Seychelle looked up and instantly gave him that smile that was for him alone. Soft. Loving. Ripped his heart out on the spot. Settled his need to kill Tony right there.
“Hey, honey. Look who found us.”
Savage stepped around Czar and Steele and went right up to Eden, taking her hand the way he did when he was in her home, ignoring her son. “Ms. Eden.” He kissed the back of her hand as if she were a movie star.
“Savage.” She beamed at him. “This is my son Tony. Tony, Savage. Savage has saved me twice now. He’s … wonderful.”
“That’s not quite accurate, Ms. Eden,” Savage said. “And I have met Tony, although I didn’t realize he was your son.”
Tony stood up, vacating Savage’s seat immediately. “What do you mean, Savage saved you, Mom?”
She laughed. “I was being dramatic as usual.” She smiled at Czar and Steele. “The girls can tell you. I have a real flair for drama. I should have been an actress.”
“You would have won several Oscars,” Seychelle agreed immediately.
“Mom,” Tony persisted, helping her out of the chair. “What do you mean, Savage saved you twice?”
“The first time, Seychelle came to check on me. She brought me groceries and cleaned the house and changed my bedding. I wasn’t feeling too good. I’d been sick for a week.”
“Where was Aunt Nina?” Tony interrupted.
“You know how she is about sick people,” Eden said in a low voice.
“So you called Seychelle. How does that translate to Savage saving you twice?” he persisted.
“The silly kitchen sink had sprung a leak about a month earlier, and I wrapped a rag around it, but it didn’t hold and got worse. I was in bed and didn’t see, so the pipe just disintegrated, and water flooded the kitchen. Seychelle turned off the water. Savage was outside mowing the lawn. He came in and cleaned up the water in the kitchen and then put in all brand-new pipes while Seychelle took care of me.”
Tony stared down at his mother and then looked up at Savage. Savage did his best to look like a killer. Shit. This was why he didn’t go out in public. Shit like this. Ruining his image. Tony was struggling to equate what he knew of Savage, a man who had a reputation for torture and killing, with one who mowed lawns and fixed sinks for little old ladies. He kept a groan from escaping.
His gaze shifted to Seychelle. There was amusement in her eyes, and if she dared laugh, he was going to put her over his knee right there in the restaurant in front of everyone. He had to reestablish his reputation fast somehow.
“And the second time?” Tony’s voice sounded strangled. Rough. His arm was around his mother. His head turned toward Seychelle, but his eyes were on Savage.
“Oh dear,” Eden said. Her hand went protectively to her throat. “I had a little seizure, honey, nothing bad. It wasn’t a bad one. I fell and hit my head. Seychelle was with me. We were playing cards with Doris Fendris and Harriet Meadows. Hearts. I had a great hand. Then I had the seizure and hit my head on the corner of the table.”
“She hit it pretty hard,” Seychelle confirmed. “I asked Doris to go to the kitchen to get warm water and Harriet to bring me towels. Then I tried to keep her from hurting herself until she stopped having convulsions.”
There was a small silence. Seychelle touched her forehead, up high on her right side, near the hairline. She rubbed the little area for a moment as if it ached.
“When I came too, Seychelle was lying next to me, her head bleeding profusely, and Savage had a cloth pressed to my head and was holding me. He yelled for Doris. For a minute I thought Seychelle had had a seizure too.” Eden sent Seychelle a little smile. “There was spilled tea on the floor, and we both had slipped in it. As I said, my seizure wasn’t that bad, a very mild one. I was up, and really didn’t even have a headache like I normally have afterward. I got to have Savage pick me up. It was very swoon-worthy.” She batted her eyes.
“Why didn’t you call me, or one of the others?” Tony demanded.
The smile vanished from Eden’s face. “You and Leonardo were in Ukiah at some big meeting with your club. I never disturb you when you’re there. You know your brothers live too far away to come when I have one of my little episodes.”
“You could have called Brandon.”
Eden pressed her lips together and looked stubborn. She didn’t reply. It was very clear she didn’t want to call him. That certainly cleared up any doubt that Brandon was related to the Ravards and Seychelle’s “gut instincts” had been right.
“Brandon?” Savage echoed, just to confirm.
“Brandon is my half brother. His mother is Nina Campbell, Eden’s sister,” Tony said. “It’s a long story.”
Seychelle cleared her throat delicately, bringing the attention to her. “I see your mom at least once a week. If you leave your number and maybe your brothers’ numbers on the kitchen counter, if there’s ever an emergency, I can call one of you immediately.”
“I would appreciate that, thank you, Seychelle,” Tony said. “It was nice meeting all of you,” he added as he walked his mother back to their table in the main dining room.
“Tony seems a very pleasant man. I had no idea Eden’s sons were members of the Diamondbacks, or that she had a stepson she clearly doesn’t like. Well, I guess, technically, he’d also be her nephew. I massage her on a regular basis,” Blythe told Czar once the two visitors had cleared the room.
Savage took the chair Tony vacated, reaching for Seychelle’s hand. “Everything all right, babe? You look a little pale.”
“I didn’t see any evidence of Brandon in her home anywhere, Savage, and I’ve been going there on an average of once a week for months. There aren’t any photos of him, but then I didn’t see any photos of her sons in their Diamondback colors either. Eden has never said a word to me.” Seychelle almost sounded hurt. “She talked about them being in the navy, but never in a club.”
“Wouldn’t Inez have known?” Breezy asked. “Wouldn’t she have warned Seychelle?”
Darby arrived, pushing a small cart. She began to place various dishes of food in front of each of them.
Blythe stopped her daughter before she could leave. “Honey, this firefighter you’re seeing, Asher Larkin, the one I talked your father and the club into leaving you alone about so you could date in peace. That man. Is his aunt Eden Ravard? Is he a cousin of the Ravards? The four brothers who are all in the Diamondback club?” Her voice was very mild. Soft. Low.
Darby took a deep breath. “Yes. Asher’s mother is Reggie’s, Eden’s late husband’s, sister. He has nothing to do with the Diamondbacks though.” The last came out in a defensive rush.
“But you didn’t disclose that information, Darby, and you put your father and the club in a bad position. That wasn’t right, and you know it,” Blythe said. “Withholding such an important piece of data could have gotten someone hurt or even killed just because you were being selfish. You wanted to see that man, and you didn’t trust your father enough, after all he’s done to prove himself to you, to make the right decision. I thought I taught you better than that.”