Holy shit!
LYNETTE
Isabella sobbed uncontrollably when her dad was leaving with Mum for their supposed trip, while I was wallowing in fear of what would happen in their absence. Everything was probably going to be so nerve-wracking for me.
'It was crazy for our parents to just assume that we were siblings already, and leave us home alone with a few maids and butlers around.'
I watched the car that was meant to take them to the airport drive away, and the only thing that put me in a good mood was the amount of grand that was transferred into my bank account for our upkeep, coupled with the credit card Mr. Russo dropped too.
I had never seen that amount of money in my account ever, or had free access to a card that I could buy endlessly from, without having to scrunch up my face in irritation at numerous unpaid bills.
Isabella soon accepted the situation of being stuck without her Dad, and held my hand to her bedroom saying she had a lot of things to show me. We were halfway looking at the paintings that she had painted by herself using her new palette, when a notification that she had to check popped on her phone.
She smiled immediately and dropped her phone which made me wonder what was going on, as she ran into her dressing room and called me to come and pick an outfit for her.
The clothes in her dressing room were all arranged according to outfits from rows and columns, and it looked like a mini store for kids which was amazing to look at. She had numerous bags and shoes too, and I was really confused about what to pick for her.
"Where are you going?" I asked her in surprise as I followed her, and she gave me a mischievous look like she was brewing something.
"Pick a nice outfit for me first, and I'll tell you," she negotiated, and I shook my head because she was trying to be sneaky with me. I had no choice though.
After I had shown her many outfits, she finally picked a white crop top and boyfriend jeans with matching sneakers. She also made me pick a matching bag for her from where they hung it, and I realized that most of the accessories she had were not the perfect ones for her age.
'That is what happens when you have just guys as your family,' I chuckled at my thought.
"So you gonna tell me what's popping?" I asked her again after she was fully dressed, and she suddenly grabbed both of my hands into hers like something was wrong.
"Please say that you'll say yes," she pleaded with me, and I looked at her in confusion because I didn't understand what she was trying to say.
"What is going on? You want to go out and think no one is going to let you?" I speculated and she grinned so widely, which made me feel kind of stupid that I might have gotten it wrongly.
"One last time," she urged me to say another different thing, and I sighed lazily because I totally had no idea.
"I'm bad at guess games, darling."
"Leone says that I should come downstairs with you fully dressed, and that we are going somewhere fun together. Please say yes," she pleaded, still holding my hands, and her gaze looked so cute and convincing that I couldn't refuse it.
'Darn, that sneaky guy.'
"Please, Lynn. I really, really want to go out and have fun with Leone and you," she implored again, and I groaned inwardly because it was so hard to refuse her offer. Leone knew better when he asked her.
"Fine," I finally gave in and she jumped so high in excitement. I wasn't enjoying it.
Isabella suggested that I wore matching clothes with her, and I found the perfect clothes that matched her style of dressing in my new collection. I styled my hair and hers the same way, and she even wanted to wear makeup the same way I did.
As much as I thought I wouldn't like living in the Russo's home, Isabella was so fun to be with and it made me like every bit of it. I just wanted to forget everything that had happened between me and Leone, and just focus on the positivity of what Mum's marriage had to offer.
The moment I saw Leone saunter down the stairs in his outfit, I compulsively swallowed at the sight of him without realizing it. I turned away immediately to hide my cheeks that were burning in embarrassment, and I just held Isabella's hand to the car that was already parked in front of the mansion.
He informed Isabella's maid that we were going to be back before night, and that we were just going out on a family picnic by ourselves.
Leone drove the car while I and Isabella sat in the back seat, watching her favorite cartoon together on her tablet. Our eyes often made contact through the front mirror anytime I raised my head.
My eyes caught the huge shining banner of the inscribed name of the building the car pulled into, and it turned out he had made a reservation at HANES, which was one of the most popular five-star restaurants around.
The weird looks and stares from people as we made our way into the restaurant made me awkward, which made me wonder if we were not properly orientated about something.
I soon realized that I and Isabella were wearing the same clothes, and Leone was the only guy too. We looked like young couples with Isabella as our child. Funny.
I ordered the same course meal as Isabella because I had no idea about what to eat, as I had never eaten such expensive meals or gone to an exquisite restaurant before. The taste of every food we ordered was so good that I didn't regret agreeing to go with them.
