“This is fucked up. What the hell was she thinking? Going to a fucking MC bar by herself? What if you didn’t know the leader of the club?”
“I don’t want to think about that.”
“You going to do something about this thing between the two of you?” Kent suddenly asked.
“Yeah. I am,” he said shortly. Then remembering that this was Eden’s older brother and his boss, he added, “she’s mine.”
Kent let out a small bark of laughter. “Jesus. Stop with all the details.”
“You don’t need details.”
More silence.
“Careful, she’s my baby sister.”
Patience. Patience. Zeke didn’t have family, but if he did have a sister, he was certain that he’d be just as protective of her. If not more so. And considering that Clint and Kent had raised her from the age of ten, he knew they felt a lot of responsibility for her.
But as far as he was concerned, he figured they had let her get away with far too much reckless behavior for too long.
“I know I have to work on building her trust in me, but she’s already let down a number of her guards around me. Given time and opportunity, I know I can get her to open up to me.”
“She’s had her guard up for years.”
“She’s shown me her Little.” There that ought to shut him up.
There was a sharply indrawn breath. “Really?”
He’d never thought that Kent was blind to Eden’s desires. Even though she seemed to think she’d kept that side of herself closely hidden. There were moments when Zeke had seen her undisguised interest and more than a hint of longing when she’d been around the other Littles on the ranch.
And if he’d seen it, his very observant boss would have.
“Twice,” Zeke told him, unable to keep the satisfaction out of his voice.
“Shit. Maybe you really will get through to her then.”
“I can’t have you guys interfering, though.”
“What?” Kent snapped. “We’re her brothers.”
“And I’m going to be her man. Her everything. I need her to rely on me. To come to me. She can’t do that if you guys run interference.”
And he knew they would. They wouldn’t be able to help themselves. Kent had been running interference for her for years.
“Fuck. That the real reason you want to stay at the cabin?”
Anger bit at him. He forced himself to calm. He’d had anger issues as a teenager. Done shit he shouldn’t have. It seemed this situation had him walking that tightrope of control.
“I want what’s best for Eden. Right now, I think that’s staying here. It also minimizes risk to everyone on Sanctuary. Although I would keep all the women on the ranch for the time being.”
“I’ve already sent out the order,” Kent said.
Zeke figured he would have.
“Okay. I’ll let you take lead on this for now. We’ll see what we can find out about Keira. I’ll set Zander on her path. Just keep your heads down there and don’t take any risks. Zeke?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m trusting you with one of the most precious people in my life. Don’t let me down.” Kent ended the call before Zeke could say anything.