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there goes the last shred of my authority

Penulis: Gemma Rykes
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2026-09-20 16:25:51

For the next two hours, I worked.

Not the aesthetic version of working where a woman wears a nice blazer, moves two sticky notes around, and drinks a latte in front of a window. I actually worked.

There was a call about a corporate anniversary in Napa whose tent layout had changed because of a permit issue. There was a bride from Pacific Heights who suddenly decided, six weeks before her wedding, that the color blue made her feel “emotionally cold,” a medical condition my company was apparently
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goodnovel comment avatar
Book Worm
Can we please get more of Rafael’s POV
goodnovel comment avatar
Book Worm
Al and Gabby are just one of a kind , I absolutely love them and Daddy Rafa is enjoying every minute of this show .
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  • Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi   strictly for his eyes

    The house was finally starting to quiet down. The lights in the living room had been dimmed, a few staff members were clearing away the remains of dinner, and upstairs, the only sound was the occasional muffled footstep before everything went quiet again.The kitchen still had evidence of Iris's arrival in the form of three boxes of desserts she'd brought from Italy and abandoned at the end of the island. Because of course that woman had shown up with suitcases, presents, an entire family, and enough sugar to destroy every preschool schedule in existence.I opened the first box.Pistachio.I immediately reached for one, then stopped.“No.” I closed the box again.I'd already had dessert twice today and I had some dignity.I moved the box to the top shelf of the refrigerator, then stacked the other two beside it with the labels facing forward. One had something written in Italian that I wasn't even going to attempt to pronounce at this hour. The other contained little chocolate pastrie

  • Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi   a little discipline, theoretically

    After dinner, all I wanted was to get my two kids upstairs, read them one bedtime story, and leave the rest in God's hands.Unfortunately, Gabriella Lucia Garcia had other plans.“I want Nonno to read.”I stopped in the middle of the second-floor hallway, one of Gabby's pink sandals in my hand and what little patience I had left running dangerously low since the second round of dessert.“Sweetheart, Nonno's tired. Daddy can read you a story tonight, okay?”“No.” Gabby hugged the butterfly picture book she'd brought from her room. “I want Nonno.”“Gabriella.”“Please, Mami.” She gave me the same pleading look she usually pulled out when she wanted me to buy her something. “Nonno never read me a bedtime story before.”Behind me, Rafael's father chuckled. “It's all right, Arabella. I can read to her.”I turned. “Papa, really, she has a bedtime routine. Give her an inch and she'll have you reading the entire library.”“I only want one,” Gabby interrupted.I looked at her.She held up two

  • Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi   as it turns out

    Oh, Jesus.I turned.Nonna Lucia was getting up from the sofa near the window with the help of her silver cane, although I was pretty sure the woman didn't actually need it to stand.She wore a navy dress with a pearl necklace and a small brooch on her shoulder, her white hair perfectly styled, and an expression that told me I was about to stand trial for several family-related offenses.“Nonna.”“Arabella.”I smiled. “You look lovely.”“Don't start.”I burst out laughing.She walked toward me, tapped her cane against the floor once, and stopped right in front of me.“Four years.”I raised an eyebrow.“Four years,” she repeated. “Two children. Two! And you didn't think we needed to know?”“Nonna—”“You married my grandson again. I hugged you at that wedding. We've seen each other since, sat down and had meals together, and you still didn't say a word.”I opened my mouth.Closed it again.Because, well... what the hell was I supposed to say to that?“Mamma,” My mother in law gently int

  • Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi   a hostile takeover, strictly domestic

    I stared at my husband for another few seconds, hoping he'd tell me those cars belonged to his business associates, or maybe some other Italian family that just happened to have remarkably similar taste in vehicles.Nope.He just looked toward the entrance of our house, then reached for his phone on the center console.Oh, God.I suddenly remembered Gabby and Al.Kendra.The beach.The pic she'd sent earlier.And now several members of the Ricciardi family were apparently inside the same house as my children.I grabbed my handbag and started digging for my phone with considerably less grace than my outfit deserved this afternoon. Hopefully, Kendra had enough sense to take the kids upstairs to their rooms the moment she saw Rafael's family's cars pull in.Maybe they were still taking baths, maybe Kendra was drying Gabby's hair while Al explained why his plastic dinosaurs needed a bubble bath.Maybe.I looked at the suitcases outside the house.Fuck. Wel...I’m not so sure about that.My

  • Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi   peace was nice while it lasted

    We stopped at a red light a few minutes later.I was halfway through reading a notification from Dianna when Rafael's hand slid from my thigh to my chin, his fingers gently turning my face toward him.“El?”He didn't answer. He just leaned across the console and kissed me, his lips warm and soft against mine, with that familiar hint of pressure that always made me forget whatever I'd been about to say.I caught the faint taste of his coffee, felt his thumb brush along my jaw, and God, I hated how easily he could get to me. He wasn't even trying particularly hard, just kissing me slowly enough that I found myself leaning into him, wanting another second before he pulled away.I smiled against his mouth and grabbed the front of his shirt, keeping him close because there was no way I was letting him start something like that and then leave looking so pleased with himself.Of course, the asshole smiled against my lips.By the time he finally pulled back, I still had a fistful of his colla

  • Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi   for what it's worth

    Claire added a few more details about how special requests had been handled on the night of the event. Items arriving from vendors could be received by the production team before being forwarded to guest services, especially when they involved last-minute guest needs.Usually, that sort of thing was incredibly boring.Extra place cards.Name changes.Gift bags that needed to be moved to specific tables.Documents that had to be delivered to someone before dinner.I'd handled hundreds of similar situations over the years running GALA.None of it seemed suspicious until someone used that exact same system to send me my chilidren’s full legal names.“Does the front desk always check what's inside an envelope?” I asked.“Not if the envelope is sealed and the recipient is specifically identified,” Claire answered. “It depends on the type of request and the instructions from production.”“So they might've simply received a sealed envelope addressed to Mrs. Ricciardi and passed it along.”“T

  • Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi   Glass Mansion, Soft Monsters

    Five Years Later.“AL, STOP PULLING MY HAIR, I’M A PRINCESS!”“UGLY PRINCESS!”Something small, warm, and heavy slammed into my waist. Then something else landed on my stomach. I didn’t wake up because of an alarm, but because two tiny bodies decided I was their personal playground.“Oh God,” I ras

  • Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi   Sunlight and Divorce Papers

    I woke up because the sun slapped me in the face. White-gold light speared through the thin curtains, landing directly on my eyelids that had never volunteered to become solar panels. I blinked slowly, trying to gather the pieces of my soul scattered across the sheets.The clock on the nightstand r

  • Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi   He Never Chose Me

    “Wow,” I said at last, closing the door behind me with a soft click. “I thought you were still busy having a reunion with your ex.”His gaze dropped for a second, traveling down my body. From the thin heels, to my bare legs, to where the dress cinched at my waist, to the neckline that was bold enou

  • Second Time, Mrs. Ricciardi   Platinum Barbie

    Seven p.m., and Lake Como looked like an expensive postcard that had been photographed to death. Deep blue, almost black. Villa lights scattered messily across the water. A thin veil of fog hovering low, like a cheap Instagram filter no one bothered to turn off.From the study window facing the lak

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