Page 6

We drive in silence for a few blocks. The city’s ugly at this hour—empty parking lots, boarded up payday lenders, strip malls with only one letter working on the sign.

“Where do you work?” I ask, wanting to know everything about her.

She stiffens. “ADC Consulting. I’m a PA for one of the junior VPs.”

I recognize the company name. Fuck. My little lamb works for one of the biggest organized crime fronts in the city. I wonder how much she knows about their activities.

Fuck. I need to know what I’m working with here. “How did you end up in Elysium tonight?”

“My boss, Nelson Henderson, is a member,” she mutters, staring out the window. “He told me he needed me for a meeting tonight, but the asshole left me at the bar and disappeared.” Henderson isn’t a full member, and I seriously doubt the idiot ever will be. No telling what he’s up to, but I can see Eden isn’t involved. Relief cuts through me.

I grunt, “Henderson’s an asshole.”

Her head jerks toward me. “You know him?”

“Yeah,” I say. “He’s a probationary member of the casino. That’s all I know.”

She makes a small sound. Not quite a laugh. “Believe me when I say, you don’t want to know any more than that.”

We hit a red light, and I glance over at her. In the dash glow, she looks almost fragile. Almost. Her lips are drawn tight, but she doesn’t break eye contact.

We pull up to her apartment complex, and it’s worse than I expected. Chain-link fence, two cars on blocks, a cat picking through trash by the dumpster. The lights on the walkway are half-dead and flicker like an old film reel. I kill the engine and look over at her.

She’s already unbuckled, hand on the door. “Thanks for the lift. You don’t have to walk me to my door.”

I shake my head. There’s no fucking way I’m letting her walk around this part of town after dark. “I’ll walk you in.” I open my door and get out, then come around to her side before she can argue anymore. She mutters under her breath but doesn’t fight me.

The walk to her unit is silent. She has her keys in her hands and stops outside a faded green door with a tarnished “2C” on it.

“This is me, and I don’t invite strangers in.” She puts her hands on her curvy hips and stares me down.

“That’s a great policy, sweetheart.” I lean on the doorframe, close but not crowding her. “I’d like to see you again, Eden.”

She blinks, slow. “Why?”

I have no idea how to answer that, so I just say, “Honestly, I have no fucking idea. But I do know you knocked me on my ass the first time you opened your gorgeous mouth and smarted off.”

She looks at her feet then up at me and smirks. “You need to get out more.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do.” I take her keys from her hands and unlock her door. “I want to take you out.”

She stares up at me for a few moments. “Look. I’m too busy to date anyone right now.” Fucking hell. Her refusal hurts more than it should. “But thank you for rescuing me and driving me home.” She shuts the door in my face before I’m able to argue. As I walk back to my truck, I’m making plans to change her mind. Because there’s no way I’m going to walk away from her without putting up a fight.