Chapter 23

Bella grumbles, "Should it be a concern for us then?" She then holds his hands and places them on her waist, trying to conjure up the image that the two of them are being cozy. "I'll give you some thoughts for you to contemplate on just because both of us have a history together and because I care about you a lot," she says.

To force her stepsister's marriage to end, she has to start a fire that will fan Kaira's angst, and what better way to do that than to show her that she can never compete with her? Bella loops both of her hands around Calix's neck as he tries to free his hands from around her waist. 

"Bella, stop this. What are you even doing? Someone might see us here. I don't want to explain anything to the Lombardi's," he said exasperatedly.

"What? This is the way we used to be, and your marriage to Kaira won't really change that," she remarked. "We are much more than this before, Cal. And I certainly know that the likes of Kaira won't make you change w