Joshua made it to the end of the chapter when he heard his wife call out from the kitchen. 

[b]“We’re getting a housekeeper.”[/b]

Getting up from the couch, he left the two kids to run off, presumably to escape the possibility of  chores. Joshua took off his tailored suit jacket, hanging it on the coat rack, and made his way to the kitchen. At 6”1 with an athletic build, blue eyes and dark brown hair kept short, he was neither handsome nor ugly, but what he prided himself on; being forgettable. An essential trait in his line of work, the ability to walk past people without being noticed, and most importantly, not remembering his features in any great detail. 

He snuck up behind his wife, and wrapped his arms around her. He pressed his lips against the soft skin of her neck. 

[b]“Isn’t that what kids are for?”[/b] he asked in between kisses as he made his way up the nape of her neck. With the scent of her hair, the warmth of her body and feel of her skin against his lips, his pulse quickened. It was this woman that kept him alive. It didn’t matter how soul draining, physically demanding or emotionally taxing his work is, coming home to Alix made everything else fade away. 

[b]“How about I deal with the dishes, and you get the kids off to bed, then we’ll order takeout?”[/b] he whispered into her ear. His fingers traced the contours of her neck to her chin. Guiding her head back he pressed his lips softly against hers. 

It had been nearly ten years ago when he first met her. He had been in the country under a month. Ever since he was a boy he dreamed of living in England, and the older he got the more he hated Russia. After the death of his parents in a car accident in his mid 20’s, he packed his bags and moved to the UK illegally. After two weeks he was a broke, unemployed migrant worker with his only experience being six years of military service and fluency in a half dozen foreign languages, he ends up at Cambridge tutoring students in French, German and Russian. 

One of his students knew Alix was looking for a tutor teach her Italian to impress her boyfriend. After being shown a photo of her, without even thinking he called her. He spent half his week trying to get rich boys to pass their language papers. Getting paid to teach a pretty girl is worth it no matter how little Italian he knew. Every spare moment of his day he spent teaching himself Italian to then teach Alix at the end of the week.