Chapter 127

Mia

William arrived to pick up Savannah at eleven that morning for their return flight to Vegas.

After Savannah and I had hugged tightly, Savannah said, “You have to come to Vegas again soon.”

Beside me, Aria was excited. “We can ask Daddy. He did promise to take me there soon.” She turned to her father standing not too far away. “Isn’t that right, Daddy?”

James nodded. “Yes, sweetheart.”

Once William and Savannah departed, James, Aria, and I went to have lunch with Liam, Scott, and Eric at the main house. Of course, I had no idea this was happening until this morning after breakfast when James happened to just casually mention it. And to be honest, I wasn’t exactly prepared for it. Wasn’t it like my boyfriend taking me to meet his parents for the first time? Which freaked most girls out because they had to give a good first impression. But then again, what was there for me to prepare for? I had already met Liam last night, after all.

Aria seemed excited to see her grandfather again, as she couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear during the drive.

It was about a half hour later when we arrived at the private estate. I wasn’t surprised that the magnificent three-story mansion was sitting on a few acres of land with a mature garden that was perfectly manicured. The place was indeed a paradise, and needless to say, it took my breath away.

Once the car stopped in the driveway and we got out, I stared wide-eyed at my surroundings. Wow! Just wow!

James chuckled when he saw my expression. “Is this something you want, Mia?”

I blushed. “Well, it is very private and beautiful,” I said. “But your house is beautiful, too.”

He pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead. “We’ll see what we can do,” he said and then just kind of nonchalantly let me go and walked away, which left me confused as to what he meant.

We’ll see what we can do? About what?

We were just about to go into the house when the sound of a car came our way. I turned to see a sleek sports car coming to a stop beside James’, and a moment later, Scott and Eric got out.

“Uncle Scott! Uncle Eric!” Aria shrieked in delight.

The little girl ran up into Scott’s wide-open arms.

The man lifted her and then kissed her on the cheek. “How’s my little sunshine today?”

Aria wrapped her arms around Scott’s muscular shoulders as she said, “I’m good. I can’t wait to see Grandpa again.”

“Hello, sweetheart,” Eric said, moving in to give Aria a kiss, too.

“Hello, Uncle Eric,” Aria said. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

Aria was right. I wondered if Eric was unwell because he looked more than a little pale.

Scott chuckled. “He’s fine, darling. Just a little hungover.”

Aria asked, “Hungover? What’s that?”

So Eric had been drinking, perhaps way too much.

“It’s adult stuff, Aria,” I said. “You don’t need to know about it yet.”

“Oh,” Aria said. “Okay.

A moment later, we all headed into the house where we were greeted by Liam in the foyer.

In broad daylight, the man looked even more intimidating and powerful. After delightfully greeting his granddaughter, he came over and gave me a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek as well, entirely ignoring his three sons, which I found rather amusing.

Still obviously ignoring his sons, he treated me and Aria like royal guests and led us into the living area. There, he started chatting away animatedly about his wonderful adventure in Japan.

Finally, around twenty minutes later, when I found myself fully engrossed in the stories and the wonderful country that was Japan, which I unashamedly wanted to visit very soon if I managed to persuade James to support me in the endeavor, Eric said, “Dad, you can stop bombarding Mia with your tales now. I’m sure she’s bloody bored.”

I glanced at the brother, wanting to tell him I was not.

Eric continued, ignoring my frown. “Let’s talk about what we’re here for.”

Liam raised his brows, and I raised mine as well, in curiosity of course. Liam then leaned toward me and said, “We’ll continue with the conversation another time. For now, why don’t you take Aria outside for a stroll before lunch?”

I nodded, but of course I was very curious as to the topic of their conversation, especially one that Eric seemed so eager to get started.

“Come on, Aria,” I said, signaling for the little girl to follow me.

“Are we going out for a walk?” she asked.

I nodded. “You’ve been here before, right?” At her affirmation, I said, “Then why don’t you show me around?”

“Okay,” Aria said, suddenly excited to be my tour guide. She eagerly pulled me by the hand toward the door. As I was about to turn the corner, I shifted my eyes to James and saw him winking at me. His expression clearly told me to have fun.

I smiled back and waved at him to tell him that I definitely would.

As Aria led me outside the mansion toward the beautiful mature garden, I once again wondered about the topic of the men’s conversation. Did it have anything to do with Liam’s bride-to-be that I had heard the brothers talking about? I didn’t know and told myself that it was none of my business and I shouldn’t stick my nose in where it didn’t concern me. But then again, the thought of befriending another woman, especially one that was going to be part of the Maxwell family, was quite enticing to me.

We were quite far from the house now, and the farther away we were, the more beautiful the garden became with various types of bright, beautiful flowers that I didn’t know the names of along with tall trees and, of course, a pond. There were even swans swimming in it.

“Oh my!” I expressed, chuckling. “Swans! Aren’t they beautiful?”

