Love-in-Idleness by Christina Bell

others.  He could not simply wave a check under her nose and expect her to start packing. With the others, by the time he was finished with them, they had been trained in the ways of society and had enough social cache to be ensured a long happy future in Manhattan society. Titania, on the other hand, had grown up in a wealthy Spanish family and was educated in the best schools in Europe.  She had not married Miles as a social stepping stone. In fact, she hadn’t been interested in him at all when he first began to pursue her. Where his first three wives saw an attractive wealthy man, Titania saw a self-absorbed materialistic charmer. It was only when he stopped trying to impress her that he was finally able to prove that he wasn’t a shallow fool.
    When they fell in love, Miles had believed that perhaps he was finished with training and subsequently dismissing gold-diggers. Then India was born, and Miles knew that continuing to keep his wife in the dark about their child’s talents would be nearly impossible. In the long run, Miles knew that he could take possession of India, even though it would mean resorting to trickery and magic. While the temptation to tell her the truth was strong, he knew that the consequences would be potentially devastating if his disclosure backfired on him. Whether she believed him or not, there was huge inherent risk in telling his wife that he gained his fortune through magic.
                         The evening with Theo and his family had been taxing for Miles, and upon arriving home, he went straight to his private office and closed the door. He poured himself a large snifter of Sambucco and dropped in three coffee beans into the clear liquid; health, wealth, and happiness. Tonight, achieving two out of three would have to suffice.
           To add to his current troubles, Theo’s daughter was proving to be maddening.  He wasn’t terribly surprised that she hated Gianni. The two main factions of the bridge and tunnel set had an inborn rivalry, spawned from envy. Brooklyn and New Jersey had so much in common, but would each always have the lurking fear that Manhattanites would stop despising the other first. Grace had the rough earthiness, the brutal honesty that comes from a lifetime of asserting herself. However, she also had a great deal of integrity, a fact that Miles attributed to Theo’s parenting skills. Gianni’s personality would be better described as brash than assertive, despite considerable coaching from Miles. Apparently, Theo had infinite patience with the women in his life.
           For Miles, it had been a long day of women not doing what he wanted them to do. He was hoping that a closed office door would be enough to signal to the household that he was ready for some peace. Unfortunately, a closed door did not deter Titania in the slightest. Just as Miles settled into his leather office chair, she barged through the door.
                         Titania was by far the most fabulous of his wives. She was a tall, dark Spanish beauty whose wild temperament could just as easily make her the life of the party or the bane of one’s existence. Miles had been with many beautiful women, but Titania was a completely different creature. Her physical perfection was matched by a quick wit. He learned a long time ago to have his facts straight before going toe-to-toe with her on any topic that was important to her. Lately, the issue at hand was custody of their son, India.
    Tonight, Titania was dressed in a short, black Vivienne Tam, cap-sleeved dress and Jimmy Choo stilletos that showed off her long, tan, Pilates-toned legs. For a moment, it crossed Miles’ mind to reconsider the divorce, but he knew that he couldn’t correctly educate his India with Titania in the house, watching his every move.
                        Titania approached the desk with careful deliberate steps that would have been fabulous on any