Chapter 7

Like hell, I am going to think about this. How dare he insult me like that. I don't care if I go to jail, at least I won’t be marrying this motherfu-

Eden’s thoughts are cut short when a young but tall and muscular man, dressed in all black steps in front of Eden, stopping her from exiting the building of Mason’s apartment complex. She swallows and tilts her head upwards to look at the man’s face. He was the same man who picked her up from her home. She vividly remembered someone of his stature entering the penthouse before she went unconscious.

“And what do you think you are doing?” Asks Eden.

“Don’t you need a ride home, Miss?” the man asked. His nametag read Buddy.

“Listen Buddy boy, if you do not get out of my way this instant you will be the one needing a ride to the hospital.”

Buddy’s eyes were hidden under black sunglasses, but Eden could tell they were amused. He smiled and moved aside, motioning her to go ahead. She walks out of the building and towards the main road to catch a taxi. Here’s the thing about L.A, you can almost assume that all taxis in this city are props, never to be used in actuality. In a city so big and busy, it is a rare thing to find a taxi before 20 minutes of standing on the roadside. 

Unfortunately for Eden, being the spoiled child she was, she never bore the struggles of catching a taxi. She could call her personal driver, who was appointed by her father, but she could not risk him knowing where she has been. 

Eden turned around and walked toward Buddy, who was still smiling and giving her a knowing look. Am I this predictable?

Eden looks at Buddy and says, “I would like to apologize. Please take me home.”

“No need to apologize, Miss, if I was in your position I would act hostile too,” Buddy responds and opens the door of the SUV for her. Edem murmurs a ‘thanks’ and seats herself inside.

When Buddy gets to the driver's seat, Eden asks him, “What do you mean ‘in your position’?”

“I suppose you don’t remember me, I am the one who tied you and your friends to the chairs in your basement,” Buddy replies, and Eden’s eyes widened, clearly full of anger. “No need to get angry at me Miss Brown, I was just doing what needed to be done to protect my employers. Simply doing my job.”

“Yes I suppose drugging and tying down unarmed girls is an integral part of your job,” Eden snaps at him.

“We meant no harm to you or any of your friends. Meanwhile, what you had done was not really any better,” Buddy looks at her through the rearview mirror and smiles. “With all due respect, you had that coming.”

“Whatever. How did you even know where Bennett and Theo were?” asks Eden.

“I am going to withhold that information, in case you decide to kidnap them again.”

“All of you, you and your employers are huge pieces of shit,” Eden says to him, somewhat feeling angered that even Bennett’s bodyguard gets to act superior to her.

“I am not really supposed to talk to you about any of this, but I will say one thing, Mr. Bennett is not the type of man you think he is. Why would he let you go after what you had done? Anyone else might have killed you on the spot. I have worked for the Mason brothers for over 5 years, and never once had he asked me to do a dishonorable job. Cannot say the same about Theo though,” Buddy stops talking as if he had spoken a bit too much. Eden does not reply and they sit in silence as he makes his way through the traffic.

Eden is dissolved in her thoughts. She kept thinking that Bennett put his bodyguard up to this so she can trust him, but her mind refuses to believe that because she knew, from the few interactions with Bennett, that he was not a man with bad ulterior motives. In fact, he never did anything to harm her, when he easily could have. Eden wanted to take a break from this dilemma, it had been the cause of too many sleepless nights already, but one way or another, a memory of a kiss, of a touch, of a feeling, found its way, unannounced, in her thoughts.

Eden’s reverie is broken when the car stops.

 “We’re here,” says Buddy. He gave her a card with Bennett’s contact information. “Take time to think about everything, don’t make any hasty decisions. Take some time and you will realize what’s the better option.” 

“Ok wise Gandalf, I am going now,” Eden rolls her eyes and gets out of the car, knowing she is going to do exactly what Buddy said: think about it.

She walks into her father’s huge bungalow and made her way to her bedroom, the only place of solace. She decides to take a long warm bath, in hopes of washing away all the stress.

She could hear Sophia’s voice in her sad saying, Imagine being stressed about two multi-billionaires wanting to marry you. She chuckled at the thought. She had really missed Sophia and she felt bad for putting her friends through that situation.

Never again, she thought as she submerged in the bathtub. Never again.

The bath was so relaxing that she started to fall asleep in the tub. Just as she was about to drift off, her phone starts violently vibrating on the sink. She struggles on the slippery floor to get to the phone. It was Grace calling her.

“Hello?” says Eden.

Grace frantically starts talking, “That son of a bitch Theo called in his favor, ugh, I could kill him right now.”

“Oh my god don’t tell me he asked you to marry you too?” Eden asks, shocked.

“What? Why would he- wait- did Bennett ask you to marry him?

“Yeah,” replies Eden. “Yeah, he did.”