Case File 80

Case File Name:
Core Memory.

♤Chapter Eighty♤

After attending dinner with Roman, the week seemed to flash by me.

Which was normal at this point considering how consistent everything felt.

Today, Tazmin and I are taking Nadia out for our usual weekly activity.

Normally we try to do it on Friday or the weekend, but since Nadia has her friend's birthday sleepover—Tazmin and I decided to do Thursday instead.

Which already felt like a day packed with so many different things.

We have dinner with Nadia, then a late movie night with all our friends, and then on top of that, Roman's first day as the FBI director is today. 

And for some reason that makes me feel on fucking edge.

Technically, everything's been calm since the deal was signed, but I'm just paranoid that Roman or the FBI could find a way to turn it all around.

"Baby?" I heard Tazmin call out as I finished brushing out my hair.

"I'm almost done now," I quickly called out, setting my brush down as I ran my fingers through my dark hair.

Since we were only going to hibachi for dinner, I decided to wear something casual.

Much more casual than normal considering I have a surprise after dinner for Tazmin.

For once in such a long time, I wore denim Levi shorts which I paired with a blue tank top that read Italia in bold white letters.

The tank top clung to my frame while the frayed shorts sat at the perfect length of my upper thighs.

I paired the outfit with dainty silver jewelry and a pair of chunky New Balances—wearing very minimal makeup on my face.

"Every fucking time Milena," Tazmin said as she stopped by the door frame, eyeing every inch of my partially exposed body, "You put on clothes and every time I want them right back off of you."

A smile grew on my lips as I eyed her appearance.

She wore baggy jeans and an oversized t-shirt with her blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail.

Her typical chains and bracelets reflected under the lights, especially the new Rolex she wore.

"You like?" I asked even if her roaming eyes answered the question for me.

"Yeah baby," Tazmin said as she trailed closer to me, "I only need five minutes to show you just how much I like it."

I shook my head when my smile widened in amusement, "We're already behind and Nadi's expecting us," I reminded my fiancée.

Who nodded almost wordlessly.

But it visibly looked like the words I just said went in one ear and out the other.

Because Tazmin looks like she's off in an entirely different world of her own.

"You just look so fucking good in these shorts Milena," Tazmin murmured under her breath, openly eyeing my body as she began trailing her fingertips up my soft bare legs, "I want these back on tonight."

I immediately nodded, "Yes ma'am Ms. Moretti," I murmured, purposely keeping my tone innocent.

Which made Tazmin's jaw visibly tighten with restraint.

"Mrs. Moretti soon," she corrected me, and I couldn't help but inaudibly gasp as soon as her hand came into contact with my ass, "Now let's go before I decide to grab a pair of handcuffs and your favorite strap."

I hummed at the idea, "That sounds like a good—"

"Finish that sentence and we're going three rounds minimum," Tazmin warned me, which immediately made my lips purse together.

Even if my body nearly felt like it had been lit on fire.

But one of us had to remain level-headed.

We've been late to our plans all week.

I've even been late to work up until today when I managed to roll out of bed before Tazmin could pin me back down for a second round.

"Tell Nads we said hey," Mav said as Tazmin and I walked past them in the kitchen.

"I got you," Tazmin said as she grabbed the keys on the counter.

"And don't forget the Oreos for tonigh—"

"We're not going to forget your precious fucking Oreos," I told Vic, who flicked me off as we walked toward the garage door.

And while I only smiled at it, Tazmin's dark eyes held a look of disapproval targeted at Vic.

"It's a joke Taz!" Vic quickly called out as we walked out to the garage.

"That's cool," Tazmin said, and I could tell by her calm tone that it was definitely not fucking cool, "I have jokes too honestly," she subtly added.

And I couldn't help but chuckle slightly when Vic's brows raised.

But Tazmin already had the door shut behind us before he could say anything else.

"It really is just a joke baby," I assured her, gently wrapping my hand around the back of her neck that I gave an affirming squeeze.

Tazmin hummed blankly, "Not a funny one," she mumbled as she unlocked the Range Rover.

I jokingly rolled my eyes, "It's still a joke," I gently reminded her as she opened the car door for me.

"And it's still not a funny one," Tazmin repeated herself more firmly, watching as I slid into the passenger seat.

And before I could counter her statement, she had the car door shut, now walking over to the other side of the car.

Meanwhile, I was nearly grinning at the gift Tazmin already had waiting in the car for Nadia.

It was a white shopping bag filled with pink roses, a teddy bear, and pink heart balloons hanging from it.

Tazmin surprises Nadia with these kinds of gifts weekly.

I swear if she wasn't spoiled before, she really fucking is now.

"Any updates on Roman's first day?" I asked as Tazmin turned the car on and buckled her seatbelt.

Tazmin glanced over to me as she put the car in drive, "You're worrying again baby," she said with a small smile growing on her lips.

"Only for the right reasons," I said, gently grabbing her hand from her lap to hold in mine.

Tazmin's smile grew as she leaned over to press a soft kiss on my temple, "Everything's good, Mil," she assured me, slowly driving forward out of the garage, "His work day was like every other day."

