Without A Trace

Sixty-Six.

The next morning I wake early and slowly make my way out of bed, out from under Thomas's grip. I grab my robe and slip my arms through the sleeves before tightening the knot against my waist. I walk over to his side of the bed and lean down, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek before walking quietly out of the room and closing the door behind me.

I walk down the hallway and round the corner towards Michael and Ivys room. I open the door and to my not so surprise, I find Michael absolutely railing his wife in their bed. He looks over and quickly covers himself and Ivy before getting off of her, "You ever heard of fuckin knocking?" He says trying to catch his breath.

"Its not a morning for knocking Michael," I say walking through the room and grabbing Ivys robe and throwing it onto their bed, "Ivy I need you downstairs in 10 minutes," I say before looking at Michael, "Ten. Minutes. Not ten minutes and she's walking out of this bloody door, ten minutes and shes sitting at the kitchen table," I say before walking out of their room and closing the door behind me.

I make my way down the opposite hallway towards Annas room and pinch the bridge of my nose, preparing for what I may walk into. I open their door and see pretty much the same scenario, different position. I sigh while rubbing my temples as Anna climbs off of Lewis and pulls the blanket over her chest, "Can I fuckin help you?" She says as she glares at me as she moves closer to Lewis's side.

"Is there something I'm missing about today or what?" I say before grabbing her robe and tossing it on the bed, "First Michael and Ivy and now you two," I say rolling my eyes and turning towards the door, "Anyways, Anna I need you downstairs in 10 minutes please," I say before walking over to the door.

Lewis wraps his arm around his wife and pulls her close as she traces circles on his chest, "I can't count on it being ten but it'll be close," Anna says as she places a kiss on her husbands bare shoulder.

"Just get down there," I say before walking out and closing their door behind me. "If I see anyone else doing that I'm gonna put a bullet in my fuckin head," I say sighing to myself under my breath and making my way downstairs. I walk over to the kitchen and just about jump out of my skin at the sight of my husband lurking in the darkness, "Jesus fucking Christ Thomas," I say putting my hand on my chest.

"Why are you awake so early?" He asks while pouring me a cup of coffee. He puts in a few cubes of sugar and pours in some cream before taking a small spoon and stirring the golden liquid. He hands it over to me as I take a seat at the table.

"I'm having a meeting with the girls about today. I want it to go as smooth as possible so I'm just waiting to go over final preparations and whatnot," I say before raising the mug to my lips and taking a sip of the warm coffee.

He bends over and places a kiss on my head before walking towards the hallway, "Alright, well if there's anything you need you know where to find me," he says before walking away down the dark hallway.

I sit there and tap my mug, watching the minutes tick by on the clock on the wall. A ten minutes exactly, both Anna and Ivy appear out of the dark hallway and take a seat across from me.

"I was starting to wonder if you were going to show up," I say glancing at the two of them.

"Cora it's really fuckin early so can we please get a move on?" Anna asks as she rubs her eyes.

"Maybe you should have been sleeping instead of playing?" I say with a smile before setting my mug down. "Alright, tonight is the gala and I have full faith that the two of you will do absolutely everything perfectly. Harper will be with you two the whole time so she will do most of the heavy lifting since we're business parters now," I say crossing one leg over the other.