“You’re missing the big picture here, Bree.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’ve missed nothing,” I snapped. “You are such a dick!”
“Bree,” he called, but I’d already stomped up my stairs and walked inside.
After closing and locking the door, I made my way back into the kitchen to find Stoney doing the dishes. A weird warm and fuzzy feeling hit my belly and I was momentarily frozen to the spot, unable to take my eyes off the sexy man’s hands in the sink as he rinsed dishes before loading them in the dishwasher.
He caught my eye and smirked. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I said, smiling. “You don’t need to do that.”
“It’s all good.” He dropped a plate into the dishwasher. “Your family’s cool. Well, except Luca.”
I chuckled. “Luca’s intense, but he’s pretty cool, too. When he’s not putting his nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“Did you get the results back from the paternity test?” I asked, dropping my eyes to my feet.
He shook his head. “It’ll take a couple of days.”
I felt the sting of tears hit the back of my throat. “So, you paid two million dollars to save a child you don’t actually know is yours?”
“Outside of the fact your sister was an addict, did she have a habit of lying?”
“No. I mean, she’d lie about being sober, but she wouldn’t have lied about him being yours.”
“I don’t think so either. So, no, Breezy, I didn’t pay two million dollars to save a kid that isn’t mine.”
“But you’d have done it even if he wasn’t,” I deduced.
He pushed away from the counter. “I’m gonna go ahead and leave now.”
I blinked back tears and whispered, “I really appreciate everything you did.”
His hand hooked around the back of my neck and he tugged me forward. “Don’t cry, Sabrina, he’s home. He’s safe.”
I nodded into his chest. “It could have been so much worse.”
“But it wasn’t.”
“Thank you.”
“Hey! What are you doing to my aunt?” Felix growled, making a run at Stoney.
Stoney released me, picking Felix up before he could slam into his legs, and lifting him gently in his arm. “Bud, it’s me,” Stoney said, but Felix continued to fight.
“Fox,” I called. “Honey, I’m okay. Stoney was helping me.”
He stopped flailing. “Wait. Stoney?”
“Yeah, bud, it’s me.”
Felix wrapped his arms around Stoney’s neck and squeezed. “Sorry.”
Stoney patted his back. “It’s all good. Proud o’ you for protectin’ your aunt, bud, but you need to be smarter. If I’d really been a bad guy, you both coulda been in trouble. Remember what I told you?”
“To watch quietly.”
