“Yes. I think that would be perfect, and I can leave room for dessert.”
It seemed dessert was indeed my wife’s favorite part of a meal.
“I’m selecting the grand charcuterie board,” I told the sommelier. “I’ll trust your judgment on the wine pairing.”
He was a skinny man, and his throat bobbed comically. “Yes, sir.”
After another twenty minutes, the concierge told us that our rooftop was ready. We rode the elevator to the thirtieth floor. It wasn’t a tall building, but it still boasted a view of the Manhattan skyline. We were escorted to a red-framed glass enclosure that gave the illusion of a Paris sidewalk eatery.
Ornamental trees contrasted with the red frame, and a host of orange and purple flowers in vases completed the look.
“Wow, this entire area is for us?” Lucy asked shyly.
“You like it?”
She shivered. “It’s chilly.” She moved closer to the heat lamp.
“Here.” I put my suit jacket around her. “You can stick close to me until Sato comes back.”
She hugged my coat as if welcoming the warmth. “Comes back for what?”
I smiled at her enigmatically. I wasn’t too sure what her reaction would be when Sato returned, but the wine arrival provided a fitting distraction.
We sat side by side at the table. I had my arm around her to keep her warm. The space hadn’t heated up yet. I hadn’t planned on making my wife cold. I was finding out I didn’t like her feeling any physical discomfort, but this chilly weather was the perfect excuse where she was willingly sticking close to me.
“This is actually cozy.” She burrowed further into me while sipping her wine.
“It’ll warm up soon.”
“I can see the blue sky directly above us, and the fall sky is the best.”
“I agree.”
Lucy was staring at the sky, but I was staring at her. My chest clenched tightly. One of the reasons I married Lucy was that she satisfied the physical requirements of what I deemed beautiful. For a temporary marriage, that had been enough. Her sharp personality and street-smart intelligence amplified all her physical traits from merely beautiful to stunning. The sassy words spilling from her mouth made me think of kissing her, not to shut her up but to inhale that energy. And her huge brown eyes deepened with emotion when she sparred with me, and I often wondered what they would look like at the brink of coming as I thrust furiously inside her.
Jesus. I adjusted myself. My attraction to my wife was getting ridiculous.
Did I marry this beautiful creature so I could cage her in? I’d never desired to be tied to anyone. But I wanted Lucy to be tied to me. I remembered the words I had said after the wedding. That I could fuck anyone and she didn’t have a say. This was what my endless scheming had accomplished. Piled upon untruths and semi-truths, and the result had morphed intoblurry lines. I was so good at lying that I’d lost track of what was true.
The sommelier served our wine. A rich, full-bodied red that left swirls around the goblet.
“Sipping wine on a lazy afternoon.” Lucy sighed. “Another reason I miss New York.”
“You’ve lived in DC since you turned seventeen?”
“You know I did. I went to college there.”
“Why law?”
“The truth? To spite the crime family, but it turned out I enjoyed deciphering how organized crime manipulates the law, how the politics, power, and money were like this synergistic cesspool that ran the country.”
A brief chuckle vibrated in my chest. “Should I be worried?”
She glanced at me sassily. “You should. Dom actually said he wondered if I was actively trying to send him to prison.”
“The feds arrested him because of you.”
“Questioned,” she said with mock indignation on her face. “There’s a difference.”
