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“The only thing that you might want to consider is, that your ex…Gran…will lose his biggest client and a substantial source of his income.” Cruz couldn't help laughing after he told Eden that, and she was fighting to suppress the smile.
“Since this is purely a business transaction between parties who are all on board with the terms…at least what I’ve seen so far…” she said. “And of course, I will have to take a closer look, but I’m sure you two have…”
Cruz couldn’t wait. He wanted her to get straight to the point, he was so excited. “So, you’ll consider it?” he asked.
“You can consider it done,” she said.
Brian stood up out of his chair and held out his hand. Eden shook it, and he said, “I’m sure this is going to work out really well for us, Edie.”
Edie?
Only Cruz and Nate called her that…not a new business partner. She raised an eyebrow and Cruz raised both of his.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” Brian said. “Cruz calls you that all the time and it just stuck.” She smiled, and he said, “Let me say that again, in a business capacity this time. I am so pleased that you have accepted this arrangement Eden Cruz, that… Oh, fuck…fuck, fuck, fuck. Sorry, Cruz, it just slipped out.”
Cruz was shaking his head slowly from side to side. Eden was looking at him,gobsmacked.
“It was one secret I wanted to keep a little longer,” he said.
* * *
Eden saidgoodbye to Tomas and Nate. They’d had lunch with her after she’d taken them to one of Brian’s construction sites to see the big machinery in action. Nate wanted to be a digger driver when he grew up. They’d had the best day, and as Eden was heading back to her office, Arwyn said, “He’s kinda hot.”
“You’re a bit young for him,” Eden told her. Tomas was thirty-eight and Arwyn had just turned twenty-eight.
“It’s only a number,” Arwyn said. “I fudge them all the time here.”
“What!”
The look of panic on Eden’s face made Arwyn burst out in laughter, and Eden shook her head and carried on to her office, but before she got to her door, Arwyn said, “I’m serious about Tomas though. Can I have his number? Please?”
Eden turned around slowly and looked at Arwyn with no expression on her face. Arwyn looked worried.
It’s no one’s choice to stand in the way of love, Eden thought, so she called out Tomas’ number.
* * *
Cruz watchedas Eden talked and laughed with his brothers and their old ladies at the Jokers clubhouse. They were about as far removed from the type of people she’d mixed with in her married life as anyone could imagine, but she fitted right in. His chest swelled with more love for her than ever, because he knew the biggest change had to come from her and not him. Maybe if he’d stayed with the Phoenix Skulls, it would have been easier, but the wild bunch that the Jokers were, hadn’t fazed her…not one bit. They both loved Louisiana…it was home.
They’d learned so much from one another, not least that love could build bridges over any divide, rich and poor, working class and upper class. At the end of the day, appearances were just that…what you looked like, and not who you really were.
The real measure of a person is always deep inside…the heart and the soul…not just skin deep.
Cruz would have ridden out into the desert in Amarillo, with or without Beck, to face Jimmy if it would keep Eden safe. He’d do anything for love because he valued her life more than his own. Ultimately it wasn’t his decision to do so. Beck…and Jace…had shown their loyalty to him, as he would for them.
The Skulls and the Jokers looked after their own, and Cruz had both MCs looking after his back.
Brian had gone from a man who wanted to kill Cruz to a friend who would ride with him and the Jokers any chance he could. Cruz had become his construction manager, and Brian had shown his new sense of forgiveness, by allowing Bo to continue working for the firm.
They’d set off on theirEasy Ridercruise months earlier, with totally different expectations and had come back to living and loving together in The Big Easy…New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
