Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
M arius
My brothers all look at me like they have a million questions they want to ask but can’t figure out how to ask them or which one to ask first. Kate and Salem hurriedly gather up some plates and glasses before taking them inside, clearly not interested in witnessing any more of the shitshow that’s become my life.
When it’s just the four of us and the two sleeping kids, Matthias walks over to me and asks, “What the fuck is going on? Are you telling me you and my wife’s best friend, who she’s been trying to set you up with for years, are married?”
Just as I start to say something, Ava walks out the back door and marches right up to me. I’ve never seen her so upset. She looks like she either wants to bite through a piece of steel or cry harder than she’s ever done before.
“How could you do this?”
“You don’t understand.”
That’s all I get out of my mouth before she slaps me hard across the face. I’m stunned for a few seconds, especially since Ava is the least violent person I’ve ever met in my life. My brothers look like they can’t believe this person who’s always been so kind to all of us just slapped me.
“You were married to Eden for the past two years? My best friend was my sister-in-law, and you chose to hide that? Why? Were you ashamed of her?” she asks, her voice cracking.
“No. I wasn’t ashamed of her. That’s not why I wanted to keep things quiet.”
Tears stream down her face as she glares at me.
“Then why? Was it because she doesn’t come from the kind of money you do?
Eden is an educated, successful, intelligent woman who makes good money as an investment analyst, and by the way, it’s not like she came from the wrong side of the tracks so she’s not worthy of you.
Her family is wealthier than mine ever was. Do you feel the same way about me?”
Matthias tries to come to my rescue, which is nice, but Ava’s not having any of it.
“Honey, I’m sure it’s not about money,” he says, but his wife spins around and huffs like she’s about to breathe fire.
“No, Matthias! I want to hear what this was about from Marius.”
When she turns back to face me, I brace for her to slap me again, but she collapses into one of the patio chairs and simply shakes her head. “Eden thinks you were ashamed of her, so that’s why you didn’t want to tell everyone you two were together.”
Ava buries her face in her hands and sobs like a baby. My heart clenches in my chest, not only for what all of this is doing to her but also for what Eden must be going through. I wish I could go to her, but I know the woman I love well enough to be sure she needs some time.
“I’ve never been ashamed of anything I’ve ever done, including marrying Eden. Ava, I swear to you. It had nothing to do with her.”
She surprises me when she jumps up from the chair shaking her head. “I need to go find her. She can’t be alone right now.”
As she hurries off, leaving me with just my brothers, I think about how this day has gone.
The woman I love served me with divorce papers.
My sister-in-law, who up until today I would have counted as one of my biggest fans, slapped me across the face and likely hates me.
My brothers haven’t said much, but I get the feeling that’s because they’re in shock.
And everything about my life has descended into pure shit. Hell of a day.
Kellen is the first to break the silence with a low chuckle before he says, “Well, I guess I am going to be the last one to get hitched.”
Matthias, Ronan, and I look at him in disbelief that out of everything that’s happened today that is his takeaway. Then again, Kellen always does like to play the clown.
“Dude, read the room,” Ronan chastises him.
Matthias pulls up a chair and sits down in front of me. He hesitates, opening his mouth and closing it a few times, before he finally asks, “What’s this all about, Marius?”
That’s a loaded question. It’s also one I know the answer to all too well.
I start to explain, but Ava comes rushing out of the house again waving her phone in front of her.
“Where is she? I’ve called her five times, and she’s not answering.
I called her parents’ house, and they say she hasn’t been at their house for more than an hour or so in months.
Where is she, Marius? I need to go to her. ”
Grabbing a white napkin off the table, I look at Matthias. “I need a pen. Do you have one?”
He hands me a pen, so I write down the address of our building and hand the napkin to Ava. “She’ll be here. I’ll contact the lobby staff and tell them to let you up. It’s the penthouse.”
She stares at me for a long moment and then turns to Matthias. “Honey, I need you to look after the boys. Lynn can handle most of it, but I need you to make sure they’re okay. I have to go find Eden.”
He kisses her and smiles. “Go. I’ve got everything under control here.”
Ava hugs him and then turns to leave, but not before she throws me a nasty look. “You better hope she’s okay, or I’m going to have something to say about it.”
