Submitting in Vegas (Vegas Morellis 3)

I crack a smile and rest my hand against his chest. “That’s all right. I’m a busy woman. I’m not sure I would have time for two anyway.”

“I’m glad we agree.”

“We do,” I murmur, kissing him again. “How was your day?” I inquire, reaching for the goblet of ice water already on the table. “No wine for me tonight, huh?” I joke, before taking a sip.

His lips curve up. “Nope, you’re cut off.” Instead of answering me about his day, he takes the silver dome off my plate for me. “Let’s eat. I’m already eager for dessert.”

“Is it me?” I ask, lifting a suggestive eyebrow.

“You’ll be my dessert. You get cheesecake.”

I sit up, grabbing my roll of silverware and open it up. “Best husband ever,” I declare.

Rafe chuckles and sits forward to uncover his own meal. “Hopefully you still feel that way by the end of the night.”

“Uh oh,” I murmur. “What did you do now?”

Nodding at my plate, he tells me, “Eat your dinner.”

Since he’s gone to all the trouble of arranging this nice evening out for us, I file away whatever he’s fucked up to deal with later. I’m saving Felix to tell him about later, too, so by night’s end, neither of us might be happy with one another. At least now I know we’ll go home and bury all of the day’s disagreements long enough to make love and curl up close to sleep. I can handle any fight as long as I know at the end of the day, we are on the same team now.

Dinner is delicious. A server comes and clears away our plates when we finish, then she brings out two more plates covered by silver domes.

“I thought you said I was your dessert,” I tease, as she walks away. “What’s wrong, Mr. Morelli? Too shy for a little exhibitionism?”

“Don’t tempt me, you little minx,” he says, taking the dome off his plate.

The single slice of classic cheesecake on his plate makes my mouth water, so I grab for the dome on my plate.

Rafe’s hand comes to rest on top of mine,

stopping me. “Actually, before we make nice with dessert, we should talk.”

I sit back, folding my hands in my lap. “All right,” I say, somewhat warily.

“I owe you an apology,” he tells me.

That wasn’t what I expected him to lead with. Lifting my eyebrows, I question, “You do?”

“I do.” He reaches into his pocket and draws out his cell phone, placing it down on the tabletop.

I cock an eyebrow at it and look at him, confused. “I’m not following.”

“There’s no gentle way of saying this,” he tells me. “So, I’m just going to come out with it. I had Adrian bug your phone.”

My jaw inches open and I glance at the phone I assumed was his. “You…? So, that’s…?”

“A new phone,” he verifies, nodding. “This one’s not bugged, so try not to dunk it in a pitcher full of water. I mean, I can keep buying you new ones, but if you want to waste our money, there are a lot of ways that are much more fun.”

Shaking my head, trying to make sense of this, I wonder if phones can be double bugged. Felix admitted the police had bugged my phone. Could both sides have been snooping around in my business?

“That’s not what I need to apologize for, though. It’s probably not your favorite thing I’ve ever done, but I needed to know that I could trust you after finding out how much you’d kept from me, and that helped me get there.”

“To clarify, you’re not apologizing for spying on me,” I reiterate.

“Correct. The position I’m in, I’m sorry, but I had to. Trust is expensive, and I had to make sure the woman I was investing in had my back. Still best husband ever?”

“Jury’s out. Let’s see what else you’ve got.”