Chapter 62: The View

After some food and another round of fucking, Joan and Seto went back to the vault to pick through cards. They made some progress, but Joan didn't even have half a deck by the time Seto's alarm went off. Seto sighed and shut the vault. He then went to don his white suit while Joan touched up her makeup. They then had a light meal in the limo as they headed into the heart of Domino City.

During daylight hours, the city had almost as many duelists as Joan's university had cyclists. Young and old alike sported various duel disks, some more flashy than others. Joan stared at one adorned with blue and pink rhinestones that reminded her of Dark Magician Girl's costume. "Mokuba told me how most people still prefer the traditional duel disks over the implants," Joan commented. "It makes sense now."

Seto twirled a lock of her hair. "Want one?"

"Already got one. Mokuba set it up to hide the glowing jewels, or to explain why they glow in case anyone asks."

Seto's eyebrows rose. "They . . . glow?"

"Activate random glow," Joan commanded. Marc's façade dropped and the gemstones revealed their full glory.

Seto watched the opal flash in time with his thoughts while the ruby and sapphire blinked in tandem. "How long has it been doing that?"

"Ever since the run-in with Sartorius," Joan admitted.

"And you didn't think to tell me sooner?"

"Oh, we thought about it, but we decided against it."

"We?"

"It was a group decision."

Seto turned to Roland. "And you didn't think to tell me about it?"

A bead of sweat formed on Roland's forehead. "This is the first I'm hearing of it, Sir."

Seto glared until Joan said, "We kept him out of the loop on purpose." She transferred more memories to Seto, showing him their concerns that night, how Mokuba had convinced her and Marc to keep the ring's glowing under wraps.

"Next time Mokuba lies to save face, don't buy into it," Seto warned.

Joan grinned, remembering how much fun that evening had been. "He didn't lie; he just distracted you for a bit. You would have missed out on getting me pregnant if you were busy freaking out about the magic."

"All the same, we can't afford secrets when dealing with something that concerns all of us."

"I agree. No more secrets."

The limo pulled up in front of the humongous Kaiba Corporation office building. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Joan had last set foot in a building of this size. A little flashback from her internship sent a chill down her spine, but she reminded herself that an entire ocean sat between her and the place she never wanted to see again. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon statues, though silent, seemed to confirm her conviction. They existed to protect Seto — and her by extension.

Seto took Joan's hand as they approached the imposing doorway. They entered a spacious lobby containing a café frequented by the caffeine addicts on Seto's payroll. The regulars stopped their conversations and stared mid-sip as their boss strolled by with the only smile they had ever seen on his face and a stately woman only half of them recognized from having watched Seto's latest duel.

The pair stepped into the executive elevator along with Roland and the blond American bodyguard. As soon as the doors closed, Joan pressed Seto against the elevator wall and ravished his mouth. Roland and Tamara exchanged glances but otherwise pretended not to notice as Seto's hand found its way under the hem of Joan's dress and squeezed her bare ass. They kept at it a few moments after arriving on the top floor, leaving Roland no choice but to awkwardly hold the door until they finished.

Joan straightened her dress and stepped out of the elevator to see a man in a deep bow. He rose to reveal a lined face that indicated decades in the corporate world. "Mr. Kaiba, so glad to have you back. Mrs. Kaiba, so glad to meet you."

Joan bowed back. "Glad to meet you too . . ."

"Apologies for not introducing myself. I am Tanaka, Mr. Kaiba's head secretary."

"Head? How many secretaries are there?"

"I oversee the stockholder relations manager, the social media manager, the public relations manager, the digital security manager, the legal team leader, and several others."

Joan's eyes widened. "That's quite a list."

"What did you expect?" Seto gloated, pleased that he'd managed to impress her for once.

"I don't know, some busty young thing who gives you head whenever you want it," Joan replied.

Seto chuckled. "I tried some of those back when I first took over Kaiba Corp. They annoyed me constantly and didn't know a keyboard from an eyeshadow palette."

Seto took Joan's hand once more and led her into a private office the size of her entire apartment. Aside from the monstrous desk, the room contained three black leather couches and several chairs positioned in front of a flat-screen TV with every game console Joan could name and many she didn't recognize. As Seto had promised, there was not only a private water cooler but a kitchenette at the far end of the room.

"Allow me to debrief you on what happened while you were away," Tanaka began.

Seto pulled Joan down to sit beside him on a couch. Roland, Tamara, and Tanaka took seats as well. Tanaka began laying out figures and options that had been discussed in meetings. Most of it went over Joan's head, and she realized she was arm candy again, but at least this time she was a chocolate truffle. She did her best to listen, but only Roland and Seto were truly engaged in the conversation.

"Your recent duel seems to have stabilized our stock prices," Tanaka reported. "Your ability to counter-hack your duel system with your own mind has ignited your fans' imaginations anew. The demand for implants has quintupled."

"They do realize we only offer the voice-activated models for public use, right?" Even if Seto had worked out all the issues with his neural implants, he would never offer peons that level of power.

"Some of them do, but others are under the impression that they just have to believe in the heart of the cards hard enough to pull off a miracle."

"And those morons think a voice-activated implant will help them do that?"

"Correct."

"Fine. Let the cash roll in."

Joan began squirming out of boredom. She might have had more interest in what they were saying if she actually played Duel Monsters. Touching a few legendary cards didn't amount to passion for the game.

"That covers everything," Tanaka finally concluded.

"Good," Seto replied. "Roland, take the Girl Scout on a tour of the city. My whore and I don't want to be disturbed for the next hour."

Joan smirked. "You know Tamara and I were both Girl Scouts, right?"

"You know who I mean," Seto growled.

"Yes, sir," Roland said.

Tamara suppressed a smile as she, Roland, and Tanaka stood and left the office.

"I wanted to see the city too," Joan pouted.

"You will."

Seto led Joan to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Domino. He pressed her against the glass and nibbled on her ear. Joan took in the view as he dropped his pants and lifted her dress.