Page 89 of Eden's Joker

I fully expected my words to be followed by booming gunfire raining down from all sides, amid shouts of,No peace!and,No surrender!

Instead, the silence is so absolute I can hear Eden’s fast breathing and maybe even some birds singingsomewhere. But this silence is thick and solid. And it could still shatter into a million flying bullets at the drop of a pin.

“Let’s talk!” Cross yells from somewhere to my left.

I’ve never met the man, but the way his voice carries, I’m sure it’s him.

I look over the faces of my men. Some are staring back at me in stark disbelief. But more have something a lot more like hope in their eyes. It’s not easy facing the day you die.

“The way I see it, we can either talk or die,” I say, speaking to my men. “But I can’t make that choice for you. I can only make it for myself.”

And with that I toss my weapon on the ground. Everything from the moment my gun hits the dirt, sending dust and pebbles flying, spins forward in slow motion. Or rather, everything is frozen in time including the smile of gratitude on Eden’s face. But no one else is moving.

Until Scorpio tosses his gun down too. “As much as I’d like to go down in a hail of bullets, I don’t think today’s the day. Doesn’t feel right.”

The others start doing the same. Most of them anyway.

Behind me, I hear Ice’s gun hit the ground too. I turn to see him give his daughter the tightest hug I’ve ever seen. I swear the guy is sobbing into her hair. But I wonder what’s gonna happen when she tells him she’sin love with me. He might not be so ready to lay down his weapon then.

But that’s a problem for the future. Because weapons are getting laid down all around me.

I was the one who came up with the idea for this war against the Devils. And now I’m the guy ending it. For Eden. For the only woman I ever loved. Never saw that one coming. But I’m not sorry it did.

47

Eden

I didn’t think much as I ran from the house and down the hill. My dad and Tyler were facing off in the dusty street in front of the Saloon. Everyone else—all the men Tyler had and all my dad’s MC brothers—were in the hills surrounding the town, guns trained on one another. It felt like that moment right before a single spark causes an explosion. This explosion would’ve taken out my whole world.

I had to stop it.

Time moved at a snail’s pace even as I sprinted down the hill and then as I stood between my dad and Tyler, begging them and everyone else to please stop this insane war. The sun was in my eyes, pebbles of dust were scratching my throat and I thought I was justspeaking into the slight cool wind that had started rising.

My family, they never back down from a fight. And Tyler… I was sure he wouldn’t back down from this fight either.

So the last thing I expected was for him to call for peace. And the second to last was the no objection that followed.

When Cross said they should all talk, that’s when I knew.

The war is over. Finally.

I’ve never seen my dad cry, and he’s not actually crying now, but he’s as close as he’s ever gonna be, I think.

He’s holding me so tight I can’t breathe, but I don’t really need to.

“I thought I lost you, Eden,” he mutters into my hair and holds me even tighter. “I couldn’t live with that.”

I’m holding him very tightly too. “And I couldn’t live without you either. It’s why I ran down here, whatever happened, I had to try and stop it.”

He moves back, but keeps hold of my arms. “That was pretty stupid, Eden. You could’ve been killed.”

“You too,” I say in that same tone he’s using. “I couldn’t let you die for me. Not when I was perfectly fine.”

He cocks at eyebrow and glances over at Tyler, who’s looking at us very intently.

“I wouldn’t be the one dying,” he mutters.

I think he’s probably right, so I don’t say anything.

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