Proserpina
Lucien? I asked myself.
Had he brought me roses? ???
Swallowing hard, I stood, inhaling the heady fragrance.
Where was he, the man I loved?
I dashed out of the room, clutching my bathrobe. There were more roses placed in baskets in the corridor, and I felt my heart swell. The lights coming from the kitchen made me race over. But the only people there were Beatrice who was cuddling Baby Claude. My youngest son was awake and blinking disarmingly at the world in general. Along with the old housekeeper were the two maids who took care of the twins. Ria and Piers sat at the small table, having ice cream from enormous bowls.
Watching them, anyone would think they had been starved! I thought drily.
They all turned to look at me, and I felt a blush stealing over my face.
"Where...Ummm... Lucien, I mean your Pappa, is he... I mean, where is he?"
Beatrice exchanged a knowing smirk with the maids as she stood up and waddled over to me. She beamed as she said,
"The Boss had come by a few hours ago. He woke the little ones, they were so happy. But when he came to see you, you were fast asleep."
Ria scrambled down from her chair and skipped across, ice-cream smeared across her chin. Licking her spoon, she said cheerfully,
"Mumma, you were snoring!" and she broke down in a paroxysm of giggles.
I felt my face flame as she went on cheekily,
"Pappa, me and Piers laughed, but Pappa said we should not disturb you."
And then, hopping from foot to foot she went on excitedly,
"Did you like the roses, Mumma?"
I grinned idiotically as I nodded my head.
Piers had come forward too and he added, smiling shyly,
"Pappa said there are five hundred roses. But we did not count."
And he nodded sagely as he said,
"Pappa wanted more red roses but that was all he could get."
I nodded, wordlessly, my throat choking up with emotion.
Once, a very long time ago, when I had been his mistress, I had confided in Lucien that I loved roses. He had grunted but that was all. I had not realised that Lucien Delano had remembered that remark!
Now I nodded, sinking to my knees and hugging my children, hiding my face in Ria's soft hair. I was blinded by tears by my lover's gesture.
"What is wrong Mumma?" shrieked Ria in alarm.
"Maybe she did not like the roses," said Piers, stiffly. The twins looked so disappointed that I held them to me, shaking my head fiercely as I laughed tremulously.
"No, my darlings, I loved them. But where is Pappa?"
Ria's mouth turned down. "He had to go. He'll be back tomorrow, he said."
She dabbed at her chin as she went on,
"And he asked us to give you this."
She fished out a crumpled, ice-cream-stained note from her pajama pocket and handed it to me.
I unfolded it and felt myself turn pink as I turned away to read the crisp one-liner.
"The car will pick you up after the children are asleep. I am waiting."
I stood and picked up Claude.
Nuzzling his baby head, I thought for a while. My body was on fire to meet my man. It had been a long time and I wanted to tell him that I was prepared to take him back.
I dimpled.
It sounded so fierce but in reality, just one look from those cool grey eyes would make me come undone.
The truth was, I could not live without my overbearing Alpha, the dominating Mafia Don I had married.
"Alright, kids. Party's over. Time for bed." I said and hauled them off to sleep, with some protests. They wanted to know what The Secret Note was all about but I silenced them by pulling out the latest storybooks of The Wandering Green Frog which Lucien had thoughtfully bought for them.
Once the storytelling was done and they were dozing off, I left the room.
Beatrice would take care of Claude, she assured me. As for me, I had something important to do.
For the first time in my life with Lucien, I was going on a proper date.
A date with my husband, the father of my three children.
I was like a girl going out on a date with her lover for the very first time. I dressed with care, choosing a black structured top, a spaghetti strap V-neck bustier corset top. It was sleeveless and slim-fitting, hugging my waist which had shrunk to normal after my delivery. The bustier only enhanced my large breasts. The central single-row clasps, the stretchy material, added to the comfort factor. And the come hither look.
To complete my look, I choose to wear a trench coat and white jeans with shiny stilettos. I put up my hair in a messy bun at first and then, remembering how my lover used to run his hands through my hair while we made love, I let it down to fall in soft deep brown waves till my waist.
Smoky eye makeup and deep red lipstick completed my look. The mature woman who stared back at me looked as though she was going for a rendezvous with a lover and I smiled. The jeans hugged my rounded ass, clinging to my hips, The trench coat did not disguise the voluptuousness of my large breasts, and I blushed.
I looked like a siren.
Turning away quickly, before I changed my mind and slipped into my baggy pants and T, I left the house.
I had expressed myself and knew that Baby Claude would be fed even if he came awake before I returned.
***
Lucien
Lucien stood, rocking back and forth on his heels, standing on the porch of the lake house that Schwartz had gifted them months ago on that terrible day when he had shot Shark. The thought of how his best friend had betrayed him and tried to kill him still haunted Lucien. But on this occasion, as he stood, staring out through the window at the inky surface of the lake, he was thinking of his Woman.
He wanted nothing more than to hold her, to apologise for his childish behaviour.
Beston had reported that she had left the house. Lucien paced impatiently, waiting for her to arrive.
Where the f*ck was she, he thought, frowning.
What could be keeping her?