A woman who must be in her 90s heads toward me, her head down turned in thought, face deeply etched with wrinkles. She glances up as she comes near, lips already pulling into the kind of faux smile we all give strangers when we cross paths.

Her eyes boredly begin to slide back towards the ground, only to jerk up the next instant. Her small, shrunken mouth pulls into a genuine grin, eyes lighting like kindling.

“Yes, hello,” I say, waving slightly with the hand not currently cradling my cock. “Nice day, isn’t it?”

Her eyes, suddenly full of youth long gone, trace the length of my body. If I weren’t used to these kind of looks, I might actually feel embarrassed. As it is, I simply nod and continue on my way, feet never slowing.

She calls after me in Dutch, and something about her smile tells me I’d rather not know what she said.

“You too, ma’am!”

I keep on walking, trying my best to hide my dick with just one hand.

As I walk further towards the main street, the foot traffic increases tenfold. Every eye in the vicinity seems to lock onto me.

I increase my pace, smiling politely like a fool.

Across the road, a middle-aged woman leans out of her window, whistling loudly in my general direction. Her eyes lock firmly onto my occupied hand, like she’s wishing for x-ray vision.

“Hello,” I say in a casual tone that I don’t really feel. “Happen to know any clothing store near here?”

She laughs. “Afraid I don’t, mister. But if you come in, I might give you a blanket.”

Her words are punctuated by a flirty wink. I try to imagine what I’d have to do for that blanket, quickly deciding against it. Definitely not worth it.

“Thanks, anyway,” I say, continuing to walk.

The sound of giggling reaches me, accompanied by the occasional gasp of surprise. I try my best to tune it all out, eyes fixed ahead, polite smile cemented to my face.

There’s only one woman in the world that could get me to walk naked through Amsterdam first thing in the morning.

Fucking Percy.

I can’t help but smile. Thank God I found her. And thank God she wised up. I knew she wouldn’t stay away. We love each other too much to let it go to waste.

I’m glad we did things our way. Tying the knot under the radar, just having our own little intimate moment in my car, and then sleeping next to my beautiful woman; it’s exactly what she wanted.

I almost feel weird for being the one who wanted the ceremony. But really, when someone of my status settles down, it becomes a big public affair. So why not use the opportunity to celebrate?

Every time I get anywhere near woman, Percy, absolute insanity follows. It’s always been that way, and I think because of it, she’s kept me on my toes. A wiser man would probably have run for the hills a long time ago.

Luckily for me, I’m not that wise. But I can say I sure have learned how to live.

A black car comes roaring into sight, right on time. My smile turns genuine as it squeals to a stop before me. I throw the door open and make a quick dive to safety, laughing, amused at my own ridiculous situation.

“Paul,” I say. “To the rescue.”

“Of course, sir.” Paul responds, grinning at me in the rear view mirror.

“Not a word.”

“Of course, sir.”

We pull away to the sound of his repressed chuckling.

I ignore it, picking my phone up from the seat beside me, I ignore the host of missed calls and text messages. After last night, I was more than expecting them. My fingers fly quickly across the screen.

I press call, an amused grin working its way onto my own face as I do.

“Ciel Bleu,” a woman answers after the second ring, her voice heavily accented.

“Yes, hello. I’d like to make a reservation.”

“Okay. When for?”

“Tonight.”

I hear the laugh she tries to repress.

“Tonight? I’m sorry sir, we’re all booked up.”

“Oh, are you sure?” I ask, knowing the game well. “It’s just for two, under Lanteri.”

“As I said sir—” she begins. I hear the recognition setting in even over the phone. “I’m sorry, what was the name?”

“Lanteri, Anton.”

“Mr. Lanteri!” she says, abashed. “Oh, of course we can fit you in. What time will you be coming by?”

“Six o’clock, please.”

“Great, we’ll have the table waiting.”

I thank her before ending the call.

Usually, I try not to throw the name around, my power being a privilege and all that. Sometimes though, it’s too damn hard to resist. Not to mention, way too damn easy.

My phone begins to buzz in my hand almost immediately, the name of my assistant flashing across the screen. I knew this call was coming.

“Mr. Lanteri,” he shouts the moment I answer. “Thank God!”

“What is it, Scott?”

“I’ve been fielding calls all day, the press is going crazy.”

“Calm down,” I say in my most reassuring tone. “What seems to be the problem?”

Of course, I already know. You can’t have a wild night as the Prince of Menage and not expect to hear about it the next day.

Fucking Percy, I think again, smile pulling at my lips.

“Well, I’m getting a lot of questions about this mystery woman. Apparently, you were spotted with someone in a black wig and…” he trails off, clearly not wanting to upset me.

“And?” I ask, starting to get impatient.

“And… well, there are questions being thrown around, mostly about the wedding.”

“What about it?”

“Frankly, a lot of different things. Primarily though, there seems to be a lot of doubt as to whether there’s still going to be a wedding.”

“Of course there’s going to be a wedding.”

“Right. Of course sir.”

I can tell by his tone that he’s utterly unconvinced. I couldn’t care less.

“Is there anything else, Scott?” I ask, no longer trying to hide my impatience.

“Well…no, not at this moment.”

“Great, thanks for the heads up. Call if you hear anything important.”

I end the conversation with a swipe of my finger. At this particular moment, I have no desire to explain theevents of last night to anyone that wasn’t right there, immersed in it all with me. Though even if I were, Scott would be the last person I’d call.

Having the tendency toward overreaction, that one.

“Any stops?” Paul asks, again glancing at me in the rear view mirror.

“None, thank you. Just to the hotel, please.”

He nods once, his charmingly outdated chauffer cap bobbing as he does.

“Right away boss.”

I lean back into the soft interior, my head resting for the first time in a long time.

I stare out the window, the sights of Amsterdam passing unseen before me, my mind instead focused on the last twenty-four hours. I replay last night’s events on repeat, images of Percy flashing through my head.

After a while, I give up the illusion, closing my eyes to better recall.

A smile cements itself onto my face as my memory brings me to Percy leaning into my ear saying ‘I do.’

Fucking Percy.