Felicity was at the broker's office at nine o'clock, waiting for his assistant to call her. The office was sleek and modern, with a great view of Starling's skyline. Black and white were the dominant colors, though Felicity wasn't a big fan of that. It was cold, in her opinion.

"Ms. Smoak, please come on in." the woman said and showed her to her boss's office.

Felicity nodded at her and entered the office with Zari and Lyla behind her. "Good morning, Mr. Hart." She said pleasantly.

"Good morning, Ms. Smoak, ladies." He nodded at them. "Please have a seat. What can I do for you?"

"My husband" okay it hurt her a little to use that word with his recent behavior, but she was a big girl, "and I are looking to buy a house."

"Well, you are in the right place." He chuckled and pulled out a notepad. "What are you looking for in your home?"

"We want privacy, that's the number one priority. We want it to be out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Wine cellar, that's a must, and generally a basement. I don't want it to be too classic, I like modern design, but not too futuristic. It needs to have multiple bedrooms, at least two offices and I would like a pool. If it has one of those fancy coffee taps, I would be happy. And the walk-in-closet will be either deal maker or deal-breaker. And it would be greatly appreciated if the property could accommodate many cars, as in more than three or four. Any cool features like secret rooms and underground tunnels will be a bonus. I always wanted to have those at my house. Oh, my husband would appreciate it if there was a vault or a safe, but that won't be a deal-breaker."

"I see," he wrote all that down. "And what price range are we talking about?"

"We don't have a limit, but I would like to stay under sixty million dollars. Though if it is the dream house, I am willing to go over that."

"Very nice." He nodded "I will compose a list of properties and I will contact you this evening."

"Wonderful. My husband is very busy, so he will be joining us after I have narrowed down the list you will make." Felicity said pleasantly.

"I understand, of course." Mr. Hart smiled politely. "Is there anything else you want to add?"

"A gym would be nice" Lyla added. "Mr. Smoak likes to work out."

Right, she knew she was forgetting something.

"Most of the Mansions have gyms nowadays." He said. "I have several properties in mind, I'm sure we will find the perfect one for you and your Husband."

"Excellent." Felicity smiled tightly. "I will be waiting for your call." She stood and shook hands with the man.

"Of course, have a nice day,"

And a nice day she had. They went to the zoo because Felicity had never been before. They had a wonderful time. Felicity especially loved the giraffes; they were beautiful and playful. Every time someone tried to take a photo of them, they would pose like models. It was awesome. They even went for ice-cream. Felicity got herself a pillow with a beautiful giraffe on it from the gift shop.

By the time they got back to the hotel, the broker had emailed her a list of ten properties, they had a photo and a short description attached. Felicity skimmed through them and made an appointment to see some of them the following day.

That night, they had dinner at the hotel's restaurant. It was certainly fancy, and Felicity certainly enjoyed the very expensive wine, but she would have preferred burgers and shakes. However, with the dress she had chosen, she had to be careful about what she ate. It was unforgiving.

Felicity spent the next three days touring Mansions. They were all brilliant and expensive, but none of the first nine clicked for her. Of course, the last one would. It was a mega-mansion, selling for sixty-two million five hundred and thirty thousand dollars. It had a long driveway, after you passed the gates, with a parking lot to the right that could accommodate up to sixteen cars. The main building consisted of five floors. The basement had a beautiful wine cellar (and all the wine came with the house), an entertaining room that had an actual bar, pinball machines, a beautiful pool table, and three bowling alleys among other games, the basement hosted on of the three vaults which were the largest of them at six feet tall four feet wide and two feet deep, hidden behind a wood panel. And it had a home cinema, a very luxurious home cinema that could accommodate twenty people and it also had a snack bar, which included a cola machine and a popcorn machine. The basement had also a sauna and a jacuzzi. Felicity didn't know those were things people put into their homes.

The next floor had the kitchen, the pantry, the chef's kitchen and pantry, the staff quarters, the formal dining room, the family dining room, the sitting room, and the two home offices, away from each other, and each had one vault considerably smaller than the one on the basement in it hidden behind wood panes that integrate into the wall. Both offices had one was that was made completely out of glass but could turn opaque with the push of one button. It was pretty cool. In what she thought as Oliver's office there was a hidden bar, that emerged from the bookcase with the click of a button. And her office had a hidden bathroom. Throughout the house, the wall that was facing the outside pool was made of glass making the house bright and airy. And Felicity loved that. But what she loved, even more, was the actual dinosaur from the Jurassic era that was on the foyer.

