“We are not together,” Belle and Greg said at the same time then glared at each other.
“Can we have our surprise now?” one of the toddlers asked, wriggling in Greg’s arms.
“Just a little longer,” Greg said under his breath.
Belle pounced.
“What surprise?” she asked the girls.
“Nothing,” my brother said, setting them on the ground.
Belle bent down to kneel at eye level with the girls. “What did you have to do for your surprise?”
They smiled at her. “We just had to act nice and wear these itchy clothes.”
“It better be a really good surprise,” one of the little girls said seriously, tugging at the bow in her hair. “This is hurting my head.”
Belle deftly untied the bow. “I think you all put on a great performance.”
They cheered then scampered off.
Belle stood up and gave Greg a cold look. “Why am I not surprised? You just can’t stand that I beat you, that I’m better than you.”
“You’re not better than me,” he insisted. “The fact that you had no idea that we were moving in here proves it.”
“No, all it does is prove that you’re trying to do something devious and underhanded as per usual.”
“I just needed somewhere safe to move my family,” he insisted.
“Don’t try that crap with me,” she retorted. “You have something up your sleeve. And it better not be bringing your half-feral siblings here to destroy my tower.”
“They’re just children…” Greg began.
She pointed.
“Ah, shit.”
The toddlers had stripped off their clothes and jumped into one of the fountains in the lobby.
Splash!
“Liam, get out of the fountain!” Greg barked.
“I didn’t do it on purpose. I was trying to grab the girls!”
17
Tess
While I had complained about having to move, I was actually pretty glad. The apartment had started to grow red-orange mold on the walls along with the forest of mushrooms in the carpet. No way was I leaving all my baking supplies there.
“Why did you bring flour?” Beck asked, horrified, as I dumped my bags in the kitchen of the swanky condo and began to unpack. “And who in their right mind needs all these sprinkles?”
“We might have a tea party,” I said, grabbing the case of sprinkles from him.
“A tea party!” Annie said happily as I unboxed one of my tiered afternoon-tea stands.
“We will have a very elegant tea,” I promised, setting the brass and ceramic stand on the counter.
