Owen frowned. Kids usually repeat what adults say, so he wondered if Regina had introduced Jason as her boyfriend. “I’m your—” “Uncle Jason is not my boyfriend, sweetie,” Regina said to remedy the situation, but her niece was unconvinced. “He should be your boyfriend because he brought us sweets,” added the one further from Owen, and he was surprised that the girls looked identical. “What did you bring us?” the twin beside Owen asked, but both stared at him pointedly. “He brought us chocolate cake,” Regina replied, saving Owen from their wrath. “Okay, I vote for him,” the girl beside Owen yelled. “And I vote for him. He has dimples,” the one beside Jason replied. “Sorry guys, they’re twins, and their names are Thing 1 and Thing 2.” She giggled after referencing their favorite fantasy movie, Alice in Wonderland. “Auntie Reggieee,” they both whined in unison. “What? Are you embarrassed? They’re not your boyfriends. They don’t care.” The twin six-year-olds looked at their chosen

As soon as they all finished eating the cake Owen brought from Jason’s cafe, Ronnie declared it was time to go home. Callia and Reana began to protest and come up with different excuses so they could stay. “Mom, I haven’t finished my drawing yet. Owen was helping me.” “Me too. I want to finish mine with Jason.” Ronnie could see that his daughters had overstayed their welcome. The men looked exhausted from playing with them all day, and it was time to give them back their space. “Ask your dad,” Carmen replied, and Ronnie gave a meaningful glare at his daughters, and they packed up their things quietly. She knew they were afraid of their father, so she used him as an excuse whenever she did not want to give in to their demands. Regina packed up the leftover cake and sent it home with Carmen, as she knew her sister-in-law loved the cake as much as she did. “You should just date the chef, so we have chocolate cake all the time,” Carmen whispered as they said their goodbyes. Regina

Near the door, he found a baseball bat and took that with him just in case an intruder was on the premises. Owen waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The patio was partly illuminated by the light from the living room and the kitchen, but since the rest of the house was dark, so were the areas near the bedrooms. Anybody could lurk in the shadows, and Owen was not taking any chances, not when it would put Regina in danger. The sound he heard came from a person or a big animal, and since they were several floors up, an animal couldn’t get up there. Regina wrapped the blanket around her body and switched on the outdoor lights to help Owen see better. In an instant, the whole area was bright as day. Outside, they found three dead birds with their feathers stuck to three different windows. “Did they hit the window and die?” Regina asked. “I told you to stay inside.” Owen was halfway through the courtyard and stopped his search. He returned to where Regina stood, in case she ne

Regina came in early that day to see Owen before he left for work. As she pulled into the driveway, Regina got excited to see someone standing outside the mansion, expecting it to be Owen waiting for her. But her face fell when she saw it was Arthur. “Hey Arthur! What are you doing here so early? I thought your work didn’t start until eight.” “Oh, I came to see you and apologize for my behavior last weekend.” “It’s okay. I’m busy most weekends, so it’s hard to schedule anything. You just need to let me know in advance so you don’t wait in front of my apartment.” “Well, you weren’t answering my messages, and I wanted to see you.” “I saw you every day last week, plus waiting outside my apartment gives a terrible impression.” The dog happily barked inside the car and took Regina’s attention as Owen sauntered toward Arthur. “Arthur, I heard you’ve been here every day for the past week. I don’t remember my uncle mentioning you’d be here today.” Owen said, as Regina left Arthur’s side

Owen dropped by the Tesoro Cafe on his way home, and it wasn’t because he needed to get pastries to take home. He had another agenda. “Jason, I need to have a quick word.” Owen found the owner cleaning tables. “That’s if you have enough staff to take over what you are doing.” “I’m the owner. I need to make sure everything in my cafe is perfect. I assume you do the same with your buildings.” “Touché. Can we talk in private?” “Come, follow me.” Jason led Owen to the kitchen filled with top-of-the-line equipment. They all looked brand new, so Owen knew Jason had money to buy all the equipment when he put up his business, and he was impressed. Jason did not come from money, and according to the investigation, there was no loan from a bank either. The cafe owner had a silent, rich investor not mentioned in the reports. Owen did not care where Jason got his money from, but Owen was concerned that if he was dealing with something illegal, then Regina might get into trouble being at th