Until I lost his attention again. The woman leaned into him, and he angled down, giving her his ear. The conversation looked intimate. Private. Like lovers sharing a secret.

My blood simmered. I could march right over there and make it clear, in no uncertain terms, that Magnus Falke was mine. Nothing was stopping me. Except his expression.

Whatever she was saying made his mouth press into a hard line. His posture went rigid, and his hand flexed at his side. When he replied, I wished I could read his lips.

A moment later, she strode away without a backward glance.

He didn’t watch her leave. Instead, his eyes found mine as he pulled out his phone and made a brief call. Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned away and jumped into a nearby conversation with two men.

Something had happened. He owned numerous companies and was constantly acquiring, merging, and increasing our holdings. Before we arrived, he said he would be closing a few deals tonight. Had a negotiation fallen through?

I had no interest in the business. My passion lay in rescuing wild animals. But I couldn’t do that here. I was useless in a ballroom, clumsy on a dance floor, itchy in taffeta, and mouthy in the most vulgar of ways. Literally the worst princess ever.

But I trusted Magnus. Before the night was over, he would tell me everything that had transpired.

“It’s impossible not to stare at him.” A woman stepped into my periphery. “He’s delicious.”

A glance at her hourglass figure and smoky eyes set off alarms in my head. She radiated confidence, maturity, and voluptuous beauty. Everything about her reeked of danger as she openly, unapologetically admired my husband.

“Do I know you?” I asked evenly.

“No, but I know him. Long before he took his vows of priesthood.” She cut her eyes at me. “Before he broke them for a schoolgirl.”

I breathed in slowly, calmly.

Magnus had been celibate for nine years when I met him. But before he became a priest, he’d lived a hedonistic existence, fucking whomever, however he wanted, and leaving a trail of heartbreak and pain in his wake.

Was this one of his scorned lovers?

My stomach hardened at the prospect, and my mind swam with images of them together. Dammit, I needed her to just come out with it and tell me if she’d fucked him. I needed the truth.

But the truth was that Magnus broke his vows for me, and if I wanted to know about his relationship with this woman, I would ask him, not her.

“You’re right. He fucked his student seven ways to Sunday. Because he loves her.” I shifted to face her. “Jealous?”

“Of you?” She laughed.

Vulnerability constricted my throat.