Page 118 of Lion’s Den

“Why would you do that?”

“I was trying to help my mom, okay? She works two jobs to keep a roof over our heads and put food on the table.”

“Oh, Eddie.” Sedona shook her head. “Don’t you know that the odds always favor the house?”

“Huh?”

She waved that aside. “In gambling, the odds are always against you.”

“Yeah, I know that now.” Eddie shook his head. “But I have to pay off the debt I owe.”

Not only did she have to protect herself, now she also had to protect Eddie and Daisy, too. Cam was coming. She knew that deep down in her soul. Nothing would stop him from finding her, but she’d have to protect herself until he and his teammates cleaned up the trash. And listen to her talking tough when, in reality, she was terrified.

Sedona didn’t know if she could do what Simpson wanted. There was more than one reason she’d left the circus life behind her, and one of those reasons might cost her life.

“Time to go,” Four-Eyes said, voice rough.

“Wait,” Eddie said, struggling to sit up straighter. “Where are you taking Miss Hart?” He slowly stood.

“It’s none of your business, kid,” Trey snapped. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep quiet and pray we don’t come back here to finish what we started.”

“Look, she’s got nothing to do with this. Just leave her alone.”

Trey’s hand snapped out, striking Eddie in the mouth with a backhanded slap.

The teenager stumbled back, hit the wall, and slid to the floor, where Daisy wrapped her arms around him and glared at the two thugs. “Leave him alone. Haven’t you done enough damage?”

Ignoring Daisy, Trey pointed at Eddie. “Shut your trap before we shut it permanently.”

The teen growled. “Let go, baby,” he murmured to his girlfriend. Eddie struggled to his feet as he said to Trey, “Miss Hart doesn’t deserve punishment. She’s just my kid brother’s teacher. That’s all. I can do what you want. Give me a few hours to recover from that beating, all right?”

“Eddie, stop.” Sedona frowned at the teenager. “You don’t understand.”

“I can do the job, Trey. Please.”

The big thug glowered at the teen. “You already had your chance. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll comfort your little girlfriend and shut your mouth.”

Sedona crouched beside Eddie. “Listen to me,” she murmured. “You need to trust me, all right?”

“Don’t you understand? You could die doing what they want.”

“I know. Now, I need a favor from you.”

“What is it? I’ll do anything to help.”

“If you really mean that, you and Daisy have to cooperate with your captors.” She winked at the teenagers. “That means not giving them any trouble.”

Sedona leaned closer to Eddie. “Do you know where they’re taking me?” she whispered.

He gave a slight nod, his expression grim.

“Tell Cam where I’m going.” She paused, then added, “And that I love him.”

“We’ll tell him,” Daisy whispered.

“This isn’t right, Miss Hart,” Eddie said, scowling at Trey. “If they’ll just wait, I can do the job.”

“Trust me, Eddie.”