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"I feelthat I hadn’t truly felt that way before We had the rings and the vows, but those were the trappings of e, not the reality of it

"You should," he replied, with a faance, "since you are and will be for the rest of your life"

I looked at hiaze went to the playpen by the fireplace where Lucky slept "Are you asking if I feel domesticated?"

"That will never happen," I said dryly

Gideon looked at"Do you want h, because I couldn’t helpArash here"

I shot him a look "You’re not jealous of your lawyer, are you? That would be ridiculous"

"I don’t like it, either" He scowled "But that’s not what Ipeople over"

"Yes" I frowned "Don’t you?"

He looked away, his lips pursed "It’s fine"

I stilled Gideon’s hoht any wouy friends, but maybe not …? Maybe the penthouse here he retreated from everyone

I reached for his hand "I’m sorry, Gideon I should’ve asked you first I didn’t think about it and I should have It’s your ho back on ht to do whatever you like here You don’t have to ask "

"And you shouldn’t feel invaded in your own horasp that concept, Eva Quickly"

I jerked back from his sudden flare of temper "You’re mad"

He stood and rounded the coffee table, his body vibrating with tension "You went frouest in my house"

"Our house," I corrected "Which ht to say you’d rather we didn’t entertain here"

Gideon shoved a hand through his hair, a sure sign of his increasing agitation "I don’t give a shit about that"

"You’re certainly acting like you do," I said evenly

"For fuck’s sake" He faced me, his hands on his lean hips "Arash is my friend Why would I care if you cook hi back to jealousy? "I cooked dinner for you, and invited him to join us"

"Fine Whatever"

"It doesn’t seem fine, ’cuz you’re pissed"

"I’ toto the fireplace and looking at the faretted doing that I would be the first to ade faster than I should, but I understood the need for a haven, a quiet place to let your guard down I wanted to be that for him, wanted our home to be that for him If I made it a place he wanted to avoid--if he ever found it easier to avoid e I valued

"Gideon Please talk to me" Maybe I’d made that difficult, too "If I’ve crossed a line, you have to tell"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I don’t know I don’t understand why you’re upset with h of frustration, then focused on me with the laserlike precision that had exposed every secret I’d had "If there weren’t anyone else on earth, just you and h for you"

I sat back, startled His mind was a labyrinth I would never map "You would be okay with just me and no one else--indefinitely? No colobal domination to plan?" I snorted "You’d be bored out of your mind"

"Is that what you think?"

"That’s what I know"

"What about you?" he challenged "Hoould you e with no friends to invite over and no one else’s life to ave h for you, if there were no one else?"