Great. Now the one person who I know has always liked me now thinks I’m public enemy number one. This day can’t get much worse.
“And just in case you don’t know who Eden’s father is, you should know he’s not going to be happy when he finds out about this.”
She doesn’t explain that any further before storming out, and when I look around for someone to tell me what she meant, Matthias says, “I’m guessing you haven’t met your father-in-law yet?”
Shaking my head, I shrug. “No. Why?”
Ronan chuckles, and Matthias looks uneasy. “I’m assuming you know Eden’s maiden name, right?” Kellen asks.
Nice. Like I’m some asshole who marries a woman without even knowing her full name. “Yeah. Giordano. So?”
Once more, Matthias looks like he’s unsure he wants to have this conversation. “Let’s put it this way. Family is very important to Mr. Giordano, particularly his only daughter.”
“Mr. Giordano? Who is this guy that we have to be so formal?” I ask, still fucking confused about why I should care about who my wife’s father is.
Before Matthias can say another word, Kellen exclaims, “Family, dude! He’s a fucking mobster! Have you been living under a rock? Everyone under the damn sun around here knows about the Giordano family.”
Fucking super. Now I’ve got the problem that my father-in-law is probably going to put a hit out on me. This day just keeps getting better.
“Somebody needs to start explaining what the hell is going on because I’m lost,” Ronan says.
When I don’t say anything, Kellen chimes in.
“As far as I can tell, Marius is married to Eden, but for some reason he wanted to keep that a secret. Not sure, but I think she didn’t like that, which resulted in that process server giving Marius divorce papers.
Oh, and Eden’s father doesn’t know his only daughter and the apple of his eye married this guy, and since he’s a mobster, our brother is probably living on borrowed time as of tonight. Did I miss anything, Marius?”
I shake my head since he actually encapsulated this entire mess pretty well. “Nope. That about covers it.”
“Yes, you did miss something,” Matthias says, sounding particularly confused. “Why the hell did you want to keep this from us? You told Ava you weren’t ashamed of being married to Eden, so why not share the good news?”
That’s a much harder question to answer.
After blowing the air out of my lungs and trying to find the right words to explain what I was thinking, I say, “I need a drink. I’ll be right back.”
They don’t stop me, so I walk inside and head for the bar since it’s definitely a bourbon kind of conversation we’re about to have.
I pour myself a glass and down it before pouring a second glass.
I have to call the doorman at the building so Ava can get up to see Eden, and then I take a deep breath in and brace myself for what’s to come.
When I get back outside, I see my brothers are waiting for some answers. Just the fact that I’m expected to explain to them all that’s happened with Eden is proof I was right about hiding our relationship.
I sit down and take a big gulp of my drink. There’s no escaping the King brothers inquisition.
“So start from the beginning,” Matthias says like he’s speaking for the family.
Glaring at him, I say, “The fact that I have to explain myself at all is part of the damn problem.”
All three of my brothers look at one another and then train their focus on me again. “What does that mean?” Matthias asks.
Clearly, he is in charge of speaking for the family.
I take another drink and answer, “It means I’ve never had a single goddamned thing to myself.
I’ve always been one of five. The five King brothers.
The problem is I’ve never been anyone special.
I’m not the oldest like you, Matthias. I’m not the youngest like you, Ronan.
I’m not the one destined to be a businessman and follow in Dad’s footsteps like you, Kellen.
Even when Theo was still alive I wasn’t special like him.
I’ve always been the exact middle King and that’s it.
All my fucking life I’ve been known as one of five.
But with Eden, it was just me, and I loved that as much as I loved her. ”
I stop for a moment and correct myself. “Love her.”
“You’re the photographer in the family, Marius. That’s something none of us have,” Matthias says.
Shaking my head at his attempt to make me feel better, I smile. “No, because you’re the artist in the family.”
“So that’s why you didn’t want us to know you were married?” Ronan asks, and I hear the hurt in his voice.
“I just wanted to have something all to myself. That’s what my relationship with Eden was for me.”
Nobody says anything for a few minutes. All the better. I can’t think of anything but what Eden must be feeling right now anyway.
“So it’s a real love thing between you two?” Kellen asks in an uncharacteristically serious way.