The men appearing at her doorstep would serve as summons enough, but I sent a note for her as well.
It read simply 'Bring your wife.'
* * * * *
I waited a while to join them after the two were shown in. They would have been told to wait in the first-floor living room, spacious and empty. It was expected that I would be busy, even at this time of night, and appearances were important. They were most of what I did.
They would have been checked for weapons upon entry. I instructed the men to be thorough, but I wasn't expecting them to find anything. Sabine was arrogant, but she wasn't stupid. She would have come unarmed and she would have done as directed. As unorthodox as it was to bring a spouse when meeting with a captain, she would have no choice.
I waited to enter a little longer than I normally would. Sabine was angry and embarrassed to be caught, implicitly accused of wrongdoing by the invitation. No one met with me unless there was a problem. I wanted her to be flustered. I wanted her to wait.
When I was ready, I entered the room from an adjoining suite, closing the door behind me. "Sabine." I smiled thinly. "I'm so glad you could make it."
She stood, the younger woman at her side rising along with her. "My captain. I would never turn down so gracious an invitation." She responded with a crude attempt at her own feigned smile.
I waved at the white leather couch in the center of the room, indicating they should sit again. I sat in one of the matching formal chairs that confronted it.
"Is there a... particular reason you wanted to see me... us... tonight?" She was already nervous. I could skip the pleasantries.
I looked just slightly off to the side, framing my response. "Tell me, Sabine. In broad terms, what branches of my business have you been allocated?"
She stiffened. I had come to the doorstep of her misdeed, but not quite entered. She wasn't sure how dumb she should be. "Vineyards. Wine, spirits, your main distribution channels." She met my eye. "Ma'am."
I suppressed an indulgent smile at her genuine deference. "Tell me about... the Ze Dinis vineyards." I waved a few fingers, as if the thought had just occurred to me. "Anything in particular to note?"
Her jaw clenched when I brought the subject up directly. "Of course. I... have been keeping an eye on the harvests in the South with the winter coming sooner than expected. We'll try and obtain the water and seeds we need to-"
She talked for a short while about delivery and logistics, playing dumb. Clumsy of her. I had all but accused her directly. If she had owned her greed and mistakes, I might have had some sympathy.
She settled back as she talked, growing more comfortable in her misdirections.
If she wouldn't take the bait, I would feed it to her. I raised a hand to stop her droning. "If I wanted a strategy discussion, I needn't have pulled you from bed. Why is it that you think you are here?"
"I... I believed this to be a social call, lady... " She said, feigning some surprise. She was certainly stubborn.
"You think I would stay up so late on the sudden impulse to see you? You think so highly of yourself."
"I have always thought of our relationship as special." She bowed her head slightly only to glance up at me. "To me, you are like a mother." The pitiable look she tried to make fell flat on her face.
I imitated it, just as fake. "Oh sweetie." I let it drop. "I am not your mother."
Frustration grew out of her features. "But we
are
family, aren't we? That's why you can chastise me like this."
Obstinate child. If she could not be made to admit her own wrongdoing, I would put it in front of her. I would draw her guilt out of her another way.
I stood, and towered over her from across the room. "You are only
family
insofar as what you can offer it. You only belong to this family when you
submit
to it." Her shoulders were creeping upwards, her jaw was setting.
You have been maneuvering for your own gains, buying land you have no right to own, hoping I wouldn't see you if you stepped just outside of my territory. You have been whittling away at
my
vineyards, cobbling together your own, personal stake in
my
business."
Her face was pinched. She practically folded her arms in a huff. I made one more point before her tantrum broke. "Everything you hide, everything you
have
belongs to all of us."
She stood now, screaming at me. "Take whatever you want. What's mine belongs to the family, after all!" It was a terrible bluff. If I relented here, she would go behind my back and cause a mess trying to cover up what I already knew about. She needed to know that she was not in control, that there was nothing of hers that wasn't also mine.
I took a step forward and the pulse in her neck twitched. I let my gaze drift over to her wife, sitting passively next to her. The poor thing had her eyes solely on her feet for the entire conversation.She never would have been present for her wife's business, it wasn't her place.
I intended to use only her presence as leverage, something to put Sabine on edge. I wanted to communicate that there was nothing I couldn't reach, but she could serve more than one purpose if it was called for.
Not taking my eyes off the frightened thing, I walked toward the pair, and slowly circled the wide loveseat, coming to stand just behind them both. Sabine took her wife's hand in both of hers and it sat, limply there, gripped in fearful talons. She tried not to glare at me, territorial. I gently set my hand on the girl's shoulder furthest away from Sabine.
"I don't believe I told you," I let honey flow from my lips, "how beautiful your wife is."
The effect was immediate. Sabine's face contorted and twitched. Her darling's shoulder was all but trembling under the barest weight of my touch.
"Please don't touch my wife." Her words came out in a rush, anger barely pressed down by dread.
I slid the tip of my ring finger along the girl's shoulder and up her neck. I felt her shiver as she tilted her head to the side, exposing more for me to touch. I was surprised, she relented so easily.
"What's mine belongs to the family." I let Sabine's words echo out of my mouth and hang for a moment before snapping my eyes to hers. Her face set, stone still, as she finally realized her position. My point made, all that remained was to brutally hammer it in. I am nothing if not thorough.
My fingers gently collected and wrapped around the neck I was holding. Her chin lifted up, letting the tiniest moan escape. She was
enjoying
this. Knowing that, I would make sure to make her pleasure painfully obvious. Nothing inspires submission like a twisting knife.
I spoke slowly, disinterested. "Who is in control here, Sabine?"
"You are."
"What exactly do I control?"
"Everything." Her answers were quick and thoughtless. She wanted this to end. I drew it out.
"So this little thing," I tilted the girl's head back and looked upon her face, "is mine." The top of her head set against me, just below my ribs. Her eyes gasped opened, wide and sparkling green.
Sabine was having a hard time responding. Her body coiled like a spring. I let the girl's head fall forward and walked patiently around her side of the couch. I tilted her head with a curled index finger and thumb and watched her wife just beyond.
"Isn't that right?" I leaned in and gently kissed a blushing cheek. Sabine fumed, and my attention didn't waver from her reaction. I sat on the arm rest and kept kissing, drawing her little wife's lips toward mine. Her body gravitated toward me. Her hands trembled in her lap.