Gilded Apples

Chapter 1

The car finally comes to a stop. I study the line of cars we've parked next to. I still wasn't quite sure what was going on. Quinlynn wanted me to go with him though. Maybe she was already here waiting to explain everything. She had mentioned a change coming.

My head turns up when the door opens. The man is quick to lower himself, smiling lightly at me.

"Still awake, huh?" He nods as I unbuckle myself. "It's been a long night for both of us." He stands up, stepping back as I slide out of the car. Slinging the door shut, he offers a hand to me. Once more, I take his hand, letting him lead me along. "Don't worry. It's almost over."

He silently leads me through the garage. I let my eyes wander as we walk along. It's huge, bigger than the one back home. All sorts of cars and bikes are parked inside along with all sorts of other stuff I do and don't recognize. I see some sports stuff mixed amongst the things I can't give a name to.

We ascend the four steps up to the door which opens silently for him. The hall we enter into is dimly lit, making the shadows seem darker, longer, and larger. I glance back at the electronic buzz when the door shuts.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, Snider?" The man calmly intones. 

I look to find him calmly looking down the hall. I follow his gaze, but I don't see anything in the shadows. Before I can look back at the man, the shadows suddenly move. I jump, pressing closer to the man then watch in surprise as a tall, lanky boy melts from the shadows.

He crosses his arms. "Why do you have a kid?" 

I look back to where he had come from. All I can see are shadows. How had he hidden there?

The man sighs, turning to lead me along. "You'll get your explanation later. Where's your mother?"

The boy follows after us. "In the kitchen talking with Nonna."

"Go to bed, Snider," the man calls again. I can hear voices in the distance.

"It's fall break. Mom said we could stay up."

The hall opens to a large, open room with a single grand table. A dining room. The table is prettier than the one back home. And it's occupied. The fair-haired man looks up, blinking in surprise.

A gasp fills the air. I look to find a woman standing in the large, open kitchen, another man behind her. The only difference in their copper hair, besides length, is the curl of hers. Her mouth hangs open as she stares at me. It snaps shut as her eyes turn to the man. "Sorry, Mama, I'm going to have to call you back. I might need to murder my husband."

The man behind her suddenly pinches the bridge of his nose. "You can't say things like that in front of witnesses, Mom."

The woman shoots the boy behind her a sharp glare before it turns to the boy standing next to the man beside me. "Snider, bed. Now."

"But-"

"Now," she cuts him off thinly.

Snider grumbles but turns away. The woman silently watches him for a moment. I'm assuming he's gone considering her glare comes to the man beside me.

"Rochester, why on earth do you have a child with you?" She demands.

"Well, Adel," the man stoops down, picking me up. He easily carries me across the dining room, setting me down on the kitchen counter. "Remember how you always said you wished we had had a girl?" He turns to look at me. "Want some ice cream?" I nod eagerly. He smiles as he turns away. "I've brought you a girl." He pauses by the woman, planting a kiss on her temple despite the annoyed look on her face.

"Dad," the man beside the woman says, turning to watch him move around the kitchen, "Please tell me this child is not an orphan for any hypothetical reason I can think of."

The man turns to face his son, bowl and ice cream scoop in hand. "Well, her parents are dead, so yes, but she does have a stepmother, so, not technically?"

The woman exchanges a puzzled look with her son as the man sets the scoop and bowl down on the counter.

"So, hypothetically," a voice says from behind me. It must be the other man. "A stepmother hired a hitman to get rid of her stepdaughter?"

The man nods, pulling a carton of ice cream from the freezer. "And this hypothetical assassin wasn't aware that the target was a child."

I blink in puzzlement. I wasn't quite sure what was happening right now.

The woman balks, saying something in another language. As the man sets to serving me the ice cream.

"Mother, you can't get on my case for cursing if you're going to do so yourself," a new voice adds to the mix. There's a pause before the voice speaks again. "Why is there a kid in the kitchen?"

The woman's head turns towards it, eyes hard as the owner of the voice steps into the corner of my view. This man has dark hair, like the man who brought me here. "Sebastian, I need you to let Miguel know I need some documents forged."

Now it's her other son's turn to balk at her. "I am right here!"

She reaches out, patting his cheek. "Sorry, amore. I'll have Sebastian let Miguel know I have a job for him."

"You really should have chosen a different profession," the man at the table comments.

"Shut up, Don," the first snaps.

"Get along," she fires back. "You need to be setting a good example for your sister."

"Mom's pregnant?" Yet another voice adds to the mix.

I'm now too focused on the bowl of ice cream being handed to me to care about where it's coming from.

"No, idiot. They're adopting the kid." That voice was Snider's.

I pause, uncertainty making the ice cream unappealing. I'm fairly certain I'm the kid Snider's referring to. But Quinlynn was my new mom. She was going to be taking care of me.

The woman sighs. "They are all most certainly your sons," she says with a pointed look at the man.

The man just smiles at her. "You wanted to have them, and I am naught but your humble servant."

The woman smiles lightly, huffing in amusement. "We'll be in big trouble if they all get your silver tongue as well." She turns to me, smiling lightly. Stepping closer, she gently brushes my hair back. Her touch is light and soothing. I smile at her, even though it's unsure. "Don't worry little one. We'll take care of you. You're a part of this family now, amore."