Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Upon arrival to the house, Adriano could sense the liveliness within and outside of the building. Maybe it was Remi and Jori running around outside or Farrah sipping a glass of orange juice as she dances with her husband, music playing in the background.
Nice to see that everyone's happy. So sweet of Dean Kory to ruin that.
Adalena coos when she sees Serina crawling around on the freshly cut hypoallergenic grass, Jori playfully running away as if they were playing tag.
Except Serina is always it.
He missed his niece and nephew and needless to say, seeing them made him even more excited to be a father. He can see on Adalena's face that she feels the same way about her being a mother.
Since they were in the backseat of the car, separated from the driver with a partition, Adriano takes the chance to talk to her. He wasn't sure if he could kiss her or cuddle her or do anything even remotely relationship-like — what do soon-to-be-coparents even do?
Either way, he speaks and she listens intently.
"I don't want you putting too much strain on yourself, amore. If I have to take your laptop, I will —" Adalena simply snorts and he rolls his eyes, "Alright, fine, I won't. But don't throw yourself into too much work. Take some time to yourself in order to make this as smooth of a pregnancy as it can be. Is that reasonable?"
She scrunches her nose, wanting to tease and provoke him but she could see just how much he cares for her health. So, against every stubborn part of herself, she nods. Then she does something neither of them expected.
She rests both hands on his cheeks, cradles them and leans forward, pressing her lips to his. With a slight amount of hesitation, he kisses back, pulling her closer to him until there's no space between their torsos.
A couple of seconds pass, filled with the sound of the car coming to a complete stop. She pulls away with a small smile on her face.
"Thank you for caring about me, Adri."
He brushes a stray curl of her hair behind her ear and pecks her lips once more, "What are best friends for?"
• • •
When Adriano leaves Adalena to get acquainted with the other women of the house, he finds himself in the debriefing room, caught up in conversation with his brothers.
Luca is by the wall, eyes hooded as he looks down at the touch screen table, the sight of a random man on display.
To Adriano, who was seated beside his eldest brother, he is no stranger — at least by name. On the screen is Dean Kory and everything he needs to know about him. Or almost everything.
As technologically efficient as the people they're paying to be nosey are, that doesn't stop the lack of information available to the public, or as the Santinos like to call themselves — well-informed.
