Last Night
Isat next to Santos watching Eden as Vanni and Marco took turns feeding her bites directly from the cake Marco had ordered. It was some chocolate monstrosity that hadn’t been picked up, and Marco had paid who-knew-what to get them to hand it over. But the joy on Eden’s face was worth whatever it was. I only wished she’d been that happy as we’d signed the marriage license. Instead, she’d tried to hide the guilt and worry that plagued her when Santos had stepped up as one of the witnesses. I’d wanted to kick his ass when he’d refused, but he’d made his case, and I couldn’t exactly argue with it. It was the truth, but my feelings were torn between shame over stealing my best friend’s girl and being satisfied that she was officially mine.
When she’d tried to apologize for outright refusing to entertain the idea of marrying me, I’d waved her off. I knew I’d been over the top, didn’t mean it hadn’t been a kick in the gut, but I understood where she was coming from. I hated that it was bittersweet for her and Santos, though, and I would do everything I could to keep us all together. The idea of packing up and abandoning it all, maybe moving abroad, had crossed my mind more than once. Leave the fucking city to Rodrigo and the Finellis, let them duke it out while we worked on our tans on some beach and enjoyed our lives. The only thing stopping me was the people that would be left behind to deal with the fallout, the ones that had been loyal to the Carlotti Family for decades. Which was why Santos and I had decided that we had to cut the head off of the snake and brutally make an example out of those that had gone against us. It was past time for the end game.
“Hey, jackass! Get over here!” Vanni’s shout brought me out of my brooding thoughts to find they had lined up champagne glasses.
Determined to make the best of the night for Eden’s sake, I joined the party and even grudgingly laughed at the ridiculous toast he and Marco came up with.
* * *
By the time midnight rolled around, we’d moved to the den and polished off several bottles of champagne. Eden was curled up in Santos’ lap on one of the sofas while Vanni and Marco played a board game the rest of us had lost interest in. There was some sort of bet involved, but I couldn’t be bothered to keep track of what it was this time.
“Hey, angel, are you about ready for bed?” I heard Santos quietly ask a sleepy Eden. At her nod, he levered himself to his feet, with her in his arms.
“Night, lovebirds,” Vanni called out without looking up; Marco echoed him, also blowing a kiss like the sappy fuck that he was.
I couldn’t begrudge Santos a wedding night after I’d taken his bride, so I resigned myself to going to bed alone. I was going to give them a headstart and clean up some of the mess until I knew they’d be behind closed doors, away from my jealous ass.
Ignoring the comments from the drunken pair, I collected glasses and dishes and took them to the kitchen, leaving it all on the island for housekeeping to deal with. As I drank water and took pain reliever to counteract the headache I knew was coming from the champagne, I gave up trying to stall and headed for my room. Only to find Eden in my bed, a very naked Eden from the lack of clothing covering her back. Fucking Santos, I can’t believe he did this. Or that she went along with it. But there she was, asleep with her dark hair fanned out over my pillow, too tempting by half. If I got in that bed, there was little chance that I’d keep my hands to myself. I didn’t do sleepovers, wasn’t my thing, and now I had the woman that I’d set my sights on within arm’s reach.
“Don’t just stand there, Antonio. Get into bed.” I turned, heart thumping as I reached for my gun, the one I wasn’t wearing, to glare at Santos.
“I thought you’d left. Did you forget where your room is and put Eden in here by mistake?” It was an inane comment, but I wasn’t sure what the fuck was happening, and I didn’t care for not being the one in control.
“She’s tired and was worried about hurting your feelings. I told her we could all sleep in here, so get in the damn bed, Tony.” My closest friend glared at me, daring me to reject my sleeping wife’s wishes. Eden Moretti is my wife. It hit me then that I was fucking married. It hadn’t set in yet despite the papers and impromptu party. My wife, in my bed, sealed the deal.
“Right, got it.” I swallowed, suddenly nervous but determined not to show it. I wasn’t a fucking pansy-assed boy, and I wasn’t about to act like one.
Santos raised a scarred brow at me but refrained from commenting, then the bastard stripped down to his boxers and took my side of the damn bed. It was closest to the door, so I let it go, figuring his need to be between Eden and anything that could possibly make it to my bedroom was more important than my preference. Besides, I doubted I’d be getting much sleep with Eden between us.
* * *
Right as I started to doze off, Eden shifted, pulling the blankets from me. I’d reached in the dark to take them back from the thief, wholly unused to having to deal with that sort of thing, when she whispered that she had to pee. Apparently, she’d rather climb over me than wake Santos, not that I blamed her; he could be a dick if you startled him while sleeping. I was actually surprised that it hadn’t seemed to be an issue, but she’d continued to bunk with him every night without a complaint.
“Shit, sorry,” she muttered as I jerked away when her knee landed a bit too close to my junk for comfort. She ended up sprawled across me with her hair in my face, giggling as I tried to spit it out, but fuck, I was drowning in the thick tresses. And trying very hard not to find out if she had anything on. There was a lot of fucking exposed skin anywhere my arms and legs touched her. I deeply regretted wearing a t-shirt to bed.
My patience ran out, and I ended up pushing her back to the middle and rolling off the bed to stand while she got up.
“Bathroom is over there,” I helpfully pointed out. In the dark. With a low groan at my redundant comment, I turned on one of the bedside lamps. “There, now you can see.” And so could I, and no, there was definitely not a stitch of clothing on her. “I’m going to get a drink. You need anything?” I needed to get out of there before my twitching dick made a tent out of my underwear. We hadn’t discussed a traditional wedding night, and I didn’t feel right assuming she wanted to—although the lack of clothing was leading me to believe that she wouldn’t be opposed.
“Water would be good if you don’t have the paper cups in your bathroom,” she said in a yawn as she padded across the room, not caring a bit that I stared at her ass as she went.
“I do. They’re on the inside of the cupboard door. I’ll be right back.” I did grab a water bottle from the fridge, mostly to kill time until Eden was back in bed, but I also checked on my brother and cousin to see if they were still up.
When I poked my head into the den, I found them both passed out on the oversized sofas, and from the dick drawn on his face in marker, Vanni had crashed first. He was going to be pissed when he woke up. I was still chuckling when I made it back to my bedroom, Eden peering at me in the low-light like I was the nutjob she’d accused me of being earlier. Or maybe that was crackpot, I couldn’t remember for sure.
“Must have been a fascinating trip to the kitchen.” I had a feeling she wasn’t planning on going back to sleep, so I explained as I got into bed after depositing my water on the floor. Didn’t want water rings on my table. “Well, Marco warned him he’d better not fall asleep first.” She shrugged and snuggled into me after pulling my arm out to rest under her head.
What the fuck is happening? Eden’s lack of personal boundaries was throwing me off. She was quick to touch or be close with the others, but in my case, other than the occasional hug, she usually steered clear.
“Eden, I’m not sure I can sleep like this,” I ventured, hoping it wouldn’t hurt her feelings. Not that I dared to move until she released me.
“You used to call me Edie, too. Or did you forget that?” The change in subject had me forgetting about my trapped arm.
“I did,” I agreed, my tone exposing the wariness I felt at her question.
“How come you don’t now? The others do.” I felt her tip her head up to stare at me when I didn’t answer, but I didn’t really have one for her.