“I’ll get J to call everyone in,” Griff said.
Scott’s phone buzzed, King’s name lighting up the screen. He stepped away to take the call, Griff following to make his own.
Sarah moved closer, concern softening her expression. “Jake, I’m worried. Black Deeds are becoming more unpredictable.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but they don’t know we’re aware of what they’re planning. That works in our favour.”
She curved her hand over my arm. “They’ll become desperate when they figure it out. When Storm retaliates for what they did to your mum.” She paused. “Desperate men make mistakes, and mistakes get people killed.”
I stepped back, looking down at her hand as I broke contact. “You can’t keep touching me like that.”
“I just?—”
“No.” My voice was firm. “We’re not doing this, Sarah. I told you that I’m with Eden.”
Her lip curled. “She’s sweet, Jake. But she’s not built for this life. When shit gets real, she won’t stick around.”
“Don’t.” I used the tone that made most people stop and listen the fuck up. Sarah and I had already had this conversation, and I was pissed off that we had to have it again. “You don’t know her.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please. You’re thinking with your dick. She’ll run back to those suits who can give her a nice, safe life the second this gets messy.”
Anger flooded my veins. No fucking way was I listening to this shit. Eden wasn’t some weak princess who needed a man to take care of her.
I leaned in close, letting her see exactly what she was dealing with. “Let me make this real clear.” My voice was deadly quiet. “Whatever history we’ve got won’t mean shit if you ever disrespect her again. Eden’s not going anywhere. And if you can’t handle that?” My eyes held hers, hard and unmoving. I wanted her listening. Really listening. I wanted her feeling every ounce of the threat. “Then we’re gonna have a big fuckin’ problem.”
Movement caught my eye, and I glanced up to find Eden standing in the doorway. Her expression was carefully blank as she looked at me.
Fuck.
I knew how she felt about Sarah getting close to me, and I hated that she’d had to witness it again.
Sarah stepped back and said, “I should check in with my contact.”
I nodded but my full attention was on Eden, so I barely noticed Sarah leaving.
“Your mum’s sleeping,” she said quietly. “I’m going home. I have to get some work done today, so I wanna try to get some sleep.”
“I’ll drive you.”
I wasn’t letting her out of my sight. Not when our club was being targeted. Mum was safe with my brothers standing guard, but fuck knew who’d seen me with Eden lately. Her involvement with me put her at risk and I wasn’t taking any chances.
The drive was quiet. Eden laced her fingers through mine on her thigh while she spent most of the time staring out the window. My mind was on Mum and the club, but every now and then, I glanced across, concerned at her silence.
Eden usually talked a lot. She swung between cute ramble and intelligent conversations that intrigued the fuck out of me. Often about shit I had no idea of. I could listen to her for hours, but tonight she had no words for me.
It had me worried that my life had exploded all over hers, and while I didn’t think Sarah was right that Eden would run at the first sign of trouble, I needed to know she was dealing with it. She’d told me she didn’t know what it meant to date a biker, and I’d asked her to let me show her. Now was the time to step the fuck up and do that.
“You okay, darlin’?” I asked as we turned onto our street.
She looked at me, exhaustion lining her face. “Yeah. I’m just worried about your mum.”
“And the club stuff?”
She nodded, but it wasn’t convincing. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I feel like I need a minute to catch up. To process it all.”
She looked like she’d been slammed with too much, too fast. The kind of too fast that could rattle a person enough to walk away. But her hand was still in mine, and that meant something.
“This life isn’t easy, Eden, but I’ll always protect you.”
