Over the next couple of days, Hannah and I visited the Smithsonian Institution, various museums, and memorials, and tried most of the big-name restaurants in Washington, D.C. Marcus and Ed met with us once the following day to get addresses and a general layout of my mansion, the penthouse apartment, and even my office building. I was impressed with the level of detail to which they had planned security, but realistically I should have expected this from FBI agents. By the time our final day in D.C. arrived, Hannah and I were ready to go home.

"We have some planning of our own to do," I told Hannah as we packed our things.

Hannah frowned at me. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"We have to decide if you’re ready to move into my bedroom with me," I said, smiling at her.

Hannah scoffed. "As long as your room doesn’t smell, or look like a men’s locker room, I think I’ll be OK with moving in with you."

I laughed. "No, not at all," I said to her. "The staff keep my room spotless." I backed Hannah into the wall of the entryway and kissed her. "I’m looking forward to not having to hunt you down in the Emerald Room and find you wearing that green bathrobe," I said.

"Maybe I will stay in the Emerald Room after all," Hannah said thoughtfully. "That way, I can lock you out and make you beg to see me not wearing the green bathrobe or any clothing."

"You would do that to me?" I asked her, feigning offense.

"Yes, I would," she said, smiling up at me, "and I would enjoy every minute of it."

"Maybe we should try that one day," I told her, capturing her lips with mine. We started tugging at each other’s clothes when my cell phone rang in my pocket. I ignored the ringing, continuing to kiss Hannah, but she slipped it out of my pocket and held it up to me. It was Marcus calling. I broke the kiss.

"Goddammit," I said, clicking the green answer icon. "Yes?"

"We’re at your hotel now," Marcus said. "We’ll meet you in the lobby."

"We’ll be right down," I told him before hanging up. Hannah was biting her lip and staring at me in a way that she knew made me want to take her there and now. "Do you want to leave the agents waiting?" I asked her, teasingly.

"We won’t have much time alone like this," Hannah said. "Not with bodyguards hanging around." I groaned. She was right. I grabbed Hannah by the waist, lifting her up to carry her into the next room. She wrapped her legs around me and we kissed frantically before I lowered her to the sofa. Luckily for us, Hannah was wearing a skirt, so I pushed it up to her waist, revealing a lacy red thong. It didn’t take long for us both to climax and adjust our clothes before we waved down a staff member with a bell cart to take our luggage down for us. Hannah was giggling as we hurried out of the elevator to meet Marcus and Ed in the lobby.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen," I said to Marcus and Ed as they stood. "My driver should be pulling around now." Hannah went out with Marcus to make sure that everyone’s luggage got put into the vehicle. I checked out of the hotel with Marcus by my side. "This is going to take some getting used to," I told Marcus as we left the hotel.

"Same for us," Marcus said. "Ed and I haven’t done any field work in a few months, but don’t worry, we’re good at what we do."

"I’ll take your word for it," I said as we approached the SUV. Hannah was seated in the passenger seat, and Ed was in the very back seat. Marcus and I sat behind the driver and passenger. The driver pulled out into traffic, and we were on our way to the hangar to take the jet the rest of the way home. We talked about music for the entire thirty-minute trip to the hangar. Hannah took the liberty of switching radio stations, acting as our DJ. When we got loaded into the jet, everyone got settled with food and beverages of their choice before we were cleared for takeoff. The flight took less than two hours, and during that time Marcus and Ed chatted about various work-related things while Hannah managed to take a quick nap, leaning on my shoulder. I wasn’t looking forward to explaining the necessity for the bodyguards to everyone and trying to work with them while maintaining a semblance of a normal life. My life had become anything but normal since that night at The Auction House. I didn’t know what normal meant for me anymore.

We landed at the hangar back home, and I didn’t realize how good it would be to see the faces of my regular staff members. Instead of the Bentley, I had my driver pick us up in the Mercedes-Maybach SUV; we would need the space for the extra luggage and agents. When we pulled into the garage, Hannah breathed an audible sigh of relief. Geoffrey met us at the door, and Hannah greeted him enthusiastically. I had called ahead to tell him about the bodyguards so that no one was caught off guard by the arrival of our extended stay guests.

"We’ll go ahead and set up our equipment," Ed said. He and Marcus were each holding heavy-duty black cases.

"I’ll have the staff take you to the security camera room," I said. "And I’ll also have rooms ready for you both on the third floor. We’re on the second floor, so you’ll both have more privacy up there." Geoffrey delegated orders to staff, and Marcus and Ed parted ways with Hannah and me. I held my elbow out to my wife.

"May I escort you to your new living quarters?" I asked her. Hannah smiled and wrapped her arm around mine.

"Yes, you may," she said, and we made our way to the elevator and up to the second floor. I led her to my bedroom door and opened it, ushering her in. The room was spotless, of course, and everything was as I had left it. My bed was nestled away in an alcove at the far end of the room near the window. In the center of the room was my entertainment center with a sofa and television. I also had a built-in desk along the far side of the wall. Everything was gray, blue, and beige. from the rugs to the bedsheets, curtains, and towels. I walked Hannah through to the bathroom and let her have a look around. It was nearly as large as the bedroom with a jacuzzi tub on a platform along the back wall, a stone waterfall shower in the back corner, his and her sinks, and two walk-in closets. I opened the sliding door to the empty closet.

"This one is all yours," I told her. "If you approve, we’ll have your wardrobe moved in here." Hannah smiled and walked around the large, plush ottoman in the center of the closet.

"I think this will do nicely," Hannah said. She rejoined me, draping her arms over my shoulders and pressing her body against mine to give me a kiss. I held her there, enjoying the feeling of knowing that my wife would be in bed with me every night. "I could stay in this room and never come out for days."

"I’ve done it before," I admitted to her. "I was sick and working from home at the time."

"Well, if we stay in here together, we won’t be bothered with bodyguards following us around," Hannah said.

"True," I added, holding her close. "Things will be different around here for sure, but just the idea of coming home to you every day makes me very happy."

"Me, too, Roman," Hannah said, resting her head against my chest. My phone chimed with a text message. I pulled it out and read the message from Marcus.

"They said we can come down while they install a few extra cameras and tap the phones," I told Hannah. "Which reminds me," I said, taking Hannah’s hand and guiding her through the bathroom and back to the desk in my room. There was a package waiting there. I picked it up and handed it to Hannah. She took it, raising an eyebrow at me.

"What is this for?" she asked me.

"Open it," I said. "It’s for you. I ordered it a few days ago."

Hannah opened the box and pulled out a brand new cell phone still in the packaging. "Roman, thank you, but I have a cell phone," she said to me.

"That’s an old model that’s been lying around here for who knows how long," I told her. "You should have your very own cell phone to replace the one that was lost."

Hannah hugged me tightly for a moment before breaking our embrace. "You take such good care of me," she said, opening the cell phone packaging and turning on the new device.

"That’s what a good husband does for his wife," I said. We took a moment to sign Hannah in to the new phone and sync her contacts before doing a factory reset on the old phone. Together we made our way downstairs to meet with Marcus and Ed about the security system. Marcus also told us that they would be meeting the rest of the security team to go over the layout of the house and do some recon of the neighborhood. Hannah went upstairs to lead the expedition of moving her things into my room. Everything felt a bit chaotic with an undertone of tension, but I expected things to smooth out in a couple of days as we all settled in to begin the real work of taking down The Auction House.