Page 149 of Heart of a Villain

Sayeda, sighing, pushed back from the coffee table, where she and Thandie had set up the laptop. There she was, looking at house plans, with Adrían, when Thandie had brought up a good point. When was this man going to ask her to marry him? Did he think that she would let him marry someone else without her causing a fuss? Because she would cause a fuss. A whole boatload of fuss.

“Are you okay, Auntie?” Thandie asked.

She gave Thandie a smile she hoped didn’t look as weary as she felt. “Can you go upstairs and grab Deiro for me, sweetie?”

Thandie hopped up and raced toward the stairs. Sayeda looked over her shoulder to find Ty and Theo playing some game on the floor that had them lying side by side, slapping the soles of their feet against the wooden planks, and yelling.

Adrían whistled.

Their feet stopped midair.

“Who wants pizza?” he asked.

Twenty minutes later, they were all seated around the dinner table, munching on slices of cheese pizza. Tiare stared at the slices, smacking her lips, and darted forward a few times as if she hadn’t finished a bottle only moments ago. Quite possibly, chewing on Deiro’s ear wasn’t as appetizing as stringy cheese and flavorful sauce.

After dinner, she and Adrían switched.

The boys helped her clean up the kitchen while he took over with Tiare. After clean-up, she monitored Theo’s bath and gave Ty a bath. For all the ruckus they’d made, the biggest reward they gave her was that they fell asleep as soon as their heads touched their pillows.

She returned downstairs to find Thandie perched on her knees, on the sofa cushion, next to Adrían, who was making Tiare peal and bubble with laughter. She stood watching them for a while, the overwhelming realization that she wanted a family with Adrían taking a baseball bat to her skull.

If only he would propose.

Why wouldn’t he propose?

He had to be planning something.

This was Adrían Delgano.

“Thandie, sweetheart?” Sayeda called. “Shower, brush your teeth, floss, and then bedtime.”

Thandie gave Adrían a hug and kissed the tip of Tiare’s nose. Then she walked over, and Sayeda squeezed her, planting kisses on her cheekbones and jawline.

“Good night, Auntie, and good night, Adrían,” Thandie said, headed for the stairs. “I love you.”

She and Adrían answered in unison: “I love you too.”

“Miss Tiare, are you still chewing on that ear?” Sayeda asked, taking a seat next to Adrían. “Hi, sweet pea. You love Deiro, don’t you?”

“There’s something in him, I think.” Adrían pressed what would have been Deiro’s midsection. “I don’t remember if he was supposed to have a mic, but there’s something in here.”

Sayeda gently removed the bear from Tiare’s grasp. As Tiare went to whine, Adrían raised her up in the air, babbling and lifting and lowering her. Sayeda had to literally tear her attention away from them to inspect the stuffed Brazilian bear.

“Yeah, there’s something in there.”

“Did you pick a house, by the way?” he asked.

She searched Deiro’s back for a switch. “I was thinking about putting a pause on that.”

“Because of the restaurant?”

“Because I’m wondering if we should just build an owner’s suite on the ground level at this house,” she said. “Oh, and I’m not shacking up with you, mister.”

He blew a raspberry against Tiare’s cheek. “What is ‘shacking up’? What does that mean?”

“Living in sin. Living together unmarried.”

“But isn’t that what we’re doing right n—oh, she got me.” He brought Tiare back down to his leg, one eye closed. “A dollop of drool right to the whites.”

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