The Hell She Is!

Luca’s gaze took in the unconscious body next to him. Kate was out cold after being thoroughly fucked. That was all Luca needed out of Kate—sex, a distraction, something to take his mind off the fact that Eddie wasn’t his.

If only he had claimed her sooner. If only he had told her of his feelings. Muttering a few curses in Italian, Luca carefully slid out of bed without waking Kate.

After quietly getting dressed, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw a missed call and three messages from Eddie.

Eddison

Way to pull a vanishing act. Where did you run off to?

Eddison

I want to talk about last night.

Eddison

Get your ass home. Your mom is here.

Luciano

K.

Eddison

‘K’? What the hell sort of message is that?

Luciano

Vaffanculo!

***

Eddison quickly looked away from her phone.

“Cara? Did he answer you?” Mrs. Moretti looked at her expectantly.

“Uh, yes, he is on his way.”

~I think…~

Eddie excused herself to get a drink. She leaned against the kitchen counter and felt the tears stinging her eyes, threatening to fall.

“Bella? You all right, Eddie?”

Eddie passed Marc her phone. “My Italian is not great, but does that mean what I think it does?”

Marc offered her a sad smile as her tears started to fall. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it, Eddie.”

“I have to get out of here. Apologize to your mom for me.”

“Eddie!” Eddie choked back her tears as she moved toward the front door, desperate to escape.

Mrs. Moretti called out to her as she left through the front door without looking back. Not knowing where to go, she headed in the direction of campus.

***

Luca pushed through the apartment door into the embrace of his mother. He had to concentrate as she rambled in Italian about Marc, his dad, the family, and life.

Her last sentence rolled around in his head even after his mom left. “Eddison. Era scappatta!” (She ran away!)

Luca tossed his phone on the couch after his tenth call to Eddie went straight to her voicemail. His stomach growled, and he headed into the kitchen to find something to eat.

Grabbing a bag of chips, he turned to head back to the couch when something hard collided with his nose.

“Cazzo!” Luca blinked away tears from his eyes and came face to face with his attacker. His own brother. “What the hell, Marcello?”

“Dio, sei veramente un idiota.” (God, you are an idiot)

“You’re talking about Eddie?”

“Certo! Of course! You hurt her!”

“She brought a guy home!”

“She doesn’t know how you feel about her. You can’t hold that against her. It is not like she had sex with him. I’m guessing Kate’s bed was comforting.”

“How did you—”

“You are my brother! I know you better than anyone, well, except maybe Eddie. Where do you think she ran off to now, Luca? I bet you pushed her right into the arms of that blond dick.”

***

Luca didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep until he heard keys rattling in the door. He checked his phone for the time—just after three in the morning.

Marc sat bolt upright beside him on the couch, and the two fixed their gazes on the door. It swung open to reveal a very wobbly Eddison.

“Where have you been?” Luca asked, standing from the couch. “Eddie!”

Eddison walked straight past Luca to the kitchen as though he didn’t even exist. He noticed that she was very unstable on her feet.

“Are you drunk?”

Eddie’s eyes flickered over him as her face showed amusement. Luca turned to his brother for assistance.

Marc stepped forward. “Bella…”

As soon as Marc spoke, Eddie’s eyes locked with his, and she smiled.

“Marcello!” She wrapped her arms around his neck, giggling for a second before her whole body went limp in Marc’s arms.

***

Eddie heard arguing. Men arguing. It sounded like they were right next to her. She tried to open her eyes, but they felt too heavy. She listened to the voices, concentrating hard to understand what they were saying.

“You need to get out!” Eddie recognized Luca’s voice.

“I care about her! She is my girlfriend!” Parker’s voice replied.

Eddie cringed. She definitely wouldn’t call herself Parker’s girlfriend—they were just casually dating!

“THE HELL SHE IS!” Luca’s voice yelled.

“Non faccia rumore! Va bene,” Marc said in Italian.

Eddie mentally cursed him. ~How am I supposed to understand now? ~

“Questa è la mia casa!”

“Penso che glielo debba dire tu.”

“Tell her what?” Parker said.

“You speak Italian?” Marc’s shocked voice resonated in Eddie’s ears.

“I can understand a bit. So…tell her what?” Parker asked again.

Eddie held her breath, waiting for Luca’s answer.

“Nothing,” Luca’s voice growled out as Eddie’s eyes started to flutter.

“Why are you all yelling?” she said quietly.

The three men snapped their heads in her direction. Parker was the first at her side.

“Babe, are you okay?” he asked, grabbing her hand and placing a kiss on it.

Eddie moved to sit up, feeling as though her head was splitting in two. Rubbing her temples with her fingers, she looked up at Parker.

“I’m just hungover. No one has died from that, right?” She managed a laugh, and Parker’s lips tugged up into a smile.

Big arms wrapped around her neck, and she looked down at the ebony curls.

“Bella. Cara. Never again!” Marc’s voice was loud with his mouth right next to her ear. He placed a kiss on her forehead.

“I’m fine, Marcello. Chill out.” Eddie’s gaze flickered around the lounge, finally landing on Luca.

His lips pressed into a thin line as the two stared intently at each other. Eddie was the first to look away.

Eddie squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and heard the front door open and shut. Her relationship with Luca had changed, and she wasn’t sure why.

She knew one thing, though. Without Luca, there was a hole in her heart.