The Billionaire’s Bride by L. Steele

5

Edward

Something hot stabs at my chest. I fist my fingers at my sides. She has feelings for him. Of course, she does. Baron had swept onto scene when I had left. I had sent him, precisely for that. Of course, to keep an eye on her, without moving in on her. I had been so sure that he’d do that. It had never crossed my mind that he’d make contact with her… Okay, it had crossed my mind, but I had been so sure that Ava was mine, that she wouldn’t be attracted to anyone else.

I should have known Baron is too similar to me. Oh, physically we are different, but our approach to life, it's similar. Perhaps that's due to our formative years being poisoned by the same toxin that tainted the lives of the rest of the Seven. They had moved on, found the loves of their lives, while Baron and I? We are still struggling.

And now we are both involved with the same girl.

Shit, shit, shit. What a mess this is turning out to be.

"Edward?" Ava asks, her voice subdued. "Are you okay?"

I’ll never be okay. I’ll never forgive myself for leaving her when I should have stayed. I hadn't been thinking straight, and you know what? I am not going to regret what I did. What is done, is done. It’s time to move on.

"I’m not," I confess, "but I will be, once I figure out what I need to do to win you back."

"Edward, please." She rises to her feet, and when she tugs on her hand, I release it. I watch her as she drags the heavy cloud of hair off her neck and over one shoulder. "This is not a competition."

"Isn’t it?"

The door opens and Baron enters. He glances between us, then walks over to Ava. "You okay, Eve?"

"Don’t call her that," I snap.

"Oh, and why is that?" He leans forward to slide his hand about her neck and Ava freezes. "Baron, please, don’t."

He frowns, looks like he is about to protest, then nods. He lowers his hand to his side. "Why can’t I call her Eve?" He frowns at me and I glower back. Anger pounds at my temples and I clench my fists at my sides.

"You know why," I growl. "I call her Eve. I referred to her as Eve on the phone when I called you."

"So?" Baron raises a shoulder.

"So, I called her that first; I get dibs on it."

"Dibs?" Ava barks out a laugh. "Did you just say ‘dibs’?"

My neck heats. Yeah, I did. What can I say? She does that to me—totally wrecks my self-restraint. Makes me recede into the most primitive corner of my brain, which I’d hoped I had gained control of a long time ago.

"Yeah, did you?" Baron drawls. "How very mature of you, Chase."

"Fuck off, Masters," I snap.

"I see your time at whichever-beach-you-decided-to-spend-the-last-few-weeks did a whole lotta good for your temper." Baron smirks.

"It was a monastery, you bastard."

"Oh, is that what they are calling it nowadays?" Baron’s grin widens. "Tell me, how much of the time did you spend high? How often did you have to say your prayers? Oh, wait," Baron pretends to think, "that was when you were a Father. Now that you are not, you don’t have to pretend to have conversations with God, and all that other bullshit."

"I am going to shove your balls up your arsehole." I throw off the bloody sheets, swing my legs onto the floor.

Baron’s chest seems to expand. He bares his teeth, throws up his fist, just as Ava steps in between us.

His knuckles brush the side of her cheek and anger explodes behind my eyes. She stumbles back. I snatch her toward me, pushing her behind my back, then plant my fist in Baron’s face.

He stumbles, straightens. A drop of blood drips from his face. A stricken look twists his features. "Shit, Ava, did I hurt you?"

"Yes, you did," I snap.

"No, it’s fine. Really. It was just a tap," she protests.

I turn, survey her features. "Does it hurt?"

"No." She shakes her head. "He barely brushed my cheek."

"Let me see." Baron, the asshole, tries to brush past me and I turn on him.

"You’ve hurt her enough."

"I’m not the one who left her and went off gallivanting to wherever it is that you went." He glowers.

"I’m not the one who turned his back on the man you swore to stand by."

"I saved your life, you asshole." Baron growls, "I did everything possible to help you through the aftermath of the incident."

"Saved your life?" Ava pushes at my shoulder, trying to glance around me, "What the hell does that mean?"

"Nothing," I snap.

"Nothing," Baron mumbles.

"Shit, this is crazy." Ava shakes back her hair. "The two of you can’t be in a room without coming to blows, yet there are so many things you two agree on. And the secrets you two seem to have?" She glances between us. "Seriously, it’s unnerving, it’s like you have a secret code or something."

Or something. I rub the back of my neck. Baron stares at me, then turns his gaze on Ava. "It’s not intentional," he mutters. "Asshole, here, gets on my nerves."

"Makes two of us," I gripe.

"Glad we agree on something."

"Oops, do we?" I scoff. "I must be more wounded than I thought."

"Too bad the bullet didn’t hit home."

Silence descends, then Baron’s features twist.

"Fuck," he growls, "I didn’t mean that."

"I know," I say quietly. "When you get upset, you tend to speak without thinking."

"So do you."

"Yeah." I shuffle my feet. "Guess we got off to a bad start."

"It happens." Baron lowers his chin. "It's not every day that you meet a ghost from your past you haven’t seen in twelve years."

"Twelve fucking years." I nod. "Wouldn’t have thought I’d make it this far."

"Me neither, man," Baron says wryly. "What say we bury our differences long enough to figure out what we are going to do about us?"

"Us?" I scowl. "There’s no us… There’s only—"

"Edward, seriously?" Ava slips past me, stands facing the both of us. "Baron’s calling a temporary truce. Why don’t you take it?"

Because I don’t fucking want to. Because a part of me is already mourning that I have lost you. Because I know I’ll never measure up to the kind of man you need me to be. Because I am tainted but I can't let go of you.

"Edward?" Ava prompts. "Please, can you two stop fighting?" She swallows. "Just until we figure out what to do next?"

I scowl. Baron meets my gaze. "You know we need to figure this out," he mutters. "Trust me, I don’t want this truce either, but it’s the only way to move forward."

F-u-c-k. He’s right. Doesn’t mean I am going to make this easier for him. I fold my arms over my chest. "Fine," I snap, "let’s talk this out then."