I nodded a few times, "Yeah okay—that's good," I mumbled mostly to myself.

"He just wants to see me after he finishes up with his onboarding meetings," Tazmin said as she drove past the open garage door.

I furrowed my brows, "And that's normal?" I asked, already feeling on edge at the idea of that.

"Milena," Tazmin sighed, briefly glancing over to me as she gave my hand a gentle squeeze, "I really need you to stop worrying baby."

I let out a deep sigh, "I just don't want you to get caught up," I admitted in a whisper, watching as Tazmin stopped in front of the gates that slowly opened.

"And I understand that sweetheart, but this partnership requires trust—and you read through the deal very thoroughly," Tazmin reminded me, keeping her tone so beyond gentle with me.

But I could only remain silent with my overthinking thoughts, waiting for Tazmin to drive forward.

But she didn't drive even an inch forward.

Instead, she only stared at me, allowing her dark eyes to trace every inch of my face.

"I'm not going anywhere, Mil," she finally said in reassurance, letting go of my hand to run her fingertips up my arm before gently gripping my neck, "I'm right here with you baby."

I nodded, leaning into her touch as soon as she brought her hand up from my neck to gently caress the edge of my jawline.

"I love you," I whispered, gently grabbing her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it.

"I love you too, beautiful," Tazmin said, gently squeezing my hand as she faced forward and drove past the open gates.

"Just promise you'll make it back in time for movie night?" I asked, gently caressing the back of her hand in mine.

Tazmin nodded, "Of course baby, I should be back by nine or ten," she assured me as she focused on the road in front of us.

"Okay good, and just so you know, Gia will be—"

"Nah," Tazmin quickly cut me short.

Which made a soft sigh fall from my lips, "But she's already invited—Mav accidentally mentioned it when he was around Mila and Gia," I pointed out, really hating the idea of uninviting her.

Even if Tazmin would have her uninvited from not just this but probably her life if she really knew about what happened.

And that we lied about it all.

But it's too fucking late to say anything now, and everything is perfectly normal between me and Gia.

"I don't like her around you, end of discussion," Tazmin said, remaining entirely focused on the road.

Even if I could notice the subtle grip she had taken with the steering wheel.

"But she's already invited baby," I whispered, bringing her hand to my lips to trail soft kisses all over, "It's just one night," I tried to convince her.

But Tazmin only remained silent, shaking her head a few times to herself.

"Tazmin," I said, eyeing her perfect side profile as I anticipated her final answer.

Because I knew if she said no again then that was it and I would have to awkwardly un-invite Gia.

"I want her at a distance from you," Tazmin finally said, briefly glancing over to me, "I don't even want her standing beside you."

I immediately nodded, "Of course—I'll stay as far away as possible," I quickly assured her.

Tazmin lazily raised her brows, "I'm so fucking serious Milena—I'll drag you upstairs halfway through the movie I don't care," she said, driving past one of the green lights toward the highway.

"I got it baby," I said, leaning over the console to gently kiss her cheek, "I'll keep a distance."

Tazmin hummed in approval, "Then she can come," she said, earning a nod from me as I watched her merge onto the highway.

And soon we were far out of the city and in a more residential area where my sister's house was.

Which is where Nadia waited for us by the front door.

Specifically, in the most adorable white dress and a matching hair band in her hair that she wore down.

Luckily, Morana packed a change of clothes for Nadia after dinner—considering I have a surprise planned for later.

"I love it!" Nadia nearly gushed as she picked the teddy bear up from the white bag, "Mommy look!" she said to Morana.

Meanwhile, Zane is still at the office finishing up work, so I won't get to see him until we drop Nadia back off tonight.

"It's so cute," Morana said as she eyed the teddy bear, "And just look at those roses."

Nadia's smile grew even more, "Thank you Mel and Tazi," she said, hugging the bear to her body as she did a small twirl.

"Oh, this one was all Tazi," I quickly said, nudging my fiancée standing beside me in the foyer.

Tazmin jokingly rolled her eyes, "It's from both of us," she corrected me, sliding her arm around my waist to hold me closer.

And as I instinctively rested my hand against her firm stomach—my sister's eyes instantly darted down.

And eyed the ring on my finger.

But it was only the gifted ring since Tazmin insisted on getting an engagement ring herself for her own proposal.

Which I was currently working on myself.

"This was just a gift," I said before my sister could mention her assumption of an engagement.

Mostly because we're not telling anyone about our mutual engagement until after our proposals.

"Well it's very pretty," Morana said as she picked up the bag of roses that Nadia subtly slipped the bear back into.

"Take care of Rosie," Nadia told my sister with a serious tone.

Tazmin raised a brow, "Oh she already has a name?" she asked with an amused smile.

Nadia nodded a few times in a row, "Rosie because she came with roses," she said, motioning to the flowers.

And I couldn't help but smile at her cleverness, absolutely loving the name she gave the bear.

Which was something we talked about on the way over to a nearby hibachi restaurant.

And outside of the busy city, everything felt different, almost like a slower pace of life.

Which felt nice for one evening.

