Chapter 3 #2
“Don't tell me to settle down or anything else you were going to say! Stefan almost died in our stables…” Her voice cracked, and tears started falling down her cheeks. “And then he got so freaking sick,” she sobbed and wiped under her eyes with her fingers, “and refused to go to the hospital.”
Yikes.
Giselle was completely losing it.
“And then Francesca had to save his life—again—by stealing crap from the hospital.” She shrugged off Carlo's hands and gave him a scathing look. “That's what's up, Carlo.”
Stefan's chin fell to his chest as his hands rested on his hips. He stood like that for a moment before he looked up and walked to Giselle. He stopped in front of her and grabbed her hands with his. “Come here,” he said quietly. His eyes were soft and kind—no hint of anger left in them.
But Giselle wasn't about to give in. “No, you're a big jerkface. How could you—” Her eyes welled up with new tears. “We almost lost you, Stefan. You were bleeding. So much—blood. There was so much—”
Stefan leaned over and pulled her up out of the chair and into his arms. “Shh, stop,” he whispered into her hair. “It's fine. I'm fine. I'm right here.” His hands rubbed her back as she clung to him.
“You wouldn't go back to the hospital? Were you trying to die?”
Stefan's eyes clamped tight. “I was so fuckin' fevered I couldn't see straight.
Couldn't even walk without Francesca's help.
And yeah, I was fuckin' stubborn. And I also had to pull off some shit to get myself into her apartment.
She was ready to say goodbye to me at the hospital.
And I couldn't let that happen. I also knew that if she took me back there—” he tipped her head back and peered into her face, “that I'd never get back into her apartment again. And I knew I loved her. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. No matter how long that was.”
Oh.
My.
Heart.
Stefan's words swirled around me as I began blinking away my own tears.
Eve's hand covered mine, and she squeezed it. When I looked over, I saw tears already falling down her cheeks. She mouthed a “Thank you” to me and brushed away the tears with her other hand.
“Okay, well, I guess that's a decent excuse. But you still should have gone to the hospital. What if something happened?”
Stefan kissed her forehead and said, “Nothing was going to happen.
Francesca was taking care of me. She's great at her job. Maybe I played it a little too close to the line. But it worked. For a while, anyway.” His voice trailed off.
“And even though she ended up leaving me anyway, it was still worth the risk. And I'd do it again.”
Giselle sighed and gave him a hug. “Do—not—do that again.”
Stefan chuckled and hugged her back. “I'll try my best.” After that, he helped her sit back down.
Everything was fixed between her and Stefan.
But something kind of bothered me. I caught Giselle's gaze.
“He was being really stubborn. And he should have gone in.
He's very persuasive, though. So, I decided to try a few things first. But I told him if what I did wasn't working, that I'd call an ambulance.” I swallowed and gave her a sad smile, and lowered my voice.
“I wouldn't have let him die. No matter how stupid he was being.”
Giselle looked at me with red, puffy eyes.
“I know, honey. I know. I also know how persuasive these men can be. And how stupid they can be. Trust me.” She put her hand on top of Eve's—which was still on top of mine.
“They've all pulled some pretty dumb stuff with us.” She sighed and shook her head.
“You have no idea, Francesca. None at all.” She sent me a smile and then dug into the plate of fruit and cheese.
“I promise that it's not always this dramatic around here,” Eve said before removing her hand from mine.
Giselle gave her a side-eye and raised her eyebrows—but didn't say a word.
Stefan walked over and gave me a kiss. “She's lying,” he whispered with a smile.
I grinned right back and said, “I know.”
Then he sat down beside me and grabbed my hand.
Nick and Carlo wandered off to the kitchen, and Eve stood and followed them. She gave them instructions on what to do. And what not to do.
We chatted at the table about the kids, the weather, my dress—basically nothing that was full of drama. And certainly nothing about last night.
Or this morning.
Stefan excused himself and took my now empty cup, and strolled into the kitchen. It looked like there was some kind of controversy over the pancetta.
When he was gone, I looked at Giselle. “Can I ask you a question?” There was something she'd said—but not explained. And I wanted to ask her about it.
“Of course. Anything,” she said, chewing on a strawberry.
“Why were you crying last night?” I wanted to know if it had anything to do with her husband fucking her best friend. Not that she'd necessarily tell me. She probably wouldn't. But if it wasn't that—then maybe I could help her with the reason.
She picked up a piece of apple and shrugged.
“I miss the kids being around all the time.
