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Of course, Nick was involved.
Those three men were tight. Solid.
Thick as thieves.
Literally.
Dammit.
A small, faint nod was all Eve gave me.
We sat there in silence for a good long while. I honestly don't even know how long. But eventually, Eve stood up and wandered over to me. She didn’t sit down right away.
Instead, she crossed her arms and gave me a sad look. “I’m sorry, Giselle. I wanted to tell you—but I also didn’t want to scare you away.”
I stared at her and leaned back on my hands. “All the crap that happened with Nick’s brother? The kidnapping?” I asked, as everything really started to make sense now.
All the horrible things Eve went through—and man, she went through some awful, awful things. We were all so worried about her making it home.
And then we were worried about Nick, Stefan, and Carlo, too.
If it weren’t for Asher keeping my head on straight, I don’t know what I would have done.
“Yes. All of that crap,” she took in a deep breath, “was because of their world.” She sat down next to me again. “I’m not going to lie and say that it’s easy to live in it.”
Her arm wrapped around my back. “I’m not even going to tell you to stay. But we do need to talk to the men about this. Now.”
Her arm tightened around me, and she gave me a side hug. When her head rested on my shoulder I moved and hugged her right back. “Not right now, Evie. Please? How about once we get back home again? I don’t want to ruin this fantastic vacation. Well, any more than it’s already ruined with baby drama and brother drama.”
Eve let out a small laugh. “Yeah, that’s been a small damper on things, that’s for sure. But,” she pushed away so we could see each other’s faces, “I have to insist that we discuss this with the men. It can’t wait.”
I bit my lip and shook my head. No matter how much I loved my best friend, there was no possible way I was bringing this subject up to the men.
Ever.
“No, honey. Let’s wait. Please? This will be for the best. I promise. Once we're back in Chicago, we can all sit down. I think for now, we've had enough to deal with. Let’s leave this alone.”
Her shoulders slumped and her face grew more grave. “Are you going to leave us?” she asked with watery eyes. The desperation in her voice broke my heart. And I wondered if she'd cry over me when I was gone.
Gosh, I was so freaking selfish.
“No.” I smiled and hugged her to my body. She always smelled so good, like flowers and that cherry gum she loved to chew. Although I noticed she didn’t pop pieces in her mouth as much since the babies came.
“I’m not leaving you,” I told her and hoped lightning didn’t strike me down for lying. “I love you and your babies too much. And I’m sure things with Carlo and Stefan will work themselves out. Eventually.”
Wow.
I was really telling some whoppers now.
“Oh, my gosh, Giselle. I thought for sure you’d take off once you knew.” Her arms nearly cut off my ability to breathe. “I want our kids to grow up together. So, so much. Dani’s like a big sister to my babies. I don’t know what I’d do if you left.” Her body shuddered and I could tell she’d started crying.
“Hey, stop. I’m not going anywhere. Don’t cry, Evie. Please don’t cry.”
Her head nodded up, and down and she moved back. I took the chance to take a few deep inhales of air.
“We’ll figure this out. I know we will. Are you sure you don’t want to talk with the men? They’ll be able to answer your questions better than I can.” She wiped under her eyes.
What she meant was—the men would be able to “handle” me better than she could.
