Page 54 of Worth Every Moment (Hawkston Billionaires #4)

He turns away and introduces the newcomers to Kate. “This is Antonio Marchetti, and his daughter Diana. Last minute additions to the wedding party. I assume you’ll be able to accommodate them?”

“Of course. Absolutely,” Kate says, and if she’s annoyed that these people are effectively crashing her wedding, she doesn't show it. “When Nico comes back tomorrow, we’ll take a look at the table pl—”

“Good. It looks like we’ve caught you all at an inopportune moment,” he says, casting a deliberate glance over our robes.

“Oh, no,” Kate says. “We were just having some cocktails and treatments further down the beach.”

“Ah. Don’t let us disturb you. In fact, why not take Diana with you? We’ve had a long journey. I’m sure some spa treatments would be most welcome. Don’t you think, Diana?”

“A cocktail would be good,” Diana says cautiously, as if she knows you can’t disagree with Mr Hawkston, but is simultaneously aware that it puts Kate in an awkward position.

“Wonderful,” Mr Hawkston says. “You should get to know Kate and Aries. You’ll soon have a lot in common.”

Kate’s brow ruffles and Aries pouts her lips, but the confusion on both their faces is wiped in an instant as they welcome Diana with friendly smiles.

Mr Hawkston glances up at the sky, where dark clouds are gathering on the horizon.

“Storm’s coming in. If the boys have any sense, they’ll head for land.

” His voice is flat, devoid of any inflection that might suggest concern for his sons and their friends.

Kate’s alarmed gaze turns to the sky and her cheeks pale, but Mr Hawkston has already shifted his attention to the Marchettis and his wife.

He makes no effort to introduce her. Instead, he ushers her and Antonio Marchetti up to the main house, passing the rest of our group like we’re inconsequential.

“What a fucking arse,” Marie murmurs, rolling her eyes and letting her gaze rest on Kate when she adds, “Don’t envy you that for a father-in-law.”

“I hope he’s sitting next to your mother at the wedding,” Elly says to Kate. “Then they can be awful to each other all night long.”

Kate shoots Elly a disapproving look that melts away into a conspiratorial smile. There must be some history there I’m not aware of, reminding me again how I don’t really fit in here.

Marie turns to Diana. “How was it travelling with old Mr Hawkston?”

“Oh, fine. He mostly kept to himself. What about all of you? What were you doing before we interrupted you?”

“Facial massage,” Elly replies. “It’s so relax—”

“Erica was telling us about Seb’s pierced dick,” Marie jumps in. “Best thing I’ve heard all week. Apparently, he’s got a Jacob’s Ladder.”

Diana’s eyebrows shoot up. “No way. I’ve never slept with someone who has a pierced dick. Unless you count all the times I’ve masturbated over fictional characters who have them.”

An awkward silence descends.

Marie cackles. “What?”

“My many book boyfriends,” Diana explains. “I have an entire shelf dedicated to men with piercings, and I spend time with each of them.”

Marie’s smile widens, her laughter barely restrained. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Diana nods eagerly. “I thought about putting out an ad for someone who had piercings in real life, just so I could find out if it was really that much better. I never took Seb for one of them. Do you think he’d let us see it?”

Kate presses the back of her hand to her forehead, eyes fluttering shut as she murmurs, “Oh, sweet Jesus.”

Everyone stills, sharing awkward glances and studiously avoiding catching my eye.

A giggle spurts from Diana, wicked and childish all at once. “You should see the look on your faces. I’m kidding.” Her smile vanishes, and she puts her hands in a prayer position and holds them against her lips. “Not about the bookshelf thing. I really do have one dedicated to men with piercings.”

“Phew,” Marie quips as the other stifle awkward laughs. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a male stripper at a hen do, but I was starting to worry that you were going to beg Seb to do it. And I didn't sign up to be a bridesmaid at that kind of wedding.”

Kate makes a choking noise, and Aries snorts a giggle.

“I would never do that,” Diana says, pressing a hand to her heart.

“What if you all went feral over it?” She glances at Kate.

“I mean, once you’d seen it, you probably wouldn’t want Nico anymore.

Move aside, man with no metal. I’ve found something better.

