The Roses and Hibiscus Chronicles - Coriolanus Snow

Chapter 22

Snow would never be able to understand why Indila was so sensitive. How had she become so jealous? It's not as if she hadn't had some affairs of her own. It was okay; they had a great relationship. They used to spend lovely moments together with their family and have amazing sex. Sometimes, they just felt attracted to other people, and he was really cool about it, as long as the picture of a happy, perfect family remained intact. He knew for sure that Elana was truly his daughter, and that he only had her and Crassus, that was enough. He was careful, Indila's jealousy seemed pointless. Moreover, it wasn't his fault that she decided to stop speaking to him when they had been married for only one month. What did she expect?

What angered him the most about this whole situation was that he wasn't lying this time. He really got home late; he was at Lysistrata's place in a meeting with game makers. They had a lot to work on because of the Quarter Quell idea. Snow genuinely had slept in somewhere between Indila and Crassus and under Elana. Indila was just sleeping too deeply to notice his presence.

Then, there were the Tigris cards. He was so sick of Tigris; she got so nosy about their marriage. Snow realized he should spend some more time with Indila before he loses control over her.

That evening, they had dinner together, put the children to bed together, and went to their room together. Indila sat on the bed and grabbed a book; she didn't seem interested in talking, he could tell, so he needed another strategy.

"I'm taking a bath; don't you want to join me?" he asked. "Okay, babe, fill the bathtub, I'm coming in a minute." She got back to the book, which was something, at least. Snow obeyed her, and a few minutes later, she joined him in the bathroom, naked, she got into the bathtub, so did him.

Are you trying to punish me?". She grinned to his question. He played her game, knowing her well enough to recognize that Indila wanted a boost to her ego. "I don't know what you're talking about..." Snow smiled with a dirty gleam. "I'm talking about you walking in here in your most beautiful clothes, your skin, just to tease me." Indila relaxed her expression. "It was not just to tease you." "For what, then?" He got closer to her, and she didn't answer. Snow kissed her carefully; there was a sore in his mouth, and she knew that. For some reason, this one was taking too long to heal. It felt like the first time, even after these four years.

She was something else, she had her bad moments, but she could never live a life without him. Indila loved him, after all. They had a great time in the bathtub, then on the bed and then on the floor. When she laid down by his side, she couldn't remember why she was mad anymore. He came closer, and she nestled against his chest, making herself comfortable. However, Snow decided to bring up her favorite topic just to make sure.

How was your day with the children?" Indila took a moment to think. "Great. I'm still impressed by how much they admire you. Crassus was saying he wanted to tell you about it after seeing anything." "He's a good boy, for sure." "He asked if we argued earlier." "What did you tell him?" "I said we didn't." "Did we?" "You tell me. He missed you in our bed." "Well, I was there. Elana was awake. Too bad she can't talk." Indila showed a serious expression. "We have to be good parents for these children. They are my entire world, and I don't want to fail them." "Well, darling, I love them more than everything, but I guess you should start by accepting that sometimes we will fail." "I guess you're right, Coriolanus." There was silence for a moment.

"Babe?" she called him with a caring tone. "Yes, dear," he answered. "I was wondering, would you mind if we redecorate some rooms?" That was unusual; Indila was not very fond of changes, but he couldn't see any problem with it. "For sure, you know this is your home. You can make anything you want. I'll talk to Julliard tomorrow about it." She was sleepy, and he could feel she was falling asleep. Snow kissed her forehead. "I love you, Indila." As usual, she didn't answer.