Ailee rubbed the sweat on her forehead from the back of her hand and fell backwards.
"Ahhhhhh"
She turned to her side and looked at Doodles and his father holding him in one hand while clearing up the mess made by her and little Doody from the other.
Smiling, she made grabby hands for him, purely to tease his already grumpy mood.
He left her alone in the bed early this morning and has been on endless video conferences since then even though he doesn't speak and just text yes or no to his secretary who is physically present there.
So she snatched the document from his hand and pulled him out in his garden.
She made him babysit Doodle while she planted some flowers and pulled out weeds and he of course grunted and almost carried her inside for taking too long in the mud.
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
She laughed quietly, thinking she succeeded in teasing him.
But he started walking towards her with an indifferent expression and very effortlessly picked her entire being with just one hand.
She squealed and clutched onto him tightly like a koala.
"Zai! I- I was just kidding" she said, all flustered.
"Mhmm but I'm not" he walked with her wrapped around him on one side while Doodle on the other.
"You can put me down, I know you're a big strong man" she tried again.
He didn't respond and kept walking.
" I'll break my leg if I fall, you're like Burj Khalifa" she whined, cupping his face in her palms.
"I won't let you fall"
Reaching inside he gently put them down outside the bathroom.
"Go and shower first" he said and pecked her lips.
"Can you order pizza till then?" She asked with a toothy smile and he nodded.
Immediately after placing the order, he got back to his work and wrapped it up properly because if she saw him again with some papers in his hands she'll whoop his ass.
Not that he would mind that either.
He flipped through the pages of the file while Doodles played around his feet with his toy ball that had treats stuck in its parts.
The doorbell rang, alerting him. He checked his watch and raised an eyebrow.
Nevertheless, he walked down leisurely and checked the camera screen of his door on the living room wall to get surprised.
He went and opened the door and was immediately engulfed in a hug.
"My brotha I missed you," Luka said with a sigh.
"You don't know how much my woman here tortured me but you never replied to my texts and never helped me out"
" I picked up your calls," Xavier replied flatly.
" Yeah because we are only allowed to call you when we are about to die so naturally you'd pick them up" He whined like he always does and earned a smack from Amara who was standing right behind him.
"What woman? You literally made me stay there a whole ass week extra and for what?" He said but when she frowned he pulled her in a side hug.
" It's okay I'll ask you to do the same and we'll be even, okay" he kissed her head.
By the time their attention went back to Xavier he wasn't there. He had far more important things to do than to stand at his doorstep and listen to someone else's lovey dovey shit.
" Where- well at least he didn't shut the door. That's an improvement" Luka said and shook his head with a smile.
"Or maybe I'm accompanying you, that's why?" Amara said knowing all too well that she is indeed right.
"Ahemm let's go before he actually locks us outside"
They walked in together but found no one.
"Where'd he go?" She asked Luka.
"He'll be back. Must be busy" he made her sit on the couch and served her water.
"I basically own this house so I don't mind becoming your host tonight"
"Hmm I know how you used to stay here all day and almost everyday"
" Why do you know this? I never told-"
" Luka? " Ailee asked meekly, coming out of the bathroom in a fresh pair of clothes.
"Oh? Hi little sunshine, I didn't expect you here.... or maybe I did?" He asked himself.
Amara smacked him again and Ailee giggled.
" Yeah I came to stay here for a few days" she said and looked at Amara shyly.
" Well that's great then, I brought a VVIP person to meet you. It would have been a hustle to get you two very busy ladies meet up"
Amara smiled and moved towards a shy Lily at the far end of the room.
" Hey sweetie, I finally got to see you. You're so beautiful" she gushed and lightly pinched her cheek.
" It's nice to meet you too and you look pretty too" she replied kindly.
"Luka talked about you a few times and so did Romano. I badly wanted to see what kind of a person would affect him like that"
She blushed and looked down while Amara laughed at her adorable red face.
" You guys talk I'mma go and check on the boss"
They both nodded and headed to the kitchen while Luka ran upstairs to the office.
"Knock knock sir" he said without actually knocking.
" Co-" He couldn't even complete the word and Luka was already inside.
" Why did you leave us alone?" He plopped down on the couch and picked up the newspaper.
