Page 69 of Worth the Heat
“Damn,” Luca mumbles. “When the quiet ones fall, they bring all the drama.”
“Luca!” Hannah hisses. “Way to support your sister.”
“What?” he says innocently. “I’m proud of Belle. She’s finally taking ownership of her life and making things interesting. Yeah, it’s a little more dramatic than we’d all like, but she’s happy. Look at her. Everyone, look at Isabella. Has she ever looked this fucking happy before?”
I watch, enraptured by all the smiles of my family members, as they all shake their heads.
“Exactly. Seb, and his family, are Belle’s perfect match. We could do without the drug thing, but it is what it is. I’m still just thrilled for my sister.” Luca looks pleased as he slings an arm around Hannah.
“So what happens now?” Stone asks, casting a quick glance at Arianna. I can see the worry in his eyes, whereas Arianna has no idea she might be in danger. Just for her proximity to me, and the fact that she was also inside Rick’s apartment, could mean these people come after her.
“We’ve contacted the Colorado Bureau of Investigations, aswell as the DEA and the FBI. And before you ask, I did a complete scan of my office before I made any calls, to ensure no one could potentially be listening,” Sebastian says, his eyes darting toward me every few words.
It’s as if a brick is dropped into my stomach. If he’s worried about his office, could everything else also be susceptible? Is Camila in danger? A sheen of tears covers my vision, but I feel Sebastian crouch in front of me. If I brought danger into her innocent life, if I’m the reason why that sweet child experiences even a second of pain, the sheer torment I’ll feel will be immeasurable. Sebastian’s hand cups my cheek as his thumb strokes across my skin. “Baby, I’ve got it under control. Do you trust me?”
I nod, but the tears spill onto my cheeks. I whisper, “If something happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself.”
“Nothing is going to happen to either of you. I swear on my life,” he says vehemently, taking my head in his hands, and swiping the tears from my cheeks. “It will be a cold day in hell before you and Camila are hurt in any way. My men and I guarantee it.”
“If you’ve contacted authorities, why call this family meeting?” Gianna asks. “Are we in danger too?”
Sebastian swivels to sit on the ground in front of me, then grabs my hands to lay on his shoulders. I can feel the tension, and I wonder if my touch is helping to ground him. “I figure I had two options. One was to keep everyone in the dark, then only tell you afterward if needed. Since I assumed at least one of Isabella’s brothers would take offense to that —”
Alex interrupts him. “We all would.”
Sebastian chuckles. “My other option was to get everyone together and explain it all. I’d rather tell everyone at once, where I give the facts, instead of playing a messed up game of telephone where details get muddled in translation. Do I think you are all indanger? No. But I’d rather you all be prepared, be aware of your surroundings, and who you’re with, so you can be ready.”
“It’s not like we don’t know everyone in this town. A newbie comes in, we can basically smell them at the edge of town,” Kate says with a laugh.
“That’s where you’re sort of wrong,” I state, my voice trembling.
“What? Why?” Kate asks.
Sebastian speaks up. “The guy who broke into Isabella’s apartment has a girlfriend. She came to book club, and I thought she looked familiar, so I had a friend tail her out of town. She said her name was Jenna, but it’s actually Berkley. Berkley St. James. It’s not about being untouchable in this town, thinking that your last name protects you, because it doesn’t.” I watch as every female’s face pales dramatically. Sebastian’s hand covers mine on his shoulder, and I grab it, squeezing it tightly. I need the grounding.
“They might have stayed at the hotel, or purchased pastries from me. Stone, they could have gotten a haircut from you, or done a tour of Travis’s ambulance and the fire station. We have no idea how deep they’ve already dug into our family.” My voice is quiet but resolute. Looking back in hindsight, I have no idea how often I’d possibly interacted with someone associated with Rick or the cartel. If I can’t recognize a threat, how would my family?
The mood in the room noticeably shifts. I don’t mean to put fear into my family, but just like with Camila, I have to protect them. If something happens to anyone because of me, I won’t forgive myself.
But if something happens to Sebastian … I won’t be able to survive that.
We’reall quiet on the way home, lost to our own thoughts. Camila chats about all her new friends, who she explains she knows will be family once I’m finally her mom, and asks when we can have more fun adventures with them.
Sebastian takes Camila up for a bath, and I take a moment on the covered patio. Nights are becoming cooler, and there’s a crisp scent in the air that tells me autumn, and snow, aren’t too much further away. The Colorado mountains can get snow virtually any month of the year, but ours usually happens at the beginning of October.
“Isabella.” I jolt, looking over to find Sebastian’s father. Julian Garcia is a striking man. He’s an older version of Sebastian with salt-and-pepper hair, and deeper smile lines around his eyes and mouth. “Are you alright?”
I nod, but I know it lacks enthusiasm and believability. “I’ll be fine.”
He sits on a large swing, motioning for me to take a seat. “You don’t have to lie. I can understand lying to your own family, but with us, I’d prefer the truth.”
I let out a long exhale, trying to formulate my response. “I’m petrified. I feel like my life is finally getting started. I’m confident in my own skin, and I have a man I love that I know truly loves me, and now it’s in jeopardy. There’s a beautiful little girl in there that only sees the good in things, and I’m scared to death that something might happen, to change her outlook. Scarring her for life. But if something happens to her …”
“I know,” Julian says quietly.
“And if something happens tohim, I won’t come back from that,” I confess, the words whispered so lightly I’m not sure if Julian hears them. But I needed to say them out loud.
“There aren’t many men in the world who I trust with my life, but my son and MC men are some of them. You are absolutely inthe safest place you could be, and he will not let anything happen to you.”
