The Broken One (Corisi Billionaires, #1)(33)

“Stop,” I said, not wanting to relive it in such detail. Behind me I heard Charlotte calling my name. I turned. Her brothers were getting restless. Ava was refusing to spin until I returned to the game. “I have to go, but could we start over?”

“I’ll be back Sunday night. I have business in Durham. Come to lunch with me on Monday.”

“Mom, Kevin is cheating.”

“I am not,” Kevin protested.

“He always cheats,” his brother complained.

My heart was beating wildly as I considered Sebastian’s invitation. Lunch. Safest meal of the day to share with a man. “Sounds great. See you Monday. I’ll text you a place to meet.”

“Until Monday, then,” Sebastian said.

“Mom, Tyler just kicked Kevin.”

“My foot slipped,” Tyler claimed.

“I quit,” Charlotte declared.

“Yes,” I said quickly and ended the call.

As soon as I was back in the mix, civility returned. Apologies were encouraged and delivered all around. I retook my place on the mat, and Ava called out the next move . . . a move I almost messed up on when Kevin asked, “Are you getting married?”

“Are you, Mom?” Ava asked. Did she even know what that meant? I wasn’t sure.

“No. Sebastian is just a friend.”

Charlotte added. “Mom said he’s hot. Dad didn’t like that, but he went for a run this morning, and he hasn’t done that in a long time. Mom says she’s not sorry she said it, because she’s married but she’s not dead.”

I coughed back a pained laugh. Did Erica realize how much her little one overheard? I hadn’t. Kids saw and knew everything. I’d put the box of condoms in my bedroom, but I told myself to hide them better when I got home.

Ava picked up my phone again. “Smile. This is for Sebastian. He said he wanted to see it.”

Thankfully she didn’t yet know how to send messages.

Or read much. But it would be just my luck if she chose that moment to show me she’d learned how to open my messages as well. I pretended to slip and fall. “I’m out.”

This time Charlotte was happy. She didn’t often beat her older brothers at such games, but, since they were stealthily sabotaging each other, she just might.

I took my phone from Ava and grimaced at how I looked with my ass high in the air, hair hanging down in my face. Not my most flattering photo. I laughed, though, at the antics of the children around me and how one photo had caught Kevin in the act of trying to tip his brother over. It was not a surprise when I heard the two boys hit the floor and Charlotte cheer that she was the winner.

On impulse I sent Sebastian the best of the photos and wrote: Charlotte won.

A moment later his answer came back: No, I did. Best photo ever.

I blushed down to my toes. Best photo? For laughs, maybe.

“The winner always does the spinner,” Charlotte said as she grabbed the board from Ava.

Ava grabbed it back. “You didn’t say please.”

It was a tug of war that meant only one thing in my eyes—game over. “Who is ready for some popcorn and a movie?” A round of cheers erupted, and the board fell to the ground, forgotten. The boys surprised me by cleaning up the game. Charlotte and Ava settled onto the couch, side by side—perfectly happy to be together again.

A short time later I was breathing easier while watching an animated action film we’d all seen before. The kids were sprawled out, content, munching on popcorn.

In the peace of the moment, I was able to think again.

Sebastian had asked me out.

And I’d said yes.

Monday felt very far away.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN



* * *



SEBASTIAN

Seated beside Mauricio on my family’s plane, I was glad I hadn’t backed out of the Baltimore trip—even while looking at the photo Heather had sent. Gian had been damn near tears when all of us had surprised him with our plans.

He was such a good kid. He deserved moments like that.

Still, holy fuck, I couldn’t tear my attention away from Heather playing Twister. First, yoga pants must have been invented by a man, because the way they clung to her ass was breathtakingly sinful.

Second, the children in the photo were all laughing. The warmth of the scene pulled at me—I wanted to be there. I wanted to hear the squeals of delight as well as witness whatever tussle had occurred when the boy who was trying to knock his brother over actually did.

“What are you smiling at?” Mauricio asked, leaning over from his seat beside me. “Interesting photo.”

I pocketed my phone. “It’s nothing.”

“Was that Heather? I thought Mom said she had one kid.”

“She’s babysitting three more this weekend.”

“Impressive. I get what you like about her.”

My eyes narrowed. If he so much as mentioned her ass, I was going to slug him. “Do you?”

“You’ve always wanted a family.”

The comment didn’t hurt as much as it once would have. “Yeah. I’d given up on that happening, but lately . . . it’s at least a possibility again.”

“With Heather?”

“I honestly don’t know, but she’s different. She makes me laugh.”