by Eden Fortae
Eden smiled softly, then broke into a full grin. That was when it struck him. The moment he realized he was in love with her.
TWENTY-FOUR
“What the fuck?!” Eden thought she mumbled until everyone in the room looked her way. Seconds later, she saw Donny go for his phone and watched his eyes fall from his head. His fingers went to work immediately. With the phone to his ear, he made his way to the door and stopped short. His fingers moved quickly across the screen once more before he put the phone to his ear again, and his deep voice carried across the room.
“Call me, Tonito!” Then again, his tone shifted, “Bro, are you fucking kidding me? Where’s Tonito?! Does he know? He’s going to lose his shit!” He was pacing, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. Suddenly, he stopped and looked her way with an accusatory glare. “You sure Rina didn’t know? They’re closer than us, bro. They abso-fucking-lutely would keep that kind of a secret.”
Annoyed, Eden rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to the shoot. Things falling through with the potential manufacturer was enough to tank her mood. The picture she’d just received from Karrina of Kya with a prominent baby bump was a blow to the heart. More weird energy from Donny would complete the circle of emotions. His mood changed again in the last three days. That sweet playfulness returned for a while, and then one day, he seemed crestfallen. He failed to hide it. This news was the perfect reason for him to let it show.
“Can we get a few more shots by the window? I know we need to get out of here before the storm, but I think the clouds would make the perfect backdrop.”
No sooner than the photographer and the model wearing Eden’s latest creation moved, Donny was at her side with his arms folded. He said nothing, and neither did she. The last thing she heard was a demand to be updated. Even without him speaking, she felt the heat radiating off of him. She didn’t have to look his way to feel his eyes on her from head to toe.
“I didn’t know. So you can stop looking at me like I betrayed you.”
“Would you have told me if you did?”
“No,” she answered, honestly and quickly.
Donny laughed and backed away. For the remainder of the shoot, he kept his distance. As they were leaving, he still opened doors for her and did his best to shelter her from the large drops of rain carried in by an approaching tropical storm. It was strange how he did that. The more she thought about it, the harder it became to ignore.
“Look,” Eden turned in her seat, dropping her phone in her lap, “we need to talk about whatever the issue is because I don’t think I can wait two hours for you to pull up in front of my apartment before I punch you in the throat.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, hermosa.” He replied casually. Almost as if he were tired of the conversation already.
“Hermosa, my ass! You were flirting with me days ago, and you know what? I almost gave you some, but then you shut down on me again. After you asked me to let you fix this, you did it again. Either we talk right now, or I’m closing down this cookie factory and tossing your friendship application.”
Of all reactions, he laughed. Staring straight ahead, trying to see through the heavy rain blurring the road, he laughed.
“You’re not. It’s going to take more than you crossing your legs and a cold shoulder to get rid of me.”
“You don’t know who the fuck you’re dealing with. I’ll cut you off today and think nothing of it.”
He laughed again, pissing her off. “Oh, I know exactly who I’m dealing with. My smart-mouth, soft-ass, hermosa.”
“I’m not your Hermosa or your anything,” she turned away from him. Even angrier that his smile at the end of that caused her butterflies.
“You’re mine.”
“I’m not.”
“So if I pull over right now and drag you over here, you’re not going to shiver when I whisper in your ear? Kiss me back?”
“If that’s the source of your confidence, any man with a deep voice and nice lips can claim me.”
He didn’t like that. It was apparent in his eyes, which visibly darkened before she turned away. The fact that he was upset called to something inside her. Internally, she was happy and hated it.
Donny pulled into the nearest parking lot, shifting the car into park. Just as Eden picked up her phone, she heard him unfasten his seatbelt.
“No, Hermosa,” he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. When he’d gotten that close, she wasn’t aware, but when his lips moved, she could practically feel it. “No man could or would ever have you the way I do. You know why?” He paused, his left brow rising, his tone low. “Because they’d just fuck you. I free your inner thoughts and inhibitions and make love to your mind. I don’t have to touch you to know what you need, and it’s nothing for me to give it to you. That’s the source of my confidence. Knowing you and what I’m capable of.”
Concluding, he licked his lips, purposely touching hers in the process. Instead of letting Eden go, he held her there, drawing back enough for her to see his eyes traveling back and forth from hers to her mouth. The hunger stirred her soul. Her thighs rubbed together on their own, needing the friction as desperately as she needed space between them.
“Knowing how to play with my emotions,” she managed, using the tips of her nails to pry her chin free, “doesn’t make me yours. That’s what this has been since that day I helped Antonio. You’re playing with my emotions, wanting me one minute and cold the next. If I were yours, I’d know it. I’d feel it. At one point, I wanted it, but you woke me from that dream. Thank you.”
With that, she turned her attention back to Kya’s lengthy apology. Donny, too, grabbed his phone. A few minutes later, he slowly pulled off and stopped at a hotel close to the Turnpike. It was raining too hard to see now, and the wind had gotten worse. Donny went inside the building wordlessly. When he returned, they parked in an underground garage, and still, he came around to open her door. On the elevator, he stood too close. When she moved away, he followed.
