Page 42 of Love Without Control

“Why did he punch you?”

“I fucked his girlfriend.”

Her eyes almost popped out of her head. “Dane!” she scolded.

“Okay, it wasn’t actually his girlfriend. He liked her, but I didn’t know that.” My voice turned into a sneer. “My father did though. He was the one who set it up.”

Eden held her hands up, palms out. “Wait, wait. Go back.”

Whooshing out a sigh, I said, “My brother and I were tight, and my father didn’t like it. He’s a paranoid asshole who thinks everyone is out to get him, so he doesn’t like people getting too close to each other. Could foster loyalty to someone other than him.”

“So he set you up so your brother would be mad at you,” she said.

I scooped up another bite of soup and swallowed. It was getting easier with each bite. “Luca told me it was time I became a man and said he had set me up with a girl.” My shoulders lifted and fell. “I was fifteen with raging hormones, so I fucked her on the floor of our living room.”

Eden’s mouth gaped open like a fish out of water. “And your brother found out?”

With a scoff, I answered, emphasizing the first word. “Coincidentally, Fiero got home early from work that day.”

“Ah, but it wasn’t a coincidence, I presume.”

“Correct. When we talked later, after he’d calmed down and I’d iced my nose, he told me our father had called him home for some kind of emergency. That’s when we figured out he had manipulated the whole thing to get us to hate each other.”

“And that’s why Luca would never suspect that your brother would help you.”

I nodded. “We’ve continued to play our parts to make him believe that for the past ten years.”

“One more question.” Her lips curved up into a sly grin. “Did you at least get to finish first?”

That was so unexpected from her, I snorted out a laugh, which felt like getting punched in the nose a hundred times in a row. “Owww, fuck,” I grunted, my hand hovering over my face. “Don’t make me laugh, dammit.”

“Sorry,” she said, and I could tell she was barely reining in a giggle. “But did you?”

“No, you nosy ass. I didn’t. I was standing there with a bloody nose and a hard dick, which totally ruined my first sexual experience.”

Eden tilted her head and cooed, “Awww, were you ever able to get it up again or was it like Pavlov’s dick where you associated erections with broken noses?”

I managed to laugh through my mouth, sparing myself the pain that time. “I recovered, thank you very much.” Bobbing my eyebrows up and down, I lowered my voice. “You’ll be happy to knoweverythingabout your husband is in working order.”

She sniffed. “Fake husband, so your equipment is absolutely none of my business.”

“Then why were you so interested in whether or not my cock was in working order?”

Her face registered shock, cheeks flaming into the most intriguing deep-pink color. “I… uh… I don’t…” She lifted her chin, finding an ounce of composure. “Just shut up, Dracula. Are you done eating?”

“All done,” I told her, feeling quite smug with myself.

She stood and took the tray from me, nodding toward a sheet of paper on the oak nightstand. “Jamie said to read over those post-op directions. She went over everything before like no contact sports and stuff like that, but she wants you to read it again.”

“Got it.”

“Oh, and she said you’re not allowed to bite the heads off any bats or other small animals for at least six weeks.”

It took a monumental effort not to laugh at that. Instead, I crossed my arms over my chest and leveled her with a glare. “I’ll have my secretary rearrange my bat-biting schedule.”

“Excellent. And speaking of that, I came up with a last name for us,” Eden said as she walked toward the door.

“This oughta be good,” I muttered. “What is it?”

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