Page 3 of Maldives & Mistletoe

TWO

Alessa and Adriano

ALESSA

“I’m sorry, sir, but there’s something wrong with this barcode,” the woman behind the desk said, trying once again to unsuccessfully scan the ticket Adriano had printed off. “It looks like it may have been smudged a bit. If you have the email—”

Alessa could feel Adriano’s stress picking up from two feet away. It practically vibrated off her husband. All the while, she attempted to keep their two young daughters occupied and happy enough to stay quiet. But they were toddlers, so that was a failed fucking effort, too. Life had a way of playing jokes on people at the worst times.

“I don’t have the email,” Adriano muttered.

The woman behind the check-ins desk lifted a brow. “Why not?”

That was a perfectly reasonable question with a perfectly horrible answer. Because of life. And jokes. This time, the goddamn joke was on them.

“My phone made its way into the toilet this morning,” Adriano said, sighing as he scrubbed a hand down his face. “Someone thought it needed cleaning. I had already printed off the ticket, and wasn’t bringing my laptop along for this trip, so no, I don’t have the damn email.”

The woman’s gaze drifted to where Alessa stood just a couple of feet back with one toddler balanced on her waist, and another tugging on her hand because Corrine had found something shiny or pretty she liked and wanted to go get it right now. Which she kept repeating loudly. That was the thing about toddlers. They didn’t give a shit about anything. They had no concept of good or bad behavior. They only had needs and wants, and they didn’t understand the difference between the two things at all.

Sympathy stared back from the woman as Alessa shrugged as if to silently say, What can you do?

Life rarely went as planned.

Alessa had learned to plan for these things over time, but she’d dropped the ball today. Usually, she’d have the backups for everything paperwork wise just in case. But the baby had ended up having a puking fit the night before, and she’d panicked thinking they wouldn’t be able to fly the next day. All of her attention went to making sure the baby didn’t have any kind of bug, and finishing up last minute packing.

So, here they were.

Kind of screwed.

“Okay, give me a few minutes,” the woman said, taking the printed ticket from Adriano’s hand. “Leave your IDs with me, and the card used to buy the ticket. I will put all these reference numbers in, double check everything, and we’ll get you on the flight. It’s just going to take a bit more time than usual.”

Adriano let out a noise that sounded a hell of a lot like relief, but Alessa couldn’t be sure. That was the thing—when everything seemed to be going well, something was quick to jump in and laugh in their faces before it all went to shit.

Her husband turned to give her a smile as the woman got to work. Alessa winked, trying to make Adriano smile a bit. It worked, like it usually did. He reached out to stroke a hand over the downy soft hair of their youngest’s head as he came close enough to drop a kiss on the top of Alessa’s head.

“What a morning, huh?”

“It’ll get sorted. We’ll make the flight.”

Everyone else had already checked in, dropped off their bags, and went through security. They had probably gotten food, made sure all the kids were happy and settled, and were currently waiting at the gate wondering where in the hell Alessa and Adriano were at the moment.

“I can’t miss this trip,” Adriano murmured, keeping his tone low as to keep anyone else from overhearing their conversation. “I made this damn deal, Lissa.”

She held their kids tighter as he met her gaze, and the worry he was feeling reflected back in his stare. Always the youngest, she thought. Still, in his business, Adriano was the youngest made man in the Outfit who always felt a need to prove himself. Not that anyone ever went out of their way to make him feel like a rookie or some shit, but he felt that way all the time. Like he had to make sure everyone and anyone around him knew that despite his age, he still had all the capabilities and experience that mattered to make money, and get the job done.

This trip to the Maldives for Christmas was just another one of those things. Oh, sure, they were going to have fun. It was a vacation, too. They’d spend the holidays together with their friends, and business would barely touch the women and kids, if at all. Maybe in passing if someone felt like letting them know what had gone on.

But that was it.

Still, there would be business. A whole arms deal Adriano had set up himself through contacts he’d pulled together. Tommas’s effort to increase his presence in trafficking guns fell to whoever was able to pull a deal together, and get their hands on the weapons.

Theo got the weapons.

Adriano made the deal.

So yeah, he kind of had to be on that plane. He had to make it to the Maldives, and be there to speak because he was the one who made that damn deal.

Suddenly, for no particular reason, Corrine burst into howling, wailing tears next to her mother’s side. Alessa let out a loud sigh, and side-eyed her husband before trying to console their daughter.

It took the woman behind the counter another ten minutes—all the while, Corrine wailed—to finally get the tickets through.

But they came through.

“Let’s hope security doesn’t take forever,” Adriano said, scooping a still-crying Corrine into his arms. “Or we’re screwed, Lissa.”

She laughed.

Of course, security would take forever.

Life was having a good laugh at them today.