Walking down the hall, he carried her bag and one he retrieved from his trunk. The bag became the least of her concerns as they entered a large room with one bed.
“Are they bringing a cot up?”
“I told them we had a quickie marriage in Atlantic City. They probably won’t even come to change our sheets for a few days.”
Eden shot him a sarcastic smile, retreating to the window with her phone. Rereading Kya’s text a second time, her eyes burned. Fear, confusion, sadness, and strength. She expressed sorrow for keeping her pregnancy a secret then the necessity of it. Antonio didn’t want kids. That fact, a primary factor in keeping them apart. She had to weigh her options with what felt right—facing a hard decision resonated with Eden. Having gone through things of her own, she knew the pain of keeping a secret so big and couldn’t take it personally. By the end of the second reading, she found herself fearful and excited.
From the heart, she replied with understanding and encouragement. She’d be there for them. Now and as long as life would allow.
After replying, she gazed out the window at the dark sky, swaying trees, and heavy downpours. Amusing was how symbolic it was of how she felt internally. The attempt to reclaim her life hadn’t been the cakewalk she envisioned. It was a storm of emotions, essentially leaving her to stand still and wonder when there’d be enough sun to go wherever her feet carried her. The depression hadn’t made a full comeback, but it was trying by using Donny, Kya, and the past. Just like the trees were fighting against the wind, she was, too.
“Everything cool with Kya?”
Quickly, she’d forgotten he was there. Now, she was painfully aware with his chest was damned near touching her back.
“As can be.” She didn’t bother to look at him.
“I’ll check on her once I think she’s had the time to settle in.”
Eden nodded, resting her head against the wall. The moment he stepped closer, she sighed, turned, and used her hands to keep them apa
rt.
“I’m not playing this game anymore. I can’t.” She tried to walk away, got as far as the foot of the bed before he took hold of her hand.
“That night in the changing room when I told you I had something to do,” he trailed off and sat down, “I had dinner with my birth mother. I asked about my birth father. She told me I was better off not knowing, then she told me.”
Eden’s heart slowed. She laced her fingers with his, stepping closer.
“She ran away from home at fourteen. She met my father while working as a waitress in a restaurant he frequented. He was much older, had money, and told her he would take care of her until she became pregnant. He learned of her real age and turned his back on her. She tried to keep me, but at fifteen, the decision wasn’t hers.” He paused again, dropping his head. “When she told me who he was, I didn’t believe it. I couldn’t be that man’s son. In my heart, I couldn’t accept it. I pulled some strings and got a DNA test. The results came back the other day. I am the son of the man responsible for my uncle’s imprisonment. The man who tried to have Kya killed. The man who saw me countless times and probably saw himself but never gave enough of a fuck to acknowledge me.”
Eden wrapped her arms around Donny just as he laid his on her stomach and tried to calm himself. Meanwhile, her heart was at her feet. She knew of the man. Mostly from Kya’s retelling of Antonio’s childhood, street life, and Vaughn. Thinking of the younger guy who’d been vining for Kya’s attention not too long ago, her heart sank deeper.
“I’m struggling, hermosa. Every day I feel more guilt. My father tried to ruin my family. He tried to kill my family. I wasn’t a fan of Kya’s at first, but she’s like my sister now. How can I look at her or even Tonito knowing a part of me... It’s been hard enough being with you knowing you could have lost her because of him. And I can’t ask the questions fucking with me because we killed the bastard. I knew he could be my father, and still did it.”
Eden froze. The hand moving through his hair ceased. She was staring at the floor. Her mind was elsewhere. Killed him. He said they killed him. He’d admitted to something like that before but never in those words. Never that forward. More profound than that was the realization that he’d killed his own father.
Something in her wouldn’t allow her to pull away. Instead, her hand slid around to his chin, raising it to level their eyes. The tears she saw broke her heart. The pain drove her forward until her lips pressed against his. When she pulled away, she wiped the tears streaming down his cheeks.
“These aren’t your burdens, Donovan.” He parted his lips to respond. She silenced him with her finger. “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. I always hated when my father threw scriptures at me, and here I am using it to tell you to clear conscience. Remember telling me I still have Kya? You do, too. He tried, but he failed. Kya and Antonio love you just as you love them. Your paternity changes nothing. Not for me.”
He pulled her down for a kiss that started tenderly. It took off almost immediately, with both of them pulling at each other’s clothes until they were bare. Donny took extra care with Eden. Despite the need for rough thrusts and bruises, she allowed him to take it slower than ever before. The comment he made about making love to her mind played back as he did the same to her body. Never had anyone handled her that way. Never had a man said so much without saying anything at all.
The kisses on her neck took her back to their first time. Her eyes opened to the window, flooded by the rain. Gone was the anxiety of needing and wanting to escape. In its place, the fear of wanting to stay with Donny, knowing it wouldn’t work because of the secret she was still clinging to. And yet, Eden let him love her. She let them both feel at that moment, what could never be.
PART II
TWENTY-FIVE
He was leaning back in his chair, elbow on the arm resting his head in his hand. The older woman's voice on the other end of the line rambled on and on. From the moment Eden slipped into the office until she rounded Donny's desk, she'd heard enough to understand the reaction of frustration.