I go over to the other house during the day to visit.
But it's not the same. And last night,” she shrugged and looked at the fruit she held between her fingers, “I was just sad that they weren't here.” She popped the piece of apple into her mouth and chewed.
“And I feel like a bad mom. You know? I mean, I get that I'm pretty useless at the moment.
But that doesn't mean I don't wish I could be around them. All of them.”
I chose a piece of cantaloupe and bit into it.
A bit of the juice dribbled down my lip.
I swiped it away and said, “You're not a bad mom.
You're a great mom. Those kids are lucky to have you.
Nick and Eve's kids, too. I can see how much they love you. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to hand over even a tiny bit of control over your own kids, though.”
She nodded and gave me a wistful look. “Yeah. It totally is. I mean, I'm fortunate that I can get that kind of assistance. Don't get me wrong. I know that. But—”
Carlo's voice cut her off. “You were crying last night? When I wasn't there?” Carlo walked over with a plate of eggs and toast. He set it down and sat beside his wife.
Giselle peered over at him. “I cry every ten minutes, honey. Haven't you noticed?” she said it sarcastically, but there was also a sadness there that anyone could hear.
“You told me to stay with Eve. I would have come back to you afterward if you'd asked me to. You know that.” He slipped his big arm around her and frowned.
But she shook her head. “No, it was Nick's first time with Francesca. I didn't want Eve to be alone.”
A loud, frustrated groan came from the kitchen.
“What are you talking about? I was fine. And I would have been fine with Carlo going back to you. I was excited that Nick and Francesca were together. I mean,” she looked at me and sighed, “I would have liked to watch their first time.
But I get it. Francesca hasn't been around us—like that before. So, it was for the best. But you,” she pointed at her friend, “should have told us how you were feeling. Or at least come to us when you were sad. Now I feel terrible.” She picked up a plate of pancetta and walked over to the table.
After she slid the plate onto the table, she shuffled over to her friend.
“I'm sorry you were sad. I wish I had known.” Then Eve leaned down and gave Giselle a hug.
“Evie, you know my moods change every minute.
I'm fine now. And I was fine last night.
Just because I'm having all the feelings all the time doesn't mean I was sad that Carlo was in your bed.
I was happy about that. I didn't want you to be alone.” They hugged each other a little longer before letting go.
And then—
They—
Kissed.
Like, as in—on the lips.
With tongue.
Definitely with tongue.
Whoa.
Was there anyone in this house that Eve wasn't sleeping with?
“I love you,” Giselle whispered to her friend—and lover?
“I love you, too.” Eve gave her one more kiss before letting her go. Then she kissed Carlo. “I think we cool it for a while. Stay with your wife,” she said against his lips.
Carlo smiled and kissed her back. “Agreed. Last night was fun, though. Thank you.” He put his big hand on her behind, and she giggled.
Giselle spoke up, “Carlo, that's not what I want to happen. I—”
But Carlo interrupted her with a kiss, “Tough shit, wife. Because that's what's going to happen. I'm with you until this baby's born.”
Eve looked down at her friends and smiled to herself. Then she gazed over at me and gave me the same smile.
Gosh.
I felt so bad for what I'd thought about her when I'd assumed she was cheating with Carlo.
Eve sat down, and we all started filling our plates.
“Eggs, Francesca?” Carlo asked.
I looked up to see his eyes looking right at me.
And like a big, huge dufus, my cheeks started heating. Suddenly, all I could think about was his huge—um, yeah. “Oh, um, no, thanks,” my voice was unusually high, and I spoke way too fast.
Crap.
I'd panicked.
“You love eggs? And Eve made that bread. You should taste it,” Stefan said.
I kept my eyes on my plate. “I'm good, thanks.”
Everyone at the table quieted, and I was positive it was because of me.
“Francesca,” Giselle called my name. But I still didn't look up.
“We all freaked out the first time we saw Carlo's large—” she paused, “manhood. It's perfectly normal. Don't be embarrassed.”
Eve let out a laugh. “That's putting it lightly.” Then she and Giselle laughed together. “Or was it seeing me with Carlo for the first time? I bet that was a big shock.”
I raised my eyebrows and pushed the fruit around on my plate. “It wasn't the first time.” As soon as I'd said it—I knew what I'd done. Ugh. It had just slipped out by accident.
“What?” almost everyone asked at the same time.
Stefan put his arm around me. “You've seen Eve and Carlo together? Before last night?”
Double ugh.