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“You’re going to be the death of me,” he mumbled. “Just send my coffee up when it’s ready. I’m glad you had a nice time in France, but we have a job to do,” he reminded. Eden didn’t need her father telling her that they had a job to do. She was well aware that she was back on the clock. She and Bowie had spent every waking hour together over the past week, but since they got back to the yacht two hours ago, she hadn’t seen or heard from him. He had locked himself away in his room and a part of her was wondering if he was going to come back out before they got back to the States.
Eden ran the coffee up to her father and decided to check in on Bowie to see if he needed anything. It would give her a chance to gauge if he was all right or not. She timidly knocked on his cabin door and he pulled it open, revealing his packed bags. “Perfect timing,” he said.
“For what?” she asked. “Are you leaving?”
“I am, and I’m hoping that you’ll come with me,” he said. “I can’t promise that you’ll be one hundred percent safe, but I’d like to keep you near me so that I can keep an eye on you.”
Eden felt as though her head was spinning. “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to keep up here. You’re leaving and you want me to come with you so that you can keep me safe. Do I have all of that correct?”
“Partially,” he said, pulling her against his body. “I’ve spoken with your father and asked him to stall leaving until I could talk to you. I was actually coming to hunt for you when you knocked on my door. You saved me a trip.”
“Um, no problem,” she said, shrugging.
He chuckled, “Listen, I put you in danger, and having you with me may or may not be a good idea, but it’s the only one I have. I want you with me because leaving you behind isn’t something that I think I can do. I want you to fly back to the States with me and go with me to meet my sister and her husband. I could use the backup and well, I like having you by my side, and in my bed.”
“So, you’re bringing me along to warm your bed for you then?” she teased.
“Only if you want to,” he insisted. “I’d really like to spend more time with you, honey. Fly home with me and help me figure this mess with my family all out. Then, we can decide what to do next about us,” he said.
“About us?” she asked.
“Sure, I’d like for there to be an us, Eden. Do you feel the same way or am I feeling this, whatever it is, that’s happening between the two of us on my own?” he asked. That was an easy question for her to answer. She felt something electric happening between the two of them every time they were in the same room, she just never imagined that he felt that way about her.
“I feel it,” she admitted. “I’d like to fly home with you, but I can’t leave my post.”
“Your father said that he could spare you if you chose to come with me,” Bowie said.
“You really need to stop talking to my father on my behalf,” she grumbled. She was betting that Bowie’s chat with her dad was the reason why he had come to find her in the galley and request coffee, personally. He wasn’t just checking with her; he was checking the climate of her new relationship with Bowie.
“Noted, and I’ll try to refrain from talking to your dad about you from here on out,” he promised.
“Thank you,” she said.
“So, you’re serious about coming with me?” he asked.
“I’d like that,” she agreed. “Not because I want you to keep me safe, but because I’d like to see where this thing between us ends up. Plus, I’m dying to meet your sister and I’d like to help out where I can.”
“I appreciate that,” Bowie said. “How fast can you be ready?”
“I just have one bag to pack, and I’d love to change. Um, ten minutes,” she said. Eden wished she had time for a quick shower, but she’d have to settle for a change of clothes instead.
“Sounds good,” he agreed. “I’ll meet you on the main deck.” She nodded and hurried below deck, knowing that the clock had started ticking and Bowie wasn’t a patient man.
* * *
“So, what’s the plan here?” she asked Bowie as he handed her a bottle of water. She packed and said her goodbyes in under ten minutes, as promised. Eden found Bowie on the main deck, talking to her father, making him promises about keeping her safe. She knew that he couldn’t make those promises, but she believed that Bowie would do everything in his power to keep his word to her father, but they were dealing with the Gluttony Syndicate, and they were the wild cards that never played by the rules.
Bowie had a private jet ready and waiting for them by the time they got to the airport. Of course, she gave him a hard time about how nice it must be to have not only a private yacht but also a jet when he reminded her that the syndicate families shared the yacht. It was one of the reasons why he had asked her father to keep up the pretense that he was still on board, even though he was flying back to the States. He needed the Sloth and Gluttony families to think that he was going to take his time to get back home. Bowie wanted the element of surprise on his side. Beyond that, Eden wasn’t sure what the rest of the plan was.
“Well, I thought that we’d catch up on some sleep while we fly back home, and then, I’d like to freshen up and hit the ground running. My sister doesn’t know we’re coming, but I’ve reached out to her husband, Rock Greed, to let him know that we’re on our way. He’s aware that my father is dead, so I’m guessing that he’s told my sister, but I still feel that I should be the one to do it.”
“I get that,” Eden said. “I mean, I’m an only child, but if something happened to my dad, I’d want to be the one to tell my sibling about him.”
“Yeah, for as long as I could remember, it was always me and my sister against the world. We weren’t always close. I mean, I treated her poorly when she was up for head of household. I believed my father when he told us that men were the ones who should take over that position. He hated that he had a daughter first. He always used to tell me that if I was born first, it would have made his life so much easier—as if that was my fault. I mean, I couldn’t control which one of us was born first, right?”
“Of course not,” she said. “That’s awful to say.”
“Well, my father wasn’t very good at saying the right thing or even doing the right thing. He decided that following the old family rules, that a woman had to be married if she was the firstborn and wanted to take over the head of household position. She married Rock, but still decided to give up her chance at taking over the family. Darcy decided to leave our family behind to raise her own.”
