Free Love Is Louder by Antoinette Candela, Paige Maroney

onto my desk and press my thumb and forefinger against my eyes. I witnessed Mason’s reaction to Brie.
    He can’t have her.
    Challenge was crystal clear in his eyes, and rage curled in my bones. Jealousy is not an emotion I enjoy wrestling with, especially when it comes to another man wanting my gorgeous wife. Mason is a different animal altogether.
    We have a history. He’s despised me ever since his sister Meadow had a thing for me in high school. I couldn’t act on it since he knew my habits, but I tried hard to no avail. He was a fucking pit bull when it came to his sister. I didn’t blame him one bit. I’d do the same thing if I had a sister as gorgeous as Meadow.
    I’m pretty sure Brie sensed the tension bristling between us the other night. I was so fucking close to punching the smug look off his face, but I couldn’t with her beside me. She’d ask questions. But, one more confrontation like that is going to push me over the edge.
    She’s mine no matter how fucked up I am right now and the fact our marriage is dangling precariously because of me. I didn’t make time for her before, but now I need to make time. This urge to work on my marriage was all triggered by my encounter with Mason. His reaction to Brie and her reaction to him made me sit back and see what I have right in front of me. Admitting the fact it took another man coveting my wife to change my neglectful ways is fucking shameful. Everyone has obligations and priorities. I need to get my shit together.
    I lean back in my chair, struggling to hold back the thousand thoughts that flood my psyche. Silence hangs in the air, filled with questions and the sense of letting go of the past that haunts me, too. Brie deserves better than this. Better than me. I know she loves me because she stands by me. She bends to me every time, and it empowers me. Instead of loving her like she should be loved, I take advantage of her. I have to stop acting entitled, but my instincts keep repeating the same pattern.
    She can’t live without me.
    Can I live without her?
    I don’t know. I don’t fucking know anymore. The last thing I want is for everything I’ve worked for to go down in flames. Rubbing the back of my neck, I try to chase away the tension that has gathered there, to shake off the unease that hangs like decay. I can prove to her how much I love her.
    Fix this.
    “James.” A voice floats from behind my office doors, interrupting my internal berating of my appalling actions and decisions.
    “Come in,” I say, clearing the tightness that sits in my throat as I push back from my desk.
    Lisa opens the door and steps into my office, letting the door latch behind her with a soft click. She smiles, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth. Everything about her is flawless. I can’t deny that. I momentarily glance at my wedding picture standing on my desk, blow out a breath, and return my attention to Lisa.
    She saunters across the room and bends over the desk, giving me an uninterrupted view of her ass as she sets some more files upon my desk. Her ivory suit hugs every fabulous curve of her body; her lips are full and pouty—perfect for sucking my cock. The fact the deputy DA happens to look like a Playboy centerfold doesn’t make my predicament easier. The sexual energy rolls off this woman in tidal waves.
    “We have that meeting with the staff in fifteen minutes. Do you want to go over the items on the agenda to get up to speed?”
    Her tone is light as I make my way around my desk to grab my suit coat. Turning to face me, she reaches out a hand to straighten the collar of my white button-up shirt, adjusts my tie, and strokes away a few pieces of lint before I have a chance to pull away. Brie hasn’t done that for me in a long time. She hasn’t been to the office in months since she’s so busy at the studio.
    Mainly because you’re out the door before she even gets downstairs, asshole.
    “Is everything okay?” She narrows her gaze a bit and