Refusing the King (The Sovrano Crime Family #12)

Chapter 6

6

Giselle

“Hmm, I’m going to add more liner. Carlo likes a smoky eye. Eve grinned down at me. She would know what Carlo liked. After all, she’d known him a lot longer than I had. And she’d been sleeping with him longer, too.

A pang of envy sprang up, but I quickly quashed it down. I was not going to be jealous of my best friend.Nope. It wasn't her fault that she'd met him before I had. And it also wasn't her fault that she'd be sleeping with him long after I left.

Ouch.

This pang was definitely sharper than the first.

A thought came into my head that I didn’t want to ponder.

After I left, how many times would I sit and wonder if Eve was fucking Carlo at that very minute? Or if he was holding her in his arms.

Without me there beside them.

Or if Carlo was busy fucking someone else.

Someone new.

Not me.

Now my stomach really hurt.

“Hey.” Eve sat down beside me on the bed. The serious look on her face made me worry. “Are you okay? We don’t have to do this, you know. If you aren’t comfortable sharing Carlo anymore.” Her hand found mine and she squeezed it. “Just say so. It’s not a big deal. We’ll wait. Nick got so overprotective of me when we started trying to make a baby.” A dreamy expression covered her beautiful face. “He wanted to kill Carlo and Stefan for even looking at me.”

That made me smile.

I could totally see Nick lapsing into overprotective alpha mode. Mostly because he was still in it. I shook my head. “No, I’m fine, Evie. I know the drill and I’m good with you being there. I love you being there. And it’s fun.”

Her head nodded and her shiny blonde locks bounced. “But if there’s ever a time when you don’t want to share anymore,” her hand landed on my bare shoulder, “you’ll tell us, right? This doesn’t work if someone’s feeling jealous. And we’re all human, after all. Plus, making a baby is a—” she took a slow, deep inhale, “wonderful process, honey. It’s a magical time. Or at least it can be for some.”

Making a baby.

With Carlo.

The thought of that did make my heart leap and my blood run faster. But the thought of what would come after—if Sergio found out—scared the ever-loving crap out of me.

I turned more fully toward Eve and grabbed her other hand. “I’m good, really. I promise. There’s no jealously,” I lied to my best friend. There was no other choice, though.

I couldn’t tell her how I really felt.

Or how I was going to leave all of them soon.

And how I wanted to grasp onto the last bits of our friendship and love. Because I needed to make sure I remembered each second of being with these people. I had a feeling right down to my toes that I would never find a group of humans who loved me this much. Or who I loved this much.

She gave me a rather skeptical look. “Are you sure? You seem a little—” she shrugged her shoulders, “off.”

I gazed down at our hands for a moment. Then I looked up at her and asked, “Can I ask you a question?” My voice sounded small and insignificant to my ears.

“Of course, honey. You can ask me anything. Any time. What’s bothering you?”

Gosh, my best friend knew me too well. I straightened my back and tried to gather the courage I needed. “You have to promise not to tell your husband. Or Carlo, and Stefan.”

Her head tilted to the side slightly, and a look of concern crossed her face. “What’s wrong, Giselle? You have me worried?” Her hands squeezed mine tighter now.

“Promise not to tell them?” I asked for her reassurance. Because I really, really needed it.

She nodded. “Absolutely. You can trust me.”

I gave her a nod right back. “Okay, I just have this really weird feeling that—” my voice trailed off.

“That what?” Eve’s eyebrows drew together, and it made me want to abort this whole mission for the truth.

But I needed the truth. And I figured if anyone would give it to me, it would be my best friend.

“Are Carlo, and Stefan in the—” my throat completely dried out, “mafia?”

Eve’s whole body went slack, and she let go of my hands. She turned away from me and stood.

Crap.

I didn’t like her reaction so far.

When she was halfway to the door, I thought she’d keep on walking. Instead, she shut the door, and leaned against it. “I really think this is a question you need to ask them. Not me.” Her head slowly moved back and forth a few times, but her eyes stayed on me.

Double crap.

“I'm asking you for a reason, Evie.” Tears that I didn't know were hiding behind my eyes threatened to fall. I did my best not to let that happen. “I have to know the truth. And I know you won't lie to me. You’d never lie to me. Or Dani.”

Her back slid down the door, and she ended up sitting down in front of it.

Yeah.

I’d definitely caught her by surprise. “Can you give me a few minutes to gather the men together? And then we can all have a discussion?”

Triple crap.

Eve didn’t say, “What? Mafia? Are you crazy?”

Nope.

She shut the door.

