I woke up to the smell of maple syrup and the sound of someone hitting a high note that definitely shouldn't have been hit at eight in the morning.
I groaned, burying my face back into Keifer's chest. He was like a human furnace, smelling of expensive soap and that addictive scent that was just him. I felt his chest rumble as he let out a low, annoyed growl.
I'm going to liquidate their trust funds," my hubby muttered, his voice gravelly and thick with sleep.
"Don't, babe," I giggled, though I was just as annoyed. "If they're broke, they'll move in here permanently."
That thought seemed to terrify him. Keifer sat up, his hair a mess—which was the only time he didn't look like a terrifying CEO—and threw on his silk robe. I didn't want to be left behind, so I grabbed one of his white button-down shirts from the chair. It was huge on me, the sleeves hanging past my fingertips, but it felt safe.
The Balcony View
We walked out to the internal balcony that looked down into the foyer. I leaned over the gold railing and nearly choked on my own spit.
Kit was wearing a neon pink apron over his designer suit, holding a spatula like a weapon. Moya was trying to balance five boxes of pizza on his head (why was there pizza at breakfast?), and C in was literally
dragging a professional karaoke machine across my mother-in-law's favorite Persian rug.
"IS THERE A REASON MY FRONT DOOR IS UNLOCKED?" Keifer roared.
The chaos froze. Downstairs, ten heads snapped up.
"Oh, look!" Kit yelled, waving his spatula. "The legend awakens! Hey, weify! You look like you've seen a ghost. Or was Keifer just being a 'Monster' again?"
The "Ooooohs" started immediately. Denzel and Calix started whistling, while Felix made a heart shape with his hands.
"Go away!" I yelled, laughing as I tried to hide behind Keifer's arm.
"Not a chance!" Moya shouted. "We brought breakfast! And by 'brought,' I mean we kidnapped a chef from a five-star hotel and made him flip pancakes in the back of a van!"
The Descent into Madness
Keifer led me down the stairs, his hand firmly on the small of my back. The second my feet hit the marble, I was swamped.
"Group hug!" Kit screamed, dropping his spatula.
"No group hugs! She's healing!" Keifer barked, stepping in front of me like a giant wall.
"Oh, please, babe," C in said, rolling his eyes at Keifer. "We saw the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door. It was on for so long that Erdix thought the electronic lock had malfunctioned and was about to hack it to make sure you hadn't accidentally smothered her."
"I did not!" Erdix yelled from behind his laptop, though his face was bright red. "I just said the power consumption in this room was... significantly higher than usual."
I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me. "You guys are literally the worst. Hubby, why are we friends with them?"
"Because they're too rich to jail," Keifer sighed, though I saw his lips twitch.
The Breakfast Interrogation
They dragged us to the long dining table. Kit piled my plate so high with chocolate chips and whipped cream that I couldn't even see the pancake..
"So, honey," Moya said, leaning in with a gossipy look. "We need the details. Not the dirty details—Keifer would kill us—but like, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much did he cry when he found you? I bet he cried. I bet he did the whole 'dramatic movie run' through the mansion."
"I did not cry," Keifer said, stabbing a sausage with terrifying precision.
"He totally cried," I whispered to Moya.
"I KNEW IT!" Keiran yelled from the other end of the table, high-fiving Keigan. "I told you! The 'Monster' has a soft spot for his baby."
"I didn't cry," Keifer repeated, his eyes narrowing. "I had dust in my eyes from the door I kicked down."
"Sure, babe," Kit patted Keifer's hand
condescendingly. "And I'm the 5th richest person in the world. Oh wait, that was Yuri. Now that he's broke, I think I actually am move up a spot. Thanks for the promotion, Jay-jay!"
Karaoke and Chaos
Before I could even finish a bite, C in turned on the karaoke machine. A loud, upbeat pop song blasted through the house.
"This is for Jay!" C in grabbed the mic. "To celebrate her return from the land of red-haired weirdos!"
He started singing—badly. It was off-key, loud, and he kept changing the lyrics to be about me and Keifer. David joined in, using a breadstick as a second microphone.
I looked at Keifer. He was rubbing his temples, but when he looked at me, the corners of his eyes crinkled. In the middle of the noise, the bad singing, and the smell of too much syrup, I realized I wasn't thinking about Japan anymore. I wasn't thinking about the cell or the knife.
I was too busy trying to stop Moya from putting a pancake on the dog's head.
"Hey, weify," Keifer whispered, leaning close to my ear so only I could hear.
"Yeah, babe?"
"If I give them a million dollars each, do you think they'll leave for an hour so I can kiss you properly?"
I laughed, leaning my head on his shoulder. "Probably not. They'd just use the money to buy a louder speaker."
.