Roxanne's Redemption (19 page)

“Hello.”

“It’s Roxanne. I wanted to know how long will it take for y
ou to get
home
.
”

Chapter
Eigh
teen

There was a pause. A few minutes after Lexi
spoke.
“Is Zach misbehaving?”

“No. Sebastian and I are going to grill a few steaks
outside,
so I wanted you to stop by your house
to
get a
swim
suit and join us.”

“Sure, but I won't
reach home
until about one hour from now
.
Are
Kira and Ava com
ing
?”

“I'm calling them after
ward
.”

“Zach already has
swim trunk
s
in his bag. Umm, did
Sebastian tell his
brothers about Zach?
How
did they react to the news?”

“They are coming over,
but
they don't know why as yet.”

“Al
l
right, I’ll see you in a few.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”
S
he
hung
up and dialed Ava’s number
immediately.

“Hello.”

“
Want to
come over
?
Sebastian and I are
going to
throw a few steaks on the grill
outside
when his brothers arrive
.
”

“Why?” Ava asked.

“
To
lighten the mood after he tells them something.”

“Are you two getting married?”

“No,” she
choked
out
. Where had Ava gotten that idea?

“So, what's the news?”

Roxanne sighed. She knew Ava was the
only
one
who was going to be difficult.
“I can't say
.
J
ust come over and
bring a swim
suit.”

“But—”

“I'm not telling you
. If you want to know
,
come over
.”
Roxanne
hung up on
Ava
,
muttering about stubborn people who live
d
to drive her insane with curiosity.

Roxanne smiled
while she
dialed Kira’s number
.
She
answered on the first ring. It was one of Kira’s bad habits and no matter how
many times
they
told her to make the phone ring at least twi
c
e before answering she
still
wo
uld
n't listen.

“Hello.”

“You have a bad habit, but that’s not why I called. Do you want to come over to my house?”

“Why?”

“Sebastian and I are going to throw a few steaks on the grill
outside.
The
others are coming
over
and if you do, bring a swim
suit with you.”

“What time?”

“In about two hours or you can come over now.”

“Okay, I’ll be there.”
With that
she
ended the call
.

Roxanne sighed in relief. All her friends were coming and it didn't take much coaxing—except with
Ava
—on her part to get them to accept her invitation without questioning her motives…
much
. She walked over to the fridge and took out the frozen steaks
,
set
ting
them in the sink to thaw. As she was gathering the season
ing
the
doorbell
rang
.
S
he was about to answer it but stop
ped
when
Sebastian
called
, “I’ll get it
,
”
from the living room where he was watching television with Zach.

She shrugged
,
trying her best not to think how well he fit into her life and home.

* * * *

Not discovering who was outside before opening the door
was
one of
Sebastian’s
many bad habits
,
and one of the hardest to get rid of.
H
e
was pretty sure
it was his brothers and Nick
, though
. Sure
,
it could
ha
ve been one of Roxanne’s friends, but from what he heard—he wasn’t
eavesdropping, honest to god—from her side of the conversation
,
he knew they wouldn’t have
arrived
so quickly
.
Nick and his brothers
were
on the other side
waiting patiently
when he
open
ed the door
.

He stepped aside so they could enter. Adrian was the last to enter and Sebastian watched as he closed the door behind him.

“What did you want to tell us?” Adrian asked.

“Not here
.
F
ollow
me
.” He turned and moved in the direction of his room. It would be the best place for
what he had to tell them
.
Also
it was far enough away from the living room
,
so
Zach wouldn’t hear until his mother was ready to tell him that they were his
father’s brothers
.

He entered the room
,
closing the door behind him
after
everyone was inside. He
began
pac
ing
the length of the room. He could feel
their
eyes on him, but for the life of him he couldn’t seem to find the words to tell
them
about Zach.

Someone sighed dramatically.

“Just spit it out already,” Joshua
mumbled
.

“Michael has a child,” Sebastian said
.

When no one said anything he turned
and
saw
them looking at him as if he had
gone loony
.

“What?”

“Sebastian
,
we know about Caleigh
.
We
spent Christmas and her birthday with her and Mi
chael last year and
the
year before
,” Joshua
answered
dryly.

Sebastian shook his head. Instead of saying a child he should
ha
ve said a son and then they wouldn’t have thought that he
’d
forgotten
about
Caleigh, Michael’s three
-
year
-
old daughter.
He grimaced, wondering how Lexi was going to handle Michael coming back, plus the fact that he also had a daughter with the woman he’d married after hurting her.

“I didn't mean Caleigh. I meant to say
,
he has a son.”

Silence
met his
response.
Sebastian swore he could hear a pin drop.

“What? When?
Who’s the mother
?” Adrian asked
with narrowed eyes
.

“Four years ago with Lexi,” he
answered
.

“Do you mean Roxanne’s friend
,
Lexi?”

“Yes.”

“How could she—”

Sebastian shook his head
,
cut
ting
of
f
Adrian before he could finish.

“Adrian I suggest you listen to the full story, before you start judging her for something she
did to protect her son
and her heart
.”

Adrian
scowled.

Sebastian ignored
him
and began.
“
Like you
, Adrian
,
I was ready to pass judgment on Lexi before she told
me the full story
.
She told me that one
night
, a few minutes after she told him she loved him like she did every night,
Michael told her that he was moving to Texas with his high school sweetheart and get
ting
married.
In addition to that
,
when Michael dropped his news—
”
Sebastian winced, “
t
hey had just made love and he’d also admitted that he had no intention of telling her his plans.”

As Sebastian watched their faces he wondered if he’d also turned pale after Lexi told him. Sebastian watched as Joshua opened and then closed his mouth like he was at a loss for words. Adrian and Nick were no better but Sebastian understood because he knew how they felt. Michael
was
family and
,
though Sebastian loved him
,
what he did to Lexi was wrong and their mother had taught them better than to intentionally hurt a woman.

“What's his name?”

“
Zach
.”

“Does she hate him?”

He didn't have to ask to know who Joshua was talking about. “No
.
S
he said she c
ould
n't because it felt like she was trying to hate her
own
son.”

Joshua
frowned.

“Zach is the spitting image of
Michael.
He has the Ferguson eye
s and Michael’s dark brown hair, but he has Lexi’s
complexion
.
”

“Does
Michael
know?”

“No and promise me you won't tell him.”

“Why?”

“Lexi made me promise and even if I didn't
,
I don't think she’s ready to see Michael again after four years.
Joshua,
she flinched when she
said
his name
and
her eyes held such pain
, it
made
me
w
ant
to
beat the shit out of
Michael the next time
I see him.”

“What was he thinking?”

“That’s what I want to know.”

“Where is
Zach
now?”

“Probably still in the living room
,
i
f not
,
maybe in the kitchen with Roxanne.”

“He’s here?”

Sebastian nodded
.
H
e was about to say
more
when he heard the
doorbell
r
i
ng. He
left his room
, leaving it up to the others to follow him or stay
.

Chapter
Nine
teen

As soon as Sebastian went to get the door
,
Roxanne had
called
Zach into the kitchen to prepare lunch for him.
I
t was lunch time, but the real reason was
so
Sebastian’s brothers
didn’t
see
him before Sebastian could tell them. She wondered how
far
with
the news
he would
get
before they started
assuming the worst about Lexi
. The
ring
of the
doorbell
pulled
her out of her thoughts.