The security guard lightly bowed his head as Eniola drove into the yard. He already knew her too well to ask questions.

"Buen dia, Donna."

"Morning, Rico!"

She didn't bother driving into the garage or parking correctly as she stopped behind a familiar McLaren. The Porsche was missing though which meant Clara wasn't home.

Eniola sighed.

"And I brought wine."

She took off her shades before looking around the large space.

Alvaro and Clara's house had interlocking blocks everywhere and was in no way child-friendly. They had some astro-turf when the kids were younger but as soon as Aurora could run without tripping, Alvaro ripped it off.

He preferred a more modern look in his house while Eniola and Tobias lived on an oversized farm.

Oversized in this sense meant a lot of space and involuntary babysitting and holiday hosting services. They didn't mind though.

She let herself into the house taking her heels off and putting on the house slippers. She knew Clara would have her head if she wore shoes in the house.

"Who's home? I skipped breakfast so I'm starving!" she called, heading straight for the kitchen.

"Well, you're lucky. I'm making something," Varo replied as she stepped in.

He stood over the stove with a wooden spoon as he tasted what he was cooking.

"Thank, fuck."

He grinned. "Come help me taste? I think the soup needs salt but I'm not sure."

She quickly took off her leather gloves and washed her hands as he scooped up a bit.

"Hold out your palm." She did and he knocked some of the sauce into her palm, waiting for her to taste.

"Hmm..." It was very sweet. Almost like he added syrup. "I have no clue. But it tastes good though. Is it supposed to be this sweet?"

Alvaro shrugged and turned the stove off, leaving the lid on the pot half open. "I think so... Khai says it doesn't need a lot of salt."

Eniola frowned.

"You're talking to her?" she asked and he raised a brow before taking off his apron.

"She is Hanifa's mother. Why wouldn't I talk to her?" he asked. "Do you want me to serve you some? I'm not hungry right now."

"Yeah, thanks but—" she continued. "Is Clara fine with that?"

He gently took out a ceramic dish. "Fine with...?"

"You talking to Khai," she asked and he laughed.

"She checks in to know about Hani from time to time and we happen to form small conversations then. Clara isn't like you, you know?"

She was offended but took the bowl of soup from him.

"And you're to eat it with bread. I've got some sitting on the dining table. I made them earlier."

She ignored him and went to the table. Varo was right behind her.

"Now what you mean by Clara isn't like me?" she asked as he sat across from her.

He smirked. "Someone's upset..."

"Oh, fuck off. Just tell me."

"Well..." he said, leaning back with a relaxed face. "You're very possessive and you're front and center about it. Weirdly enough, Tobias is too but you know, he's more discreet. Y'all are perfect for each other."

"And you're not possessive about Clara?"

He looked at her for a long moment before smiling again. "We've been married for eleven years."

"Doesn't answer the question," Eniola said as she dipped the bread in the soup. She believed she was doing it right since he didn't intervene.

"What's the question again?"

"If Clara had a child for someone else and the person not only kept in touch with their child but her as well, wouldn't you feel a type of way?" she asked and he pursed his lips to think.

"If you asked me this question years ago, I'd say I would kill the man."

"Now?"

"Ah, I'm not part of the mafia anymore. I can't kill people. You know, senator and province representative..." he trailed off, drumming his fingers on the table. "I'm always under scrutiny."

"Just give me a straight answer." Fucking politicians.

"I trust Clara, and she trusts me. I also trust that she would respect me. Just like I do for her. And Khai has had it rough. It doesn't hurt to have a little bit of empathy, Gillian," Varo said and she sighed.

Of course he was right.

Khai had barely escaped an abusive marriage a while ago and her family had done nothing to help. Alvaro had done everything he could to make sure the court annulled the marriage and had gotten her settled somewhere in Cairo. She had wanted to be as far away from her ex-husband as possible. He claimed he did it because of their daughter and insisted there was no other motive.

Tobias had told her once that Alvaro had probably done it because he considered Khai a friend. Surprisingly, he didn't have a lot of friends so having one who understood a fraction of what he had gone through helped.

She eyed him as he typed a quick message on his phone with a playful smile. It was funny how the only thing that had changed about his pretty face was his smile. Over the years they had shifted from being cocky and teasing to genuine and warm. He was more transparent with how he felt and didn't hide when he was having a hard time with them.

He no longer tried to pretend he was okay.

It had been over a decade since that happened and he was actively trying to heal.

As innocent as it seemed, Eniola was sure she would have sleepless nights if Tobias had been in Varo's place instead. Maybe it was a problem. She didn't care.

"Alright, Saint Carlisle. I hear you," she said and rolled her eyes while he just chuckled.

