Insomnia

Crazed // Twenty-Seven

Cade sat alone in the room, steeping over a cigarette. The thought of kissing Rosa twisted his insides. He needed every boon to get himself through this.

He could try to pretend she was Evie - however insulting that was to the beautiful Rosa - but if he clasped her neck and felt that thick, brown hair instead of golden thread silky curls or their lips touched and it wasn't the same plump lips with the dip in the bottom and gentle rounded Cupid's bow it would ruin the illusion.

There were no groomsmen, except for Matteo who was best man. He avoided Stella and Giovanni at all costs.

He closed his eyes and daydreamed about her hair. How it felt sifting through his fingers. Cade thought about her piercing green eyes, how she could nail you to the wall and suck all the air out of you if she caught your gaze. He wanted to go back and memorize every freckle dusted across her nose, trace the vermillion line of her lips. God, he didn't appreciate them enough.

He tried to let go of his regrets in a plume of smoke; failed.

Instead he delved more into his fantasy.

Oh, he was a crazed man alright.

He occasionally heard the sound of heels clicking on the hardwood floors. Probably maids or guests. Giovanni loved to flaunt his house.

A knock came at the door. He didn't necessarily want to invite whoever it was in, but if it was a guest or maid he didn't want to be rude. "It's unlocked." He responded, standing. As the door opened, he put out his cigarette.

He looked up and-

His heart started crashing in his ears, and a weight hurdled at him. "I love you!" His favorite voice sobbed. "Oh, my god how I love you."

He crushed Evie so hard to his chest he was afraid he'd snap her spine, he lifted her feet from the floor. "You do?" He asked, voice hoarse, not knowing what else to say.

She pounded on his chest several times with a closed fist. "Of course I fucking love you, you piece of shit!" Evie looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes. "God, you're such an asshole." She sobbed.

Oh, Evangeline. Gentle, broken, yet fiery.

"When?" He didn't understand his own question, but he didn't care as long as he heard her voice. God, she was beautiful. An absolute bombshell in a red satin dress.

"You left," she nuzzled her face in his chest, he dropped his hands to her hips, "you left to go get James and it hurt me to watch you leave. We were having sex and I murmured it over and over and over into your hair."

Funny, he was thinking it as he buried his head in her chest.

"You haven't been going to school." He murmured.

She socked him in the gut. "I was heartbroken! Lovesick! Throwing up and not being able to sleep, I could barely leave the apartment without having a panic attack. Still can't sit in a car without freaking out." Evie broke from him to stare at him in his suit. God, he was gorgeous. "You need to dress up more often." She said abruptly.

"Sunshine, for you, anything."

She wiped at her tears. "I'm kidnapping you."

He stifled a chuckle. "How's that, babygirl?"

"You are not marrying Rosa and that's absolutely final. I don't give a flying fuck about the danger." She covered her mouth. "I'm so nervous I think I'm gonna be sick."