Adriana stared at her phone and then back at her friends.

"¿Quien era?" Antonio asked.

"If it's that damn Jones, tell him I've got some connections that might want to make him reconsider his decisions." Lovino grumbled.

Adriana gave him a slight smile, "I'll take up on that offer if worse comes to pass."

"Maria!"

"I'm kidding, Antonio! But still, thanks Lovi."

"Ahem, the mysterious caller?" interjected Francis.

"It was…Ivan." Adriana lied.

"Really?" Francis said raising his eyebrows.

"Yes." She met Francis' gaze, "It was Ivan."

"And are you going to call him back?" Feli asked.

"I don't know. Maybe not."

"Why?" Feli insisted.

"What would I say?"

"'How are you?' is what people commonly say." Lovino said sarcastically.

"Thanks Da Vinci. No but seriously, why would he call me?"

Antonio put his hand on her shoulder, "Maybe it's best if you call him. Don't say anything about the topic, unless he asks."

"Go and call him back. It's going to get later for the two of you. I'll clean up and keep Francis inside."

"Hey!"

Adriana nodded and stood up from the couch, "I'm going outside then. Santos, come here boy!"

The little Chihuahua raced from his hidden corner and followed her to the back door. The men let out a collective sigh, "Okay chicos, Adriana has a terrace outside her room. If we are quiet we might be able to hear everything. That means you have to be absolutely quiet, okay Feli?" Antonio said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Adriana paced back and forth with the phone in her hand, "Why on Earth would Alfred call me?!" She muttered a loud.

"Alfred?!" Antonio mouthed to Francis, who raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" Francis said.

Lovino pushed Francis away, "What?!" he hissed in a stage whisper.

"I said Alfred!" Antonio whispered back. He brought his index finger to his lips, "Shh."

Adriana took in a deep breath and with a small huff, she clicked the home button and checked her contacts. Pressing the redial button, she placed the phone on her ear.

"Please help me say the right words." She prayed silently.

One, two, three, rings and still Alfred had not picked up.

"Maybe he won't ans-"

"Jones speaking!"

Adriana winced and moved the cellphone away from her ear.

"Hello?!"

"Yep. He answered." Adriana thought, bring the phone back to her ear.

"Hi, Alfred. It's me, Adriana. I saw you called and-"

"Oh, hey! Yeah thanks for calling back. I just need to ask you something."

"Oh, okay. Well sure." Adriana began to walk around.

"Okay, so next week's meeting is on Wednesday. You think you can come by Monday?"

She stopped walking, "What?!"

"Yeah come on Monday!"

"But why? I just got home today! That would mean I would leave on Sunday!"

"I know, but my boss is asking to meet you beforehand the meeting."

She sighed and could hear the concern in his voice, "Fine. I understand."

"Thanks! And don't worry about where're you'll be staying! Everything has already been planned and set!"

"Thanks."

An awkward silence past between them, Alfred cleared his throat, "So how was your flight?"

"Very long."

"Well I'm glad you're back in this neck of the woods. Hey I'll talk to you tomorrow, 'kay?"

Adriana stiffened, "Ah, yeah sure, no problem."

"Great! Well, um bye!"

"Bye."

They ended their call. Adriana shook her head, "Great. Just great."

Meanwhile Alfred set down his cellphone on his desk, "Chill, dude. She's just stressed right now. She'll come about soon enough."

Antonio and the gang saw that she was coming inside and they raced down the stairs to seem like they were in the kitchen and the living room. Santos entered first and she closed the door. She shook her head. The house felt too quiet and she smirked, "Idiotas, I know you were spying on me."

Antonio poked his head out of the kitchen, "¿Nosotros?" ¿Espiando?"

"Si, tu y tus amigos."

"¿Adriana como puedes decir algo a si?" Antonio said bringing his hand to his heart faking he was hurt.

"Porque yo te conosco." Adriana shoved the phone into her pocket and joined her brother and friends once more in the kitchen.

They all sat in the kitchen table, texting on their phones. "Right, the four little angels."

Feli shot his head up, "So what did A-," Lovino kicked him from under the table, "I-Ivan. Ivan say?"

Adriana bit her lip, "He only wanted to know if I was going to be able to go to next Wednesday's meeting."

Francis and Antonio looked at each other, "Riiigghhtt."

"I'm serious!"

"Oh we believe you, but no one calls at midnight from Russia, only to confirm a schedule concern." Francis replied.

She sat down in the extra chair and crossed her arms, "Well, apparently Ivan did."

"And what did you say?" Feli pressed.

"I-I said I wouldn't be able to go. I'm meeting with Alfred next week."

"Well, if you guys don't mind I'm going off to bed. It's been a long day and I need to rest."

"I'm guessing you guys will be spending the night, right?"

Feli nodded, "Yep! Toni said it was alright!"

"Okay, you guys know where all the extra blankets and sheets, so make yourself at home. Good night guys."

She stood up and gave each one a small kiss goodnight before heading back upstairs.

"Well, isn't she the liar? Eh?" Antonio said, running his hands through his hair.

"It's always the good girls," Francis said with a wink.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I call the guest room," Lovino interjected.

The three men all stared at him and they all began arguing on who got the guest room. It was finally decided that Francis would sleep in the guest room (it was after all his turn), Lovino and Feli would get the sleeping bags (again), and Antonio would get the sofa-bed. Once everything was quiet and asleep, Adriana went down the kitchen for some water. She thought she was all alone in the kitchen, but to her surprise Feliciano was also getting something to drink.

"Oh, Feli! You scared me!" Adriana hissed as she entered the kitchen.

"Sorry, I was just thirsty and couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, me too."

He served them both a glass of water, "Ivan didn't call you, did he?" Feli said breaking the silence.

Adriana stood quiet and bit her lip, "No," she finally said.

Feli handed her glass, "I knew."

"How?"

"Well, I was the one who saw the miss call, and it was also pretty obvious you were lying."

Adriana stared at her friend with a blank expression. "Sometimes I forget you are smarter than you look, Feli."

He grinned and took a long sip of water, "Then why did you say he actually called you?"

She sighed, "I-I don't know." She took a sip of her drink, "But you know, Ivan's never going to call me back."

Feli raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

Adriana gave him a half smile, "For starters, the last thing he told me was that he used to love me. Granted, I didn't fully tell him I was getting married to Alfred. I only told him I was ending things."

"He was actually glad! He told me that he had stop feeling something for me for a while, but didn't know how to tell me. So when we were at the train station, it was our last time seeing each other."

Feli let everything sink in, "You didn't tell him the truth!"

"No! How could I! There was nothing I nor he could do!

"You don't know that!"

"And Adriana a word to the wise: Le bugie hanno le gambe corte. Lies don't go far before being uncovered."

And with that Feli left Adriana standing in the kitchen. He walked out, glass still in hand, and he heard the soft clink of it being set down against the quiet snores from the boys.

Adriana tilted her head, "Lies? Please, I've done nothing wrong. Plus, whose ever been hurt by a little white lie?"

A/N: Muahahahaha! How many of you thought the mystery caller was Ivan? How many of you thought it was Alfred?

Thank you guys for all the wonderful words/reviews! I love you guys! *hugs you all*

My finals are in two weeks, so maybeno updates until December 20!