Aria nodded. “Yes, they are. I want to ask Daddy if we can have swans at our house, too.”

We came closer as I said, “But our house doesn’t have a pond, darling.”

Aria clasped her hands together in excitement. “Then we should ask Daddy if we can have a pond, too, and then we can have swans. I love animals.”

“I can see that you do, honey,” I said, smiling.

Aria led me around, and I was so fixated on admiring the swans doing their dancing and gliding on the beautiful glassy water that when Aria said, “There’s a person!” I jumped in surprise.

I flicked my gaze around to where Aria was pointing and, sure enough, saw a woman standing half hidden behind a bush. Wondering who she was and what she was doing there, hiding herself like that, I grabbed Aria’s hand and headed toward her.

Up close, I said, “Hello there, what are you doing?”

Still half hidden from us, the woman said, “Err… Nothing. Who are you?”

I cocked my head to one side, wondering why the woman sounded scared, her voice shaking.

I said softly and calmly, “I’m Mia Donovan, and this is Aria Maxwell.”

Aria asked brightly, “Are you playing hide-and-seek? Can I play, too?”

“Maxwell?” the woman asked.

I nodded. “Yes, Aria is a Maxwell.”

Aria said, “Mia is Daddy’s girlfriend, so she’s part of the family, too. She’s a Maxwell, too.”

What? In amazement, I flicked my gaze to Aria. I couldn’t believe it. How did she know that I was now James’ girlfriend? After all, I was sure neither James nor I had told her about our relationship. Needless to say, I was amazed at how perceptive Aria was. The fact that she said I was part of the Maxwell family really made my heart glow with happiness.

I grinned at her, and she smiled back. At that moment, I felt blessed to have Aria come into my life.

The woman finally moved away from the bushes, and to my surprise, it wasn’t just her that appeared before us. Behind her was a slender and very beautiful boy.

As the two came toward us, I could only stare. The woman, not much older than me, was stunning, with pale-blond hair and warm, honey skin. Up close, I noted her eyes were a hazel green. I flicked my gaze to the boy behind her, half hiding from us. He was so gorgeous that he took my breath away. I mean, James, Scott, Eric, and of course my brother were gorgeous, too, but compared to this boy, they were kind of different. James, Scott, Eric, and Andy were gorgeous in a male hotness sense that drove females crazy.

This boy—with short pale-brown hair, fair skin, and chestnut-brown eyes—however, had the gorgeousness that leaned toward the feminine side. The type that you couldn’t stop looking at because of his uniqueness, almost like one of the most exotic paintings you had ever seen. I noted that he was slightly shorter than the woman, and I suddenly wondered what their relationship was.

Drawing my eyes away from the boy and back to the woman, I asked, “Are you Liam’s guests?”

The woman nodded. “I’m Alice Oto, and this is my sister Yuki.”

I blinked. “Come again?”

Alice licked her lip and said, “I’m Alice, and this is my sister Yuki.”

I nodded in understanding. So that breathtakingly beautiful boy was actually a girl? I didn’t misunderstand Alice, did I? She did say sister.

Yuki finally stepped to the side and smiled at me and then Aria. “Konnichiwa,” she said.

Aria smiled and asked, “What does that mean?”

Alice said, “It means hello in Japanese.”

Aria chuckled excitedly, having suddenly discovered a new word, especially one from a new language.

“Konnichiwa,” she tried. “Did I say it right?”

Yuki nodded. “Yes, you did.” She came to kneel in front of Aria and said, “Kawaii. You are so adorable.”

“What does kawaii mean?” Aria asked again, enthusiastically wanting to know.

“It means cute,” Yuki said. “You are very cute.”

Aria blushed and giggled. “So are you. You’re so cute and pretty and beautiful, even though you look like a boy.”

I saw Yuki blush as she touched her boyish hair. I wondered if she was conscious of her unique look.

While Yuki and Aria started chatting away animatedly, with Yuki teaching Aria some Japanese words, I turned to Alice with a questioning look in my eyes.

Alice must have understood what I wanted to know because she said, “Yuki is my half-sister. Our mom married Yuki’s father, who’s Japanese, when I was around five, and a year later, Yuki was born. She’s half Japanese, half American, but we’ve lived in Japan most of our lives, so…”

“I see.” That meant Yuki wasn’t very good with English. Well, at least I assumed so, but she seemed to be able to communicate with Aria fine.

After that, Alice and I started talking, and we clicked immediately. I felt it right there and then that she, her sister Yuki, and me and Savannah were going to become very good friends. Of course, we were laughing and having so much fun that I felt the invisible guard Alice and Yuki had put up around them had disappeared.

It wasn’t long before a man dressed immaculately in a black suit appeared before us. “Excuse me, but lunch is now served. Mr. Maxwell is waiting in the dining room.”

Alice whispered to me, “He’s the butler.”

I nodded in understanding, and a moment later, we all headed back to the house to have lunch.