Page 346 of Black Reign

I realize what I said at the same moment he does.

Your wife.

Something changes in his face.

Slow.

Warm.

Possessive in a way that sends heat through me.

“Say that again.”

“No.”

“Sabine.”

I take my champagne.

“Drink.”

He watches me over the rim of his glass.

I can feel the smile he isn't showing.

For another hour, we sit in the field.

No world.

No investigation.

No ARGUS.

No Blackwell board.

No dead fathers or shadow hackers.

Just bread.

Champagne.

A stray dog.

My husband's hand resting over mine in the grass.

And for once in my life, I let something good happen without immediately planning how to escape it.

By the time the sun disappears, the dog has decided he belongs to us.

Xavier continues to disagree.

This has no effect on the dog.

He sleeps beneath the old kitchen table while Xavier opens windows that have been closed too long and I wander through rooms I thought I would never see again.

Nothing here is grand.

That may be why I love it so much.