by Simone Elise
They glanced at each other, but I was assuming they already knew.
“We’ll be staying until Saturday,” Amber said to me. “The boys are leaving then.”
Oh, so they already decided that.
“Ok.” I glanced up at Reaper and gave him a fake smile. So I had until Saturday with him. Suddenly three days seemed so short. How the hell was I going to go without him?
Chapter 45
Abby
I was picking up the pizza order for the club because everyone else had been drinking and I was the only sober person there.
I wasn’t used to the heat here and was wearing Kim’s shorts, which were a tad short for my liking, and a Satan’s Sons tank top. I looked like a true blue Satan’s Sons supporter.
“Nice legs.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the guy who was with his friends.
“Thanks.” I didn’t see the point in starting an argument.
“Do they come over easy? Or only for bikers?”
His friends laughed. The doorbell beeped as someone else entered the shop.
I rolled my eyes and ignored them.
“Come on, club whore, you can’t ignore us, not when all your biker bed buddies are nowhere to be seen.”
That’s it, I’ve had it!
“She’s with me.”
I pinched my eyes shut, and relief flooded my body until I remembered just how violent Reaper could become when challenged.
I turned around to find the boys awkwardly backing away.
“Wanna take back what you said to her?” Reaper stepped toward the troublemaker. “Or do you need your head caved in to see reason?”
He was in full-on Reaper mode. Kade was nowhere to be seen. He was in the type of mood that you couldn’t talk him out of something even if you wanted to.
“Come on man, no need to fight over a club whore.” The guy laughed at Reaper. Did he expect Reaper to agree with him?
This boy did not understand the club at all. Even if I wasn’t in a relationship with Reaper, he would still protect a club girl. Maybe not to the point of this, though.
Reaper flexed his knuckles. “That’s my fiancée you're talking about, and I’ll have you know,” he grabbed the boy by his shirt, “she is no whore.” He slammed him into the counter. People gasped and others quickly left, and I just stood there letting Reaper do whatever.
Napkins fell to the floor along with straws and other things the counter had on it.
Reaper lifted the man up and then banged him down on the counter again.
“So before my fists get bloody, I want you to fucking tell my fiancée sorry.”
The guy seemed scared and looked across at me. “Sorry,” he stuttered.
I sighed and nodded my head.
“Order 27?” The lady behind the counter called our number.
“That’s us, Reaper. Now, why don’t you let go of the guy and help me carry the pizzas.”
Reaper picked the guy up and then dropped him on the ground, giving him a firm kick in the stomach to seal his argument.
I gave the lady a small smile. She seemed scared as she stacked the boxes on the counter.
I picked up a dozen and let Reaper get the rest.
I stepped over the guy, and one of his friends held the door open for me. Looks like they learned some manners.
“You alright, babe?” Reaper asked, walking behind me.
“Yeah, I am.” I glanced over my shoulder. “Thanks to you.”
I smirked while walking to the car. Not everyone had a Reaper to protect them, but I did.
***
The night was going well. The boys were playing pool, drinking, and eating. And I would say most had a girl under their arm apart from Brad. He was drinking by himself at the bar. I was going to ask Reaper what was wrong with him but I hadn’t had a chance.
“Hey, sweetheart, pass me the salt.” Dad interrupted my thoughts.
I slid it down the table to him. “You know you’re not meant to put salt on pizza.”
He grunted, and that ended our conversation. I looked at Kim. Since she and Trigger had gone public, they really weren’t hiding their affection for each other. Which sort of made me happy. I wanted her to have what I have.
“Hey darlin’, can you come with me for a minute?” Reaper whispered in my ear from behind me. I spun on the chair and got up.
“What’s up?” I asked, but instead, he took my hand and guided me through the crazy party.
Bikers and parties. They just seemed to go together. The smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke engulfed you. It smelled like home.
Reaper opened the door to the meeting room, and I frowned. Why would we be going in here? This was for members only, and I wasn’t a member. Sure, I might have crashed a few meetings when I was younger, but once I realized how important they were, I stayed away.
I opened my mouth to say something when I spotted a man in a light gray suit standing at the top of the table where my dad would normally sit.
“Abby, this is Benjamin. Benjamin, this is Abby.” Reaper pulled a chair out for me, which I melted into because I was so confused.
From the look of Benjamin, he looked terrified to be here.
“Abby, nice to meet you.” He put out a shaky hand.
I shook it.
“I just need you to sign a few things, Abby,” Benjamin said calmly and then stacked a pile of paperwork in front of me.
“Like what?” I looked between them. I flicked open the file, and eight words made me freeze.
