Chapter 9
Stefan
“Why don't you stay a little longer?” Giselle whined from the doorway.
I turned my head to see her standing there.
Looking gorgeous as usual. Her T-shirt was an everyday kind of shirt.
Except nothing on Giselle was ordinary. With her curves, she made everything she put on a masterpiece.
The V in the front showed off her ample, beautiful cleavage.
Cleavage that was even bigger. She'd told me that she was expecting again.
Surprisingly enough, it hadn't stung like it probably should have.
In fact, I was—happy for them. My brother didn't waste time.
But, good for them. Their kids were great.
And they obviously wanted more. So why not?
“I need to get back to my place,” I said, giving her a smile. “And out of your way.”
Giselle's face dropped, and she hurried up to me, breasts bouncing the whole way. “You aren't in our way. Not at all.” She wrapped her arms around me, so I did the same to her. “We love having you here. And so do the kids. You know that.” Her voice was muffled as she hugged me tight.
Fuck.
She felt good in my arms. Just like she always did. And truth be told, I'd gotten used to her many hugs throughout the day. Eve's, too.
“I'm better now. I can't stay here forever, sweetheart,” I said into her hair while I rubbed her back. “We’ve all got to get on with our lives.”
She shook her head back and forth on my chest, and it felt damn good. “You can stay here forever, honey. You know that. Stay for a little longer. Please? For me?” She looked up at me with watery eyes. And she knew I'd do anything for her when she looked at me like this.
Almost anything.
“This is for the best. We all know that.” I bent down and kissed her gently on the lips. God. Her lips were so fucking plump and delicious.
She kissed me back with vigor, maneuvering her tongue past my lips. It was difficult to say no to Giselle. Especially when her tongue was in my mouth. So, I kissed her back, savoring the familiarity of it. Giselle and I had kissed many times, and we would kiss many times more.
“Did you start the party without me?” Eve's voice interrupted us.
I stopped the kiss and looked to see her wandering up to us. “Did my invitation get lost in the mail?” She smirked and swayed into our arms. She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed me. Long and luscious. Then she lowered and kissed Giselle.
Fuck.
Watching them kiss was always hot. Their huge breasts touching each other drove me crazy. My cock twitched inside my pants, making himself known.
“He's trying to leave us,” Giselle said against Eve's lips. “And I was trying to convince him to stay.”
Eve's eyes shot straight to mine, and she blinked. “Wait—what?” Her eyes spotted my suitcase on the bed. The suitcase that she and Giselle had brought me from my place weeks ago. After they'd found me at Francesca's.
Alone.
“But—why? Everything's going so well.” Her voice was sad, and that did amazing things to my ego. But I still knew I was doing the right thing by leaving.
“It's time,” was all I said. I could have said it was because I still felt like a third wheel.
Even though my relationship with my brother and Nick had more than begun to heal.
I found myself searching them out more times than not.
And they did the same to me. Things still weren't fully okay.
Not yet. After everything that had happened, I wasn't sure it ever would be again.
This might have to suffice for the rest of our lives.
“Well, we'll just have to try harder to convince him to stay.” Eve smiled at Giselle. And she grinned right back. Then two sets of beautiful—mischievous eyes stared back at me. My cock hardened until it throbbed.
“Momma!” Daniella called from somewhere down the hall. “Mom—ma!” she said again, making Giselle sigh.
“I better go see what she—” Giselle started to say, but Dani beat her to it.
“Momma!” Dani said with delight. “Oh, Uncle Stefan!” She smiled at me and my heart melted.
“Hey, Dani. Come here.” I let go of Eve and Giselle and opened my arms.
Dani didn't hesitate to rush directly into them. I picked her up and tossed her gently into the air before giving her a hug. “Whatcha doin' in here?” She kissed my cheek.
“Uh, I'm going home,” I said in a quiet voice.
Her little body froze as her head tilted to the side in the most adorable way. “Home? You are home, silly.” She patted me on the shoulder and giggled.
I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “I have to go back to my home, Dani,” I tried to explain to her.
She hadn't been at my place in a long time.
She likely forgot where I lived by now. And to tell you the truth, I did, too.
It felt like I'd lived a thousand lives since I'd been home. So fucking much had happened.
I'd been shot.
Almost died.
A few times.
Met the woman of my fucking dreams.
And then she left me.
Dani's eyes filled with tears, and her little chin started to quiver. She crossed her arms. “No!” she yelled. Her looks weren't the only thing she'd received from her mother. She'd also inherited Giselle's attitude.
My heart cracked. “I'll come back and visit you, okay? I promise,” I said, hearing my voice break just like my heart.
Dani burst into loud sobs.
I hugged her tightly while I took a deep breath, blinking away my own unshed tears. There weren’t many people in the world who could make my heart crack right down the center. But Dani was definitely one of them.
“No, no, don’t go.” She clung onto me, rubbing her face into my shoulder. “Stay,” she cried. Her little fingers digging into my arms. I rocked her tiny, shaking body, trying to calm her.
When I peered down at Giselle and Eve, I saw that they were crying, too. I gave them a sad smile. “We can’t keep living like we’re in some crazy commune. You two knew I was going to leave eventually.”
Eve shook her head. “Why not?” Her voice cracked as tears streamed steadily down her face. “We all love you. Stay with us. Please?”
After that, I added her and Giselle to our hug. “We need to get back to normal.” Whatever that was. I had no idea.
All I knew was that it sure as fuck wasn’t hiding out at my brother’s estate feeling sorry for myself. And to take the next step meant I actually had to—take the next step. Move back to my place and get on with—life.
How ever the hell I was supposed to do that.