Page 50 of The Billionaire's Bride

"That too." Baron nods. "It’s just, after the incident…"

He glances up at Edward, who toys with his fork. "Fucking incident," he growls, "the aftermath of which seems as if it will haunt us for the rest of our lives."

"What…" I swallow. "What happened to the two of you then?"

Baron’s shoulders freeze. His features close and when I look at Edward his jaw is set. Neither man breaks the silence.

"Fine," I mumble, "I get the hint. Sorry if I asked about something I shouldn’t have. I mean, this is supposed to be a getting to know each other date…or something."

Edward leans forward. "Hey." He tries to catch my eye. "Look at me, Eve."

I glance away. Why the hell do I feel hurt? I mean, it’s not like they had promised me anything, except that they’d try to get along. And they had agreed to my no sex condition. Speaking of, that had been a surprise. I honestly hadn’t expected them to agree to that. Totally hadn’t. Why the hell hasn’t either of them pushed their weight around on that?

Maybe, they don’t really want to sleep with me… Oh, come on. Of course, they do. So, the very fact that they had agreed to it…is…something. Maybe they really do want to try to make this work.

"Ava," Edward warns, "don’t ignore me."

I huff, then raise my gaze to his. "What?" I scowl. "What do you want?"

"It’s not that I don’t want you to know what happened then, but it’s…" he frowns, "not easy to talk about."

"It’s the single worst time of my life," Baron says, his voice hard.

I glance from his closed features to Edward’s angry ones.

"Whatever happened then, it defined both of you. It changed your lives. It pulled you apart even as it connected the two of you together for life."

Edward glances at Baron, who shakes his head.

"Nice." I shake my head. "When it suits you, the two of you agree with each other and have silent conversations that I am, clearly, not privy to."

"It’s not like that." Baron frowns at me.

"Then whatisit like?" I wrap my arms around my waist. "Clearly, there’s a part of your lives, a hell of a big chunk of your life experiences, that the two of you share. One which you’ll never let me into."

"We will," Edward murmurs. "I promise you, Eve, we’ll tell you everything, just not now."

"Then when?" I scowl. "When the two of you are done bashing each other up? Or maybe when both of you have decided that this temporary 'peace' is no longer valid and decide to fall out again and go your separate ways."

"When…ifthat happens," Baron growls, "you’ll be on the same path as one of us."

"Not."

"What?" Ed frowns. "We’ve had this discussion. You are going to pick one of us."

"Maybe," I mutter.

"No, maybes," Baron snaps. "You will decide on one of us."

"And if I don’t?" I firm my lips. Not that I mean to do so. I mean, come on. I have enough drama on my hands just by having the two of them in my life. I am hardly going to risk making both of them angry by going after someone else. Not that I can even think of anyone else. These two… Between them, my heart has been twisted into knots, something I am not going to recover from very soon. So…yeah, not going there at all. Doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun with them, right?

"You will not look at anyone else." Edward’s voice lowers to a hush, "In fact, you will not even think of anyone else. You will choose from one of us."

"Is that an order?"

18

Edward