Page 19 of Kidnapped By the Boss

Chapter Seven: Vincent

I was so glad that Katya was taking at least this one day so we could celebrate our honeymoon in some form or fashion. It sucked that we weren’t able to go to Barbados like we planned, but when Katya proposed the minimoon idea, I realized that was something I could work with. I didn’tcancelBarbados, because I was hoping that we’d be able to go sometime soon once we dealt with the Wreckers, but at least for now, I wanted to make sure that we were able to dosomething, and this minimoon would have to do.

At first, I was just going to try and decorate our bedroom, but then I realized that our pool house felt slightly more like a retreat. We wouldn’t be distracted by possibly seeing someone wandering around with Sascha or one of our friends or employees managing to make it past all fifteen of the guards that I’d carefully and strictly instructed not to letanyonebother us unless someone was dead or dying. This way, we could separate ourselves as much as possible from what was going on inside the house. We’d resume our lives tomorrow.

But as far as I was concerned, tonight, Katya and I were in Barbados.

We started with breakfast, which I had prepared especially by our chef by instructing him to make one of the recipes I’d ultimately steered away from for our actual honeymoon. None of the recipes that myself and the travel agent had narrowed it down to for the menu were bad, but we made specific selections based on what would provide Katya and I with the widest array of food types while we were vacationing. It left me with several options to choose from to create this fake honeymoon. I didn’t want to use the actual recipes we were going to eat when we went for real, but what was left over was plenty for one day.

“Mrs. Costello.” I pulled out one of the chairs at the table for Katya and she gave me a sweet smile and then sat down. I helped her scoot up to the table, and then I walked around and sat down myself. Katya started to lift her cloche, but I said, “No, hang on.” Then I pulled out my phone and pressed a button, and the waiter that I had on standby came walking through the pool house and out to the pool side where we were. “This is Martin.”

“Oh,” Katya said with a smile. “Hello.”

He offered an obedient bow. “Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Costello. I am delighted to serve you on your honeymoon today. I’m on standby for anything you may need, but if you don’t need me, I’ll be sure to give you your space. For now, I’m pleased to present you with your breakfast.” Here, he stepped up to the table and removed both Katya and my cloches with a flourish, bringing our beautifully staged plates into view. “Freshly made by Chef Daniella Tancini, we have potato rosti with smoked salmon, a poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. And to satisfy your sweet tooth, it has been paired with warm, dark chocolate chip pikelets with caramelized pears and a pear compote.”

Katya’s eyes widened at the plate. “Oh my god, it looks amazing. So colorful!”

The dishes did make a delightfully colorful dish, which even I knew was the sign of a delicious meal. Steam was still wafting off the plate, which was a result of me making the chef bring them through the back entrance to the pool house and set them up the second we realized Katya had received the note from her mom.

Martin set our cloches aside and then walked around to the champagne bottle that was icing next to our table. “May I interest you in a mimosa bellini?”

Katya clapped her hands happily. “Yes please.”

He pulled the champagne out of the bucket and as he filled our glasses he started to explain, “Today’s bellini is made with a vintage Dom Perignon, dry, along with a sweet peach puree, and orange juice squeezed fresh this morning.”

“That sounds so good,” Katya said.

I nodded as he put the mimosas together. “It really does.”

Once the mimosas were crafted, Martin adorned them each with a gold painted peach slice and then dropped two more into the mimosas, and they were complete. “Do you need anything else from me at the moment?”

I looked at Katya, but she shook her head, so I smiled and nodded at Martin. “We’re good for now, thank you, Martin.”

He gave us another bow. “Of course sir. Let me know if you need anything else, otherwise I’ll leave you two to enjoy your morning. Your first round of entertainment will be here at 11:30 promptly.”

Katya recoiled. “Entertainment?”

I set my finger to my lips. “It’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait.” Martin left, taking the cloches with him and shutting the pool house doors after him, leaving Katya and me alone, enjoying the fresh morning air and the wind coming off the pool. “So, I know it’s not a beachside breakfast in Barbados…”

But Katya shook her head. “Vincent. This is perfect. Thank you.”

“There’s only one rule for today,” I told her.

She looked up at me with a frown and a lifted eyebrow. “If you say ‘have fun’ I’m leaving.”

I laughed. “No. I mean, Idowant you to have fun, but that’s not the rule.”

“Oh, okay.” She took a forkful of her food and said. “What is it?”

“No work talk,” I replied. “We are on vacation right now.”

She nodded. “Now is that no work talk as in ‘sneak away with my underboss for a meeting’ no work talk, or…?”

“I deserve that,” I replied. “If you wanted to, I would forgive you, but I’d prefer it if the only work meetings you snuck away for were withyourboss.”

A grin crossed her face and her eyes flashed just a bit of mischief. “I think I can manage.”

We enjoyed breakfast and conversation about everything we could think of that didn’t involve work. Katya talked about her mom and how much fun she thought she was having living in New York, and I brought up myNonaand how, even though her memory was getting worse, she seemed to be hanging on for dear life to her memories of Katya, me, and Sascha.