On the back garden, there was a beautiful infinity pool surrounded by custom made wooden sunbeds. There was a patio area that was sporting a full outdoor kitchen with a grill and a pizza oven. The area was circled by outdoor furniture. Further down there was a glass farmhouse, perfect for hosting parties according to the broker. And a little further down was a guest house. It was a two-level building, not too small. The basement was empty, but the first floor has a sitting area, a nice kitchen, a dining room, a comfortable bedroom, and a bathroom. Maybe they could use that for the less nice Bratva business if needed. On the back of the guest house, there was a nice basketball court.

They returned to the main house and went to the second floor, which sported a fairly large gym, five en-suite guestrooms, and a masseuse room. Then there was the gift-wrapping room.

The third floor had the master suite that included a ginormous bedroom that had a fireplace and a sitting area, an enormous bathroom that was three times her dorm room, and an incredible and sleek walk-in closet. It had two separate lightings, one was white light and the other was a warmer tone, with medium brown walnut cabinets in a modern design, that had glass doors and two islands to store accessories, it also had an area with a vanity and lighting mirror that would be perfect for doing her makeup. It also had a chaise longue with a side table. It was amazing. This floor also had a master bedroom, it was a nice sized bedroom with a large bathroom and a smaller walk-in closet, at least compared to the one in the master suite. There was also another en-suite bedroom. The master's also had beautiful balconies that led to the terrace.

Finally, there was a four-car garage and it was attached to a storage room. Well, it was too big to be a room, but that's what the broker called it. And did she mention that the main house had a freaking elevator?

Felicity loved it. Seeing the look in her eyes, Lyla called Oliver and told him about the place and she may have exaggerated a bit about how the other places were not what they needed, whereas this one even had a separate building for their business meetings. Oliver said that he was on his way to see it, along with the boys.

"I'd by the house just for that walk-in-closet in the master suite," Zari said, as they waited for Oliver by the pool.

"That dinosaur is a pretty good selling point, too. It's so cool?" Felicity said putting on her sunglasses.

"True." Lyla and Zari said together.

"I like the pool," Lyla said. "The hidden bathroom is pretty cool, too."

"I really, really like this house. The others were just fancy, this one is cool." The Captain's wife said.

"And it has plenty of space for cars." Zari added. "that's a good thing. Once we relocate our car collection is going to grow."

"W doesn't have a car collection at the moment," Lyla told her, "We're renting the cars from Anatoly."

"True." The raven-haired woman shrugged.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, until Lyla's phone rang, with John's face popping on the screen. "Break's over ladies, they are here."

They spent another hour and a half walking around the Estate showing the guys, well mostly Oliver but the others were interested as well. They were all surprised by the dinosaur, but Nate especially was ecstatic. John loved the entertaining room and especially the bar portion of it. Oliver seemed almost impressed with the hidden bar in the one office. He even cracked a joke when they were touring the master suite. "Do you think you think it will fit your clothes?" he had said when they reached the walk-in-closet.

And Felicity didn't know how to react, because Oliver hadn't joked with her in months. "We'll see." She glared at his back. Idiot.

Felicity could have sworn that the moment Oliver decided they were buying the house was when he saw the basketball court. His eyes widened for a moment, and if she hadn't been looking at his face, she would have missed it. He pursed his lips together and said "Nice". Truth to be told all the other mansions had tennis courts. Apparently, rich people were big fans of tennis. Who knew?

"Is this your pick?" Oliver asked her in a purely professional tone, that made her want to yell.

"Yes, it is, sweetness" she gave him a fake smile. His right eye twitched as if he wanted to flinch. Good.

"We're taking it, then," he told the broker.

"Wonderful! I will have the papers ready for you the day after tomorrow and after that, you can move in whenever you want. The furniture comes with the house."

"Good, give my wife a call when they are ready. I have another meeting soon. I need to get going." He said. "I will see you tonight." He said and did something that Felicity did not see coming. He kissed her cheek. After months of the cold shoulder -which she did not deserve by the way- he kissed her cheek. She felt her temper rising but bit her cheek and forced a smile.

"Good luck" she gritted, and Oliver, John, and Nate left. "Do you accept wire transfers?" she turned to the broker.

"Of course, of course." He nodded eagerly.

"Great."

when they returned to the hotel, Felicity ordered a bottle of wine and a whole lot of fries, she changed into a pair of comfortable pajamas -because yes it was one of those nights she craved comfort since she couldn't have love- took her laptop and sat on the suit's balcony.