"I'm busy"
Doodles came barking at him from behind the desk and Luka jumped from the fright before kneeling down to pick him up.
"Aw baby baby, don't tell me you forgot about me already?" He rubbed his belly.
" You were with me for days and I was so much better than your father, right?" Xavier scoffed at this and Luka looked at him with a frown.
"Your girlfriend's here and you're doing paperwork? " he mimicked his scoffing.
This got Xavier's attention. He put down the pen and paper and looked at him.
" You met her?"
" Yeah I didn't know she was here"
He nodded and started arranging everything in its place to go and join her when they heard the doorbell ring again.
"Come on" he said and went out first.
As they got closer to the girls the voices got louder. They were talking to someone at the door- well Amara was while Ailee stood beside her quietly.
With furrowed eyebrows and hurried steps he pulled Ailee behind him to reveal his favorite brother standing at the door with a scowl.
"Why the fuck are you here?" He said calmly.
"I had business to discuss" He shrugged.
"I have a whole entire building for that purpose" He said and crossed his arms.
"Well I am an impatient man"
Xavier shut the door on his face without replying.
Why is everyone conversing on his doorstep today?
It rang again and again and again.
He pressed the button to call the guards but Luka put his hand on his arm and stopped him.
"Let's go outside and talk it out, yeah? Maybe it's actually important."
" I don't care"
" Romano you know how the times are like these days. You shouldn't overlook anything"
He clenched his jaw and nodded.
" Baby, stay with Amara, I'll be back" He pecked her forehead and gave a nod to Amara before turning around.
" Stay calm and safe" She whispered but he heard her clearly and nodded again while continuing to walk out.
She sighed deeply and went up to their bedroom with Amara where they could see them now sitting in the gazebo.
"You know Romano is more than capable of taking care of himself, right?" She asked amused at her worry for one of the most notorious leaders in the world like Xavier Romano who can easily plant a bullet in anyone's head for even blinking in a wrong way in his presence.
"I know but like others he doesn't show his hurt to anyone which worries me"
" Hmm you're right and obviously you know him better so I won't say anything" she smiled softly and turned towards the window.
They looked to be in a serious conversation and you can tell it by the serious expression of someone like Luka.
At one point, Igor stood up in rage and Ailee gasped expecting violence and hugged Doodles tightly to her chest but Luka pushed him down on the seat and they got back to talking like humans.
It was maybe fifteen or twenty minutes later when Igor left but Xavier and Luka stayed back for another ten minutes to discuss something.
"Let's go downstairs now" Amara suggested and she nodded.
They went to the living room and settled there. Amara tried to engage her in small conversations and it seemed like it was working by the length of her answers. At first she would simply nod or say a few words but now she was elaborating it more.
"Does he give you a hard time?" Amara asked with a smile.
"No actually, everyone gets shocked when they come to know about us but he is really very good. It's like he knows what I want every time."
" Yeah? I can understand why everyone thinks like that because I know him just as much as anyone. He was so against me being with Luka at first, he thought I was not honest and whatnot. I'm still so scared of him." She shivered at the thought of her early days in the relationship.
" Oh " she giggled at her expressions.
"He has never scared me though, instead he's always caring and sweet around me since day one that I find it all so hard to believe." she said with a dreamy look on her face without knowing that Xavier was standing behind the couch with Luka who was dancing listening to the unbelievable fantasies about his friend.
Then the doorbell rang.
Again.
"Fucking hell" Xavier muttered under his breath not liking how his moment was interrupted.
Luka laughed over dramatically and slapped his arm but one glare of love from Xavier and he stood straight and excused himself to get the door.
He sighed and followed him out.
"Thank you for ordering sir. I'm so sorry your house is a little too deep in uh- " He stuttered looking at Xavier but he just took the pizza boxes and shut the door.
" Oh- what- what did he do now?" Luka asked, baffled.
"One more person talking to me at the door and I would burn this whole fucking place down for fuck's sake" He grumbled and put the boxes on the counter.
Ailee ran up to him and intertwined their arms before saying quietly,
" Pizzas arrived, yay"
He nodded and opened them for her to see.
"Come now" he said and they shared both the pizzas while laughing and discussing various topics minus the participation of Xavier.
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