Eden cast an apologetic glance up at Ian – this surely was the last thing he’d intended to get out of this evening, an extended rant on how just how much an arse her ex had turned out to be. At least it was better than the alternative, being forced to listen to some list of all the ways in which Shannon was so completely wonderful. “They’re brothers, Jun, we both know how much that means to them. Whether Shannon deserves it or not, Cal’s always going to give him a chance.” Except that now he would have his own family to place first and his brother would have to learn that fucking up in a way that put any of them at risk wouldn’t be tolerated. Maybe the best thing that had come out of all of this would be Callum learning that he could only love Shannon so much before he had to draw the line – continuing to give someone a chance when all they did was hurt you time and time again was just foolish. In the end, it was going to have to be Cal’s choice; the rest of them would just have to support him to remind him that not even his brother had the right to tear his life apart. “Cal isn’t stupid, love, he’s going to put you and the baby first. Shannon can bloody well get in line and behave.” It was written all over the younger of the two’s face, how excited he was to be a Da; there was no way he was going to let anything ruin that. Eden sighed heavily, “I guess that does make sense…his behavior hasn’t exactly been easy to predict lately.” Declaring his love for her in the middle of a hospital waiting room certainly hadn’t been something she’d seen coming. “I know Cal, he didn’t mean any harm by it.” Of course, that didn’t mean Shannon still wouldn’t come over and have something to say about it, especially if his reaction hadn’t been all that great. “Let’s hope he doesn’t feel the need to give his congratulations in person, yeah?” Because that would be all kinds of awkward, especially with Ian standing right there beside her.
“Vivian knows she has to face Vallis if she fucks around with you and that son of a bitch is terrifying.” Even since he’d stepped into the mansion that first night, they’d all known there was something very dark, very powerful about him. He’d given off the vibe, even then, of not being someone you wanted to fuck around with – most vampires did and the older they got, the stronger the vibe. “I think he’s going to be good to her, Shan, I don’t think you have to worry.” Anything that might give his brother a reason to nose into Eden’s new relationship, to keep an eye on Ian or plan on having a man-to-man talk with him seemed like a good thing to derail right now. “I’d be fucking whipped if it was a girl. The two of them against me? I wouldn’t stand a chance.” It was bad enough trying to resist Jun, but to have a miniature version of her right there as well? There would have been no way. At least with a little boy he had a shot. Cal flinched slightly, even if Shannon’s self-inflicted barb was meant as a joke, “You’re not always fucking rotten, you know.” There were times when his brother had been a stand-up guy, when he’d been the better man than Cal had been – but now he couldn’t help but feel like those tables had turned. If Shannon didn’t start wanting to be better, there wasn’t really much anyone else could do for him. “I just want him to come out alright, you know? Ten fingers, ten toes, one head, all that nonsense.”