Chapter 6
Francesca
“I love you. I’ll take a bullet for you any day of the week, sweetheart.” Stefan’s voice drifted out of the open door to my ears.
All the air whooshed out of my lungs, and I was in immediate danger of falling over. Luckily, my hand found the wall, and I leaned on it.
“It wasn’t fair. You should have let him shoot me instead,” a woman’s soft voice said as she wept. “This is all my fault.”
Stefan sighed loudly. “Not in a billion fuckin’ years would I allow you to take a goddamn bullet. Why would you say something so stupid? Huh? And who would be around to take care of the babies? My idiot brother?”
She—whoever the heck she was—let out a laughing cry. “He’d do just fine without me. You know that.”
Stefan’s voice boomed over hers, “Bullshit! Stop talking like that, Giselle. None of us can ever do just fine without you. Say that again and I’ll—”
The woman—Giselle, I guess—hiccupped, “Or what, Stefan? You’ll give me a dirty look?”
Silence filled the air for a moment before they both laughed.
And it turned my stomach something awful.
The familiar way they spoke.
Like they knew each other—but they also—knew—each other.
And like there was a lot of history there. History that I had no knowledge of whatsoever.
For some reason, that made me sad.
When the laughter petered out, Giselle said, “You need to talk to him. He’s your brother. You need to forgive him. And Nick.”
A few seconds later Stefan’s tone was harsh and clipped. “Don’t hold your fuckin’ breath on that one. They can both rot as far as I’m concerned.”
This time it was Giselle’s turn to sigh. “They’re so worried about you. After—” she sniffled, “after, you know, they were out of their minds worried for you. I don’t think Carlo has slept a minute since it happened. Eve says the same thing about Nick. He’s sick about the whole thing.”
Stefan chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy laugh. “Aww, poor assholes.”
I quietly stepped into the room. He was clearly getting upset. I should stop this little visit now before he goes off the rails.
The gorgeous brunette I’d seen outside Stefan’s door the other day was apparently—Giselle. And she didn’t look any less beautiful today even though she was crying.
She stood at his bedside, holding his hand with both of hers.
“Just listen to them? At least let Nick come and talk with you?”
I could tell Stefan was trying his best to harness his rage. I could hear it in his voice when he said, “I don't give a fuck about either of them.”
Giselle's head fell forward, and she sobbed, “You don't mean that.” Then she looked up at him. “What about Eve? She wants to see you. Please, honey?” Hearing her call Stefan “honey” made me sick to my stomach. It also made me want to rip her arm off.
Stefan pulled her hand until she got closer. Like really close. “Tell Evie that if she wants a break from all those kids, she can come and see me anytime.”
Giselle smiled and nodded through her tears. “Thank you.” She inhaled shakily. “She’s going to be so happy to hear that.”
What Stefan did next felt like a punch to my stomach. He slid his hand into her hair and whispered, “Stop crying, sweetheart. You're breaking my fuckin' heart.”
And then—
He kissed her.
His lips on hers.
It looked like a closed mouth kiss from what I could tell. But it also wasn't just a brief peck on the lips.
“Okay. I'll stop. I promise. But you're breaking my heart, too. I want our family to be a family again.”
That was it.
About all I could freaking take.
“My patient needs his rest. You'll have to leave,” I said in my best no-nonsense voice as I stared down Giselle.
But instead of giving me any kind of pushback—she smiled.
Really, really smiled. She pushed away from Stefan and took a big breath while she wiped under her eyes. “You're right. He needs to rest. I'm sorry, I stayed too long.” Then she turned back to Stefan. “Do what your nurse orders, okay?”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I always do. Give those babies a hug from me. All of them.”
Giselle nodded and got all teary-eyed again. “I will. They get bigger every day. You're missing so much.” Then she leaned down and gave him a hug. Stefan said something to her, but it was too faint, and I couldn't hear.
“Yeah, bye, honey. Be good.” Her hand lightly touched his cheek, and he—leaned into it.
Yeah.
I might just break her arm when she walked by me.
Giselle straightened and walked in my direction. She stopped a foot away and—hugged me. “Thank you for taking such great care of him. He looks so much better because of you.”
Giselle didn't just give me a hug. She gave me a—hug.
I mean, she must've held onto me for a good full minute at least.
A minute was a long darn time to hug a stranger. When she finally did let go, she said, “We can't thank you enough for all you've done.” More tears fell down her cheeks. She brushed them away and glided out the door like some kind of movie star or super model.
I turned back to Stefan. “Who the hell was that?” I could feel myself scowling at him.
And what did he do?
