Ari watched as Sebastian winked at Stella behind her back.
“I asked for the bad news first,” she snapped, trying to bring him back to the bloody point.
“Well, that’s the thing,” Sebastian carried on slowly. “All this is the bad news, because the sour pickle in the sweet jar here, my darling, is that you appear to not only have slept with the groom, but also to have borne the fruit of his loins.”
Ari’s mouth dropped open. “Are you . . . what do you . . . I mean . . .” she stammered, searching for thought, reason and clarity. “I . . . you said there was good news too.”
“Oh, there is. Darling,” there was an uncharacteristic squeak to his voice, which made Ari take a step back, “the groom is fuckingloaded, my love. Have you seen this place? Do you know just how much money you’ve shagged your way into? My God, the retrospective child support alone will be worth millions. Oh, my darling,” Sebastian ran a proud, tender hand down Ari’s cool cheek, “you couldn’t have picked a better man to be humped and dumped by. You really did hit the sperm jackpot with this one. Brava, my lovely.”
Behind her, Ari heard the click of a camera.
“Brandon,” she heard Stella intone bluntly, “take a note of the time and the name of the corresponding photograph.Sperm Jackpot.”
Horrified, Ari shook her head. “Can you all just... juststopfor a moment.” She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, searching for the logic in this nightmare. “Sebastian, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said slowly. “I’ve never even met this... thisTom Somerset. I’ve never met him before in my life.”
“Well, maybe you did,” Sebastian shrugged. “Back when he went by the nameTom Miller.”
Ari’s heart thudded in her chest, a vague feeling of nausea swept over her. “That’s... that’s quite a leap to make, Sebastian. You don’t know anything about the groom... this... this Tom Somerset. You don’t know anything about him at all. And,” an icy snap creeped into her voice, “you don’t know anything about Tom Miller.”
She watched as Sebastian gave a long sigh, a look of pity in his eyes as he gazed at her. “Ari, my darling, neither do you.”
It was like poison being thrown over her skin — Ari recoiled from her brother.
“Ari,” Sebastian carried on calmly, “listen to me and listen to me carefully. We’ve been here just a few days, and yet the mother of the groom has developed an unhealthy interest in you and particularly in your child. So much so that she’s just redecorated an entire bedroom to accommodate her. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? I had a discussion with her last night, and she all but told me that her son Tom Somerset is Reine’s father.”
Ari froze. “She said that?”
“Well, not in those exact words, but—”
“So, she didn’t say it,” Ari interrupted him. Relief poured through her as she clung to a final thread of hope. “Of course she didn’t. It isn’t true. Tom would never do that to me. Do this to me.”
Sebastian chewed on his lip again, regarding her with a new hint of annoyance. “You knew Tom Miller for what, all of a few months? And in the eight years since you last met, you’ve heard diddly squat from him. You told me and Luis that you gave him your name, your number, your life story... He’s had ample opportunity to find you, like he promised he would. Ari, it’s time you accepted the fact that he’s broken that promise. That—”
“Sebastian,” Ari cut in, her voice breaking, along with her heart.
“No, Ari, you listen to me,” Sebastian said sternly. “He’s broken that promise, which means one of two things. That he has something to hide, or he’s dead. Regarding Tom Somerset, if you speak for any length of time with his mother, you find out quickly that he sure as hell has a shady past and something to hide.”
“Maybe not. Maybe... maybe my Tom did die,” Ari whispered, saying out loud a fear that had long settled in her heart. “I would never have known.”
“No, he’s not dead. He’s Tom Somerset, who — despite falling out of the fucking sky yesterday — is emphatically not dead yet.”
“Yet?” Ari asked.
“Yet,” Sebastian said firmly. “Because if I find out Tom Somerset really did masquerade as a man named Tom Miller, seduce you, impregnate you and abandon you, I’m probably going to kill him.”
At that, a brief smile crossed Ari’s face. “Sebastian—”
“Oh, after we change his will in Reine’s favour, darling,” Sebastian said smoothly. “Trust me,” he gestured to the hall around him, “we’re going to want a piece of this.”
Ari paused, considering his words. “Okay. So, say our groom is... is...” she struggled over the lump in her throat “. . . Tom Miller. There’s no way to prove it, no way to know. Not without coming face to face with him, and I don’t want that... I don’t want to meet him again like this. As hiswedding planner.”
“Hmm.” Sebastian seemed to ponder this point for a moment. “Okay. So, let’s do some digging. Do a little spy work. His mother has already started doing a little digging of her own, I’m convinced of it.”
Ari felt a tug of worry. “Because of Reine . . . she wants to know because of Reine.”
Sebastian nodded. “Because of Reine.”
Ari exhaled deeply. “Reine can’t come here — quick, call Luis. Tell him to stop the car. Tell him to check into a nearby hotel.”
