“Don’t you dare,” she chokes. Her eyes blaze, bright with pain and betrayal. “Neither of you comes near me.”
The sight guts me. Drains the heat from my blood. Even Leo looks like someone pulled the floor out from under him.
“You both claim you’re protecting me,” she spits, voice shaking but sharp enough to cut. “Protecting me? You nearly knocked me flat because you’re too busy swinging egos to listen.” Her tears spill over, but her voice only hardens. “Instead of helping me fix this mess, you’d rather measure dicks.”
Silence drops, heavy and merciless. My fists unclench. Shame scorches hotter than any bruise.
Eden straightens, trembling but fierce, every inch of her radiating fury. “I’m done. You want to kill each other? Do it outside. Away from me. Both of you. Now.” Her voice is broken glass. “Or I swear I’ll call the police. I don’t care that you’re my brother, Leo. I don’t care that you’re my…” Her throat tightens, then steadies. “Out.”
Her words don’t waver.
And this time, neither of us argues. Looking at the woman we both love, tears running hot down her face, we obey without another word.
35
GIRLFRIEND-GATE, MY ASS (EDEN)
The door slams behind them, and I’m left shaking in the middle of my own damn clinic, adrenaline sizzling under my skin. I don’t even realize I’m holding my breath until it rips out of me, jagged and useless.
By the time I make it home, my legs are as wobbly as overcooked pasta. Keys slip out of my fingers twice before I manage to shove them in the lock.
Liz is on the couch, a thick medical textbook balanced on her knees, but the second she sees me, she bolts upright. “Eden?”
“I’m fine,” I start to say, but when I shrug off my coat, fire shoots down my shoulder. A hiss escapes before I can bite it back.
Her gaze narrows, nurse mode snapping on in a blink. “Fine, my ass. Sit. Show me.”
“Liz—”
“Don’t Liz me. Sleeve. Now.”
I sigh, but she’s already peeling the sweatshirt down. The ugly blotch spreading across my shoulder makes her brows shoot up.
“Well, well. Did the Carvers start a family fight club and forget to send me the memo?” Her lips quirk in a weak smile, but her expression stays sharp.
“Something like that,” I mutter.
The humor drains in an instant. “Eden. What happened?”
I look away, jaw tight. She gets a dish towel and ice and presses it gently against my skin. The cold makes me flinch.
“Jesus,” she mutters. “That’s going to mark up like hell.”
The pressure inside me buckles. I didn’t break in front of Leo. Didn’t break in front of Nate. Couldn’t give either of them the satisfaction. But here, with Liz fussing, steady, zero judgment, the dam cracks wide open. Tears spill, hot and humiliating.
She doesn’t flinch. Just rests her hand over mine, warm and sure. “I’ve got you.”
Then her stare flicks back to the injury. “Eden. Did Nate do this?”
The question knocks the air out of me. “Yes.”
Her whole body goes rigid. The air in the room shifts, crackling with protective fury. “Oh my God. We’re going to the police. Right the fuck now.”
“No.” I grab her wrist before she can bolt. “It’s not like that.”
Her glare could set drywall on fire. She doesn’t stop shoving her things in her purse, getting ready to barge out the door on her quest for justice. “Not like that? You sound like a cliché, Eden. So how is it? Enlighten me.”
“Liz! Sit!” She turns around, eyebrows raised, still vibrating with righteous anger. “Technically, it was my shoulder in the middle of Nate and Leo’s alpha posturing,” I groan, pressing my palm to my face. “Two overgrown man-children decided to reenact Rocky IV in my clinic, and guess who caught the bonus round?”
