“You ready?” I ask Eden.

She raises an eyebrow. “I’m always ready for you.” She throws her arms around my neck and kisses me hard on the lips.

I smirk. “I meant ready to go.”

Her eyes widen as she falls off my lap. “You were serious? You’re taking me on a date?”

I nod.

Her face lights up, and I really wish it wouldn’t. She’s wanted to go on a date for weeks, despite never asking me to take her. I’ve wanted to take her on a date too. Today’s that day.

But as much as I wish this was just about going on a date, it’s not. It’s playing double duty. I’ve given into what Eden wants, in more way than one.

“You have five minutes to get changed.”

She darts off my lap in the main living room and starts running toward my bedroom.

She pauses in the hallway. “What should I wear?”

“Jeans and a nice shirt. And make sure to wear your hair up!”

She grins and then disappears. She better fucking listen to me, for once, and wear her hair up. I need to see her tattoo today.

I thought she would make a big fuss when she finally saw the tattoo. I thought she would yell and tell me I had no right to do it.

She didn’t. In fact, I’m pretty sure she likes it. More than she should.

I don’t even know why I did it. It was an impulse thing. I had the equipment. Not the fancy tattoo guns that you get at the shop, but the kind that barely gets the job done, although in a more painful way.

I just knew that I needed her marked. Especially before today. I may be giving in to Eden and my men’s plans, but I’m going to let the world know she’s mine while I do it.

Eden leans against the wall of the living room. “Does this work?” she asks beaming, knowing how fucking sexy she looks.

I stand and walk over to her. Taking in her dark jeans, her cleavage-revealing yellow halter top, and her matching spiked heels. And her hair pulled up in a clip.

I kiss her on the lips, sweeping her off her feet, reminding her who she belongs to tonight because I’m afraid this plan is going to fail. I think it will work to take Clive and Erick out, but I’m worried I might lose Eden in the process. She might finally find a way to escape. Although, the heels she is wearing makes it a little less likely. But she can run fast. Even in heels.

“So where are you taking me?” she asks, grinning far too brightly.

“Dinner.”

“It’s two o’clock in the afternoon? What are we doing before dinner?”

“Whatever you want.”

She bites her lip. “Anything?”

“Anything.”

“How about horseback riding?” she asks, her cheeks flushed.

I laugh. “You want to go horseback riding, in that?” I look down at her heels.

She frowns. “I didn’t realize we could do anything I wanted when I picked this outfit out. But yes, I want to go horseback riding. I think it will make me feel free. And then I want you to take me to a local bakery. Buy me something sweet and coffee, and then make out with me as the sunsets, before taking me to dinner. That’s what I want.”

“You are such a girl.”

She puts her hands on her hips. “Well, what would you have us do then?”

I shrug. I hadn’t really thought about what we were going to do before dinner. I just wanted out of this house with her. That was the plan.

“I guess, drive fast in my Ferrari with the top down. Then take you to one of my favorite wine bars to get a drink, and then I guess I could show you my favorite spot to watch the sunset before dinner.”

She thinks for a moment. “Damn it. I like your idea better.”

I smirk, surprised that she would be so agreeable to my plans.

“Let’s go,” she says, holding out her hand to me. I take it, and we run through the house, like two teenagers sneaking out of their parents’ house.

We make it to the garage. “Which car should we drive?”

“The red one,” she says, knowing that one is my favorite, despite not knowing the name of the car.

“Good choice.”

We climb in, and then I spend the next hour racing through the countryside of Italy. Enjoying the twists and turns, occasionally taking a turn too fast just to hear her squeal.

Then I take her to my favorite wine bar, where I let her taste various wines and explain to her why her tastes in wine are wrong. She laughs but eventually comes to see things my way.

Lastly, I take her to an old bridge that looks out over the river to watch the sunset. I take her in my arms, wrapping my hands around her waist, while we watch the sunset. Kissing her neck, just to the side of where I carved my name into her neck a few days before.

Just as the sun is about to set fully, she says, “Why did you give me the tattoo?”

I swallow but don’t immediately answer.

“Why are we on this date? Why give me the perfect day? What’s going on?”

I kiss her again, giving her one more perfect moment, not wanting this to end.

“I’m giving you what you want.”

She cocks her head to the side, not understanding. “You’re giving me my freedom?”

I suck in a breath, not liking her response, but of course, that’s what she wants - freedom from me. I’m not ready to give her that yet. I can’t give her freedom.

“Using you as bait to draw out Clive and Erick.”

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Is that still what you want?” I ask, thinking I made a mistake.

She nods. “Yes, I want to help.”

“Good. Because it’s going down tonight. That’s what this date tonight is about.”

“Oh…”

I study her soft expression, but I don’t understand what it means.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just thought… never mind.” She smiles too brightly. “What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing. I just need you to pretend you are on a date with me and let me and my men do the rest.”

She nods.

“Can you do that?”

She nods again.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t let them take you. You’re mine.”

She melts against my side as we start walking the three blocks to the restaurant we picked out. I made reservations at the restaurant a couple of days ago under a fake name, but I know the owner likes to run his mouth, and he’s good friends with Clive. He would have told him that I was coming in and bringing a date. I’m positive Clive will take the bait once it’s confirmed that Eden is here with me.

He will try to steal her. And I’ll take him out when he does.

We walk into the restaurant, and we are guided toward a booth at the back that overlooks the river. This is one of the most upscale restaurants in town. And I’m the wealthiest sucker in this town, so I always get the best table. They bring over a bottle of my favorite wine without me even having to ask. They pour us both a glass, and I notice Eden drinking hers faster than usual.