” She shakes her head in a parody of disapproval.

“I wouldn’t want you swapping brothers at the last minute. ”

Kate’s jaw almost unhinges, and both Aries and Elly stand stock-still like they’ve been hit with a stun gun.

Marie’s expression contorts, landing somewhere between shock and amusement. “How do you know Nico has no metal? He could have a bionic dick down there.”

Kate drops her head into her palms and everyone laughs, including Diana who laughs the loudest and starts apologising profusely for her inappropriate jokes, and she and Marie appear to strike up an immediate friendship.

The atmosphere is fun and lighthearted, as it should be before a wedding, but a strange pang hits my chest. Maybe it’s because this young woman can make casual banter about penises in a way I never could.

Or maybe it’s because we’re still talking about Seb’s dick.

And that dick, whether I’ve seen it or not, belongs to me.

The following day passes slowly, the girls mostly hungover and lying by the pool, despite the fact that the clouds are heavy overhead and the air is muggy.

The storm never materialised last night, but it’s definitely coming now, and the boys are supposed to be sailing home in it.

Anxiety stirs in my nervous system, and I try to distract myself by thinking about other things.

Diana hasn’t appeared today at all, and I can only assume she’s spending it with her father.

But last night I pieced it together. She’s the girl Seb was looking at on his phone in the apartment that day, when he tried to make me eat a tomato.

The book influencer who wears my shoes. A strange coincidence, and one that doesn’t sit well, but it’s probably nothing, so I put it out of mind.

Elly and Kate keep glancing at the sky with concern, and by late afternoon, it’s so dark that it feels like nighttime. The waves hit the beach with a distracting thump-thump, and the wind has picked up.

No one has voiced their worries, and as evening sets in for real, bottles of champagne are popped and they start getting drunk again. By 8 pm, we’re all seated around the outdoor table, the staff serving us platters of marinated chicken and potatoes.

But I can’t eat. My stomach is gnawing itself like an anxiety-ridden child biting a thumbnail.

The guys haven’t arrived and the waves are ferocious.

No sign of the boat. They all locked their mobile phones up, at least Seb said they were going to, so there would be no pictures taken, and they’d all be forced to forget about work and focus on the present moment.

But if they were in trouble, wouldn’t they have unlocked the phones?

Unless the boat has capsized…

I don’t know how everyone isn’t panicking. Kate throws back another glass of champagne. But then her gaze floats out to sea and I know she’s concerned and numbing it.

I can’t sit here anymore. My sobriety is wearisome, and my palms are sweaty. What if something has happened? The sea, black and rough under a cloudy sky, is terrifying.

Thunder cracks overhead and the rain pours down, shredding the air with its streams. Elly, at the other end of the table, springs from her chair. “Where the fuck are they? They were supposed to be back by now.”

“Relax,” Marie says. “They’re probably harboured somewhere around the bay. I bet they’re all getting drunk in a bar right now.”

“They should have messaged,” Elly says urgently. “If they were okay, they would have messaged.”

Aries steps up to Elly, drawing her into a hug and whispering in her ear, which seems to calm her a little. Kate gets up from her seat, stumbling over chairs to get to them, and joins the embrace.

Across the table, Marie rolls her eyes at me as if I’m as emotionally detached as she is from the potential peril of the guys on the boat. “I bet they’re absolutely fine. They’re probably watching a stripper’s tits bounce like water balloons as we speak.”

I hope so. But I can’t sit here and weep with the others. They’ve been kind to me, but they aren’t my friends. I don’t have a group of friends here. I only have Seb.

He’d better be okay.

If he’s okay, I’ll murder him for not letting me know.

I get up, excusing myself and heading back to my cabin.

But even after I take a shower and get ready for bed, I can’t sleep.

I pace for what feels like hours, until my feet ache, at which point I finally clamber into bed with one of Seb’s t-shirts, which I cling to as though it’s the last remaining piece of him. The boat should have been back by now.

When the door opens, letting in a blast of warm, sea-salted air, I have no idea what time it is.

I bolt upright to see Seb’s silhouette in the doorway, his backpack still slung over one shoulder.