The restaurant wasn't too packed for a Thursday compared to downtown Miami where there would normally be a wait.

The food was also really fucking good—our chef even made a heart out of the rice for me and Tazmin.

It honestly felt hard to not eat too much since the chef nearly loaded up our plates with rice, shrimp, chicken, steak—and numerous other dishes.

But we all needed to save our appetite for the plans I had in store for us after.

Which was a game of soccer at a nearby field.

And almost as soon as I grabbed the bags that I secretly loaded into the trunk and the new soccer ball I bought—Tazmin knew immediately what I was up to.

Especially now that Nadia was changed into a t-shirt and athletic shorts.

"Tazmin," I laughed when she intercepted the ball from me, easily kicking it over into the white goal.

"You gotta protect the ball better than that baby," Tazmin told me, glancing over to Nadia who was occupied with playing Animal Crossing on her Nintendo Switch, "Nads you're up," she called out.  

Which immediately made Nadia glance up, "You're on," she said, setting her game aside as I walked over to sit where she had previously sat.

And as I sat down in the grass, I watched as Nadia and Tazmin went back and forth with the soccer ball.

The sun was setting on the horizon, a subtle breeze wafted the fresh smell of grass, and Nadia's giggles echoed perfectly around us.

It was one of those moments I knew I would never forget.

A beautiful core memory captured right before my eyes and stored in my head until the end of time. 

"Mil come join in," Tazmin said as soon as Nadia scored her goal.

Which I knew Tazmin let her do.

"We can't play with three players," I pointed out as I approached them both.

"We're gonna take turns kicking it into the goal," Nadia said with an excited smile, lining the ball up at a distance from the goal.

I smiled as soon as Tazmin slid her arms around my waist and briefly kissed my cheek.

"Best surprise ever," she murmured, now kissing my other cheek which made my smile grow, "Thank you baby."

I gently ran my hands up her arms, "Anything for you," I said, glancing over to Nadia when she went to kick her second goal, "Isn't it my turn?"

Nadia dramatically sighed, "I guess," she said, smiling slightly when I gave her a narrowed look.

And after briefly kissing Tazmin's cheek, I unraveled from her arms to go kick the soccer ball into the goal.

Which I luckily had no issues with doing.

I'm not the most sporty person, so I'm proud that I could make a few of the goals I attempted.

Even my niece seemed to be really good at soccer.

At some point, I got seated on the sideline just to let her play more games with Tazmin.

But once the sun had set and they had finished their fifth game—it was officially time to get everything packed up and in the car.

"She fell asleep," I whispered to Tazmin who focused on the back road she was driving down.

"She's definitely going to sleep good tonight," she said, keeping her tone lowered as she gave my thigh a gentle squeeze.

I hummed, "I think I will too—hopefully movie night doesn't last too long," I murmured, briefly closing my heavy eyes as I nuzzled into Tazmin's arm, "We can't forget the Oreos either," I added in a soft whisper.

"I'll stop to grab some after we drop off Nads," Tazmin assured me as she flicked on her signal, "You should take a short nap so you're good for tonight baby."

I nodded a few times, "Just twenty minutes," I sighed, growing comfortable in the leather seat as Tazmin gently caressed my bare thigh.

And it really didn't take long for me to fall into a deep sleep, especially with how tired I felt after playing so much soccer.

The car was perfectly silent and Tazmin drove so smoothly, which definitely contributed to my tiredness.

It was probably the best and longest sleep I had ever gotten in a car.

By the time Tazmin woke me up, we were already back at her house.

Apparently, she had already dropped my sleeping niece off with Zane—who took her inside to get her ready for bed.

Tazmin also stopped to get Oreos and my favorite Chips Ahoy cookies.

"You'll only be an hour?" I asked as I picked out some comfortable clothes to wear.

"Probably less than that," Tazmin said as she pulled on a pair of Essential sweatpants that matched her baggy t-shirt.

After unpacking the car, Tazmin and I decided to take a quick shower before changing into different clothes, considering we had worked up a sweat playing outside.

I genuinely fucking hate smelling like outside, so I nearly dragged us into that shower.

"Okay make sure you text me when you get there and also when you're leaving," I said as I pulled on a pair of black leggings.

Tazmin smiled slightly, "Of course baby," she said, walking over to me with one of her t-shirts.

Which she ended up pulling over my head and guiding my arms through so I could wear it.

"I love you," I whispered, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her closer to my body.

"I love you too beautiful," she murmured, leaning down to briefly kiss my lips which earned a content hum from me.

"I'll walk you out," I offered, drawing my hands up her back as I kissed her soft lips one more time.

"Okay baby," Tazmin said, kissing my cheek and then my temple before pulling back from me completely.

And as soon as I had a pair of slippers on and Tazmin had her shoes on—we walked out of her closet to head downstairs.

Where Mav and Vic were already getting out different snacks and Marie focused on making brownies.

But I was less focused on them and more focused on saying goodbye to my beautiful fiancée—who I nearly kissed ten times in a row before closing her car door and finally letting her drive out of the garage.

I just can't wait for her to get back—hopefully without any issues concerning the FBI.