I took advantage of the moment of stillness and turned to hustle Eden out the nearest fire exit. The alarm blared, but I didn’t give a shit.

“What the hell are you doing? Stop. They’re not going to do anything to me.”

“You don’t know a goddamned thing about what happens in the back rooms and basements of casinos, cupcake, and you’re not going to fucking find out while I’m breathing.”

She struggled against my hold, so I lifted her up and tossed her over my shoulder. Her scream barely roused any strange looks, not that I cared about that or how she beat against my back with her hand and small purse. When I reached my bike, I lowered her to her feet, and an enraged Eden, the likes of which I’d never seen before, greeted me.

“You fucking caveman! What the hell is your problem?”

I grabbed the helmet off the back and strapped it onto her head, avoiding her slapping hands. “Get on the bike, and we’ll talk about this at your place.”

Three men in suits were running toward us down the sidewalk as I started the bike.

“Oh my God, are they coming after us?”

“And the cops are probably next.”

One man had a phone to his ear, and when Eden finally regained some of her common sense and hopped on, I tore out into the street.

No one would catch up to us on a bike, but I still took turn after turn just in case someone was trying to follow us. When I finally pulled up in front of Harriet’s house, Eden flew off the bike and ran toward the gate to unlock it. I pushed the front tire up over the curb and followed her through with my bike, hoping like hell the passageway was wide enough. It was, but barely.

When I dropped the kickstand and stood it up on the cement pad, Eden ran back and slammed the gate shut.

“What the hell just happened?”

My entire body buzzed with the rush of adrenaline, and I stalked in circles around the courtyard.

“Go upstairs. Inside. I’ll be up when I’ve cooled the fuck down so I don’t say anything I’m going to regret.”

Eden’s face paled in the moonlight, but her mouth flattened into a thin line. She didn’t say anything before she stalked up the spiral stairs and unlocked the apartment door.

I would have bet money on the fact that Eden wanted to slam it, but was too worried about waking Harriet to do it.

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out of my pocket as I paced.

CON: That was fucking crazy. They ran out of here after her. Asked for both your names. I didn’t give them.

BISHOP: Thanks, man. I’m at her place. I appreciate you coming to her rescue. I don’t know what the fuck happened tonight, but it’s not fucking happening again.

CON: I think it’s safe to say that neither of you should be coming back anytime soon.

BISHOP: Not a fucking problem. Sorry to interrupt your fundraiser.

I shoved my phone back in my pocket and sucked in a few deep breaths.

Visions of what could have happened to Eden had flashed through my head the entire way to the casino and all the way home. I knew better than to think they’d give her the benefit of the doubt because she was a woman.

Guilt and pain from everything I’d fucked up before battered me. I hadn’t been able to stop them when they had dragged my cousin Abby into a back room along with me. There was no fucking way I’d ever let that happen to Eden, regardless of her need for independence.

I SHUT THE DOOR AND paced back and forth across my tiny living area. A whirlpool of emotions spun in dizzying circles inside me. Anger. Guilt. Annoyance. Frustration. Helplessness.

Bishop finally came upstairs and let himself inside. I stared at him for long moments while neither of us spoke. Whatever he was feeling was bubbling close to the surface.

“What the fuck did you think you were doing?” Apparently he hadn’t cooled down.

“What the hell were you doing?” I shot back. “You were the one who didn’t want to step foot inside a casino and then bam, there you are. I was fine. You didn’t need to come to my rescue again.”

His green gaze seemed to shoot fire as it locked onto mine, and everything but the rise and fall of his chest stilled. “You think you were fine? They thought you were a fucking card counter, Eden, working with a partner. Do you know what casinos do with card counters? Do you think they really just wanted to take you into some little back office to chat? They could’ve killed you.”

“This isn’t a freaking movie. No one was going to do anything to me.” To myself, I added, especially once I dropped my father’s name. Only someone with a death wish would dare touch me.

“Yeah, you’re right. No one was going to do a goddamned thing to you because I wouldn’t let them.”

Frustration overwhelmed the other emotions fighting for precedence. “I don’t need you to save me every time, Bishop! How the hell am I ever supposed to learn to stand on my own two feet and save myself if you’re always going to rush to the rescue? I don’t need a babysitter. I need to learn to be self-sufficient, and if no one in my entire freaking life will give me the chance, then how am I ever going to get there?”

Bishop jerked back like I’d slapped him. “What the hell kind of man would I be if I didn’t step in when shit goes sideways? You want me to back away and let you put yourself at risk? No fucking way. I can’t do that. I won’t do that.”

“Then you’re going to suffocate me.” My words fell like heavy boulders between us.

“Is that what you think I’m doing? Trying to suffocate you? Fuck, Eden. All I want is to keep you safe so I don’t lose you like I’ve lost damn near every other person in my life who fucking mattered!”

He stalked closer to me, and I backed away instinctively until my butt pressed against the cabinets in the tiny kitchen.

“I get that you need to prove that you can handle yourself. I get it. I really fucking do. But tonight was not the night to try. Those people aren’t a joke. They don’t believe in a slap on the wrist. They break fingers. Hands. Arms. Kneecaps. Legs. They fucking kill people who try to steal from them.”

Intellectually, I knew that he was right. But what he didn’t understand was that in that world, I was untouchable. I wanted to explain. I wanted to tell him exactly why he didn’t need to worry about me tonight. The words were there on my tongue, but I couldn’t get them out because he kept going.