Page 340 of Don’t Say Mafia

“You absolutely do,” Matty and Ophelia said in unison.

Eden was openly laughing now, her head tipped slightly toward me, her eyes bright in a way that did something violent to my chest.

Jace watched her for a second, then looked at me slowly.

“Oh,” he said.

“No,” I warned.

“Ohhh,” he repeated, dragging it out.

Riley slapped a hand over his mouth before he could continue. “We are not doing this.”

Casey lifted her glass. “To Eden. May she survive us.”

“To Eden,” Natalie echoed.

Everyone raised their glasses.

I slid my hand over hers under the table, lacing our fingers together.

Jace pulled Riley’s hand away from his mouth just long enough to grin at her. “Welcome to the family.”

And for once, I didn’t even argue with him.

CHAPTER 34

JAGGER

Iwoke up with a gasp, my body jerking upright before my mind had even caught up.

The hotel sheets were twisted around my legs like I’d been fighting something off, and for a split second, I had no idea where I was—just that something felt wrong.

Dragging a hand through my sweaty hair, I tried to slow my breathing. My pulse was thudding hard in my ears, loud enough to drown out the silence around me.

What a fucking dream.

I’d been back in the hospital with Carlie. It looked exactly the way it had the night she’d been hurt—the same sterile lighting, the same suffocating quiet, the same sense that something irreversible had already happened. A wheelchair sat at the foot of the bed, though, turned slightly away from me.

I’d called her name, but when she pivoted toward me, it wasn’t Carlie in the chair. It had been Eden. It was Eden’s eyes locked on mine, searching and desperate, like she was waiting for me to fix it, to undo whatever had been done.

And I couldn’t.

That was the part still clawing at me right now. The helplessness. The rage. The bone-deep certainty that I had failed someone I was supposed to protect.

Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, I braced my forearms on my thighs, breathing hard as I tried to force the image away.

It wasn’t real. It wasn’t happening.

I turned to where Eden was still asleep. She was on her stomach, one arm tucked under her pillow. Her breathing was slow and even and completely undisturbed. I reached out without thinking and rested my palm lightly against her back, feeling the steady rise and fall beneath my hand. She shifted faintly at the touch, murmuring something soft, then settled again.

Fuck.

Evidently, there was nothing quite like falling in love for the first time in your life to dredge up every unresolved trauma you’d ever carefully buried. Apparently, my subconscious had decided this was the perfect moment for a highlight reel. Fantastic.

My phone buzzed against the nightstand, and I groaned. It was three fucking o’clock in the morning. I reached for it before it could light up the room again and saw that it was Cruz.

Of course.