What she had yet to realize was that he was always watching.
All right. That sounded creepy. It wasn’t. It was just that Eden Jensen was deep inside him. She’d crept in bit by bit. He’d spent so long being annoyed at her bad attitude that he hadn’t looked at what caused her behavior.
When he’d finally come to realize that he was so annoyed by her because he cared about her, he’d stopped snarling and snapping and started watching. And he’d realized Eden had layers that nobody got close to unravelling.
But he was determined to be the one. In fact, he was going to get to the bottom of who Eden was exactly.
He was also going to damn well ensure that she stopped taking risks. Driving too fast. Getting drunk without anyone around to watch over her. Coming to fucking MC clubs. Alone.
What the hell was she thinking?
His hands itched to take her over his knee, pull down her pants and spank her until she promised to never leave the ranch without him again.
Okay, maybe that was a little over-the-top. A year. She had to promise not to leave the ranch without him for an entire year.
He
ripped his gaze from her to study the large guy who walked into the room behind her. This guy had danger written all over him. And he’d been alone with his girl.
Not. Acceptable.
This couldn’t happen again. She was going to obey him. She was going to submit to him.
Like she did that night of the wedding. When she’d let him in, given him a piece of herself. She’d trusted him. She’d allowed herself be vulnerable around him.
And then she’d pushed him away to protect herself. He had to make her realize that she would never be safer than when she was with him.
“Zeke! What the hell are you doing here? You’re the boss man?”
“Boss man?” he repeated, staring from her to the other man.
The dark-haired, muscular man stepped up beside Eden. Zeke ran his eyes over her. If they’d hurt her in any way, he’d raze this fucking dive to the ground. He gave the man with her a hard look. The other man just raised an eyebrow, looking unconcerned.
Stupid fucker didn’t realize who he was dealing with. Zeke liked it that way, though.
“This is not the boss man,” the man said dryly. “Who the fuck are you?”
The door off to the side of the room opened and the actual President of the Iron Shadows walked in. Jacob Reyes was a dangerous man. Rough, blunt and short-tempered, he was a difficult man. A hard man.
He’d also, once upon a time, been Zeke’s best friend. His foster brother.
“Zeke, what are you doing here? How did you find me? Why are you here?” Eden asked, looking bewildered.
“I called him,” Reyes said coldly. He moved into the room and took a seat behind the scarred, wooden desk. He sat back in the leather chair, studying Eden. “Question is, why are you here, Miss Jensen?”
“You called him? Why would you call Zeke? And how do you know my name?”
The dark-haired man sighed. “Again, girl. We have your phone, your wallet, your license. We know who you are.”
“My stuff better still be in there when I get it back,” she muttered.
“We’re not thieves,” Reyes snapped.
Shit.
Zeke sent him a warning look. He got that he was pissed off by all this. Eden’s little stunt had no doubt pulled Reyes away from whatever woman he had warming his bed. Zeke wasn’t impressed himself. He’d already been on his way here when he’d gotten the call from Reyes. And while he appreciated the head’s up, he knew the other man had to have an ulterior motive.
They hadn’t seen each other in years. How was Reyes only living a few hours away from him? And how did he know Zeke knew Eden? Had he kept tabs on him?