“Are you completely insane?!”

  “Are you completely insane?” A smaller, purer voice echoes, followed by the cacophony of childish giggles.

  Alex glares at Chris, the heat in her eyes unable to combat the one she finds in Chris' own. “At least wait till we're not in a vehicle with little ears.” She inclines her head at the giggling children opposite them.

  “My ears are little because I'm 5!” Jo supplies helpfully. And Alex can't help but melt at the declaration.

  “And they're the perfect size.” She says, with a kiss to the top of Jo's head, which instigates another round of giggling.

  “You've made some terrible decisions over the years, Alex. But this one has to be the stupidest of them all!” Chris whispers furiously through clenched teeth. His inability to properly yell, forcing him to find alternatives.

  “I'm handling it.” Alex whispers back.

  “Handle--” Chris glances at the girls, who thank goodness are currently distracted by the butterflies on Jo's purple dress. “Your plan is to K-I-L-L people for a solution that was handed to you on a platter in the first place!”

  Alex wants to run a hand through her hair in frustration, but it has been perfectly coiffed. She settles for dragging said hand down her face. “It's the principle of the matter, Chris.“”

  “What principle?”

  “Getting my revenge.” She says a little too loudly, eyes flitting to the still distracted children and then back to Chris. “Reminding people that there are consequences when you mess with me.”

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Chris stares her down for a second too long, eyebrows climbing to his hairline inch by glacial inch. “Your revenge?”

  Alex winces internally. “Akio's revenge, same difference.”

  “You mean the Akio who would probably be here right now, if your head wasn't firmly lodged in your own ass?” Chris says.

  “Ass!” Ginger babbles, her little hands thrown up in the air in pure joy.

  Alex sighs in resignation, Chris rushing to purge the word from the child's vocabulary.

  She takes a look around the limo, and feels claustrophobic. Clenches and unclenches her fist to push down her poorly dealt with irritation accumulated in three weeks and counting. A children's benefit gala - her first outing since Akio's … indisposition - was Chris' solution to the distance that had grown between her and the girls. The upside to the ridiculous idea being no decent person would give into their inner demons in a gathering of adorable children. The car lurching to a halt pulls Alex from her reverie. The camera flashes from the overeager paparazzi outside doing their best to penetrate the tinted windows.

  A quick glance beside her shows Chris struggling to wrestle a shoe back on to Ginger's stubby foot. She bats his hand away and takes over in a bid to hide her totally non-existent nervousness.

  Chris sniffs at her, before dusting imaginary lint from his jacket sleeves. “So the official story is that Akio's on sabbatical, yes?”

  “I believe the term is 'Personal Retreat'. Sabbatical implies he's getting paid during his … time off.” Alex says, tightening the shoe buckle on the 2 year old's other foot for good measure.

  Chris halts mid peacocking. “He is still getting paid, you know?”

  “Balloons!” Jo points out the limo window, and Ginger squeals in delight.

  “Alright, alright we're going now.” Chris says, unbuckling Ginger from the car seat.

  “Balloons! Balloons! Balloons!” The high pitched chorus fills the car.

  Leaning towards Alex, Chris says, “You're on Ginger duty tonight. This Jacket is very expensive.” He finishes in response to the look Alex is giving him.

  Alex shakes her head as the limo doors open. She thanks the ushers, and wrangles Ginger to her hip, plastering on a press smile for the cameras.