I take her hand in mine and try to come up with something funny to say to distract her, but I can’t. I can’t even distract myself. Clive will give us one look, and he’ll know that this is fake. A setup.

I stand up and slide into her side of the booth draping my arm around her shoulder. I may not be able to make her laugh right now, but I can make her forget.

My hand slides up her jeans, and I silently wish that she had worn a skirt instead of pants. She shifts as her cheeks finally flush pink.

I tilt her head toward mine and kiss her firmly on the lips. She melts in my arms, instantly forgetting about everything. I continue making out with her in the booth, not caring that this is a fancy restaurant and this is simply not done. I want her calm. She doesn’t know that my men are all around, waiting for the signal to attack.

Food is set in front of us. The restaurant has a fixed menu so course after course will be brought to us.

The first is soup, bringing us both back to the night I fed her soup by holding the bowl up to her lips.

She laughs when I pick the bowl up to her lips, but it doesn’t stop her from drinking the liquid from it.

The rest of our meal is pretty uneventful. We talk, we laugh, we eat. Clive nor Erick have made an appearance, nor any of their men. We’ve been eating dinner for almost three hours now, well past the time that a normal dinner would take. They aren’t coming.

“I need to use the restroom before we go,” Eden says.

I nod, get out of the booth to let her out, and then take a seat again, watching her ass sway as she walks away in her jeans. Loving that we are both wearing jeans, despite this being a fancy restaurant where everyone in it is wearing dresses and suits. The staff hasn’t said anything to us. They know better.

I pay the waiter while I wait for Eden to return. But ten minutes pass and she still hasn’t returned.

I glance back at Dierk at one of the tables a few back. He has a concerned look on his face as well.

Shit.

We both dash up, drawing our guns, as we run toward the back exit.

I find Eden with a gun pointed at her head in Erick’s arms.

She doesn’t look afraid though. She looks mad. And I know that she has the skills to break free from Erick’s arms any moment she wants to. I don’t know what self-defense classes she took, but they were good. She’s taken out plenty of my men before. She won’t right now. She’s acting as bait. But she will when the time is right.

“Let her go,” I say, acting scared. Although it’s not an act. I am scared. I hate him touching her or having a gun pointed at her. Even if the plan is working.

“Nah, I think we will keep her. You seem to care about her. I think we will enjoy playing with her a bit first,” Erick says, nuzzling Eden’s neck. Her eyes turn to rage, matching my own.

Patience.

Don’t let him goad you into doing anything stupid, I tell myself.

I sigh. “Fine. Take her. She’s nothing to me.” I put my weapon down pretending I’m done fighting.

Clive laughs. “You can’t fool us. You love her. You won’t let any harm come to her.”

I swallow. I don’t love her. But damn, do I care about her more than I should.

“Fine. You got me. Now make a trade.”

Clive raises his eyebrows. “What kind of trade?”

“Me for her.”

He laughs. “No way, what use are you to us?”

My men are in position. The only man that ran out with me was Dierk, and that’s because he was acting as my usual security. Clive and Erick and the dozen men they brought with them don’t know that I have more men here.

“What do I have to do to get her back?” I ask slowly and deliberately, giving Eden a look that she needs to break free now, as I give my team the cue words to attack.

Erick’s hand drops just a tiny bit as he grows tired of holding the gun. Eden takes the opportunity to knock the gun out of his hand while she elbows him hard in the nose. He lets go of her immediately, grabbing his nose. She runs toward me as shots from my men ring out around us.

I start shooting as well; I won’t ever leave my men to fight a battle for me.

“Get her out of her,” I say to Dierk as Eden reaches me. I grab her hand and sling her over into Dierk’s arms. He grabs her arms and starts pulling her. He’ll get her inside.

I have a job to do. I need to kill these bastards and keep my men and Eden safe.

I glance to my right to make sure that Eden is safe after Erick & Clive’s men start returning shots, but Dierk has barely made it to the door and Eden is in his arms, fighting him the whole way. I give him a look and then turn my attention back to Erick who now has his sights set on me.

He fires, but I’m faster. I hit him hard in the chest watching him fall to the ground. Most likely dead, or he will be soon enough.

I hear Eden scream, and I feel the bullet in the back of my arm. I try to spin to turn and shoot my attacker before he gets another shot off but I know I won’t be fast enough. I can only hope that he doesn’t have great aim and hits me in my extremities instead of my head or chest.

The shot has gone off, but I make it all the way around before I realize what happened.

Eden.

She took the bullet for me and is lying on the ground at my feet.

I aim my gun at the guy that shot us both, and hit him in the head, watching him drop dead instantly.

And then I fall to the ground, scooping Eden up in my arms before I run. I never run. I stay and fight with my men. Maybe I would have in the past, but not now that I’m their leader.

But tonight is different. Eden could be dying in my arms, and I need to save her.

I run as fast as I can to my car, toss her in and then start driving, not thinking about anything other than getting her to a hospital as fast as I can. She took a bullet that could have easily killed me. She saved me.

I stroke her lifeless face as I drive. I’m pretty sure she stole more than a bullet meant for me. She stole my heart.

Erick may not be right about many things. But he was right when he said that I love her. I do. I love Eden. I would do anything for her.

I only hope I get the chance to tell her and earn hers in return. Because there is no way, an angel like her could love the devil in me. I need to give her her freedom and hope it’s enough to keep her.