Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
M arius
So now you know what a fucking mess I’ve made of things.
In case you’re having a hard time keeping up, I have a woman I adore who loves me, and I completely fucked up.
Now she wants to divorce me, and I’m sitting outside my brother’s house smoking a cigar and trying to figure out how the hell I’m going to save my marriage.
I told you I didn’t hate love. I never lied. Not to you and not to Eden.
Still, I’m bright enough to know that’s not going to help me now with her. No, I’m going to have to figure out how to win her back.
I think it can work. She loves me. I know that. I’ve never doubted how much Eden loves me. That she’s doubted me hurts, but I know we can come back from that.
So, I just have to decide how.
Matthias and Ronan disturb my peace out here with the tiki torches when they return to the patio. The two of them sit down at the table but don’t say a word at first.
After a couple minutes of the three of us looking around like we’re strangers waiting for a bus, I figure I should speak. “Nice end-of-summer party, Matthias. Where’s Kellen?”
“He and Salem had to go back to the city. She’s got some athlete who can’t stop fucking up,” he explains.
“I’m sure Kellen is happy he’s not the guy in need of a reputation rehab this time,” I say with a laugh.
We fall into another strange silence again until Ronan says, “So what are you going to do?”
It all comes down to that, now doesn’t it? What am I going to do?
The answer is simple. How I’ll actually do it is an entirely different story, of course.
I stand up and face my brothers. “Win her back. Show her that she doesn’t want to divorce me.”
My two brothers look surprised to hear me say that. Or maybe it’s the casual way I said it, as if it’s a fait accompli, which if I’m being honest is the opposite of what making Eden want to stay with me is. Still, I figure it’s good to come out of the gate with a winning attitude.
“Right now, though, I need to clear my head. That calls for a game of pool,” I announce before heading into the house without waiting for them to say a word.
By the time I’ve racked the balls and chalked up my cue, Matthias and Ronan have joined me in the game room upstairs. Whenever I need to think about some problem, I shoot pool. It helps me put things in perspective.
And if ever I needed to get my thoughts straight on something, it’s tonight.
The two of them sit down on the leather sofa. Matthias looks particularly confused about what I’m doing and asks, “How is this helping?”
“Are you going to play?” I ask, ignoring his question for the moment.
He shrugs and stands up to grab a pool cue hanging on the wall. “Sure. Are we planning on talking about what happened, or is this part of your living in denial routine you seem to have started?”
I focus on the cue ball and line up my shot. “No denial. Just looking for some clarity. That’s all.” I send two balls sailing into two different pockets and silently congratulate myself on that trick shot.
“Okay, Matthias. I’m low balls. Since I don’t want to run the table, I’ll let you take your best shot.”
My older brother groans and shakes his head before attempting to sink at least one ball. He fails miserably, and the cue ball just sort of roams around the pool table like it’s lost before coming to rest down near me.
“Dude, you suck at this now. What happened to you? You used to be a decent player.”
He twists his face into an angry expression before answering, “It’s called having kids and a job, Marius. I don’t get to play much anymore. Can we focus on what’s going on?”
I shrug and line up my shot to send the two ball into the right side pocket. “I told you. I’m going to win her back. It’ll work. Don’t worry.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Matthias asks.
With a smile, I look down the table at him and say, “Ah, there’s the rub.”
My older brother waits for me to continue, and when I don’t, he says, “Clever. Who are you? Hamlet? Marius, you need a real plan, and here you are shooting pool and waxing poetic.”
“Yeah, if you want Eden back, you’re going to have to do something big,” Ronan adds. “Like huge. The woman served you with divorce papers. That tells me she’s serious.”
Why do they keep fixating on those damn divorce papers? “It’s not like they’re definitive. I think they’re more the embodiment of her feelings at the moment, which I can change. I know it.”
Already tired of talking about this, I sink the four and seven balls before screwing up a shot on the six ball. I should have just come up here alone. My brothers are making it impossible to get any thinking done.
Ronan and Matthias glance at one another before looking at me. “You sound pretty sure of yourself there,” Matthias says. “What makes you think you can change her mind?”