Collapsed.

And wanted a family meeting of sorts.

Quadruple crap.

The shock of it was still knocking at the front of my brain, wanting to come in. The only problem was—I didn’t want it.

I didn’t want to know.

I didn’t want to deal with it.

And I certainly didn’t want to have a freaking mafia family meeting.

My breath caught in my throat, and I swallowed over the hard dry lump that sat there now. “Nick’s in it, too?” My voice was barely audible. And I didn't know why I hadn't realized it before.

Of course, Nick was involved.

Those three men were tight. Solid.

Thick as thieves.

Literally.

Dammit.

A small, faint nod was all Eve gave me.

We sat there in silence for a good long while. I honestly don't even know how long. But eventually, Eve stood up and wandered over to me. She didn’t sit down right away.

Instead, she crossed her arms and gave me a sad look. “I’m sorry, Giselle. I wanted to tell you—but I also didn’t want to scare you away.”

I stared at her and leaned back on my hands. “All the crap that happened with Nick’s brother? The kidnapping?” I asked, as everything really started to make sense now.

All the horrible things Eve went through—and man, she went through some awful, awful things. We were all so worried about her making it home.

And then we were worried about Nick, Stefan, and Carlo, too.

If it weren’t for Asher keeping my head on straight, I don’t know what I would have done.

“Yes. All of that crap,” she took in a deep breath, “was because of their world.” She sat down next to me again. “I’m not going to lie and say that it’s easy to live in it.”

Her arm wrapped around my back. “I’m not even going to tell you to stay. But we do need to talk to the men about this. Now.”

Her arm tightened around me, and she gave me a side hug. When her head rested on my shoulder I moved and hugged her right back. “Not right now, Evie. Please? How about once we get back home again? I don’t want to ruin this fantastic vacation. Well, any more than it’s already ruined with baby drama and brother drama.”

Eve let out a small laugh. “Yeah, that’s been a small damper on things, that’s for sure. But,” she pushed away so we could see each other’s faces, “I have to insist that we discuss this with the men. It can’t wait.”

I bit my lip and shook my head. No matter how much I loved my best friend, there was no possible way I was bringing this subject up to the men.

Ever.

“No, honey. Let’s wait. Please? This will be for the best. I promise. Once we're back in Chicago, we can all sit down. I think for now, we've had enough to deal with. Let’s leave this alone.”

Her shoulders slumped and her face grew more grave. “Are you going to leave us?” she asked with watery eyes. The desperation in her voice broke my heart. And I wondered if she'd cry over me when I was gone.

Gosh, I was so freaking selfish.

“No.” I smiled and hugged her to my body. She always smelled so good, like flowers and that cherry gum she loved to chew. Although I noticed she didn’t pop pieces in her mouth as much since the babies came.

“I’m not leaving you,” I told her and hoped lightning didn’t strike me down for lying. “I love you and your babies too much. And I’m sure things with Carlo and Stefan will work themselves out. Eventually.”

Wow.

I was really telling some whoppers now.

“Oh, my gosh, Giselle. I thought for sure you’d take off once you knew.” Her arms nearly cut off my ability to breathe. “I want our kids to grow up together. So, so much. Dani’s like a big sister to my babies. I don’t know what I’d do if you left.” Her body shuddered and I could tell she’d started crying.

“Hey, stop. I’m not going anywhere. Don’t cry, Evie. Please don’t cry.”

Her head nodded up, and down and she moved back. I took the chance to take a few deep inhales of air.

“We’ll figure this out. I know we will. Are you sure you don’t want to talk with the men? They’ll be able to answer your questions better than I can.” She wiped under her eyes.

What she meant was—the men would be able to “handle” me better than she could.

They’d make their excuses about the lives of crime they’d chosen.

Excuses for what they did day in and day out.

And spin all of their bullshit into a nice, cozy blanket to cover up the deceit and lies hiding underneath.

I’d heard it all before.

And I didn’t need a refresher course.

“Yes, we’ll do that. I can see how worried you are. Please, let it go for now. Let’s keep salvaging as much of this vacation as we can. Soon, we’ll be back home. I have a feeling we all need these last few days to decompress.”

I used my fingers to wipe her cheeks.

“I have a feeling we’ve almost won Stefan back over from the dark side. Adding anything else to his plate right now might chase him away for good.”

Eve sucked in a choppy breath. “You’re right. What about Carlo? Should we cancel our afternoon rendezvous?”

I pulled up my big girl panties—or black lace thong—and put on my reassuring voice. “I’m ready when you are. We don’t want to keep him waiting.”