Chapter 2

“Nooo. I dun wanna –yawn– wake up…” Michael whined, climbing off the bed he shared with his brothers.

“Sorry, dear, but we’ve got to go.” I lifted Nathan, still asleep, and put him against my chest, placing his head on my shoulder. Waking him up was as hopeless as telling a whale to fly.

When Nathan was out, he was out. And not even an earthquake mixed with nuclear bombing could wake him up.

“Where are we going, Mama?” Leon asked, standing by my side, wide awake.

Unlike his younger brothers, even a pin dropping could wake him up. Michael was between his brothers, both in birth and intensity of sleep.

“To your new home.” I replied, grabbing Michael’s hand.

“Whyyy?” he pouted, rubbing his eyes. “I wanna sleep.”

“I promise you’ll sleep when you’re in the car. Let’s go.”

Leon held his brother’s hand, and we walked out of the room.

The steps we took to the living room were deliberately slow, and I prayed under my breath that Dante had gotten bored and gone away forever.

Fate was never on my side, as he was still there, leaning against the wall, tapping his phone.

He lifted his eyes and met mine, and I wanted to run. Jump on the next plane to France with my kids and leave L.A forever.

But I couldn’t. I barely have enough money to afford a travel ticket for just me. And I doubt there was anywhere I could go where he wouldn’t find me.

He had the time, the money, and the people to do anything he wished.

And rumours said he wasn’t forgiving of those who crossed him.

Dante’s eyes trailed from the little boy I was carrying to the ones peaking at him from behind my legs.

He walked towards us, and Leon and Michael hid more behind me, though they didn’t stop ogling at him. They were scared and curious about him.

Dante knew it too, his lined lips curled into a small scowl.

“Let’s go.” He growled and stamped out the door.

‘You can do this, Olly. I took a deep breath. You have to.’

~~

The tension in the limo was thicker than jelly. Nathan was still fast asleep against me. Leon sat by my side like a soldier, never taking his eyes off Dante since he saw him.

Michael, my sweet Michael, was in his own world. After ooing and ahing at the limo, which he termed ‘caterpillar car’, he helped himself to a bowl of yoghurt at the snack bar. I wanted to protest, but Dante stopped me.

Speaking of Dante, he just stared at me.

His sons, the reason he had come to me, were in his presence yet, but his entire focus was on me. Shamelessly, if I should add.

I avoided his intense gaze. It brought back memories. Lot of memories I always wanted to forget. Clear bad ones… fuzzy erotic ones.

The night we spent together was hot, blurry, and magical. I remembered the passion, the lust, his kisses, his hands exploring my body, him buried inside me… but I didn’t remember when or how I met him.

I didn’t even know who he was, and I didn’t wait to find out when I woke up by his side. I panicked, I fled, and I hoped no one ever found out. The next few days proved me wrong.

I found out I slept with Dante Romero in the worst possible way.

Pictures of our night together were leaked on the internet, fanning the flames of the already controversial trend surrounding Dante’s breakup with angelic singer and actress Laura Kingsley a week before their wedding.

The following days were chaotic. Nasty headlines were all over the place, I lost my job for sleeping with a customer, and paparazzi were chasing me like crazy.

Everything was driving me mad. The comments, the looks, the whispers…

And the next time I met Dante, he literally kidnapped me from the street. He asked which of his enemies paid me to set him up.

I was the one caught in a battle I knew nothing about, yet I was blamed for everything.

In the midst of the drama and madness, I found out I was pregnant. And it scared me. I feared what would happen if anyone found out. So I fled, left everything behind, and hid in Paris to raise my boys.

Five years later, I moved back to L.A, thinking it was all behind me and wanting to live a simple life.

Fate was cruel to bring up the past and even crueller to drag my sons into it.

“Who is he, Mama?” Leon’s question broke me out of my thoughts.

His eyes were on me. Sapphire blue eyes, like his siblings, like their father.

He’s the man who threatened to steal you three from me. I wanted to say but held my tongue.

“He’s your father.” The words burned my mouth like acid, but I wore an optimistic smile.

Leon turned back to Dante and frowned. “I don’t like him.”

