Page 12 of Eden's Joker

He’s not saying anything because he’s having trouble chewing through the dry crust.

“Make sure everyone’s in the family room when I come back,” I tell him. “I have a few parting words.”

He nods and walks back down the hall. But it’s not until I’m alone in my quiet, dark bedroom that I get my composure back.

I’m not getting far with this mission if a box of pies is enough to threaten my cool. I stuff enough clothes to last me about a week into my saddlebags and focus on just that for a while. I won’t need more than a week to snatch Eden. All this crap today was just first-day jitters.

I’m perfectly calm again as I face my men in the huge room downstairs.

“We’ve all got a lot riding on this mission,” I say once they’ve quieted down enough to hear me speak. “You all know what’s at stake, so I trust that you can hold down the fort while I’m gone. But be ready to ride as soon as I give the word. We’re leaving everything behind when we leave here. And that includes any stragglers.”

“Let’s get this show on the road!” Razor yells. “We’re ready!”

Most of the others take up his call.

“Make the Devils pay their debt!” Scorpio yells and practically everyone repeats it.

It’s a good war cry because the Devils pride themselves on always paying their debts, so it’s been our chant for a while now. I join in, feeling ice begin to replace the blood in my veins—blood that meeting Eden today brought to a boil.

But what the fuck did I expect? I knew she was a hot piece of ass from the pictures and the videos. I knew she was sweet from the texts we exchanged. The guys I sent to check her out all told me she was hot in person too. I didn’t go near her before today because I was afraid she’d see me before it was time. Maybe that was my mistake—her innocent beauty kinda floored me.

Either way, it’s all done now and the Lost Sons are riding. Starting the mission that is the whole reason for our existence, for us banding together. Yes, there’s bound to be weird jitters associated with that.

I give everyone more detailed instructions and pick the twenty guys I trust to watch my back at the Inn.

“I don’t want you seen, is that clear?” I tell them one last time before we leave. “No one can know we’re together at that place.”

Scorpio nods. “Yes, dude. You’ve told us a million times.”

“You probably need to hear it one more time,” I say, making him laugh.

He shakes his head. “Not this time. I’m not fucking this up.”

He’s lived one hell of a life on the streets of Chicago because the Devils took everyone away from him. The blackness in his eyes tells me he’s more than ready to get his revenge now. I’m sensing no more of that feeling sorry for Eden crap. A quick scan of the now perfectly silent room tells me he’s not the only one.

“All right, enough talking,” I say. “You know what to do. So let’s get it done.”

I leave the room to another chorus of, “Make the Devils pay their debt.”

And I can still kind of hear it echoing in my mind as I ride off the compound. It’s the sweetest music I know. Almost as sweet as the sound of Eden’s laugh. I don’t chase that thought away. Because it’s right on point. Because that laugh is just the prelude to the sound of her screams. And the Devils’ screams. Which will trump it all.

9

Eden

After I got back from my date with Tyler, my sister and the girls insisted we go for some dinner and drinks. What I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and write down every little thing I remember of the date. From the way his eyes shone like an iced over lake as the sun rises above it, to the way his lips curl up just so at the edges when he smiles, and how the genuine smiles make his eyes sparkle even brighter. Or how the pie crumbs attached to his lips and how much I wanted to lick them off. Never have I ever wanted to lick anything off anyone’s face and just thinking about it makes me blush. I also always loved the smell of chocolate and now I love it even more, because its scent suffused this perfect day.

There was no avoiding the dinner, so forhours I sat there, listening to talk of war, how much they missed their guys, and how afraid they were that they wouldn’t come back, all the while bursting to tell them about my perfect day.

But just like my sister Summer kept silent about being with Edge, I have to keep this secret a little longer. At least until I know it’s real and not just in my head. Hopefully, by tomorrow night I’ll know all I need to know.

Half the time I was thinking about how nice it’ll be once I can bring Tyler with me so they can meet him, and the other half I was feeling guilty for being so happy and excited while they were so down and scared about the war. The MC is currently on a ride and each time they come back just a little more frayed and damaged by this war they’re fighting against at least ten other MCs, all of which want revenge for things done by Devil’s Nightmare MC over the decades. Killings done by the Devils. They were a band of killers for hire for a long time. And sometimes they killed just for revenge, like when they were avenging what happened to my dad. But now it’s come back to haunt all of us and the war doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all.

Dinner was followed by drinks and lots of them. And dancing. And just getting it all out. All the fear, and anxiety that’s been plaguing our everyday since the start of the war. I had way too many drinks, seeing as I usually just stick to iced tea or coke when we’re out. But I need to get cooler and wilder.

I came home to the room spinning around me, feeling like I was on a ship in a huge ocean storm, and it wasn’t any better once I got into bed. I’d missed a couple of texts from Tyler wishing me good night and I replied to those right away. Then spent hours jotting down all those things I wanted to forever remember about this day. It came to ten pages.

My phone ringing wakes me with the pen still in my hand and the journal poking me in the stomach. It’s light out, but not as bright as it should be given how late I actually fell asleep. But I’m up in a flash anyway, ignoring the pounding in my brain and the fact that the floor beneath my feet is still a little wobbly. I’m hoping it’s Tyler calling to wish me good morning… I’d forgive him for waking him up. But it’s Dad. And it’s only 6.34 AM.

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