Page 55 of Worth the Heat
“Arianna! Your daughter is right there!” I shout.
“Don’t you dare try to redirect this conversation. Who is Camila? I swear to God, Isabella, if that man has anothergirlfriend, or an estranged wife, I will march over to that Clubhouse and cut his balls off myself.”
“Camila is his daughter, Ari. Calm down.”
“Sebastian has a daughter?” she yells. “How? When?”
“I’m fairly certain you know the how portion, since you have been pregnant. And Camila is five, so I’m guessing six years ago. Her mom isn’t in the picture.”
“Stone!” Arianna screams, and I hear Stone run into the room. “Why didn’t you tell me Sebastian is a dad?”
“What the fuck?” I hear Stone say. “With whom?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. How long have you known, Belly?”
“Uh, since I moved in with them?” I answer daringly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she screeches.
“I assumed you knew! Stone and Sebastian are friends, for fuck’s sake. I thought I was the only one who didn’t know!”
“Why would you be the only one who didn’t know?” Arianna asks.
“I don’t know. Seems like I’m not ‘in the know’ with everyone because I don’t have a husband,” I admit woefully.
“But five years ago, when Seb’s daughter was born, most of us weren’t married or in relationships. We wouldn’t have consciously hidden something like that from you.”
“I think a lot of people forget about me. I’m quiet and reserved, I keep to myself, and I don’t really fit in with the Santo mold.”
“What exactly does that mean?” Arianna asks quietly, her voice dangerously even-toned.
I sigh. “Everyone in the family is average-sized or smaller. I’m not saying I’m less-than because of that. I’m stating a fact. I weigh more than everyone in the family. Even my skin is lighter than everyone else’s. Half the time, it looks like I’m adopted.”
“You have Mom’s nose and Dad’s eyes, Isabella. And your hairis so damn pretty. You’ve got these natural highlights that I covet, and the only reason I don’t pay up the wazoo for them is because Stone does them for free.”
“For free?”
“Well,” she says with a breathy giggle, “we have an agreement. Highlights for blow jobs. Honestly, we both really win.”
I find myself smiling. “I’m sure there is an inspirational quote in here somewhere. ‘Marriage is about bartering and blow jobs.’”
“‘Blowing marriage out of the water,’” she jokes.
“‘Marriage: where one blow job fixes everything,’” Sebastian says from the doorway, and I scream as I instinctively throw my phone at him. He catches it easily, then bends down to scratch behind Oreo’s ears. Handing my phone back to me, he raises an eyebrow. “You good?”
His expression is concerned, but the love emanating from him is palpable. I smile goofily as I nod. He leans in, wrapping a palm around my neck as he pulls my lips to his. I let out a breathy sigh as his tongue traces my lips, and only vaguely hear Arianna cat-calling us as Sebastian ends the kiss.
“Damn girl! Get a fucking room!” she whoops, and I look down to find Arianna gleefully smiling at me.
“How — what —” I stammer. How did we go from a phone call to video?
“I don’t know, but I’m not sad about it. The chemistry you two just showed me? Holy hotness. Do I need to pay for that show?”
Sebastian chuckles as he looks down at the phone. “Free of chargethistime, Mrs. Dixon.” One quick kiss to my forehead as he leaves, but he looks back at the last second. “We’ll discuss how you think you don’t fit in with your family, baby. And I swear I wasn’t eavesdropping. I came up to tell you Camila is downstairs coloring, and she asked if you’d join her.”
I inhale sharply as he smiles, taps the door frame, then leaves. His daughter wants to color with me. With me, thewoman she witnessed kissing her father this morning. What does this mean?
“Belly, you’re spiraling. Take a breath,” Arianna whispers.
