Page 13 of The Devil's Spawn

I almost spluttered my tea all over the table at her words. Gage, whipped? But the more I thought about it, the more it clicked, because when you got down to the nitty-gritty, we had each other wrapped. “I guess you’re right. I just wish I could get that woman out of my head. The way she touches him, and the way she glares at me…God, Simone, she makes me see red and green at the same time.”

“You need a fucking hobby.” Simone’s mouth twisted into a scowl, but her gaze softened as she said it to take out some of the sting.

“A hobby?” I asked, absently picking at my half-eaten quiche. Apparently, the subject of Katherine made me lose my appetite. Or maybe it was the smell of overcooked cheese. I pushed the plate away, scrunching my nose. “Why do you say that?”

Simone made a scoffing sound, and I glanced up to find her reclined in her seat, arms crossed. “To hear you talk, it sounds like your whole life revolves around Gage and what he may or may not be doing with Katherine.”

A hobby might not be a bad idea. Maybe I could start collecting trinkets, like dolphins or dragons.

Or elephants.

Definitely elephants. Lord knew I had plenty of those in my life. Gigantic ones that ate up too much space and sucked up all the air. One stood between Gage and me in the form of Katherine. But the biggest one sat smack in the middle of Simone and me.

This elephant’s name was Ian, and he’d grown too secure in his comfy spot since that damn note had magically appeared on my door. But it was easier,safer, to focus on my marriage and the interloper named Katherine. The subject of Ian was too dangerous. Too painful.

Simone must have agreed because she didn’t bring him up once. Not to tell me he was okay—the note had already done that—and certainly not to tell me whether or not she’d spoken to him or seen him.

And maybe it was better this way.

“If you’re really worried about Katherine,” Simone said, “then talk to Gage. Just be honest with him. Tell him how you’re feeling.”

She made it sound simple. If only it were that easy.

7. Oral Petition

The following day I met Gage in his office at Channing Enterprises to work on the charity ball project, but it wasn’t until Wednesday when I finally found my lady balls to broach the subject of Katherine. Even then, it took me a good hour of perusing color schemes while situated firmly on his lap, distracted beyond belief by his depraved hands.

“So this is your final decision?” Gage asked, gesturing by way of a nod toward the various colors, fabric textures, and decorations splashed across the screen of his laptop. His fingers tapped a staccato beat on top of his desk.

“You said elegant and sexy.”

He pressed a kiss to my neck, and I felt the curve of his smile. “Mmm, you most certainly are.”

“Did you really need my help with this, or were you just looking for an excuse to have me on your lap for a few days?”

“I never need an excuse to have you on my lap, Kayla. For any reason.”

Damn, he was turning me on.

“Truth is,” he said, “I miss you here at the office. I wouldn’t mind you coming back as my assistant if that’s something you’d like to do.”

I angled my head and shot a wide-eyed gaze at him. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’d love to.” More than love to. I ached to fill the void that leaving the workforce had caused.

“Then consider it a done deal.” He pressed his mouth to mine before focusing on our project again. “Besides, where would I be without you? You pulled this together in two days flat, fixing the blunders of the idiots I hired to do this job in the first place.”

Two days seemed too long for the amount of work I’d done, but at least I’d finally whittled the color scheme down to burgundy, mahogany, and the accent color of gold. “I’m thinking creme china trimmed in gold, red masks with gold feathers for centerpieces—like those,” I said, pausing to point at a picture, “and sable linens for the tables.”

The visual made me think of sex and sin—just like that restaurant had the night he’d taken me there before our anniversary. Riding his cock in that private dining booth had been terrifying and exhilarating. I wasn’t comfortable with public displays of indecency, but apparently, Gage had an exhibitionist streak in his blood. God, the surprises kept coming when it came to my husband.

Thing was, I was tired of being the last to know about shit. Taking comfort in his assertion over the weekend that I need only to ask, I finally found the words and did just that. “Why was Katherine here last week?”

He stilled the casual tapping of his fingers. “Was that so hard?”

I narrowed my eyes. “What?”

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