Castellanta

Chapter Eleven

Pic is of Dimitri Ivan Malysheva

Nicole's POV

I hummed a soft tune to myself as I picked out a suit from my husband's closet while he was busy shaving, and settled on a navy blue one that I felt would look good on him for today. I also glanced at the price tag and sighed. Even after seven years of being married to Mathayus Castellanta himself, I could still not get used to his hefty purchases. My clothes held such price tags too, but I never refused to wear them because he did buy them for me out of love. I smiled when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and a pair of lips attach to my neck. "Good choice." He mumbled into my skin and I giggled. "You always wear whatever suit I give you." "That's because I trust you." He spun me around and pushed me back against the adjacent wall, giving me a passionate kiss. That passionate kiss soon turned into a rough kiss and within moments, we were locked in a heated battle of the tongues. As usual, he won. There was only one time when I had dominated him during our make-out sessions but that too was a victory he had allowed me to have. "You taste so sweet." He spoke into my mouth and I smiled against his lips, continuing to run my hands through his hair. "I love you." I whispered and his grip on my waist tightened. Always so possessive. "I love you too." We stayed in that position for a few comfortable minutes, until I finally decided that we both had to get ready for work after which I had to prepare Natalia for school too. Monday morning blues. Mathayus usually never went to office on Sundays, and regularly refrained me from doing so on Saturdays as well, but yesterday he went for a brief while to overlook the files of a new project. The clients with whom he was initiating that project would be arriving today. Huffing softly, I threw my hair up into my daily elaborate bun right as Mathayus strapped on his watch, and then I left him to pack up his briefcase while I went to go wake up Natalia.

"Natalia?" I called as I opened the door to her room and, much to my relief, she was still sleeping peacefully. It didn't seem like she had had any bad dreams or something. I sat down by her side and gently shook her awake, smiling as she groaned and tried to turn away. "No, sweetie. It's time for school." "I don't wanna go to school." I chuckled and helped her sit up as she groggily rubbed her eyes. "No one ever does, honey." I know I never did. "But your Daddy won't be happy if you skip for no reason." She nodded once and began to pull herself out of the bed when I quickly stopped her. "Natalia." I cupped her cheeks and she looked at me, curious. "Did you sleep well last night? Any nightmares or something?" She smiled slightly and hugged me tight. "You worry too much, Mom. I slept just fine. And Adrian's really handsome." She mumbled the last part so lowly in her sleepy daze that I almost didn't hear her but I did and smirked knowingly. Then I realised that she was about to fall asleep on my lap and pushed her back, glaring playfully at her before telling her to go brush and shower. She obediently did so, and while she was in the bathroom, I set out her winter uniform as well. The air had grown chillier today, implying that the crisp autumn weather really was about to transform into the colder days very soon, which was why I threw in a dark blue muffler as well. It went with her navy blue blazer, below which there was a navy blue sweater (for when it would grow extremely cold) and below a full sleeved white shirt. Followed by a navy blue skirt, a pair of black leggings and small black shoes. I shook my head. Private schools. I checked up on her bag as well while she pulled on that uniform, after which I braided her hair down to her waist and then we both went down for breakfast. Mathayus was already seated at the head of the table, brows furrowed at his phone, while a maid served him his food. The servants were still here today and would be leaving only next week. My husband always did this. Whenever he got the chance to have the servants called over, he would keep them for a week so that I didn't have to work for a week, even though I hated the fact that my house was being tampered around with by some outsiders for that one week. That was the main reason why I had assigned Mrs. Kunkle to kitchen duty for whenever the servants would be summoned. At least my kitchen and homemade food would remain preserved. "Good morning, Daddy!" Natalia beamed brightly and ran over to hug her father, who immediately put his phone aside to hug her back. "Morning, pumpkin." He pecked her nose and she giggled. "How are you doing today?" "Great! But..." She smiled meekly and rubbed her tummy. "Hungry." Mathayus released a deep chuckle as I took my place opposite to him and Natalia sat between the two of us, following which the maid served us our morning meals too and then disappeared. "So." Mathayus started after taking a sip of his coffee. I put down the fork which held a mouthful of hashed eggs and nodded at him to continue. Natalia didn't bother to look up, busy devouring her sausages. "Phillip's landed in Seattle this morning." I rolled my eyes internally but kept my outer expression to neutral to avoid offending my husband, even though he had apparently heard everything his brother-in-law said to me last night. Natalia, however, portrayed a completely different reaction than mine and grinned from ear to ear, her eyes sparkling bright. "Is he going to visit us?" Her voice was dripping with excitement and I smiled, happy that at least my daughter was happy about her uncle dropping by. Mathayus smiled too and ruffled her hair. "He hasn't said anything about coming to our house, princess. Said he's heading to the office." My smile turned sympathetic when her face well. "Why not? He always visits when he's here in the States. Is Auntie Sienna with him?" "I have no idea, darling." Mathayus placed an arm on her shoulder. "But you can always come by after school and meet him, okay?" "Okay!" The sparkle in her eyes returned and she resumed devouring her sausages, while I just groaned inaudibly and glanced at Mathayus. Looking at his face, I knew we both had the same thought in mind. He better be here to apologise.