She proceeded to watch half a season of Castle drinking wine and eating fries, until the wee hours of the night. At some point, she heard Lyla yelling at someone, but she didn't pay it any mind. She wasn't in the mood to care. Because bloody Oliver gave her fucked up signals and she didn't know how much she could take in silence. Before she went to bed, Nate forced her to drink a big glass of water. Her husband was nowhere in sight. She sighed and went to bed. She didn't care. Or so she kept telling herself.

Felicity spent the next five days designing the security system for the manor. Every room was going to have tiny security cameras and only she was going to have access to all of them. There was not going to be a thing that was going to be happening that she didn't know about. She was going to install microphones, too. Maybe not in the bathrooms though. She was going to build a server, too. And then she was designing a series of alarms to incorporate in them. She had Zari ask Oliver what features he required in the security system because she was not going to talk to him unless he was. And then John put his two cents in. she was going to install tablets all over the house to access the lights and the system as needed, creating various levels of clearance. She was proud of her design.

The only break she took from coding it was to go with Oliver to sign the papers for the house. She was surprised when she saw her name on the deed too. She looked Oliver in the eyes, but she still didn't say anything. On their way to the car he informed her that when Oliver Queen came back from the dead, they would need to make the change in name in the deed. That's a whole big sentence he said to her. Wow, she was impressed. Please, note the sarcasm.

On the day of the gala, the ladies had a whole day booked at the top spa of Starling. They got massages, facials, manicures, pedicures and had their hair done for the occasion. Felicity made the transition from brunette to blonde. And she liked it, so much.

"You look amazing, boss." Zari grinned.

"It suits you." Lyla nodded in agreement.

"Thanks." She grinned blushing. "We should get going. We only have three hours before we have to leave for the gala."

The spa was close to the hotel and they were back quickly. The men were still out doing god knows what, so the ladies barricaded themselves in Felicity's room to get ready. They barely heard them coming in, not that they truly cared. They were big boys; they could tell the time.

Zari had picked a light blue empire waist flowy dress and golden sandals and Lyla had gone for a black one-shoulder A-line silky dress with silver pumps. And Felicity had her red form-fitting dress and champagne glittery sandals.

"I will enjoy watching Oliver blowing a casket tonight," Lyla smirked when Felicity had finished with her make up. She didn't do anything heavy, but she did use a perfect red lipstick.

"Please, you have to be the last to get out. I want to see his face." Zari begged.

"So, I look okay, then?" she asked a little shyly.

"Okay? Felicity, you look hot." Zari cocked her head.

"He won't know what hit him." Lyla agreed, putting on her earrings.

Five minutes later, they were all done. Zari joined the boys first, followed by Lyla. A few minutes later, Felicity got out of the bedroom and she couldn't help looking at her husband. And then she had to bite her cheek to keep herself from grinning. Oliver was looking at her intently, his eyes dark and his brows frowned. His hands had clenched into fists and the vein on his forehead was popping. It was a priceless picture. Of course, the fact that he looked sinfully good in his tux only added to the picture.

"You look beautiful, Felicity," John said and then glared at his boss.

"Thank you, John." She smiled brilliantly at him.

"We're going to have the most beautiful women on our arms tonight." Nate grinned and offered his arm to Zari. Okay, seriously something was going on with those two. "Nice hair, by the way."

"You're not so bad yourselves." Felicity teased. "And thank you"

"We need to get going" was all Oliver managed to say, his voice hoarser than usual.

Lyla caught her eye and winked. This was going to be a long night, but she may as well have some fun with it.

A limo was waiting for them and they got in, in pairs. Oliver was stiff next to her the entire ride and he looked relieved when they arrived.

The please was a typical American manor. Classic. And a little overdone, in Felicity's opinion. The party was in full swing by the time they arrived. Oliver helped her out of the car and then placed his hand on the small of her back, his hot skin against her exposed back. She fought the shiver that threatened to run down her body. She put on her most charming smile and let him guide her inside.

Oliver introduced his wife to a bunch of people, and she did her best to remember them all. And then Oliver started rubbing his thumb against her skin, Felicity wanted t melt against his touch, but she wouldn't. she was going to hold her ground. But what bothered her the most were the flirty looks he got from other women, married and not, even if he seemed to ignore them. She would lay a hand on his arm or lean against him every time she caught someone giving him hungry looks. And it probably drove him a little crazy, but he drove her crazy, too, so she wasn't going to take any pity on him.

