I did not just fucking hear that.I could have sworn my ears were playing tricks on me when Vanni's voice filtered through the kitchen doors, declaring for anyone around to hear, and that poor soul happened to be me, that he was in love with Eden.
My Eden.
I hadn't anticipated the scenario I'd walk in on. A month ago, it would have been at the top of my list, but not now. Vanni had Eden sprawled, half-naked, across the kitchen island like he hadn’t been avoiding us all since the shit that happened in the jailhouse bathroom, and that would teach me to look through the windows before barging in from now on. But it didn’t even feel right to be mad about it, and while a part of me was ecstatic that he wasn’t going to let the incident slow him down, feelings weren’t always rational.
"Don't look now, Edie," Vanni teased, staring me dead in the eye, mischief written all over his face, "a new player has entered the game. Should we tell him he's last?"
"Last what?" I didn't like being left out of their inside joke, at all. But neither of them bothered to answer me, and Vanni backtracked to my previous question.
"As for what's going on, well, it seems we need condoms all over this fucking house. Or were you inquiring about dinner? Cuz that's gonna be a bit. I decided to eat my dessert first." With all the snark and self-satisfaction he was radiating, the cocky fuck must have been channeling Marco.
"Vanni, knock it off and give me my pants," Eden admonished before she glanced back at me with a wince.
It pissed me off and hurt at the same time. She was obviously uncomfortable, or at least self-conscious, about me finding her half-naked and tangled up with Vanni after their tryst. I'd just decided to bow out and go back to bed when a catcalling whistle came from behind me. My groan was instantaneous. Just thinking of the devil had him showing up. All we needed now was for Tony to waltz in and have a coronary over the fact that his kitchen island was not being used for its intended purpose. Not that I gave a fuck, but I'd never hear the end of it. The man could hold a grudge like no other.
“Looks like you forgot my invite, assholes. If I’d have known we were playing with Lady Garden’s lady garden, I’d have been down here sooner.” His grunt of pain immediately followed my elbow connecting with his body. It caused my stitches to pull more than I’d have liked, but I could live with it.
“Marco, shut it. I cannot believe you guys. Vanni, where are my goddamned pants?!” Eden blasted the others even as she sat up and hid her face behind her thick curtain of hair.
It was like I didn’t exist to her. My feet shuffled backward as I tried to leave, but Marco refused to move, going so far as to put his hands on my shoulders. I was mobile, but between my exertion and crushing disappointment, I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to be able to stay on my feet. The very last thing I could take right now was looking weak or garnering Eden’s pity if I fell on my ass or had to have Marco hold me up.
“Damn, Edie girl, what did Vanni do to you to leave that mess?” He just could not shut up. But as Eden turned to stare in horror, her face flushed from more than just embarrassment, my own gaze landed on the snail trail. And I instantly vowed to never say that in front of her...if I could get her attention for more than guilty glances. A scowl settled firmly on my face at the decent possibility that Eden didn’t want shit to do with me despite her concern and letting me hold her earlier.
“You know, this shit was easier to deal with when I didn’t care what anyone thought about me,” she muttered before pushing Vanni away to stalk to the paper towel holder. Despite her complaints, she was acting completely unfazed that she was still sans pants.
"Let me go, now, Marco," I hissed, hoping to avoid drawing attention to my attempt to retreat.
Only he gave it right back, thankfully at a volume that didn't carry over the running sink. Eden was hastily wetting paper towels while letting a kneeling Vanni help her into her pants. "Try not being a chump for five minutes and go sit down. If you let her think this is bothering you, she's going to shut you out. Jesus, it's like you don't know women at all." I could see his head shaking out of the corner of my eye.
He had a point, but I still felt the need to defend myself. "It's not like I have much experience with them, asshole. If you're forgetting, she's the only woman I ever bothered to have a relationship with."
"Also the only one you ever actually bothered to put your dick in too," he shot back. That just pissed me off even more. Fucking figured he knew I hadn’t fucked anyone else. Nosy bastard always seemed to know more than his fuckboy persona let on. My inability to get over Eden had been a sore spot until I’d nearly lost her a second time, and I didn’t like that shit being rubbed in my face. Or her being used against me, even by family.
"Don't talk about her like that!" I barely kept from raising my voice, and for the first time since I walked into the kitchen, I was glad Eden was avoiding looking in my direction.
"Then stop being an idiot. That wasn't a slur against Edie, and you know it. Or should we share how we ended up with our hardware?"
"You fucking wouldn't." I'd kick his ass, stitches be damned.
"Wouldn't what?" Oh, now she was paying attention. Motherfucker.
"Nothing," I snapped, regretting it the instant the word left my mouth when she wilted in front of me. "Marco's just irritating me; it's his specialty," I tried to explain, but she just nodded and went to the fridge for a bottle of water before retreating to the end of the kitchen to lean against the counter. And my legs were telling me to sit the fuck down before they did it for me. On the floor.
As I moved forward, Marco let me go, and I managed to make it to the island, pull a barstool out, and get on it, all without wobbling like a newborn fawn trying to walk for the first time. But that didn’t mean he kept his fat ass mouth shut.
“Has Santos told you how he ended up with his dick looking like a bad Pinhead impersonation?” I sighed and glared at Marco as Vanni tried to cover his laugh with a cough.
“Uh, not really,” she started, glancing warily between each of us. “Just said he won a bet, right before he shoved them down my throat. Something you all seem rather fond of doing, I might add.” Vanni frowned at her, earning an eye roll in return. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it.”
“Well, technically, he won two bets,” Marco started off, then got whacked with one of the doors when Tony pushed through them.
“Why is everyone in here? This does not look like dinner is being cooked, Giovanni.” Tony pointedly stared at his brother, annoyance pinching his features. He quickly made to apologize, as if realizing he’d snapped at his brother who he’d been treating with kid gloves for days, but Vanni was having none of it.
“I got sidetracked, so it might be best to order in, and shush it, Marco was just telling Eden about Santos’ strawberry-flavored dick. You might want to stick around to tell your part,” he added with a sly grin that had his brother looking him up and down, then over at Eden in speculation.
“As I was saying,” Marco began again in a huff, “Santos here really won two bets. We all went out to the bar, and after we had a few, I pointed to this chick and told Santos to watch and learn, so maybe he could get a piece… Well, that part isn’t important, uh, shit, this is not how I thought this would go.” He stumbled over that last part, realizing he’d royally stuck his foot in it.
“Welcome to my world,” I muttered, earning wide eyes from Eden. “What Marco is trying to say is that he bet he could hook more women than I could before the night was out. Whoever lost had to get something pierced. I won. The end.”