Eden's POVThis police station is colder than the last one I was in. I inch back into my chair, clinging to Dante's jacket while Ryder manages to get me a cup of coffee from the break room. They hang back, pacing through the small interview room while I sit at the cold, metal table.My heels tap on the concrete floors methodically, and I hold the coffee cup just to feel the warmth of it in my palms. My head has been spinning for the last few hours.No one has come to talk to us since bringing us into this little room.I look at the mirror along the side wall, wondering who is in there, and why they are watching us. I can't imagine that this has anything to do with the bank heist, considering we're still near the estate out of Manhattan, but they could be here about the clothes on the yacht.I feel stupid for even forgetting about that stuff.I lay my head down, exhausted, feeling like this is what they want from me. It's working.The Golden brothers are less than worried,
Eden's POVWe all stand around the kitchen island, unmoving and unspeaking, staring at the flash drive Asher had placed beneath the flowerpot before he died.It's evening now, which is nice because I feel like we do our best productive thought at this hour. We also have the most fun when everyone is asleep but it's not on our minds right now.I'm thinking of the money coming my way, the millions I can't even comprehend, while the brothers are left contemplating the flash drive Asher left behind when he saved me from his father's wine cellar.If they're anything like me, we're all thinking about how stupid we feel.It's been here all this time..."There have to be more Donahue family members," I breathe. "So that means they will come looking for it again, right? Or am I wrong?"Dante leans forward, staring through the drive like it's a foreign object they haven't spent all this time obsessing over selling and retrieving and getting rid of.Ryder hangs an arm over my sho
Eden's POV"Come on," I plead, trying to escape both of their roaming, wandering hands. "It's going to be cold and—and what if a boat passes by and they—they will see—""They're in for a show," Dante breathes into my neck and shoulder.I melt at his many, pecking kisses there. "Agh, that's not fair. You know I love that.""I also know you love a lot of things, baby," Ryder hums, pushing my dress upwards and dragging his tongue up the inside of my thighs.I wince, overwhelmed."Come on, guys, please. Let's just go to the bedroom and—and—"My vision sparks spots as Ryder's mauling kisses have moved up my thighs. So far, in fact, that I can't help but dare to collapse as I hook a leg over his broad shoulder. Dante keeps me upright, one of his hands undoing the zipper of my dress.They can't be serious!I panic, looking around the dock and the river, concerned that someone for sure is already watching. I can only imagine the frenzy it would cause if there was a camera any
Eden's POVMy boyfriend Jack Ward called me a prude last night. It was unwarranted, unthinkable, and unbelievably infuriating considering the streetwalking prostitute he was sleeping with in my bedroom.He went so far as to shame me for being upset by the sight of him stark naked with some redhead wearing my robe in my bed when Jack wasn't even paying for anything at this apartment.But me? I'm a prude. I'm the problem. Not him cheating on me in our place, which I pay for!At least he had the decency to shove the woman out the door before I decided to pick an argument over the circumstances I came home to with her there. I slept on the couch when the screaming and shoving was over, and I didn't feel like starting it back up after a twelve-hour shift at the bank.Otherwise, my night was average.I live in constant fear of several things, each one specifically terrifying, but none of them are more concerning than the last. Losing my supervisor job at Grand Dominion Bank, g
Eden POVThe man marked in heavy tattoos moves first, pressing me into the backseat with a mighty shove. Whoever is driving the car doesn't veer or even flinch, as both of the handsome bank robbers grapple me into submission.The plastic ties are cut, replaced by a set behind my back. The cloth tie is reinstalled over my eyes where it is tightened this time around.I gasp, a cold coercing set of hands shoving me to sit down between the robbers. It was hard not to memorize their faces in that brief split second glimpse I got of them. They're different, but similar, their eyes bright and their auras thick.The one on my left with bright blond hair adjusts my skirt, the fabric riding up my thigh. I shudder, his fingertips dragging up my leg and pressing into my cold skin. He muffles a chuckle at my unease, the other with dark hair and darker tattoos only snarls in response."Enough teasing. She saw our faces; we have to abandon our initial plan.""Oh, brother. Relax. She's har
Eden POVAfter the chaos of sex in an immaculate kitchen, and the blur of time afterwards, I wake in bed, flanked by both bank robbers as they hum through their tired, unlawful dreams. What do bank robbers dream about?Sex with their captive?Their scent lingers on my naked body, tucked carefully under a soft, weighted blanket that relaxes my aching, sore muscles from being bent over a kitchen island and f8cked.Everything after the fact was a mindless and hazy memory. How I ended up in bed with them is the least of my issues. How do I get away from them? That's the next question.Dante is closest to me, Ryder's back almost pressing against mine, whereas Dante faces me, his hands pulled in front of his face in a protective boxing stance.Pure. Gold.Both words are marked in ink along the plane of his fists, each specifical letter designated for a knuckle, excluding his thumbs that I suppose leave a natural break between the two, oddly specific words.I try to ignore the
Eden"What the hell were you two thinking?!"I shudder behind the security of the bedroom door, watching a man who just arrived throw a fit of rage in the living room. Dante is lounging leisurely in a chair, flipping through the news on the TV that repeats my photo over and over again. Whoever this man is, he obviously wasn't clued into my abduction."We had to act quickly, Mason. Settle down," Ryder barks, sipping on a crystal glass full of scotch. He turns to peer down the hallway, his eyes finding mine. He winks. I blush. "You woke up the captive, Mason. Care to meet her?" The lanky man in a suit turns, his jaw dropping when he spots me listening in. He turns quickly to address the brothers. "You let her walk around with free-will?""She's harmless," Dante snorts. "We have an understanding with Eden. Right?"I poke my head out of the doorway to nod, but Ryder motions for me to join them in the living room. I do so, making a point not to tug at my skirt like Dante so
Eden POVThe police station is ice cold and full of detectives from all sorts of government agencies. I lean forward in my hard, metal chair, wrapped in a pathetic blanket that they give to all the terrified victims. They keep calling me a victim too, and I understand why, but I don't feel very victimized right now.I feel hollow and lonely.The detective finally gather's his paperwork, giving up in a resolute sigh after his interview went absolutely nowhere.I denied knowing anything, just like I said I would, and accepted the fact that life will just have to go back to normal now. One of the other detective's steps into the room, his smile lighthearted like I've been tortured and relentlessly abused.Instead, my experience was pleasant and thrilling and new.I've needed new for so long that I didn't think it existed. Now that I've had it in my grasp, that I've tasted its abundance, I'm lost in a flurry of my own thoughts that are filled with Dante and Ryder."Ms. Smith,