"She's not doing manual labor for your…"
"My what?" I raised an eyebrow. "Choose your next word carefully."
He paused. Smart man. "Your organization."
"The organization that's provided health education to fifty thousand women? Built three clinics? Funded two hundred scholarships?" I crossed my arms. "That organization?"
"Dad." Evie tugged his sleeve again. "I want to do this."
"Evie…"
"Please." Her voice was quiet but firm. "I never get to do anything real. This sounds real."
Sebastian looked at his daughter. Really looked, maybe for the first time since he'd stormed into this office. He turned toWarren. "Can't you stop her? She's a volunteer here. You must have some authority."
Warren swallowed hard. "Miss Kealoha is also one of our most generous donors. I'm afraid I have no authority over her extracurricular activities or..." He trailed off under Sebastian's glare. "I'm sorry, Mr. Dubois."
Sebastian's jaw clenched. “No. I’m not having it.”
“Dad!”
He shook his head. “No. And that’s final.”
I shrugged. "Suit yourself." I turned to leave. Paused at the door. I looked back at Sebastian. "And Sebastian?" I held his gaze. "Don't threaten me again. You won't like what happens."
I walked out before he could respond.
4SEBASTIAN
How dare she?Who did she think she was to tell me how to be a parent? And then she had the gall to offer a volunteer position to my child without consulting me? This was why I always stayed away from Aria Kealoha. Other men might be deceived by her beauty, attracted enough to get close. But I knew better. She had a vicious mouth filled with venomous words.
What infuriated me the most wasn’t just her words. And it wasn’t just that her family was a major competitor in the hotel business. It was the way her innocent blue eyes transformed into something diabolical. Everyone thought she was just a pleasant, cheerful person. They didn’t know Aria the way I knew her.
Ethan Sullivan had been kind enough to open my eyes to her controlling ways. I’d been suspicious, yes. But when he came to me that night, telling me all about how she’d forced him into all those charity events and he was close to being bankrupt, I made up my mind.
But before then, I’d thought about her differently. Aria Kealoha had been something of a mystical creature in middle school. And don’t be fooled by my present confidence, I was a nervous wreck back then. It wasn’t much of a secret that little Sebastian Dubois was a mess.
And what did Aria do with that information? She tried to humiliate me. Why else would she have tried to kiss the resident nerd of the school? I laughed, of course, because she clearly thought I was stupid. That was the true start of our rivalry, and over the years, I grew to hate her. Everything else came from there.
My gaze drifted to my daughter, who sat on the opposite side of the back seat, her body angled toward the window. The business card was still in her hands, her fingers tracing the edges like she was memorizing the shape of it. She hadn't looked at me since we'd left Warren's office.
It’d been a while since I saw Evie light up like that. And I’d been tempted to agree to Aria’s proposal, but that would be admitting that she was right. And no, Kealoha wasn’t right about anything.
But that didn’t matter now. Evie was hurt. I should say something. Ask how she was feeling. She must be hurt, and not just physically, emotionally, too. I wanted to help her, but it felt like we were worlds apart, and I wasn’t quite sure how to reach her.
"Evie."
She didn't turn.
"Are you hungry? We could stop somewhere. Get something to eat."
"I'm fine."
Right. She was mad at me because of Aria. I resisted the urge to scoff. She’d spent what? Two hours with my daughter? And she’s already managed to drive a wedge between us. Yes, this was all her fault. If she wasn’t involved, Evie would have at least looked at me.
I tried again. "Does your head hurt? We should probably ice it when we get home."
"The nurse already gave me ice."