The bastard had grown so much.

"Likewise, Saint Josephine. It's Josephine, right? Such an old name," he teased and she pointed a piece of bread at him.

"Your wife's middle name is Elizabeth. Don't patronize me."

He barked a laugh before taking a sip of water.

It had been years since she saw him drink alcohol and she on the other hand was sure she would need a new kidney in a few years.

"Speaking of which, where's Clara? I brought wine and thought we could watch Real Housewives," she said, gesturing at the bottle she had not bothered to wrap up.

"I was wondering why you were here," he said and stretched. "Editor's office. There's a whole page missing in the new book and it's supposed to be released in a week."

"But the soft copies should be fine, right?"

"I guess but she says about four hundred people already preordered the paperback so there's that. She also wants to know what Gato thinks about it," Varo said, recalling that she had sent Tobias the manuscript months ago. "Tried to tell her he was probably busy but you know how she is."

Eniola grinned. "Tobi read it weeks ago. He hasn't told me about it but I saw the book on his Kindle so that has to be good news."

Alvaro seemed relieved.

"I'm sure it is. That woman would never write again if he said something negative."

"You better tell her his opinion isn't everything," she said and Varo raised a brow. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just get him to call her sometime. I heard he's been out of the province a lot these days."

She nodded. "Yeah, he left home pissed as fuck today."

Alvaro sat up.

"Why? What happened?"

"Some shit about the base in Valencia being raided. Jacinto thinks the police got by chance but Tobi is sure there's a mole," she explained and he suddenly looked alert. "What do you think? Hunch or word got out?"

He shook his head. "No fucking clue. I can't even look in that direction or the papers would have my head."

"Well, I'm with him on this one. We've gone three years without a swoop and this happens out of nowhere?" she asked, biting her bottom lip in concern. "I don't know. I just don't like seeing him so angry but he took Mimi with him so she should keep him calm at least."

"You let him take a child? When another raid might happen?" Varo asked, bemused as all she did was nod.

"What are they going to do? Throw my daughter in jail?"

"The both of you are insane," he said, his voice dripping with disbelief. "Borderline insane. What about the twins?"

"School. Mimi's daycare teacher was sick so she's home for the day," Eniola said. "And she's in safe hands with her dad. I have to go to New York in a few hours and I won't be back until Saturday."

"Oh, that explains it. I'm free until next week and then it's going to be meetings, meetings, and even more meetings."

"Finally starting your campaign?" she asked and he shook his head.

"What's everyone's deal with trying to get me to go for President?" he exclaimed. "Paolo is already running from my party and I plan to replace him as party leader."

"Uh-huh... You really don't want to be called President Montez?"

"I'm fine with being Senator Montez."

Eniola rolled her eyes. "Fine... Enlighten me on why you have so many meetings next week."

He relaxed again.

"Some bullshit bill about foreign students paying more tuition fees in the public universities."

"Are you for or against?"

"The fuck do you think, Gillian? That's blatant segregation," he scoffed. "And recent research shows that we've had more African-American and African students coming in for the sole purpose of education so I don't know if you can see the whole picture but it sure as hell looks like racism."

Well, fuck.

"Imagine the House passes that bill and your kids grow up, I mean sure their dad is native but they ain't passing the paper bag test and there's every possibility that another bill would rise, identifying them as 50% foreign and where'd you go from there? Sure, money isn't a problem but what about the percentage of biracial persons surviving on less than eight euros a day?" Varo asked.

"I've been in Spain since I was twelve but some people in the right call me a fucking Mexican. And I'm Cuban!" he said. "I can't just climb to the top for shits and giggles. I need to be in the Congress. There are a lot of shitty decisions that I can try to upturn and prevent and I can't do that by running into the Executive arm. I'm not dying anytime soon so I still have time."

She could only nod when he finished. His heart and brain were in the right place.

He quietly laughed at himself before clearing his throat.

"Forget about the mess this country is in for a moment and tell me about fun stuff. I heard you wanted to start renovations at the estate?" Alvaro asked and she nodded. "I thought you repainted a few months ago?"

"Yeah..." She reached for the bottle of wine and easily uncorked it. Pouring some into a glass, she continued. "I was there last week. There's a busted pipe in one of the bathrooms and the walls are leaking."

"Aish... That sounds like a lot of work."

"Well, yeah. They'll need to pull the tiles apart, break open the walls, change the pipe, cover it back up and then wait for the cement to dry so they can't repaint the room."

"It leaked into a room?" Varo asked, surprised. "Sure they don't need to take down the whole wall?"

Eniola kissed her teeth before taking a sip. "Nah, there's no need. It should dry up with time."

