Page 76 of Outcast’s Vow

“And what, pray tell, is my vibe?”

“Controlling.”

“Cease your jabs, Highness.”

As we sit, my phone goes off. The vibration fills my suit pocket.

Not fucking again.

It’s my assistant. Like what happened on the honeymoon, they wouldn’t be calling unless it were serious. But now is not the time. I turn my phone off and take my chair.

“You should call them back,” Sylvie says to me as she picks up her booklet. “Especially if it’s important.”

I place my phone face down on the table.

“When I’m with you, then all my focus is on you,” I say to my wife. “It’s what you deserve.”

There’s a pause as Sylvie contemplates what I’ve done. Her eyes narrow. Somehow, what I’ve just done – making her my priority – seems bigger than merely pushing my phone away. Somehow, it feels like a sacrifice. That I’ve made a choice. And it’s for her.

“What might it be about?” Sylvie asks. “I saw your face change when you looked at the screen.”

I wave a hand dismissively.

“It’s nothing.”

Sylvie raises a disbelieving eyebrow.

“Nothing? Come on, Baptiste. Don’t try lying to me. It won’t work.”

“You won’t care.”

“Try me.”

“Well, I have a very important federal contract that has completely stalled,” I say, scanning the restaurant as if the people I’m talking about might be in here. “The senator, Benjamin Whitmore, who is head of the committee that oversees funding for cybersecurity, isn’t budging an inch. I’m trying my best, but the old man won’t even consider changing his damn mind. That was my assistant calling me, presumably with more bad news.”

“So, it’s not good?”

I smile.

“No, it’s very much not good.”

A server brings over a bottle of champagne.

“What are you going to do about it?” Sylvie asks me. “About the senator? About the contract?”

The server pours our glasses. I take mine and lift it to my lips.

“I can’t do a thing. But I need my mind taken off it, just for tonight.”

Sylvie sips on her champagne.

“I can help with that,” she replies, a flash of cheekiness behind the ice queen facade.

“I bet you could.”

My wife bites her lip.

My cock hardens.