Ruthless Hold (Back Down Devil MC #9)(5)

“Hey,” a voice said from behind her.

Eden turned and saw Dimitrio standing there. He was a beautiful man but they were far too close as friends to let anything get in the way of that.

“Hey,” I said.

“Working OT?”

“Just sitting and thinking.”

“You could do that at home. I need to make a drop at the bank in the morning. Are you okay opening?”

“Sure thing,” Eden said.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“You don’t know a lot about me,” Eden said. “Do you?”

“What I know I like.”

“I was adopted, Dimitrio.”

“Oh, shit,” he said. “I didn’t know that.”

“And my adoptive parents were killed in a car accident. I never really had anything go my way.”

“Don’t say that, Eden. You’re good at what you do. Everything bad that happens comes with good. It balances the universe out.”

“You really believe in that kind of stuff?”

“I do,” Dimitrio said. “It’s how I survive. Rain sucks, but it makes flowers grow. Right?”

“Sure,” Eden said and grinned. “This is going to sound crazy. I got a letter from my birth father.”

“Whoa,” he said, eyes wide. “That’s deep.”

“Yeah. He sent it like almost a year ago,” Eden said. “I got it just as I was starting to settle in here. It was the first time I felt comfortable and I just didn’t know what to do with it. I mean, he laid it out pretty clear there was nothing good waiting for me with him. It wasn’t like my father was someone famous and rich.”

Dimitrio nodded. “So what’s holding you back?”

“Now? It’s the time. It’s been too long.”

“Don’t say that. Timing is never right in life.”

Eden smiled again. She looked into Dimitiro’s kind brown eyes and bit her bottom lip. She opened her mouth to say something but her words were stolen with the sound of a gun.

By the time Eden managed to scream, Dimitiro was on the floor, dead.

*

As her scream started to ease, running out of breath and sound, there were three men hovered around her. She couldn’t stop looking at Dimitiro’s dead body on the floor, blood pooling all around him. The three men were in leather cuts and wore black masks. One of them slapped her across the face and she looked at him, seeing nothing but the white of his eyes and the brown color of his iris.

“Fuck!” another yelled. “The bitch really is here. Our work is cut out for us now.”

“Clean it all out,” the third ordered.

“What about her?” the guy that slapped her asked. He grabbed her arm and forced her to stand. One swipe of his hand cleared off her station and he pressed his body to hers, forcing her against it. “She’s f*cking gorgeous. I’ll love to have my way with her.”

“No evidence,” the first guy said. “Move. Now. Get all the cash we can.”

“What do you have in your hand, girl?” the guy asked.

“Fff… f*ck you,” Eden said.

The guy grabbed for the letter and Eden hurried to slap him. It did nothing because the guy was wearing a black mask. It distracted him enough that Eden was able to lift her knee into his groin, sending him stumbling back. She lunged forward and someone else grabbed her left wrist. This time when Eden swung, she did so with a fist, hitting the second guy with a punch. He jumped back, grabbing for his face. The third guy, the ring leader, he simply just blocked the way, crossing his arms.

“Let me go,” she said. “I have no idea who you are. You killed Dimitiro.”

“Fuck him,” the man said. “Fucking filth.”

Eden tried to make a run but the guy had his arms around her in a second. He lifted her up and twirled her around, laughing as he did so. It was a deep laugh, throaty like he was sick. It instantly stuck into her mind. He then let her go, sending her flying through the air. She smashed into a wall and then fell, the letter floating in the opposite direction. He walked over to the letter and picked it up.

“Get the f*ck out of here,” he said. “Of all goddamn things…”

As the guy read the letter, Eden spotted the picture of her pregnant mother and her father kissing the round belly. She reached for it, able to get it, and she quickly tucked it into her back pocket. She then jumped up to her knees, palms on the floor, and started to crawl toward the back of the shop. There was a security alarm she could hit, alerting the need for help.

Scrambling, she heard the ripping sound of a gunshot as it missed her by no more than six inches, hitting a wall. She quickly rolled to her right and kicked back, putting herself against a wall in another tattooing booth. Reaching up, she grabbed the tattooing gun and knew she wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

None of this made sense and maybe it never would. They were three thugs looking to knock off a tattoo shop. But why kill Dimitrio so fast?

Tears filled Eden’s eyes as she saw the man turn the corner, gun and letter in hand. He slowly walked forward.

“Hey!” he yelled. “You two f*cks up there! Clean out everything. If it’s worth anything, I want it.” He then set his eyes on Eden. He shook the letter. “This true?”