^````^
"Don't you feel some kind of connection between us? I mean, even close to having a kid as pretty as Isabella?" Leone suddenly pushed me against my door the moment I was about to enter my room after we arrived, and whispered sensually into my ear which made everything start to heat up with the closeness he put between us.
"Your imaginations seem to be running wild at every little chance you get. Don't forget that we are siblings now," I struggled to say in broken sentences, because Leone was so intimidating with the way he was looking at me.
"If I kiss you now, would it change the fact that we are now siblings?" He asked me with a hellion smirk crossing his lips, and I became lost as soon as his fingers started to trail tortuously along my cheeks.
"Why are you making things worse for me, Leone? This is really hard for me," I spoke in an inaudible voice as we stared at each other with a locked gaze. My thoughts were suddenly becoming incoherent at the sight of him.
"Because I want you. You keep invading my mind and head and it is hard to stay away from you," his silvery voice penetrated its words through my head, invoking something in me that struck me into a dead state of speechlessness.
My hand which was resting on the door crawled slowly on it to find the knob, and pressed on it while still keeping eye contact with him. The moment I switched the door open with Leone still standing before me, I entered immediately and locked the door behind me before heaving a sigh of relief.
'What do I do? What should I do?' I questioned my mind endlessly in fear, as I stood in front of the dresser in my room to look at myself. I was even more scared than ever, because Leone wasn't backing off as I expected.
After I was done bathing, I changed into my pajamas to lay on my bed and get some serious business done, when I heard a knock on the door. It was Isabella, and she wanted to sleep with me in my room.
Isabella went on and on talking to me about her friends as we lay on the bed together, and it was difficult trying to get her to sleep after the long day.
It was until I sang a random song that I normally sang for Meredith in the past, that I didn't hear her talking so much like before again. I didn't trust that it would work, but it did the perfect job of making her fall asleep.
The next morning was great waking up with Isabella on the same bed, and she already had two cups of hot tea from the kitchen and hot toast for us on the table. It was the first time someone had served me breakfast in bed. I loved it.
She told me that Leone wasn't in his room by the time we went downstairs, and offered to show me around everywhere in the house. It was a great tour with her because she went into detail about everywhere, and the most fascinating part of everything to me was the beautiful garden.
The overpowering and lovely scent of different colors of roses, marigolds, and lavender among the flowers lingered in the air and soothed me well. I loved how it was beautifully planted to complement each other.
The day flew by so fast hanging out with Isabella, and we watched movies the entire day instead of her favorite cartoon.
By the end of the day, I had done so many childish things that Isabella wanted me to join her to do.
Leone came back home and wanted to talk to me, but I used Isabella as an excuse to not talk to him. We didn't speak throughout the day because I avoided him at all costs.
My little stepsister rejected the food that was served as the menu dish the next day, and she insisted that she wanted to eat noodles and omelets that I made for her myself. I decided to make the usual Korean type of noodles they cooked at my former place of work.
"Is it done yet?" Isabella asked the nth time from where she was sitting in the kitchen, and I almost groaned because I was just halfway through. I passed her a glass of orange juice from the freezer as an appetizer instead of answering her question.
"Do you mind getting me my earpods from the room, Isa?" I heard Leone's voice from the door as he entered the kitchen to where we were.
"I'm tired and hungry. Can you not just listen to whatever you want without them?" Isabella grumbled tiredly.
"Now!" He ordered her in a sharp time, and she jumped down from the stool that she was sitting on with a huge frown on her face.
"Leone. Stop stressing her out," I scolded him immediately she left to bring what he wanted her to bring. He didn't answer me and walked closer to where I was standing.
"Why are you in the kitchen?" He asked casually when he came closer, and peeped into the pot to see what I was cooking on fire.
"Noodles. For Isa," I faked a cough after I turned to answer him, and he hummed meaningfully like he had something to say. In that process, I lost control of my consciousness around him.
Leone suddenly grabbed me by the waist when I wanted to take a spoon from the rack without warning, and crashed his lips into mine before I realized what was going on. His lips took in mine so intensely and sucked incessantly on them, as I struggled to hold my breath with the shock of the moment.
'Holy shit.'