Page 23 of Eddie

“Well, no matter how long it takes him, as long as you keep in contact and are honest with each other, I think everything will be all right,” Valentine said. “I know that with the bond, it’s tempting to not work on communication, but if there’s one thing I learned with Simon, it’s that it’s necessary, even between mates—really, especially between them. The fact that we share a bond makes some things easier, but it makes other things more complicated.”

Eddie was afraid to ask what was more complicated. He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out, not right now. “I’m sure we’ll talk as much as possible, but he’s going to be busy.”

“With a brother in jail, I would be surprised if he wasn’t. Don’t lose hope yet, though. Give him time to sort things out. I’m sure the two of you will be okay.” Valentine gave Eddie a crooked smile. “As Simon would say, there has to be a reason the two of you met now. Maybe it’s because you’re supposed to help Matthias with this mess. Maybe it’s because you’re supposed to support him as he does what he can for his family. You don’t know yet, but you’ll find out eventually.”

“Your mate believes in that?”

“My mate believes in Fate, and he’s right to, isn’t he? We wouldn’t be together if it wasn’t for Fate.”

Eddie supposed he was right. He couldn’t help but be a little hesitant, though. What had Fate planned for him? What was he supposed to do when it came to Matthias? Only time would tell, and in the meantime, Eddie better get to work.

MATTHIAS KNEW HE’D run out of time when he parked his truck in front of his mother’s house. Jenna was almost vibrating with the need to leap out and go inside, but first, Matthias wanted to say something.

To his surprise, Jenna had mostly stayed silent on their drive back home. He’d expected a lot of questions about Eddie, and even though he’d been clear he wouldn’t answer them, he thought that Jenna would ask him anyway. Instead, she’d spent the drive looking out the window, clearly thinking. About what, Matthias couldn’t begin to imagine, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know, anyway. What he did want was for Jenna to keep Eddie’s existence to herself for a bit longer.

“Can you not tell anyone about my mate?” he asked as he turned the engine off.

That gave Jenna pause. “Why not? You don’t want our parents to know about him?”

“Not yet. I have to deal with the mess Noah is in first, and you know how Mom is. She’ll have questions, and she’ll want to meet Eddie.”

“I want to meet him, too. He’s your mate, which means he’s part of the family.”

That was what scared Matthias. He didn’t want Eddie to be part of his family, but not because of Eddie, but because of his own family. He had to deal with them because he didn’t have a choice. He’d been born into it, and they depended on him. Eddie was still free of them, though. Matthias didn’t want him to feel like he had to get involved just because of their bond. The more time they spent away from Eddie, the better it would be for him. Matthias could protect himself from his family’s demands, but he couldn’t protect Eddie.

“He is, but we barely had time to talk. Give me a few days to deal with Noah, then a few weeks to get to know Eddie better, right? I promise that you can tell Mom whatever you want after that. I just want to talk to Eddie and decide what our relationship will look like.”

Jenna looked at him like he was an idiot. “What’s a relationship supposed to look like? You’re mates. You’re supposed to be together.”

“I do want to be with him, and I think he wants to be with me, but it’s a little complicated with him living in Green Hill. We just have to sit together and talk things through. Once I know what’s going to happen, I’ll talk to everyone.”

Jenna didn’t look convinced, but just then, the front door of the house slammed open, and their mother appeared. Jenna squealed and launched herself out of the truck and into their mother’s arms. Matthias was pretty sure he saw her start sobbing, and he had a hard time not rolling his eyes. She’d been perfectly fine seconds ago, but of course, she had to play the victim for their mom.

Their mother was glaring at Matthias right now, probably because he hadn’t driven straight home yesterday or because he was here instead of at the station dealing with Noah. Whatever the reason, she didn’t look happy to see him, so there was no way Matthias would mention Eddie.

He climbed out of the truck. He had to get Jenna’s stuff out before he got to the station.

“What are you doing?” his mother asked. “Noah is still in jail.”

“He didn’t get out?” Matthias knew he hadn’t. He still wanted to hear it from her.

“How was I supposed to do that?” she asked.

“I don’t know. You know more about the situation than I do. Why is he there?”

“Because the cops arrested him. He didn’t do anything.”

“Mom, I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on.”

She looked at Jenna, who was still cuddled against her. She gently pushed Matthias’s sister toward the house. “Go inside. There’s food for you in the kitchen.”

Jenna beamed. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I’m just glad you’re home.”

“I’m glad I’m home, too. I thought Tommy was the one, but I was wrong.”

“And that’s not your fault, baby.”