She considers the question. “I wasn’t thinking of it in those terms when I started. I think it kind of became that. A way of staying connected to her. How do you stay so fluent if you don’t visit often?”

“Victoria speaks Italian she would pick a week, and all we spoke was Italian. We still have lunch every few weeks and when we do we speak Italian. As it is the language I use least for business without her, I would likely lose it.”

“How many languages do you speak? I know about Greek and French, are there others?”

“I am fluent in German as well as Mandarin and thanks to Dmitri Markhoff I can hold my own in Russian. If you are open to learning other languages, let me know. I will see to it you get a tutor.”

“If you want, I’m a poor learner though. I took four years of Spanish in high school and college and can barely make it through an evening in a Mexican restaurant.”

“Then there is no need. I have others who handle those languages. Victoria did not want to learn either.”

She shakes her head, her eyes wide. “If you want me to learn another language I will. I’ll do what you want me to do.”

What I want her to do is strip and ride my cock. Does she see it? Does she feel it? As I watch her cheeks glow again, she drops her eyes down to the rings on her finger and twists them. Her engagement ring is a small diamond in plain gold, it matches the plain gold band beside it. It’s also the equivalent of a cold shower. Women who are married are as appealing as a kick to the balls. Of the sins people can lay at my feet, none of them will ever be me breaking up a marriage. I switch back to English. “I want to know that even with you writing your attention will be mine when I want it.”

The ice is back as she replies in English. “It won’t be a problem, Mr. Kaplan. I know there will be long hours, leaving me with less time to write. I’m prepared for it.”

For the first time, her eyes meet mine without a hint of ice in them. I am hard again in an instant. “Your husband does not have a problem with all of this? Working for me, being available to me and writing in the small amount of free time.” I cannot believe it. I sure as fuck would not be. If she were my woman, no other man would ever be allowed to have her attention more than me.

“I—yes, he’s fine with it. He understands. He’s a workaholic too. He spends a lot of time at work.”

“The plans you have together, what are they? A house in the suburbs? Three children and a dog?”