(Red’s POV)Vin knew apologizing for what happened was not enough, and without my wife in the room, he knew his team, including the three nannies who were with the children at that time, would lose their job for failing to keep sight of Katie. If Aya were not there, I would have exploded in anger, disappointed that they fell short of doing their job when there were three nannies around, and three bodyguards, keeping an eye on them. “This wasn’t the first time that this happened, Ana!” I growled, remembering how Violet escaped home without her knowing she had left her room. If not for Violet begging at that time not to fire Ana because it was her fault, not her nanny, I would have kicked her out, not caring about her sick mother.Ana lowered her head, her shoulders shaking as she cried silently with Ellen and Nessa. My twins, who had stopped wailing for fear of not finding their sister, were sitting on the couch with Ariana. My other children were with Liam and Mike, sitting at the n
(Red’s POV)I blinked, not realizing I was not moving from where I stood. Katie was like little Aya, but since she said she was Myra’s daughter, I never doubted she wasn’t the biological mother, but when I saw Gino with our daughter in his arms, I could not help thinking that my wife was lying to me.“Red,” Mike nudged me. “They found your daughter. Are you just going to stand here?” When I looked at him, he scoffed. “I know that look, Red. Now’s just not the best time.” He stepped toward Aya.“Mommy,” Katie hiccupped as she stopped crying and clung to her mother when Gino gave the child to her.A few of our guests, especially older women, were in tears seeing that touching moment of a mother and child reunited. Aya cried silently, planting tiny kisses on our daughter, hugging her while she kept saying thanks to the man who found her.Brushing off my suspicions, I walked toward them, and when Katie saw me, she cried again, extending her arm and reaching for me.I took Katie from Aya,
(Red’s POV)“Oh!” Ariana exclaimed as she closed the door behind her. “You just came back now? Aya’s been waiting for you for hours.”“Did the kids have lunch already?” My hands were on the doorknob when I asked her.“Red,” she rolled her eyes and then glanced at her wristwatch. “It’s past four. The kids fell asleep after devouring the donuts Addie and Leslie brought earlier.”“Where are they?” I asked again, clearing my throat. “I mean Addie and Leslie.”“They went to Wilma to help her with the barbeque and check if we still needed something else. Ned’s just arrived with his cousins. Liam and Mike are at the bar for our drinks later,” she sighed and looked briefly at the closed door.“Aya?”She rolled her again. “Why don’t you check her yourself, Red? Aya’s too upset, and you know what upsets her? She kept on telling me that if she had been there watching the kids, this wouldn’t happen.” She sighed. “I don’t want to feel guilty, but guilt is now killing me because it was my silly ide
(Red’s POV)“I was hoping to sneak into your room last night to sleep in mom’s bedroom, and I think you left the door slightly open. I saw you sitting on the bed, watching daddy crying in his sleep, calling my mother.” She lowered her head. “She’s my mom, and I miss her, too.” When she raised her head, her eyes glimmered with tears.Aya pressed her lips as she blinked and looked at the ceiling. When she looked at Violet, she forced a smile. “It’s okay to miss her, Violet. She’s your mom. Remember when I told you I also miss my mom?”Violet nodded.“I envy you because you can watch old videos to hear her voice again when you miss her. I only have pictures of my mom,” she shared. “Don’t tell daddy about last night, okay? I want him to think I’m okay.”“Even if you’re not okay?” She blinked her eyes once.I clenched my teeth and fists, hating myself for hurting Aya’s feelings and thinking everything was okay.“Yes,” Aya answered.“But why? He should know you’re not okay. He always tells
(Red’s POV)The squealing and giggling of my six children on the shore were such delightful sounds, and as I watched them playing in the water with their mother, I could not stop thinking about this feeling. Perhaps Violet was right that coming here was a bad idea. Aya and I were happy and had finally made our baby steps toward moving on. Listening to their conversation a while ago made me realize that my anger was a result of jealousy, envy, the thought of being cheated, and fear of losing Aya. My mind agreed with Mike, and I knew that from the very beginning, I snatched her chance to be happy, to have the future she wanted. With Aya crossing paths with Gino again, her first love, and the possibility that he could be Katie’s father, meant a deep connection between them. It hurt my ego that while she was too scared that she had lost her daughter, I did nothing but order my security details to look for Katie, sit and wait while he was outside, giving his time and doing everything he c
(Red’s POV)“You’re worried for nothing,” Mike muttered, handing me a glass of whiskey.I took a sip of the liquor, looking in the same direction as Mike’s. He chuckled as he watched the kids sitting on the sand, surrounding their mother. Despite having Addie and Leslie around, Katie clung to her mother, sitting on her lap as she talked to her while playing with the mermaid doll.“I already talked to Miles,” he sipped his whiskey before tilting his head to look at me. “You still want to look into her files? As I said, you can just ask Aya.”I heaved a sigh and nodded. “It’s likely she won’t talk about it, Mike.”“And what will you do when you find out he’s the father?” He asked, looking at Aya again.“I don’t know yet, but I’ll make sure he won’t take Katie from us,” I said, glancing at Gino, who was talking to the resort staff like he was requesting something. We all cringed when Ned’s microphone screeched after it picked up a sound from their speaker. He chuckled, taking the mic aw
(Red’s POV)“Where are the kids?” Aya’s eyes were wide as she turned to me. I could tell she was worried when she saw the kids’ bedrooms empty.“Violet wanted to sleep in Ariana’s room, the triplets stayed with Addie and Leslie, and the boys were with the boys,” I answered. “We’re alone.” I waggled my eyebrows.Her lips curved into a naughty smile. “Alone?”I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me. “Yes, baby. Alone.” I brushed my lips to hers. “We have the whole room to ourselves.” I slid my hands under her shirt, grazing her smooth skin until I found her perfect mounds.She smiled nervously, gasping and closing her eyes but startling me when she caught my hands, stopping me.“Why?” My heart pounded, thinking she had changed her mind after having that short conversation with Gino.She raised her eyebrows, gliding her hands down but stopping at the waistband of my shorts. “Why are you hiding, Red?”I furrowed my forehead, narrowing my eyes for a second. “Hiding?
(Aya’s POV)It was a ‘pee excuse’ to stay away from Gino’s gaze while we were at the beach. I was hoping to send Addie and Leslie a message and ask a favor to bring the kids to our room because I could not bear being in the same area with Gino. If I were to ask, I did not want to join the party. I only wanted to be with Red and the kids, but as Ariana said, I had to be there to show at least my appreciation that he found my daughter.While he was singing earlier with Ned and Carlo, I almost ran to them to strangle him, hating that he had the guts to sing that song, and locked his eyes on me. If my children were not around, I would have picked up a handful of sand and thrown it on his face. I expected Gino to follow me, but I did not anticipate seeing my husband sauntering like a deer on the sandy beach and hiding in the bush. Seeing Katie in Gino’s arms earlier also surprised Addie and me. Especially me! Seeing my daughter’s resemblance to him, I was not ruling out the possibility t