“Leon!” I gasped at how blunt he was. Leon wasn’t the friendliest of my sons, but he was never this brutal. He was a sweet, quiet boy who had no problem with anyone. But this…

“Don’t say that.”

“But I don’t like him.” He insisted.

Sometimes the unbridled tongue of a toddler was more of a pain than a blessing.

A quick glance at Dante, and I almost cussed. His face was colder and darker than I had ever seen.

“I do, he has a fine car,” Michael piped, shoving yoghurt into his mouth.

I almost face palmed. Michael never failed to be Michael.

“Why don’t you like me?” Dante asked, turning his attention to Leon.

“Maybe because he thinks you’re scaring Mama.” Michael snickered and downed another spoonful.

‘Eh?!’ My eyes widened, and I gaped at him. How the heck did he jump to that conclusion?

“Is that so?” Dante mused.

“I’m not scared.” I shot at him. Which was a lie. I was terrified of the man, but I couldn’t let my sons or him think that.

“Mama isn’t scared, ok?” I stroked Michael’s curly hair, the same colour I and his brother had.

“Why do you think I’m scaring your mom?”

I gave Dante a ‘dude, are you seriously doing this?’ but he ignored me and focused on Michael, who was tapping his head with his pointer finger.

“Umm… I think it’s because your face is hard and… and… you’re looking at her like this…”

Michael scrunched his face in a funny way and glared at Dante.

Laughter bubbled in my chest when I realised he was trying to mimic Dante’s facial expression.

Dante seemed to find this amusing too. His face was still stony, but his eyes were warmer.

“If you smile like this…” Michael gave an adorable grin, showing his full set of milk teeth. “I’m sure Mama wouldn’t be scared any more.”

“Is that so?”

“Uh-huh. Mama loves smiles. And patting our heads!” Michael rubbed his head, almost dropping the empty bowl of yoghurt that sat on his lap. “And hugs! Big, wide hugs. And kisses, lots of kisses, all over our faces.”

“Kisses…” Dante hummed. “I’ll be sure to remember that.”

If his words weren’t enough to turn me tomato red, the half-lidded look he gave me was.

Knowing… teasing… sultry.

Why did my son decide to sell me out like this?

“Enough talking, you need sleep.” I picked up a napkin from the snack bar, holding the still-sleeping Nathan and avoiding Dante’s gaze.

“Noooo, I dun wannaaa.” Michael whined as I wiped the yoghurt smear on his lips. “More yougorthhhh.”

“Ye–“

“We’re here.”

Dante said, and I looked through the tinted window. My mouth formed an ‘o’ as a large mansion came into view.

Two words: fancy and gorgeous.

~

“Whoaaaaa,” Michael and Leon chorused as we stepped out of the car and stood in front of Dante’s home.

It was a fricken mansion—a fricken large, intimidating mansion.

The exquisite modern building was gold and white, with no other colour. In the dark, the white lighting made it stand out in a glowing and mesmerising way. It sat in the middle of a large expanse of land filled with trees and flowers.

“The house is huge—no gegantic, no himungous. Like a mountain. “ Michael screamed, bouncing on his feet.

“Is that a swimming pool?!” Leon gawked and gave me puppy-dog eyes. “Is this really our new house, Mama?”

I turned to Dante, waiting for his permission to say yes or no, because I really didn’t know what to say. He nodded.

“Yes.” I muttered, and they squealed.

“Awesome, I love it.” Michael jumped, his dimples showing on his chubby cheeks.

“Let’s go in.” Dante said, walking towards his house. Michael skipped behind him, dragging his brother along.

“Ok,” I mumbled, adjusting Nathan, still sleeping against my chest, and following him. My eyes were on my children, making sure they didn’t run off.

‘No need to be nervous, Olly. It’s just a house. A really big, million-dollar house.’ I thought as we walked towards the large automatic door.

Jitters ran through me. I knew Dante was filthy rich, but seeing his wealth face-to-face was nerve-wracking.

‘So I’m going to be living here with my sons… and Dante. Oh sheep! I’m going to be living under the same roof as Dante?!’ I shivered, thinking of all the times I would be forced to interact with him.

‘It’s okay. I would just avoid him. It’s a big house, and he probably spends his time at work, right? I, Olivia Millers, would make sure I avoided every contact with Dante Romero at all times.’