"Gosh, I'm tired," Ria said through a yawn as Dario finally drove them back onto the estate. She was leaning into Antonio, who had his arm around her. Their day had been very active. They spent so much time walking in the botanical garden that Antonio had begun to worry that Ria was over exerting herself. She assured him she was fine, but he wasn't convinced. "You should take a nap for a bit," Antonio said. "I'll wake you up when dinner is ready.""Oh no," Ria said, yawning widely again. "I have to feed the babies first, at least.""I've got it," Antonio replied. "Just pump some milk, and when they wake up, I'll feed it to them.""Are you sure you can handle them both?" Ria asked, staring up at him. "They can be a handful when they're hungry. And they've been especially fussy lately.""I can handle it," Antonio assured her, helping her out of the vehicle when it pulled up in front of the house. "You just rest.""Okay." They transferred the sleeping babies to their bassinets, and An
"I'm sorry, Sir, but we haven't been able to find anything..." His assistant was saying. "What do you mean by that?" Adrian barked into the phone. "You've been searching for months, and you still don't have anything to show for it!""I'm sorry, Sir, but we...""Just do your fucking job and don't call me unless you have something! You have one week, or I'll be finding another personal investigator and assistant. And you know what that means— you will be fired!"Adrian threw his phone aside, ran angry fingers through his hair, and began to pace. After a few minutes, he sat on the couch adjacent to the one his sister was lounging on. Their father, Charles, sat in the corner of the room, his face buried in an iPad. The softness of the couch bothered him. In a minute, he stood again, and began to pace. Betty quirked an eyebrow at him. "Trouble in paradise?" Adrian scowled at her. "What paradise?" Betty shrugged, and went back to flipping through the pages of her glossy fashion magazi
Lucy's foot was firmly pressed down on the accelerator of her car, and as she turned into the driveway of the large house she lived in with her father, the elderly gardener who had been walking in her direction dove onto the lawn to avoid getting crushed into the dirt by the speeding car. From her rearview mirror, Lucy saw the man get to his feet and dust himself off, before continuing like this was a normal day. Good. She always loved that the staff here knew their place as well as they knew her moods. One complaint, and they would find themselves out on the street. She stomped out of the vehicle, and the heel of her shoes caught on a tiny hole in the concrete, making her almost twist her ankle. She shrieked in growing fury, and turned on the approaching man whose job she didn't even know. "You! Why is there a hole in the driveway?" The man looked taken aback and slightly scared. He probably had just been about to take her keys and drive her car to the garage. "I... I don't kno
"Do you have to walk so quickly?" Antonio grumbled playfully as Ria tugged on his hand, leading him deeper into the farmers market. He was glad he had thought of buying the baby carriers, because now that both their hands were free, Ria had been holding on to him nonstop, and it even seemed like she was completely unaware of her actions. She rolled her eyes now, and tugged harder on his hand, urging him to walk faster. "We have to hurry before everyone will buy everything good, and we'll have to settle for the ones no one wants!" Ria said. Antonio sighed, and rolled his eyes heavenward. "Ria, darling, look around. No one is in a hurry. And we're on a date, on a vacation. We can walk at a leisurely pace."Ria groaned in exaggerated frustration. "Fine. But don't complain if I'm right and we don't get to buy anything good.""We will." Antonio followed behind Ria as she pulled him towards a fruit stand. She paused and stared at him, blinking.“What?” Antonio asked with a grin."Uhm,
After the babies were fed, burped, and happily doing whatever babies did where they just stared at their surroundings, Antonio and Ria finally got to finish their interrupted breakfast. "Where would you like to go next?" He asked Ria, polishing off a sausage.She shrugged as she wiped her mouth. "Anywhere quiet. I don't really mind where. As long as I'm with you."Antonio's heart skipped a beat."Anywhere quiet and fun, you mean," Antonio said with a boyish grin. "Yes. That too." She laughed. "Fine. I have an idea." He leaned forward so he could speak to Dario in the driver's seat. "Dario, find us a baby shop."Ria widened her eyes theatrically. "Oh, no. Are we selling them?" Antonio gave her an amused look. "Dark humor isn't good humor." She rolled her eyes and snorted with laughter. "It was a bit funny. What are we going to a baby shop for anyways?" "You'll see," Antonio replied. Ria eyed him. "Are you going to share this idea of yours?""Nope," he replied. "And I have severa
Ria looked away, her face hot, as the spell was broken. Antonio glared at his flashing phone, and when he realized who was calling, his expression turned rueful. "It's my mother," he said, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling, before picking it up. Ria giggled at the look on his face, but inwardly, her heart was pounding. She couldn't stop thinking about how much she'd wanted him to close that distance between them. How much she'd wanted to feel their lips touch, even if it's just a little. Her lips felt like they were tingling from just her thoughts, and one of the babies gave a loud wail distracting that thought. She immediately snapped out of her wishful thinking, and picked him up, while simultaneously trying to continue eating. The baby in her arms fussed and jerked, and Ria abandoned trying to eat, and began trying to shush him instead. A couple at a near table shot her dirty looks as the baby's cries grew louder, and the look Antonio gave them in return was strong enough to