The man just stared at me before looking back at Eddie.
I will not roll my eyes. I will not roll my eyes.
“Do your parents know you are here, Edward?”
Eddie gulped as he shot me a look. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to them yet. They’re away on a short vacation and I didn’t want to bother them.”
Vinnie’s eyebrow rose. “You’ve been injured and you didn’t want to be a bother?”
He didn’t have to make it sound like we had done something bad.
We hadn’t.
No, really, we hadn’t done anything wrong.
“I am sure your parents would understand, Edward.”
Eddie’s hand slid down over his injured leg. “It’s nothing. I’ll be back on my feet in a few days.”
More like a few weeks, but I wasn’t going to point that out.
“Eddie’s going to come to the penthouse for a couple of weeks while he recoups,” I said. I didn’t want VinnieCastellano to think Eddie wasn’t being taken care of. He was. “We’re just waiting for the doctor to release him.”
“And Jell-O.” Eddie grinned at me. “We’re waiting on Jell-O.”
The mob boss crossed his arms. “Edward will be coming home with me until his parents can be reached.”
Eddie barely hid his groan, but I caught it.
I plastered a huge smile on my face and turned to Eddie’s uncle. “Oh, that’s okay. We’ve already discussed it and Eddie’s going to come back to the penthouse with me so Lyn and I can help him with his art show next week. It will be easier to work with him if he’s at my place.”
Vinnie’s eyes narrowed.
I knew that look and braced myself.
“Edward needs to be with his family.”
“Eddie needs to be with whomever Eddie chooses to be with,” I countered. I wasn’t trying to be contrary, but I’d been up against this sort of thing all my life. I was an expert at the argument. “He’s not a child.”
“That is debatable!” the man fumed.
Yeah, my eyes rolled.
“Dude, just because you don’t like what he is doing is no reason to insult him. Eddie is an adult whether you like it or not. He gets to make the decisions about his life, not you. Just because people are afraid of you does not give you the right to dictate his life.”
Vinnie stared for a moment before blinking and then giving a small shake of his head. I knew that gesture. He was trying to figure me out.
Good luck there, buddy.
“You do not seem to be afraid of me.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I respect who you are and I am grateful for the help you gave us last year, but no.” I shook my head. “I’ve been crushed in a car by an enraged elephant. That is scary. You ain’t scary.”
Eyebrows high on his forehead, Vinnie asked, “Excuse me, but did you say an elephant?”
“Yeah, he was pretty pissed, too.”
Vinnie blinked at me.