Alvaro chuckled but smiled. It seemed like he had something to say but decided against it.

"Let me know when I can send out my donations," he added.

"Sure."

He looked around the dinning for a bit before leaning forward. "I've been thinking about something."

She raised a brow, being a sucker for gossip.

"Tell me."

"How about you join my party?" he asked and her eyes widened. "What?"

"Oh, fuck no!" She exclaimed, vigorously shaking her head.

"Why?" Varo asked. "I'm not asking you to run for president of government. Just join something."

"Nope. I'm not interested. My father was a senator and congressman and I barely saw him. I can't do that to my kids."

Alvaro only gave her a dull stare. "Do you know how easy it would be to get into the Congress? You might not be a native but you've spent more than a decade here. The locals love you and if you play your cards right, you could be mayor by next year."

She shook her head again.

"I can help people without getting into politics. One politician in the family is more than enough."

"Gillian..."

She held a hand up. "I'm already juggling my family and my firm. Throwing politics into the mix would be career suicide. I'm not interested."

Alvaro sighed and nodded.

"Fine. I guess I understand you." He relaxed into his seat. "But promise me you'll think about it?"

"I won't."

He narrowed his eyes on her and she did the same. "Gillian."

"Montez."

"I'm tempted to flip you off."

She grinned and raised both her middle fingers at him, laughing as his serious expression wore off.

"You're almost forty. Act like it," he said in a light tone as he drank more water.

She didn't blame him. August got very hot in Cadiz.

"And have my kids call me old? I'll pass."

Her bag vibrated, indicating her phone was ringing inside. Alvaro scoffed. "Do I even need to guess who that is?"

He didn't.

She had a special ringtone for the person.

"Give me a sec," Eniola said, bringing the phone to her ear and not bothering to leave the room. "Hey, baby."

"Reina... are you upset with me?" he asked and she frowned.

"What? Why would I be upset?"

She could hear the sound of a car engine in the background as he hummed. "I raised my voice at you. I apologize. I was stressed but should have handled it better."

She bit her lip in thought before Alvaro cleared his throat and stood up. "Yeah, I'll excuse you."

Eniola didn't remember when he raised his voice but knowing Tobias, he was overthinking again.

"It's okay, baby," she reassured him. "You said it yourself, you were stressed. Have you sorted things out? Mimi had her lunch?"

She could hear him exhale.

"Ah, my love. Some of the men got arrested but Jacinto is sorting that out. Thankfully Porro was in charge of the raid so I'm sure we can sweep that under the carpet," he said. "And yes, Princess had her lunch a while ago. We're driving to Rago's for some popcorn. Princess, do you want to say hi to mommy?"

"Hi mommy!"

Eniola's heart melted at the sweet voice. "Hey, mama! Keep daddy good, okay?"

"Ok!"

She could already picture Tomiwa doing a weird thumbs up sign that had copied from Casi when he didn't want to talk. She knew asking him to take their daughter along was a good decision. She easily took his mind off a lot of things.

"You could say we're having a little field trip." Tobias' voice came back on.

"Well, let her have only a little bit of popcorn. Her teeth are still growing in and she has a light tummy."

"I hear you, Fuego. Say, where are you? New York already or Alvaro's?" Tobias asked.

"Varo's," she replied. "And how'd you know?"

"I heard his voice earlier. Are you still planning on leaving the country?"

She sighed, already exhausted. "Yep."

"Ah, would you be back tomorrow?"

"The meeting's by four in the evening. I'll have to spend the night and travel back on Saturday. I'm exhausted just thinking about it."

He kissed his teeth on the other line, probably thinking. "How about I fly over tonight or early tomorrow morning? I could take you somewhere nice on Saturday evening and we could return by Sunday. Would that be fine with you?"

It sounded tempting but she could not help but worry about him.

"Baby, you have the worst jetlags. I can't do that to you," she said lightly and he laughed.

"Don't worry about me, darling, worry about what you need to wear to our dinner."

"Ouu, a dinner?" She asked, curious. "Where are we going? Atera? Do I need to dress fancy?"

"Anything you wear would be perfect," he replied. "My love, I have to go now. I'll drop the children off at Varo's then see you tomorrow?"

"Okay, baby. I love you!"

"Te amo más, mi reina."

She hung up after he responded and Varo came in at the exact same time. "My brother says Krrish and Jet want to spend time with their cousins so I'm having a free house for the weekend. Looking forward to it."

He looked relieved as he tiredly stretched and she just smiled at him, not knowing how to tell him her own kids were coming over.

"What?" he asked and Eniola shook her head.

He didn't need to know... yet.