she seems back to the woman she was in the days after our wedding. I haven’t figured out what happened while I was in Canada, but whatever it was seems behind us now. From the moment she kissed me on the plane, she’s been herself again. It’s surprising just how much I missed her.
“Done,” I say simply. She looks at me all doe-eyed, and I cup her cheek gently, pure fucking tenderness rushing through me. “Though I wish you hadn’t crumpled and thrown down my tie like that. I bought it because it’s the same color as your eyes — it’s my favorite.”
Her gaze darts to the floor. “Oh!” she says, her voice high-pitched. She moves to reach for it, but I pull her into me instead, my arms wrapping around her tightly.
“You can make up for it by letting me take you out for dinner,” I murmur. The last few weeks have been rough. She’s given herself to me fully in bed, but outside of it she’s been distant, going as far as devising obvious excuses not to spend time with me. It’s been near impossible to even get her to have dinner with me in our own home.
I’m done giving into fear. I want more of her. All of her, and I’m going to fight for it.
I’ll fight both her insecurities and mine, our shared past, and every obstacle we have yet to face. I’ll fight for just one single chance at happiness with her… because I think she might want it too.
