The CEO’s Quadruplets

“I don’t know anyone will believe such a stunning woman is my date.”

Behati smiled taking his hand. “I was hooked! And I already knew he was Catholic too, so it was no problem. My parents had always been adamant I marry within the church, but I never knew I could find a man other than a celibate priest in the Catholic church before that wedding!”

“I took her out for breakfast that very next morning at the hotel restaurant where everyone was staying, and the rest is history.”

Isabella smiled, always happy to hear the small and sweet beginning of her family. It was one of her favorite tales to hear. It made her mother smile and her father’s eyes sparkle. They looked younger as they spoke about their origins as a couple, and it made Isabella feel younger too. Before princesses or dragons, she had that one romance to cling on to with all her might, and when she lost her innocence she never thought the day would come where she would have her own meet-cute.

Her brother Kai sighed heavily, shoving more red velvet cake into his mouth. He was not as enthused about hearing the same story for the hundredth time, but he did like cake. Isabella’s eyes crossed glances with her baby brother, and her knowing look got Kai to smile and look a bit more pleased with their parents’ lovey-dovey nature.

Letting her thoughts wander away from the conversation of the circle around her, Isabella looked around to see the twenty or so people there were having a good time. Everyone was laughing, enjoying the cocktails and ice cream bar, and admiring the finished house. Her brother Sebastian sat at the dining table with Romeo in his lap as he talked with Lizzie and her fiance. Old friends mingled with new ones. As tired as she was, Isabella felt like she was really home with all these people around her.

Everyone comfortably mingled into the night, while music played. Somehow, Amory had arranged a fireworks show to conclude the party, and the explosive lights over the hills were dazzling to behold. Shapes of rings, hearts, and crackling showers lit up the night. All little bit wild and a little bit dangerous, pyrotechnics were something Isabella always loved to see dance across a night sky, and this birthday was no exception. Everyone oohed and aahed each time another shot went up. Isabella liked to think the traffic on Sunset Boulevard had stopped just to admire the spectacle.

As the fireworks reached the lull before the big finale, Amory found Isabella in the crowd standing in their backyard. “I had to pay to get the whole hillside soaked in water. I wished you had seen the teams of people who came with the tankers of sea water to soak it all.”

“I can’t believe you did this.” Bella beamed with the same childish excitement she always had at firework displays.

“I know how much you love fireworks,” Amory had whispered.

“Not as much as I love you right now, Mr. Blake.”

A look of success lit up Amory’s face as she kissed his cheek much in the same way her mother would kiss her father. It felt good to hope that it would be another piece of the puzzle to ensuring their marriage lasted through the decades, and it would begin with Isabella’s birthday.

The party fizzled out after the alcohol was gone and the last firework sounded off over Hollywood Hills. Even though it was quite late, her mother had insisted on helping clear up some of the trash and put away the leftover food in the kitchen. All the Torres siblings helped to make sure that the tasks Behati Torres saw important were cleared away, so finally they all could say their goodbyes.

Not soon enough, Isabella was standing barefoot on her front steps hugging her parents goodbye. Her brothers and parents all came together, and as the men wandered toward the car coming out the garage her mother lingered.

”If you really would like to, Mom, you can stay here in one of the guest bedrooms,” Isabella asked as a formality to appease her mother.

“Oh no, Bella darling, we are staying with your brothers in Malibu. I hope you’ll come see us for lunch tomorrow.”

Bella smiled, knowing her mother’s words were more of a command than a kind offer.

“How about that taco place Dad loves?”

“Oh, that sounds lovely, darling!”

She nodded, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before sending her toward Bella’s father waiting patiently by the car. She waved as her brother’s car drive slowly down around the circle and down out of the open gate. As the large metal door rolled back into a locking position, Isabella knew the party was over.

The remnants of her party gathered in the corners of the main room. They let echoes of the occasion remain even with the guests gone. Multi-colored confetti sparkled in the faint light coming off the backyard lanterns through the walls of glass. The ribbons of crepe paper hanging along the length of the room were starting to unstick and fall to the ground. Candle wax dripped and cooled as plumes of smoke wafted in the air as Amory blew out the candelabras about the great room. Romeo was asleep in his little house just off the terrace.

However, Isabella was focused on the lights out in the distance. The glowing electric embers from the fire that was Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard. Isabella swore on the clearest nights she could see the ocean in the far distance if she leaned over her bedroom balcony. The city with its skyscrapers and many districts seemed endless from up here, but all that mattered was the fingers finding their place on her hips and the arms wrapping around her now.

“There are just a few minutes left of your birthday,” Amory whispered. “Is there anything else that you might like, Bella Donna? Anything at all?”

She laughed a bit. “I think there’s something you want.”

His lips began to find themselves in the crook of her neck, and as Isabella closed her eyes she felt herself melting at the sensation of his breath on her skin. There was something almost voyeuristic about standing there in front of the city. Nobody could actually see them. She knew that. There house was just a dot on a distant hill, but it thrilled Isabella to have the illusion of possible exposure.

Turning around, she looked into Amory Blake’s hungry eyes. The darkness of them seemed more intense in the pale faint light. What did he look like to her? Did she have the same sense of want written across her face? She hated to break the moment to ask, and so she merely kissed him with the hopes his lips would give her a different kind of answer to her question. She felt the effects of long-held promises and primal desires in the force of his lips. Isabella could taste the sweetness of dessert and wine. Breathing in as the kiss deepened, she smelled the faint hint of body heat mixing with his favorite cologne.