He had his eyes closed, missing her entry and the steps taken to near him. Only when her hand brushed his shoulder did he jolt, his hand going for the gun he kept strapped to his side.
Eden bit her lips to stifle her laughter. His expression was everything but amused as he put the call on mute.
"You think it's funny that I could have shot you?"
"No," she turned his seat enough to climb into his lap, "I'm amused that I was able to sneak up on you for once." She locked her arms around his neck, pecking his lips softly then once more, allowing their lips to stay connected a little longer. "You need a vacation."
"Yeah, that won't be happening any time soon." He pointed to the phone where the woman rambled about some fight a week prior and the blowback. "Mindy Van Owen. Wife of Real Estate Developer, Peter Van Owen. She made it a point to tell me that just before she told me how wealthy they are and how important it is to secure suitable protection for their twenty-two-year-old daughter who can't seem to stay out of seedy dive bars and brawls."
"I heard. She wants one of your guys to babysit?"
He nodded, "I have a headache just listening to this. What would I look like dropping this shit on one of my guys?" He sighed as the woman asked him what he suggested. Quickly, he unmuted the call, turning on his professional charm.
Eden remained on his lap, watching him conduct business with adoration. Ten months passed since he shared the truth of his paternity. Ten whole months of him showing her that he was everything he said he'd be, and she enjoyed every moment of it. Donny wasn't just the tall, dark, sexy as fuck protector everyone saw him as. He was a great friend, generous lover, and her kryptonite. The vulnerability he displayed that night changed her view of him. He inspired her to focus on reasons to be happy and doing whatever it took to stay that way.
Happiness, Eden discovered, was as simple as putting her hatred for sewing aside to see the finished product on the bodies of imperfect women and social media shares. The opportunities that came her way were fuel to the fire. Once she started shining, she was too addicted to stop. Too driven to let anything stand in her way.
Eve and Kenneth continued their attempts to establish conversation until Eden decided the pros of changing her number outweighed the cons. It took time to update all of her business connections, but the benefits were worth it. Without the reminder of her past, the present was peaceful, and her future seemed promising.
Kya and Antonio welcomed a little girl earlier than expected. Shortly after, Antonio went through legal troubles that'd taken a toll on Kya. Without thinking about it, Eden stepped up. Every free moment she had, she spent with Kya, looking after Amara. Even after Antonio was still there, Eden loved her role as an Aunt and Godmother while building a bond with Antonio composed of wise-cracks and teasing. Being around them frequently meant more time with the entire family. The way they took to Eden was another part of her breakthrough. They showed her what she'd always wanted from her adopted family and gave it unconditionally. Donny, most of all.
He'd gone above and beyond as her friend and didn't slack as her lover. Dates were always a surprise and always different. She couldn't fight the smiles or feelings he gave her. She stopped trying the first night they spent together with Amara. Love was a word she still struggled with, but it was what she felt seeing the dragon become a teddy bear for an infant he loved like his own child. Then again, every time he called, texted or smiled.
The woman was talking again, asking a million questions. Donny pinched the bridge of his nose. It was the perfect opportunity. Eden stood, drawing his eyes to her as he went over the hourly rate for his men, rules, and regulations. Reaching for the hem of her dress, she pulled it up and over her head. Donny froze, but his eyes moved along her body. The bra and panties she wore were a part of her latest design and in red. The fabric store encounter was the ins
piration for crotchless panties—the bra, a mistake she ended up liking.
With a grin, she found her way back to his lap, smiling wider as he stumbled over his words. The kiss to his neck earned her an ass squeeze. As she slid down to the floor, pulling the zipper of his pants with her, his eyes narrowed. There was a threat in that look. One she ignored by taking him into her mouth. He amazed her with how well he carried on that conversation without missing a beat. His fingers threaded her curls. After a while, he used his grip to force her a kiss perfectly timed between questions and answers. When the call finally ended, Eden was straddling Donny, arms resting on his shoulders, working her hips every way he guided her.
"You came to see me just for this?" He pulled her to him, biting her lower lip.
"No," she moaned from the sting and feeling of him inside her, "I wanted to see if you liked my lingerie."
"I love it." He kissed her hard, holding her back to stand and place her on his desk. "I have to punish you, though."
She giggled, breaking the kiss to turn and plant her hands firmly on the desk. "What did I do?"
"Seduced me during an important call." He lifted her right leg to the desk, guiding himself behind her.
"You were stressed. I wanted to fix it." The last words ended in a moan as he entered her slowly and took hold of her hips.
"Your reward will come later."
He was her reward. He made her excitement real and the sex ten times better. What little fear still gripping Eden kept her from saying that. Instead, she tried to show him in every way possible.
"I hate you," she moaned as his hips picked up speed, hitting her spot relentlessly, "Oh my God, I hate you!"
With his hand sliding up to the front of her neck, Donny pulled Eden up to him, forcing her against him, "I love you, too." He grinned, delivering a bruising kiss with more punishing thrusts.
