Page 61 of Fate

Chapter Fourteen

Kathleen

“A child.As in, a real-life human being made of bone and flesh?” Bree beams.

“Sugar and spice and everything nice?” I quip, trying to soften the blow a little.

She gets a faraway look in her eyes, glancing off into the distance. “Like a real boy? Not like Pinocchio?” Her glossy pink lips curve around the salted edge of her melon margarita.

“Girl. A real girl. An eighteen-month-old daughter to be exact,” I correct.

Bree blinks as if she cannot comprehend any of what I’ve just shared.

“Jesus, Bree, you need to lay off the Disney flicks.” Gigi shakes her head and plucks at her napkin, head down and surprisingly quiet. She hasn’t so much as said a word about the elephant-sized bomb I just dropped.

Maria dunks her tortilla chip into the salsa bowl, loading far more salsa on the chip than should be humanly possible, before lifting her icy gaze. “No problemo. I’ll chop off his cojones and mail them in a jar to his father, so he knows where to bury them along with the body I’ll have Eli beat to apulp.”

Dead silence settles among the four of us. They’re not sure how to respond because I haven’t given them a vibe either way of how I’m feeling about this new information. Soul sisters are like that. We can be opinionated, straightforward, but we can’t do it until we know exactly what kind of emotional fallout we’re dealing with. Time to lay it all out on the table.

“Okay, girls. I’m going to say everything all at once. You’re going to let me without interrupting. Then we’ll address this one at a time. Soul sister solidarity. All right?” I narrow my eyes and meet three gazes. One Caribbean-blue, one emerald-green, and the last icy-blue.

Slowly they each nod but don’t say aword.

I lick my lips and suck in a breath. Here goes nothin’.

“One. Carson and I are officially back together. Long-term. Future, marriage on the horizon possibly, all ofit.”

Three sets of gasps in varying lengths and volume blast the air around me. I wish I could dive into the monster-sized blended margarita sitting in front of me, but I carry on with valor.

“Two. He met Misty, the baby mama, during a one-night stand the same night I pushed him away forgood.”

I stop to make sure all three of them are breathing. Maria looks ready to pounce or cut someone. Bree looks shocked beyond compare. And Gigi looks straight-up guilty as shit. I’ll have to address that later. Though I worry why Gillian’s showing guilt and not concern. That’s unlike the peacekeeper.

“Three. We’re head over heels in love with one another and in a fucked-up situation because Baby Mama does not like me and wants Carson for herself.”

Maria’s mouth opens, but I hold up a finger. “You promised.”

She closes her mouth, her lips firming into a tight line of repressed anger.

“Four. Misty and Cora—that’s his daughter’sname…”

Three sets of “aw” slip out of their mouths. I allow it because Cora is a lovely name and sticks with the tradition of C names in the Davis family. Something I know Carson is very proudof.

“They both live with Carson at his beach-house ranch,” I finish, letting out all of my remaining breath like a balloon goingflat.

“¿Qué mierda?”Maria hisses. Loosely translated—What’s thisshit?

“My God!” Bree gasps.

Gigi stays completely silent, which can mean only one thing. This news did not surprise her. She knew about the baby, and she knew about them living at Carson’s house.

“Cat got your tongue, Gigi?” I narrow mygaze.

She blinks rapidly. “Uh, no. You said not to say anything until you weredone.”

“You don’t seem surprised by this news. Not at all, actually.”

“Um, yeah, I kindof…”

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