Last Will and Testament of Kade Andrew Wilson.
“What… what is this?” I stuttered.
“My will, Abby.” Reaper was calm and planted his hands on my shoulders. “I just need you to sign the back page.”
I turned in the seat and looked up at him. “Why the hell do you need one of these?”
He arched his eyebrows and gave me a serious look. “Because I want you looked after.”
“If anything did happen to me, the club would look after me.”
“I don’t want you to rely on the club for handouts. I want you to have my money. I want you and the kid living off all the money I have.”
“Well, nothing is going to happen to you.” I closed the file. “So I don’t have to worry about it, and either do you.”
“Abby.”
“No, Kade!”
Benjamin was awkwardly in the background.
Reaper reached around and flicked to the last page and put the pen down next to it.
“Just sign it. Give me peace of mind.” He spoke gently to me.
I sighed and fought back the tears. He was doing this because of the manhunt. He was doing this because he was off to start a war and didn’t know if he was coming back. It killed me.
My hand shaking, I picked up the pen. He kissed the tip of my head as I signed on the dotted line. I was doing this for him, I kept telling myself. Because I honestly didn’t know how I would live without him. Didn’t he realize he was my oxygen?
Chapter 46
Abby
When things went bad, you didn’t call the police; you called the family. And currently, the family was in a meeting. I drummed my nails on the bar and watched the closed door.
Was it fair that Amber was included in the meeting? I didn’t think so. But who was I to argue? I was little Miss Nobody at the moment, and my opinion didn’t matter.
“Want a refill?”
I glanced at the prospect and then the empty shot glass.
“Yep.”
He filled it up, and I swiped the shot glass off the bar and threw it down. It was mixed with more alcohol and half a piece of toast. I suddenly wasn’t hungry today. The wedding was tomorrow and then doomsday after it.
I was swiping the bottle off the prospect when the double doors swung open and the clubhouse came to life with laughter and noise. I scanned the crowd as they spilled into the clubhouse. Where was Reaper?
Amber emerged and looked like her normal pissed-o
ff self. Her brothers followed. They had come down late last night. Then came Reaper and Jax. They were talking to each other and seemed deep in conversation.
He hadn’t even realized I was in the room. He was leaning on a pool table talking to Jax.
“You ok?”
My head snapped in Kim’s direction. Where had she been all day?
“Yeah, fine.” I poured myself another shot.
“Drinking before twelve?”
“So.”
“So you’re giving Reaper death glares, and drinking before noon isn’t your normal style.”
I ignored her questions and opinion. “Where have you been? Fucking Trigger?”
She smirked. “No. I’ve been busy for your wedding.”
“Fucking shoot me.” I swallowed another shot. I was not looking forward to it. The whole “everyone is watching you” just creeped me the fuck out.
She crossed her arms with a smirk in place that the devil wouldn’t even want to know what she was thinking.
“Have you given much thought to what you are going to wear on the wedding night?”
My eyebrows shot up. “No, and neither should you!”
“Come on, you might be pregnant, but you aren’t even showing. You still have a figure to work with.” She sat down on a stool next to me.
“Reaper won’t care what I’m wearing.”
“Well, considering it is your last night together for a while, maybe you should care.”
“I don’t.”
“Abby.”
“Kimberly.”
She whacked my arm. “Only Dad calls me that.”
“Where is Dad?” I scanned the room twice, and he didn’t stand out.
“He’s out.”
“Out where? There was just a meeting. Wouldn’t he be running that type of thing?”
Kim looked incredibly guilty and stared down at the floor. “I don’t know.”
“Bullshit. Tell me.” I put the bottle down on the bar next to my now empty shot glass.
“I don’t know anything.” She put her hands up. “And even if I do, it’s not my place to get involved.”
I pointed a finger at her. “Involved in what?”
“Between what Reaper does and doesn’t tell you. It’s not my fault that Trigger has a big mouth.”
“So you’re telling me that the meeting that just went down was all organized by Kade?”
She spun on her heels. “I have no idea,” she threw over her shoulder, and I got up to follow her when a muscled, tattooed arm shot out across my way, blocking my path.
“You don’t look too steady on your feet.” Reaper stated the obvious.
“Well, clearly I’ve been drinking while you and girly mates had a tea party.” I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. I was not in the mood to be fucked with.
He arched an eyebrow and looked down at me. What a shock.
“Girly mates? And a fucking tea party?” He wasn’t impressed.
Well, I wasn’t impressed with him! Him and all his secrets. After all, I was only carrying his child and marrying him tomorrow.