Lyla had a grin on her face the whole night, and it unnerved Felicity a little.

By the end of the night, Felicity had had three glasses of champagne, so she had no problem at all leaning against her husband or teasing him. She took a lot of joy from making him stiff -not like that! She means she enjoyed having him standing stiffly next to her because she was teasing him. Of course, she made sure to eat and drink water in between, so that she would remember every moment of the night. Oliver didn't know that. And he wouldn't find out for a few months.

That's probably why he did what he did. Because she thought that she wouldn't remember.

Toward the end of the night, Oliver took her outside, at the garden on the side of the house, and pushed her against the wall. He placed his left hand next to her head against the wall and his right on her hip.

"What are you doing, Oliver." She narrowed her eyes, trying not to get her hopes up.

"You've been teasing me the whole fucking night." He said in a low voice. "With that dress, the new hair, your touches. You have been driving me crazy. I have been trying to restrain myself, but you won't let me." He growled. "But you won't remember any of this in the morning, so maybe I can finally indulge myself a little."

"I'm the one driving you crazy?" she asked incredulously, "What about you, Oliver? At first, you were so nice and friendly and then you turned into a cold bastard, treating me worse than you would treat your secretary. You would probably treat her way better actually. You've been giving me the cold shoulder for months! You only talk to me when it is absolutely necessary! What did I do, Oliver? What? From the first moment, I've been trying to do my best, to be a good little wife! What did I do?" she couldn't help the tears that escaped her. She didn't care. It was about time he heard it.

Oliver looked in her eyes for a moment and Felicity couldn't breathe. And he crashed his mouth against hers. He kissed her hungrily, seeking entrance with his tongue and when Felicity opened her mouth to allow him in, their tongues battled frantically. His hands were traveling up and down on her sides and Felicity planted hers on his arms.

They broke apart, only when they needed oxygen.

"You didn't tell me what I did to make cold towards me."

"You didn't do anything, Felicity! I'm the problem! I'm a monster! I'm dangerous and I do not want to dim your light!" he exclaimed.

"Then why kiss me?"

"Because I wanted to since the day I met you! And you won't remember it. And it pains me, it pains me too much! But I won't do that to you. You're too pure." He cupped her cheek.

"Did you ever thought that it was my choice?" she asked softly.

"There is no choice to make, Felicity. I will not let my darkness consume you. That's why I gave in tonight because you won't remember it tomorrow." He said in a raspy voice.

"You've said that. Why do you think I won't remember the best kiss of my life, Oliver?" she glared at him.

"You're in your fourth glass of wine." He said simply.

She wanted to tell him that she will remember, but she didn't. she wanted to see how he would act going forward. "Let's hope that you are right, Oliver. Because I don't think I will cope if I remember this and then have you being a cold-hearted bastard." She said wiping away her tears. She took a deep breath and tried to collect herself.

"I'm sorry, Felicity." He said and Felicity believed him for some crazy and unfathomable reason.

"Yeah." She turned her back to him and started walking back to the house.

The party started to die out soon after and after saying their goodbyes, the group took the limo back to the hotel. Felicity disappeared into her room the moment she could, feeling Lyla's worried eyes on her back. But she just needed to get out of that dress. She couldn't deal with anything else other than getting ready for bed.

She took the dress off and handed it outside of the wardrobe with her shoes underneath it. She took off her jewelry and all the pins from her hair. She threw her kimono on and then slipped into the bathroom. She took her makeup off and brushed her teeth, avoiding looking at the mirror.

She found Lyla waiting for her when she got back to her room. "are you okay, Felicity?"

"He kissed me. He gave me the best kiss of my life. He only did it because he thinks that I won't remember it in the morning." She sighed resigned.

"I'm so sorry." She pulled her in her arms. "Men are idiots and Oliver is the biggest of them all."

"Yeah, he is." She nodded pulling back. "Go get some rest, Lyla. You deserve it."

"Do you want me to stay with you? Johnny will survive sleeping alone one night." The older woman assured her.

"No, go to your husband. I'll be fine." She assured her.

"I will hit him extra hard the next time we train." She promised.

Felicity chuckled beside herself. "Just don't hurt yourself."

"Don't worry. I won't." she winked. "Good night, Felicity."

"Good night Lyla."

When the door closed behind her, Felicity put on her comfy pajamas and slipped into her bed. She cried herself to sleep that night.

She never knew that Oliver came to her room and sat with her, holding her hand, apologizing.

"I love you, Felicity." He whispered.