Page 42 of A Devious Arrangement

“Gotcha.” Matthias swoops his son into his arms. “You were supposed to wait for us.”

Just then, Scarlet and the rest of the kids enter, followed by Misty and Damon for our weekly family dinner. We rotate, and this is my turn to host.

“I didn’t want to do what you said. I wanted to see Uncle Wander.”

If it had been our father, Tucker would have been beaten for that, and he’d never do it again. At the cost of being terrified of his own dad.

Matthias boops his nose though. Both he and Damon are determined to break the cycle.

“I just want you to be safe,” Matthias tells his son, who nods.

“It smells amazing in here.” Scarlet approaches and hands her kid to me. “You’re it.”

I happily take him into my arms from his exhausted mother.

“You and I are going to get up to no good,” I say, but wide eyes just stare back at me. I gently pinch his cheeks. “You’re no fun.”

Soon, Misty and Damon arrive, filling my home with laughter.

The front door slams open with a thud, causing all four Everette brothers to go on alert.

Flaming red hair swirls around a pissed-off Stasia, her key card held tight in her hand. “Sebastian Everette, I’m going to kill?—”

Her mouth snaps closed when she realizes we’re not alone.

Chapter 20

Anastasia

The wordsstall in my throat as my brain catches up with my mouth and I realize we’re not alone.

Damon, Matthias, and Xander are all standing, their backs rigid and muscles tight as if they’re primed to take on whatever danger’s coming through the door. There’s a cool calculation that settles over us and chills me through my bones. I would not want to be the one who tries to attack these guys.

Bash is the only Everette brother still sitting. He’s lounging in a club chair, a brow raised and a smile on his face telling me he knew exactly what he was doing. The expression is ruined when two tiny, adorable baby hands squish his cheeks together. If I had to guess, I’d say around a year and a half. The baby giggles, spit going everywhere, some landing on Bash’s face. He pauses for a second, and I can feel myself stiffen, but that’s lost when he lowers and blows a raspberry on the child’s neck and the room erupts with laughter.

The three other Everette brothers relax, looking at me, then back to Bash.

Damon sighs, looking defeated. “What did you do?”

Bash blinks up at his brother in a mockery of innocence. “Me? I didn’t do anything.”

I choke on a laugh and point at him. “Oh yeah? You removed all of my things from my house. Where’s my freaking couch, Sebastian.”

“Oooh, yeah, I did do that.” He doesn’t apologize, and it’s for the best because he doesn’t look sorry at all.

I force my jaw to unclench and count to ten twice in my head before I can begin to come up with something to say. This arrogant bastard… I narrow my eyes at him as my muscles tense again. The only thing keeping me in place are the daydreams of all the ways I’ll pay him back for this later.

Bash stands up, settling the baby on his hip and smiling. “You made it! I was wondering if you’d come.”

Made it? “What? You…you did this onpurpose?” I stutter as I come up with every vile name I can call him.

Bash’s brilliant smile takes up his face. “Of course. I wanted my family to meet my girlfriend.”

I freeze, mouth falling open, then clamping shut. Dammit. I forgot about our deal. I can’t just lose it on him here. Not with so many people around. People. Oh my God. How did I forget about everyone else? My eyes widen as I take a second to look around the room. I recognize Scarlet and Misty Everette, who are surrounded by little faces looking right at me.

“Everyone, this is Stasia. She’s moving in with me.” Bash says it so casually, like it was the only possible next step. Like it’s been decided and written in stone, and any other option is foolish.

No, the hell I’m not, I scream internally. Theaudacity. I may not be able to call him out now, but he’s going to regret this later.

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