He laughed.
The big jerk—laughed.
“What's so funny?” I asked as I wandered over to his bed. I wasn't exactly sure why I was so mad. But I was.
“You are,” he said, still laughing.
At me.
“Come here, woman.” He reached out and grasped my arm, pulling me closer. “Lay down with me for a minute.” He moved over gingerly. But still, he moved over.
I felt myself scowling at him again. “I'm not laying down beside you,” I said, and tried to pull my arm away.
“Yeah, you are.” He grinned his smexy little smile at me. And for some reason, that really ticked me off.
“No, I'm not. I don't want to lay down beside you,” I snapped. He still wouldn't let go of my arm.
“Yeah, you fuckin' do.”
Oh, my gosh. This man made me so angry sometimes.
“Trust me, Stefan.” I glared straight at him. “I don't.”
He chuckled and pulled harder on my arm. “Give me one minute. I'll tell you who that woman was. But only if you lay down.”
Jerk.
I wanted to know who she was. Stupid curiosity.
I looked at him and pointed. “One minute. That's it.”
He smiled and moved over a bit more. I carefully laid down beside him. He rolled onto his side. It took him some time to get situated. That was a difficult feat with his chest wound.
Finally, he settled—his arm under my head.
“That woman was Giselle. She’s my sister-in-law. She's married to my brother, Carlo. They've got three kids.”
I raised my eyebrows but didn't say a word.
“What?” he asked, his hand starting to run up and down my arm. “Something's bothering you. What is it?” he said in a low voice.
It didn't matter what tone he used with me. I was still mad.
“You kissed her. On the lips. Is that something you do with all your sisters-in-law?” My tone more than accusatory. Because really, who the heck kisses their sister-in-law on the lips?
He chuckled and exhaled a long, slow breath. “I do. The guy who was here with my brother? That's Nick. He's been like a brother to me for years. He's married to a woman named Eve. And I kiss her on the lips, too.”
That angry ball I'd had in my stomach doubled.
Stefan laughed softly. “You're jealous.”
That angry knot in my belly quadrupled.
“I am not,” I said stubbornly. “Kissing other men's wives is weird. But go ahead. It's a free country.”
He laughed as his fingers trailed up my arm, over my neck, and up to cradle the side of my head. “I don’t kiss other men's wives. I kiss Giselle and Eve. That's it,” he said so matter of fact—as if that should suddenly make it okay.
“Good for you. I bet their husbands think that's great.” The sarcasm in my voice was obvious.
“You don't know the half of it,” he said mysteriously. But it didn't matter. I didn't care. Stefan could kiss whoever he wanted.
“Fuck, your jealousy is makin' me hard, Chesca.” His hand tightened on my head.
“I'm not sure that's good for someone with a gunshot wound to the chest,” I remarked, feeling a mixture of things at the moment. First, for some reason, I was ticked right off with him telling me how many women he regularly kissed on the lips. And secondly, I was feeling—hot. And frustrated.
Sexually frustrated.
This man had just informed me that he was hard.
No.
That I was making him hard.
And that was doing strange things to my body. Like my nipples hardened and my lower belly grew achy.
“You have to accept that Giselle and Eve are in my life.” His voice was low and calm—laced with something very intense. I just had no idea what that intensity was.
“I really don't care,” I lied. Because even at this early moment—I knew I cared who Stefan kissed. And I cared a lot. “Kiss whoever you want, Stefan,” I said half-heartedly.
Said it.
Didn't mean it.
The smexy grin on his lips widened. “Oh, I intend to, Chesca. I fucking intend to.” His gaze trailed over my face and then he said, “Only one time I regretted not kissing someone. And that came back to bite me,” he spoke to me, but I obviously had no idea what he was talking about.
His eyes landed on my lips. “Waited too long. Not going to make that mistake again, Chesca.”
And then—
He pulled my head closer and—
Kissed me.
It shocked me so much I immediately tried to pull back. But Stefan's hold was too strong. Just like his lips.
They were forceful. Just like his tongue. He instantly plunged into my mouth—and I had no clue how to deal with that. I'd never been kissed before, let alone plundered like this.
The kiss Stefan was giving me wasn't nice and sweet.
Nope.
He meant business.
Business that I knew nothing about.
I gasped and floundered, my hands gripping his shoulders. His tongue retreated and then re-entered. Calmer. Nicer.
I tried to copy what he was doing with his tongue until I kind of got the hang of it. This was all new to me. I really, really hoped I was doing it correctly.
Stefan didn't seem to mind.
Nope.
He appeared to be—very—into our kiss.