That’s an easy one to answer. “I know I can change Eden’s mind because I know her.
We’ve been crazy about one another since that first day together.
She doesn’t want a divorce any more than I do.
She was just unhappy about having to keep us a secret, but now that everything’s out in the open, all I have to do is find a way to show her she wants to stay married to me. ”
Nobody says a word for a long moment while Matthias attempts to put the thirteen ball in the left side pocket. Once again, he doesn’t even get close.
Ronan twists his face into an expression that looks like he just tasted a lemon. “Okay, but if that was the only problem, why aren’t the two of you together right now? Your relationship isn’t a secret anymore.”
I wave away that idea since I don’t want to deal with that issue right now and set up my shot to put the three ball in the right corner pocket near me. “She’s just cooling off. You wait. Everything will be fine.”
It practically floats in, leaving just the one and six balls.
My youngest brother stands up and shakes his head.
“I’m going to tell you what you told me when it seemed like I was making a mistake with Kate.
You’re blowing it, dude. That woman is not going to just suddenly come back to you simply because everyone knows you guys are together now.
She’s hurt, and she’s pissed. Think what you want, but everything is not going to be fine. And on that note, I’m going.”
He walks out of the game room before I can say anything to all of that, but the truth is, I have nothing to say. Matthias stays with me, and it doesn’t take him long to pick up where Ronan left off.
“Seriously, Marius. You can’t believe just giving Eden time alone is your best idea.
Even worse, Ava’s been with her for the past three hours.
How do you think that conversation has gone?
Because if you’re not realizing it, they’ve called you every name in the book and are likely devising some way for her to feel better by starting over. You know, with someone else?”
That wasn’t what I was thinking about at all. Dammit, Matthias better be wrong about what those two are doing at the penthouse.
I point at the table and say, “One ball in the right center pocket.” The balls goes in beautifully, followed by the six ball, which leaves only the eight ball since Matthias hasn’t even sunk a single high ball yet.
As he stands on the opposite end of the table practically sneering at me, I say, “Eight ball, corner pocket.”
When it goes in, I set my pool cue down and ask, “Do you really think Ava would do me dirty like that? You don’t think there’s any brother-in-law love for me coming from her?”
Matthias levels a disbelieving gaze on me.
“Marius, you’ve known Ava all your life, just like I have.
She’s the sweetest person in the world, until you hurt someone she loves.
She’s best friends with Eden, and I can promise you, she loves her like a sister.
On top of that, she slapped you across the face when she found out what happened.
I know my wife, and I’m telling you if Eden is saying it’s over, Ava is working on coming up with a list of guys she plans to start setting her up with this week. ”
So she would do me dirty. Damn. Why can’t life be as easy as a game of pool?
“She loves me, Matthias. I know she does. And I’m madly in love with her. This will work out. I just have to figure out what to do now to make her see that.”
He smiles and lets out a sigh. “I believe you. I do. I just don’t know if you understand your own wife.
I mean, what did you think would happen when you insisted on keeping your relationship secret for two years?
I get why you wanted that, but seriously?
I think you should be counting your lucky stars she let it go that long. ”
My brothers don’t understand. Maybe if any of them were like me they would.
I watch him toss his cue onto the pool table as the memory of my time with Eden in Vegas slowly fills my mind. I know she loves me as much as I love her.
“You know, I knew one of your girlfriends in high school. She used to say after being with you, she walked funny.”
For a moment, I consider asking how well she knew Maia since I assume that’s the ex she’s talking about, but I don’t. Leaning forward, I kiss her neck and feel her body melt into mine.
“I promise to do my best to make sure you can say that too.”
When I sit back and look at this stunning woman sitting on my lap, she has a very knowing expression on her face. I’m guessing she heard a lot more than that little nugget from that ex of mine.
Neither of us says anything for a long moment, but then Eden surprises me by jumping up off me. For a few seconds, I stare up at her in shock.
“Was it something I said?” I ask, hoping a joke will bring her back.
Instead, she shakes her head and smiles. “No. I just thought we should head for the bedroom. I mean, this couch is nice, but I’m guessing it’s not too comfortable, and those windows don’t offer much privacy.”