Million Dollar Bills

5//

*Marco De Luca POV*

I ended the call with Brandon Collier, one of the many clients I have to please 24/7. Ugh. He's nothing but a spoilt brat. He's just so hard to relate to. I don't understand him at all. I shoved my phone into my pocket and walked back inside.

I heard Fabian crying and looked up to see my mother trying to hush him. Addison was nowhere to be seen. "Mother, where's Addison?" I asked taking Fabian from her arms.

He immediately started to quiet down, and was now just hiccupping. I bounced him up and down, trying to cheer him up. "She left. I think I upset her" she replied.

"What did you do?" I asked. My mother does have a way with words, and it seems to get her into a lot of trouble wherever she goes. "I just said that she would be a good mother" she shrugged her shoulders, not looking at me.

"What happened, mother?" I seethed; she was making me more frustrated than Brandon Collier had.

"Well, the waitress came out and saw Addison holding Fabian and she thought Addison was his mother. So then Addison asked me why she thought that after she had left, and I said that she does look like his mother. Because she did the way she was acting like it was her own child. And then she looked uncomfortable and put Fabian back in the pram and left" she said throwing her hands up.

"Mama, cosa stavi pensando? (What were you thinking?)" I asked. She shook her head, "Come facevo a sapere che stava per essere sconvolto da questo? (How was I supposed to know she was going to be upset by that?)" She asked.

I sighed, "Just go, I've already paid for the food; I'll see you at dinner tonight. I have to get this one back home" I said. She got up, kissed my cheek and then kissed Fabians head.

"Alright then, vediamo stasera (see you tonight)" Then she was gone. To be honest, I was upset with Addison's disappearing act, but I know how my mother can be.

She says things without thinking about them and then she wonders why people scurry away from her. It's ridiculous. Fabian had stopped crying now but was sniffling.

His cheeks had gone red and puffy, and he had tear stains. I placed him back in the pram and packed up his biscuits. "Come on, buddy. You can have some apple juice when we get home, that'll cheer you up" I said, pushing the pram out of the cafe and towards my car.

.

It was finally Monday, the day I get to see Addison and apologise for my estranged mother. I woke up happy this morning, and it seemed Fabian shared the same feeling.

He was already awake and calling out to me when I entered his nursery this morning. He was sitting upright in his crib, waving his arms, grinning.

I grinned back at him and picked him up. "Do you want to come to work with me today, buddy? Addison's going to be there" I asked him.

He started making little happy sounds, and waved his arms at me. "I'll take that as a yes" I said. I put him on his changing table and changed his nappy.

Then I got some clothes and changed him out of his pyjamas. He kept on gurgling at me and squealing.

After Fabian was dressed and ready to go, I took him downstairs to the lounge room and placed him in front of the TV. I turned it on to Thomas the Tank Engine, his favourite show.

He started bouncing up and down in joy and squealing at me. I was already dressed for work, so I headed into the kitchen for breakfast.

I made a coffee and some cereal and sat down at the table to eat. Once I finished breakfast, I headed out with Fabian on my hip.

I wasn't going to bother with his pram. I slung his backpack over my shoulder and headed out to the car.

.

"Good morning Mr De Luca" Catherine purred. She was the secretary at the lobby. She always wore layers of makeup and tiny skirts and tops that made her boobs look ridiculous.

I've never been interested in her and never will be. Slutty isn't my type. Addison is. "Watch your tone Miss Natby" I said, continuing to walk past her.

I got into the elevator and headed up to my floor. The elevator doors opened and I strolled out. I walked into my office and froze in the doorway.

"You leave him alone, okay! He's mine. I saw you fraternizing with him in that cafe. And guess what, he will never like you. You're not even pretty!"

"Miss Bertie, I suggest you remove yourself from my office, before I remove you from the building" I seethed. Both women looked at me with wide eyes.

Louise Bertie was one of the seemingly endless swarm of sluts that roamed this building. She believes that I have a thing for her, even though she has a huge thing for me.

Right now, she was leaning threateningly towards Addison and was holding a claw-like finger at her neck. "Marco! I wasn't expecting to see you! I was just-" I cut her off, walking over to them.

I handed Fabian to Addison and pushing her towards the door. "Miss Bertie, I believe you have some packing to do. And it's Mr De Luca to you" I said and slammed the door in her face.

I turned back to Addison to see she was bouncing Fabian up and down, tears pouring down his face. "It's okay, little guy. There's no need to cry. Aww. Shush" She hushed him and he stopped crying and cuddled her.

Addison looked up at me and gave me a small smile. I smiled back at her, and slowly walked forward. "Are you okay?" I asked. She nodded, "Yeah, just a little shaken"

"What happened? Why was she in here anyway?" I asked. "I was coming in here to find a file that Mr Collier asked for me to find. I think she followed me in, I just turned around and she started foul mouthing me and threatening to kill me" She said frowning.

"She threatened to kill you?" I asked. "Um...Yeah. But, I mean you don't have to do anything drastic. I can sort something out-" I cut her off and stepped forward.

"No. I'll handle it. Your safety is important to me, Addison. I'm not going to let some delusional woman threaten your life"

At this point I was a few centimetres away and had my hands on her cheeks. "Why are you so concerned?" she whispered. Her breath flew past my cheek and I smelt peppermint.

"Because" I whispered back. "Because why?" "Because I like you" I said it so softly, I wasn't sure she heard it.