I shrug, knowing I won’t be there for much longer. “Not to worry. I’m making plans to sweep Eden off her feet so I won’t be needing to stay here anymore. You and Ava can finally have your house back.”
“We like having you here. I know her slapping you across the face doesn’t seem like we do, but we enjoy when you stay with us.”
“I know, and when I was worried about Ronan, it made sense. I have a place to live, though, and it’s with my wife. It’s time I start living there full-time.”
A slow smile spreads across my brother’s face. “Look at you being all responsible. So what’s your plan to get her back?”
I don’t answer for a few seconds because I’m not really sure. I think my older brother can help me out, though.
“Not exactly settled on a plan yet, but if you’re willing to give me a hand with a few things, I think I have something that will work. You game?”
Matthias nods as he stands up from the table. “Let me put this little guy down in his crib, and I’ll be right back. I’m curious to know what you’re planning.”
He leaves me wondering if what I’ve got in mind is enough. I need this to work so my Duck sees that we belong together.
I smile as I remember that’s sort of how I felt the day we got married at that cute little wedding chapel in Vegas.
Eden stops at the end of the sidewalk leading to The Little Wedding Chapel of Las Vegas and lets go of my hand. I turn around to see if she’s having second thoughts and notice she’s looking down at her dress.
“You look incredible, like always, Duck.”
She doesn’t look up at me for a long moment, but finally she lifts her head, and I see worry in her eyes. Is it that she doesn’t want to marry me, or is it that she’s having second thoughts about us getting married here in Vegas?
“Are you doing this for some reason I don’t know about, Marius?” she asks in a hushed voice.
I don’t have to think about the answer to that question for more than a second, so I shake my head and say, “No reason other than I’m crazy about you. Are you getting cold feet?”
Eden steps forward so she’s right in front of me and stares up into my eyes. “No. It’s just that this all happened so fast. What if we’re making a mistake?”
“Then you’ll be a very wealthy woman when you divorce me and take half of everything I have?” I say as a joke.
A joke that lands like a lead balloon.
Her expression grows dark, and once more, she can’t seem to look at me and instead prefers the concrete sidewalk. “I never wanted to be with you because of your money.”
I slip my finger under her chin and lift it so she sees my face when I say, “I wasn’t serious there. I don’t think you wanted to be with me for my money.”
“You said it, though, so some part of you must think that.”
Fuck. I swore to myself I wouldn’t let my insecurities from Maia get in the way when and if I met someone I fell for, and here I am doing just that.
Another couple stops behind us, so I smile and wave them ahead since I have a feeling Eden and I are going to need a few minutes. I take her by the hand and walk a few feet away so we can have some privacy.
Alone, or as alone as two people can be in a city that never seems to sleep, I cradle her face and kiss her before I confess the truth about how I feel. She looks into my eyes, and I swear I see fear in them. That can’t be good.
“Duck…Eden, I’m crazy about you. I’ve had the best week of my life, and it’s all because of you. I don’t know how it happened, but at some point this week in between the gambling and the laughing and the sex, I fell in love with you. I’ve only loved one other woman in my life, and that went south pretty bad. So I swore off love and dedicated myself to being single and having a good time. I don’t know how, but just being with you this week changed all of that.”
“Marius, what happened with Maia? She’s the other woman you loved, isn’t she?”
I nod and let out a heavy sigh. Nothing like your wedding day to drudge up the worst feelings you’ve ever experienced.
Hanging my head, I answer, “I heard she was with me because of my family’s money. When I asked her if that was true, I saw by the look on her face that it was. She tried to say it wasn’t, but I knew the truth.”
If you think that part was hard, you have no idea how fucking impossible the next part is to say.
Eden nudges my arm, so I look up, knowing I can’t escape telling her everything that happened. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that. For what it’s worth, she never said anything like that to me. I thought she was crazy about you.”
I blow the air out of my lungs. “Yeah, so crazy that she slept with Theo not two weeks after we broke up. That’s some great love there, huh?”
