Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

Elia and Domenico sat in the front. When I’d gone shopping in the past, it had
taken two or three hours tops, but with two small children, things were very
different. Eventually I gave up on having them try on the clothes and just held
the pieces in front of them, hoping they’d fit. Despite the crying fits, it was
enormous fun buying kids’ clothing. There were so many cute pieces that even
my ovaries exploded. I couldn’t wait for Cassio to see them, even if I was a bit
worried regarding his reaction to the cute overall dresses that I got for Simona.
One of them had sunflower buttons.
For Daniele I got a few sweatshirts with big brother quotes which, when I
told him what they said, made him smile a tiny bit.
Six hours, ten crying fits, three changed diapers (which proved to be
extraordinarily tricky), and ten shopping bags later, we returned home. Both
children had fallen asleep on the drive to the mansion and didn’t even wake
when we carried them inside. Simona in my arms and Daniele in Elia’s.
After we’d brought them to bed, Elia followed me back downstairs. “You
have a knack for kids.”
“Thank you,” I said. I still wasn’t entirely sure if he was being friendly… or
more. Something was definitely off.
“Loulou!” I called. A scratching sounded behind the storage room door
followed by barking. Sighing, I opened the door. Sybil must have locked her in
again. It was already much later than I’d planned. Maybe Loulou had peed inside
the house again. I needed to figure out a schedule that allowed me to take care of
the children and Loulou. I let her out in the garden, Elia always by my side. I
slanted him a curious look. “Have you been working for Cassio for long?”
“As a bodyguard? Less than a year. But I’ve been working other jobs for him
for close to ten years.”
“Did you guard Gaia too?”
Elia’s face closed off at once. He nodded toward the garden. “Is the dog
supposed to dig a hole?”
My head twisted around. “What?” Loulou was indeed digging a hole, half of
her small body disappearing in the ground already.
I rushed outside. “No! Loulou, don’t.”
She peered up then continued as if nothing had happened. I snatched her up,
grimacing when I saw how dirty she was, and now I was too.
I moved back into the house. Dirt rained down on the floor and me. Loulou’s
fur was beyond saving, that much was clear. “It’s bath time.”
To my surprise, Loulou didn’t fight me when I put her in the tub. She just
stood there and let it happen. After the bath and towel-drying her, I grabbed the
trimming scissors I’d bought and settled on the floor of the entrance hall with
Loulou in my lap. It was the room that seemed the easiest to clean. There
weren’t any rugs. At first, when I brought the scissors near her body, she
squirmed, but eventually when she realized I was trying to help her, she relaxed
and let me cut her fur. The matted fur had to make her skin itchy. When I was
done, she was half her previous size and looked impossibly adorable. “Done,” I