Chapter 217 - Apple of His Eye

"Surpriiiiiise!" a voice as sweet as honey echoed from the grand room, stealing Maxen and Olivia's attention. They were ready to hit the sack and the lights in their room were already off. Just as Maxen peeled himself from the bed, another voice filled the room.

Husband and wife then listened as more steps rustled against the marble floor and wheels rollings against it could be heard. They angled their ears closer towards the door's direction and to their surprise, they heard a familiar voice—one that is reeking with so much agitation it could only belong to one person.

"That royal asshole! I told him not to use the master bedroom! I knew it! I knew he wouldn't listen to me."

"Sweetie, leave them alone. They might be sleeping already. There are six more rooms upstairs for us. We can take the one on the second floor."

Scrunching her nose, Olivia swung her legs off the bed, walking barefoot towards the door, pausing when she heard Maxen growl, peering down at her.

It was a nasty habit of hers, walking barefoot every time she's wearing her bedtime clothes. She loved the way the cold flooring kissed her soles, reminding her to keep her feet on the ground no matter how high she soared.

"Oopsy daisy," she said, grinning at Maxen.

"Seriously? Why do I always have to remind you?"

"That's why I married you so I have someone to remind me," she bit back, slipping a tongue out when he playfully slapped her bottoms as she walked on tippy-toes back to the bed and slid one foot after another on each of her fluffy slippers.

Waiting for her by the door, Maxen opened it as soon as Olivia made her way towards him. He held it often, gesturing for Olivia to go out first, and held the small of her back as she strode past him.

"Wooooow! Didn't know everyone signed up for a field trip," Maxen commented when his sight landed on Wyatt and his daughter, Aerith, who was also in attendance along with Emily, and Ollie and his little family.

He scratched the skin above his brows and let out a heavy sigh. What a downer. He thought he could have his wife all for himself for a week, but by the looks of it, their uninvited guests had invaded their short break away from the hullabaloo in Nisia.

The creases on his forehead deepened when his wife darted away from him, looking giddy as she hugged and welcomed the intruders with open arms, starting with Emily then moving next with Ava who was holding out Finn. Out from the corner of his eye, he saw her patting Aerith's head too.

"Earth calling, Max!" Emily snapped him out from his transfixion on Olivia. "I said it was Ollie's idea to sneak attack." Emily laid the blame on Ollie. After all, it was really his idea to surprise Maxen and Olivia under the guise of a free trip using his newly acquired jet. "Ollie said he has a conference and we can go for a joyride in his new jet."

"Wow. How could you not inform me about it, Ollie? You invited friends, but not your sister? I could have saved some money," Olivia complained and her eyes squinted, sending daggers towards Ollie's way.

"But I want to surprise you, my ever lovely Livi darling," Oliver chuckled, squeezing Olivia for a hug. He g.r.o.a.n.e.d when what he got was Olivia bumping her head on his chin.

Olivia raised a brow on Ollie, too slanted, it was obvious she was accusing him of deceiving no one but himself. "Are you really sure you want to surprise me or you just want to annoy Maxen?"

Holding a hand up, she tilted her head to the side when she realized something. "Hold up. Are we in the same conference?" Olivia asked and pushed Oliver away from her.

"ODSC?" Oliver c.o.c.ked an eyebrow to which Olivia nodded. "We're in the same conference, I guess." he shrugged.

"We can go in together then and save gas, so you won't be late again."

"This trip was planned months ago. We won't be flying in late if a certain prince didn't bump our flight last minute. And for your information, when Maxen told me he'd like to borrow my place, I agreed to it just to surprise you guys and look at what welcomed me! Another betrayal from the snake!" he snarled towards Maxen's direction and veins embossed his neck at the intensity of his rage.

"Hiiiiiisssss," Maxen hissed and jabbed at Ollie, showing how much of a snake he was. He then dodged the pillow that flew his way courtesy of the latter.

"Okay, children," Ava called the two boys out. "Can we get settled in first? Finn needs to sleep. He's been throwing up the entire flight. Poor baby must have caught a bug."

Everyone's eyes darted to Finn whose face was resting on Ava's shoulders. However, something glittery caught Olivia's eye.

"Are those?" she asked, sweeping a finger on Finn's eyelids. The glittery eyeshadow transferred to the pad of her finger. "Oh. I didn't notice it the first time I saw him."

Biting her bottom lip, Ava uttered in a hushed tone, "It was a long flight and Finn got bored, so I let him play with some colors."

"He did that? He's good. The blending is perfect," Olivia commented, as a flicker of amus.e.m.e.nt shone in her eyes. She found it impressive how Finn didn't smear the eyeshadow all over his eyes as expected from a four-year-old.

"I know, riiight? I think he has a talent for painting." Ava cleared her throat, unsure if it was really painting that Finn had a talent with. Her eyes shifted from Finn to Olivia, and the two shared a laugh when Olivia angled closer to her and whispered something in her ear.

"Or make-up," Olivia added, covering her mouth when she felt a scathing glare behind her. She didn't need to ask who it was because Ava's irises mirrored Ollie in it. Did he hear what she said? It's not like she cared about Ollie's thoughts anyway.

She planted one more kiss on Finn's chubby cheeks and sauntered to where Maxen was standing, rolling her eyes when she passed by Wyatt who was cradling his daughter.

Once Olivia reached Maxen, he glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room and took a shallow breath when the time read ten in the evening.

He scanned the room and couldn't help but feel the thick cord of tension you could cut it with a knife between Emily and Wyatt. Relieving Emily from the stress of being in the same room as Wyatt, Maxen cleared his throat and spoke, "I believe it's bedtime for us guys. We'll see you in the morning,"

When everyone g.r.o.a.n.e.d in agreement, he ushered Olivia back in the master bedroom. He was glad that Ollie didn't put up a fight over the bedroom arrangements in the middle of the night and was civil to let the issue go.

Just as they reached their bedroom door, however, his big hand squeezed the side of her hip when he caught Olivia stuck a tongue out on Ollie who was growling as he climbed up the flight of stairs.

Maxen couldn't believe that Olivia had to rub it in Ollie's face that he didn't get what he wanted. "Tch. Why do you have to be so petty, baby? Ollie will make sure you pay for taunting him," Maxen said as they laid down on the bed. He spooned Olivia in a hug, but she twisted and faced him, her head tipping up to meet his gaze.

"He's the one who was petty. He didn't like to share a ride with me. See how he dodged my offer of going in together? Do you think he feels like he's babysitting if I'm seen together with him?"

Maxen shrugged. "Could be. Or you could flex some muscles tomorrow and show him what you're capable of and grab as many investors as you can."

"No interest towards other attendees. Anyhoo, I've already booked a room for us to speak with Ms. Chanel and Kostya."

"Konstantin," Maxen corrected her, slightly growling when he heard another man's name rolled out of Olivia's tongue. And Kostya, really? He didn't remember Olivia and Konstantin Ivanov's acquaintance was at a level where they could call each other with a nickname.

"Husband is jealous again and looks cute," Olivia mused, planting a kiss on his chin. "I just want to practice calling him by that name to get used to it. I remember him telling me to call him Kostya."

"He said that because he likes you."

"No, he doesn't. If he did, he would have confessed years ago, but he didn't, so stop saying nonsense, Max. Your jealousy is unfounded. And for all we know, he already has an apple of his eye."