He doesn’t turn on the lights, but closes the door quietly, lowers the bag to the floor and creeps into the room.

He’s barely taken another step before I leap out of bed and launch myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck.

He backs up a little, but I totter with him.

“Woah,” he mutters as his arms slide around my back.

“I thought you were dead!”

“What?” His voice is laced with amusement that ruffles my hair. “Why would you think that?”

“The storm. The weather.” My heart flutters and I press kisses to his neck, tasting his skin like it’s my last meal that’s about to be wrenched from my lips.

I wind my hands into the strands of his hair at his nape.

“We didn’t hear anything, and I thought for sure the boat had sunk and you’d all drowned.

I thought I’d never see you again.” I pepper his face with kisses, his lips, his jaw, his cheekbones.

“And I kept thinking how you’d slept on the sofa the night before you left, and we could have been together and now you were dead and I’d never get over it. ”

“Oh, shit,” he says, and then a low laugh rumbles in his chest. “You wanna fuck me before I die, huh?”

I abort my kiss-attack, letting my hands slide out of his hair as I step back, irritation broiling my veins. “This isn’t funny. I thought you were out in that tiny boat—”

“In this weather? Are you crazy? Of course we weren’t in the boat. We put to port yesterday and stayed on the neighbouring island. We waited until it was calm to come back this morning.”

So Marie was right after all . I glance over at the window, and true enough, dawn light is spilling into the room.

“You didn’t message,” I repeat.

“Nico had the phones. No contact. He wanted it that way.”

“I thought you were dead,” I repeat.

“Well… I’m not.” He rests his hands on my upper arms. “I’m really sorry you were worried.”

I tip my head back, letting out a loud sigh before I meet his gaze again. “Okay. That’s okay.” I blow out another breath, forcing myself into calmness. I’m not sure it works. “I’m gonna tell Nico what an arsehole he is when I see him later though.”

“Maybe wait until after the ceremony?” Seb says, lips tugging into the irresistible smirk.

I cross my arms over my chest. “Only because he’s getting married.”

Seb grants me an approving smirk before he changes the topic. “How was the hen do?”

“Everyone was drunk. I was the only one who wasn’t drinking. Actually, Aries isn’t drinking. Did you notice? She said they’re trying to get pregnant.”

“Oh, yeah. Matt said that too. He fucking loves kids. He’s a totally different father since he’s been with Aries. What else happened?”

Prince Albert or Jacob’s ladder? I swallow, suddenly nervous after recalling Marie’s question. Better just admit it. “I told them all you had a pierced dick.”

Laughter splutters from his mouth, shifting to a full on chuckle. “What? Why would you do that?”

I screw up my face. “We were playing truth or dare and that was the question. Does Seb have a pierced dick? Marie said she’d read about—”

“Marie? Read about it?”

“Yeah, Kate’s uni friend. She’d seen an article that claimed you got your dick pierced for some woman in Texas.” I hesitate, fiddling awkwardly with the hem of my nightdress. “Is there a woman in Texas?”

Seb scoffs. “The only people I know in Texas are oil tycoons, and I sure as shit didn't pierce my dick for any of them.”

I laugh at his appalled expression, and some of my tension eases off. “I didn’t want to admit I didn’t know so I just opted for pierced. I mean… maybe you do.” I shrug, hoping it looks cute and he might forgive me for telling everyone. “I don’t know.”

He rubs a hand down his throat. “Wow. I leave for one night, and you tell everyone about my dick while I’m gone?”

“It was just that one question. She wanted to know what type of piercing. And I didn’t really know what a Prince Albert or a Jacob’s ladder was so I just picked one.”

He covers his face with his hands, hanging his head as he laughs. “What did you say?”

“Jacob’s ladder.” Seb's head jerks up, his eyes wide. I try to maintain a certain level of dignity as I explain my crazy logic. “It sounded… religious. You know. Holy. Like a stairway to heaven. So I went for that.”

With a look that’s somewhere between astonishment and admiration, he pulls me into a hug, his laughter still rumbling against his ribs. Against mine. I let him hold me for a moment, then pull back to look at him.

“Is it true?”

There’s a cheeky glimmer in his eyes and he raises a brow. “Why don’t you take a look?”