Page 34 of Viper

“No, I think you’re safe to go home,” Bullet answers her. “But I think you need to be cautious. And make sure you don’t repeat to a soul what you heard. Even about us, Viper, or Archer. We’ll handle things on our end, and we’ll put a very discreet eye on you in case it is who we think it is. If we don’t see any immediate threat, we can pull back, but for now, safety is key.”

Eden doesn’t say anything for a bit until finally she asks cautiously, “Why would you be willing to do any of that for me? You don’t owe me any protection at all.”

“Because instead of keeping this to yourself and not letting us know of a potential major threat, you contacted Viper and by extension, us. You were careful you didn’t say anything on the phone where you could be overheard, and you put yourself in potential danger by doing any of that,” Bullet explains simply. “So, if we’re going to do things owed, I think it’s clear we owe you a great deal, don’t you?”

Eden shakes her head. “No, you don’t owe me anything. Archer is a good kid, and I’d be wrecked if anything happened to him.”

“Only Archer?” Rose asks, her lips quirking in amusement.

Eden glances at me and then at Rose and shrugs. “I suppose him too. Only because he has a fancy peen and I may eventually have use for it again at some point if I have a weak moment.”

Rose bursts out laughing, while I smirk and Bullet and Shadow just shake their heads. “Oh, now, you’re going to have to share the details, honey,” Rose grins wickedly at her.

“How about we forgo that until we can figure out next steps,” Bullet suggests with a warning glare at Rose. Not that she pays the least bit of attention and winks at Eden instead.

“I think the next steps should be taking me back home so I can get something to eat,” Eden suggests. “I haven’t eaten all day and I’m right on the brink of being hangry, and for anyone in my vicinity, that’s worse than PMS or anything else you can think of. On second thought, probably better if someone lets me stop somewhere on the way home and eat in a drive thru.”

“I’ll take you,” I tell her.

“You can’t be seen with me, so how the hell would that work?” she demands, narrowing her eyes at me.

I open my mouth to argue that I’ll make sure no one sees her, but Rose interjects with, “How about we head into the kitchen and we can grab something to eat there? I know there are some delicious leftovers if you like stir-fry.”

Eden smiles at her. “That would be great, thank you.” She looks at Bullet. “Do you need anything more from me, Mr. President?”

I snicker, while Shadow snorts out a laugh. Bullet narrows his eyes at her. “I don’t need another smart ass around here, woman,” he growls at her, but there’s no bite to his words. “And no, you’re good. Viper or Shadow will take you back to your place when you’re done.”

Eden stands and asks Rose, “Are there a lot of smart asses around here then? Sounds like I need to make some new friends.”

“Honey, you and I are already going to be best of friends before you leave. And if you’re going to be around that one,” she adds with a jerk of her thumb at me, “I have a few things that will keep him on his toes.”

Before Eden can walk away, I reach out, grip her wrist and pull her back to me, maneuvering her so I can take her mouth really quick. “We’ll talk after,” I tell her when I pull away and she stares at me. It’s a warning and a promise. I need to talk to her and make sure she really is okay or if she’s putting on a brave front. And she’s not going to be brushing me off.

Eden doesn’t reply, and then steps back when I release her. I watch as she and Rose head into the kitchen, Rose asking her questions and Eden answering them with a smile.

When they’re out of earshot, Bullet leans forward and says, “We need to call Church in the morning and get on top of this. This Vlad bastard needs to figure out pretty darn quickly that we’re not going to stand for this.”

“Cryos is already working on finding out what he can see on the video feed and he’ll make sure to erase Eden from any screens other than her leaving her office to go home,” Shadow says with a nod of agreement. “I also told him to hack her phone and get that video and make sure that it’s not found if one of Vlad’s men figures it out and starts looking.”

“Fuck,” I hiss, scrubbing my hand over my face, reality hitting me hard. Not only do I have to worry about Eden being in the line of fire, but I have to worry about them coming after my son. If Maggie gets wind of this, she’ll take me back to court for sure and I’ll lose him. I can’t allow that to happen. He’s safest when he’s with me. “I’m not letting him get near my boy,” I vow darkly.

“Of course not,” Bullet says, leaning forward. “And when he’s with his mother, we’ll make sure there’s someone watching the school and her place. We won’t be leaving him unprotected until this shit is resolved.”

I nod, grateful I have my brothers, my family, behind me. Without them, I’m not sure what I’d do. No, I know exactly what I’d do, and it would probably end up with me in jail or dead depending on how things panned out.

“So she’s the one, huh?” Shadow asks after a moment of silence, looking at me.

“Not sure,” I admit. “I think she might be, but she’s not keen on a relationship with me or any man at the moment. So I suggested we take things light and slow for a bit and see where things landed, but pretty sure that ship has sailed because like hell am I going to be standing back when all this shit is happening.”

“Seems that Rose likes her well enough,” Bullet smirks.

Shadow groans as I grin. “Don’t remind me,” Shadow whines. “Fuck, couldn’t you have fallen for a sweet librarian or something? You know, someone quiet and too shy to ever get involved with anything the Coven does?”

I chuckle. “Brother, how many times do I have to tell you that none of that sounds like fun to me?”

Bullet chuckles. “Shadow, you had to see this coming,” he points out. “Hell, he had a thing for Raven, then Peyton, so you know exactly the kind of woman he prefers.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Shadow pouts. Then he gives me a warning look. “She seems to like kids, so we already know she and Macy will probably get along just fine. But I’ll also know where to come looking if Macy starts getting any wild and crazy ideas that don’t sound Coven-like.”

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