50. CHAPTER 47 #3
He looked at the envelope, then at the box overflowing with gold-rimmed pens, gold plated coasters, fancy-looking salt shakers, silk-tasseled room keys, and enough high-end stationery to stock a small embassy.
“What is this?” he asked, lifting a fountain pen from the George V. He turned it over in his large, dark hand, a look of pure, baffled amusement on his face. “Are you... are you running a boutique hotel out of my house, wife?”
I leaned against the doorframe, my face heating up. “It’s—” My mind went through phrases that could fit. “It’s a collection.”
“It’s a heist,” he mused, his chest shaking with subtle laughter as he pulled out a notepad from a hotel in Milan we’d visited two months ago. He flipped it open to find a very detailed, very unflattering caricature of his lead structural engineer. “And apparently, it’s also a burn book.”
Lifting the notepad closer to his face. “Is this Jason?” He winced at one of the sketches.
I held onto my growing bump, walked over and tried to snatch the notepad, but he held it high above his head, his eyes dancing with a light that signaled his was enjoying this far too much.
“I like this one,” he said, pointing to a drawing of a particularly grumpy board member with steam coming out of his ears. “Very accurate.” He teased. “But Léa... you live in a house with a literal library. I can buy you a thousand pens."
“It’s not the same,” I replied, reaching for the notepad.
“These have character. They’ve seen things.
” I was standing so close to him, on my toes but could barely reach his hand.
” And besides, it’s a thrill. You’re distracted by a boring event, and I’m busy making sure the Kade name gets its money’s worth in stationery. ”
Orion finally dropped the notepad back into the box and pulled me into his arms, his laugh finally breaking free in a warm, genuine sound that filled the studio. I buried my face in his neck, laughing with him.
“You're telling me I married...,” he drawled, kissing the tip of my nose. “A subway-riding, sweet-eating, stationery-thieving menace.”
“Yes,” I teased, looping my arms around his neck, “you love it, don’t you?”
“I do,” he admitted, his gaze softening as he tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “I love every chaotic, un-Kade inch of you.”
Orion looked back at the box of heisted hotel supplies, then back at me, the corners of his eyes crinkling.
“I’m going to have to start checking your purse every time we leave a five-star establishment,” he deadpanned, his hands resting on my hips. “God knows what else you’ve tucked away.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, trying and failing to look innocent. “I’m very discreet.”
“Discreet?” He scoffed gently, pulling me closer. “You’re a menace, Léa. A beautiful, stationery-thieving menace. But I have a feeling this isn't your biggest crime.”
I tilted my head, smiling. “Oh? And what’s the biggest?”
His gaze intensified, the playfulness giving way to that deep tenderness that always made my breath hitch. He reached up, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw with a reverence that sent a shiver down my spine.
“A heart, Léa,” he whispered, his voice dropping into a smooth, private register. “You made off with mine months ago.”
The moment stripped everything else away, leaving only an unguarded, naked honesty between us. His thumb stilled on my jaw as if he was afraid he’d said too much, but he didn’t look away.
“I went into this looking for an alliance,” he went on, more tender now," and you walked away with the whole foundation. "I didn’t even notice the theft until it was too late to call for security.”
Heat coursed through me at the sheer weight of his words. I looped my arms tighter around his neck, my heart doing a sluggish, happy roll in my chest.
“Well,” I quipped, my voice a bit breathless, “in my defense, you weren’t exactly using it. It was just sitting there in that big, empty fortress, gathering dust. I thought it deserved a better home.”
Orion let out a genuine laugh, his lips finding mine in a tender kiss.
“I suppose it did,” he admitted. “Just promise me one thing.”
“Anything.”
“The pens are fine. The notepads are fine,” he said, his hand dropping to the gentle curve of my stomach where our daughter was tucked away safely. “But don't teach her how to do it. I don’t think I can handle two of you making a fool out of me.”
I laughed, pulling him back down for another kiss. “No promises, Mr. Kade. No promises.”
The month that followed was a whirlwind of logistics and more work.
When Orion had to leave for a seventy-two-hour sprint to New York to finalize a tech merger with Elias’s company, I expected the house to feel empty.
Instead, it felt… more guarded. I was surprised to find that Orion’s ‘brothers’ took his absence as a personal mandate.
Severin was a constant presence at our door, which I expected, but Julian surprised me the most. He checked in every afternoon, bringing books for the baby and chatting with my mother-in-law with effortless charm that seemed to come to him naturally.
Seeing the way they stepped up gave me a glimpse into the fierce, unspoken loyalty that bound Orion to these men. They weren’t just friends and business associates; they were secondary pillars, helping hold everything together and protecting his interests in his absence.
By day four, the front doors finally swung open, and the heavy, commanding presence I’d been craving filled the foyer.
“I brought you something,” Orion announced excitedly, bypassing the staff and pulling me into a kiss that tasted of jet lag, expensive coffee, and a deep, restless hunger.
“What? Another French pastry from the airport?” I joked, leaning into the cool wool of his overcoat.
“Better.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, crinkled brown paper bag. “I had twenty minutes before I had to be at JFK, so I made a detour.”
I opened the bag and let out a genuine, shocked laugh. Inside were snacks—a mix of different chips, pastries—and a cheap, clicking ballpoint pen with Alvin’s Dry Cleaning – We Treat You Like Family printed in peeling white letters.
“Orion!” I gasped, pulling the pen out as though it was a holy relic. “You went into a random dry-cleaning place… in this suit?”
As I laughed, a tiny kick fluttered in my belly. I sucked in a small breath, and placed a hand on my stomach.
He noticed instantly, smiling. “She likes it?” he asked, his eyes dropping to where my palm rested.
“She has taste,” I said, smiling back at him. “Clearly takes after me.”
He stepped closer, covering my hand with his much larger one, his hand rubbing on the spot where she’d kicked. He dipped his head, dropping his voice.
“Merci, petite,” he whispered to my stomach. “Excellent first judgment call.”
I snorted. “Already recruiting her to your side?”