“Where’s Dad?” I challenged him and stared right back up into those soul-sucking black eyes.
“Fucked if I know where Roach is.” He crossed his arms. “Who you been talking to?”
“No one.”
“You’re a shit liar, Abby.”
I wasn’t letting him win. “Where’s Dad?”
He just stared down at me, wanting me to break. He was dominant and in a controlling mood. He wanted things to go his way, and he was keeping me in the dark. I understand there was ‘club business,’ but then there was ‘family business,’ and this was crossing into family business.
And I sure as fuck wanted to know why my dad, the head of the fucking MC, wasn’t running the meeting and Kade was.
“He’s out.” He reached around me and grabbed the bottle of Jack.
“Doing?”
He grunted.
“Doing?” I pressed.
“Nothing that has anything to do with you.” He dismissed it as if I was nothing.
I narrowed my eyes. “God, you are an asshole, Kade.”
“An asshole?” He began to walk off. “Coming from you, that’s a compliment.”
“Don’t you walk away from me, Kade!” I followed him as he took a large gulp of Jack Daniels from the bottle. “And that was my bottle, too!”
“You shouldn’t be drinking.”
I glared holes into the Satan’s Sons leather vest as I walked behind him. Stupid club. Stupid rules.
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t be lying to me.”
He spun on his heels and grabbed my wrist tightly, pulling me in close. He was radiating anger from his body, and the look in his eyes was enough to kill you on the spot.
“When it comes to you and my child, I don’t lie. You just have to learn you don’t get told everything for your own safety.”
“My own safety! That’s rich coming from you. If I was lying to protect YOU, YOU wouldn’t allow it.” I threw back up at him. If he wanted to play the ‘for your own safety’ card, then I could easily do the same.
“Abby, reel it the fuck in.” He was trying to pull me in line as if I was a member, and sure enough, the look he was giving me could kill you. He was fuming, and I just didn’t give a fuck.
“You reel it in, Reaper! And while you’re doing that, you can go get fucked. Last time I checked, I’m the one with the killer aim that was making the papers. And unlike you, I kill the target and the threat!” I pulled my wrist from his grasp and stormed through the clubhouse.
I didn’t care if I had just insulted him. I wasn’t some girl that needed protecting. Not too long ago, I was the person you needed protecting from. I might consider myself retired, but I still could use a gun. Maybe better than him. At least I never left a loose end.
Amber was watching us, and I really didn’t give a toss what she was thinking. Why did Jax treat her as an equal while all the rest of us got the famous ‘club business’ line.
I wanted to find Dad. He would answer my questions. Because unlike Kade, he saw me as an equal. He never kept me in the dark.
Amber
“Keeping her in the dark won’t help anything.” I walked over to Reaper after seeing Abby storm off. Clearly, she wasn’t finding the way her husband was treating her acceptable. Then again, they weren’t married yet.
He grunted while searching his pants for a cigarette lighter.
“I’m serious. Locking her dad out and now her; you are just making friends your enemies.” I handed him a cigarette lighter. “She is a tough girl; I think she can handle it. Anyway, by the sounds of it, she is rather skilled with a gun.”
It always bothered me that I didn’t know who Blake’s hit-man was. Blake and I were close, considering he was my ex-boyfriend. We normally shared everything but when it came to the hit-man, he wouldn’t tell me who it was.
Considering every kill made the paper and not once was it linked to anyone, I wanted to know who had such good aim and was such a professional.
I admit I was jealous of her skills. Only a professional hit-man could get away with killing all those people and not crack under the pressure.
If Reaper knew she was capable of that, why would he lock her out like this?
Sure, I didn’t know Abby that well, but if she was anything like me, she wouldn’t be happy at the moment and she sure as fuck could handle the truth. And the truth was, Reaper was going on a suicidal mission with only my husband as a backup.
He lit up a cigarette. “I’m not telling her club business.”
“It isn’t club business.” I crossed my arms, watching him. He was different with her. Sure, he was still hard and cold as ice, but he had a soft spot for her. If it wasn’t for Abby, I would think the Reaper didn’t have a heart.
He pointed the cigarette at me. “Don’t fucking get involved. Are you the one talking to her?”
I scorched him with my eyes. “No.
I haven’t told her anything, but I’m guessing once she tracks down her father and finds out you blocked him from his own club, she is going to be even more pissed off.”
“I don’t need her family getting involved.”
“Roach is the club head. This is his club. He isn’t her family; he is yours.”
“I don’t need him coming along making things worse.”
“Fair enough.”
He grunted and looked at me with disbelief. “What, you aren’t going to argue with me for taking your man instead?”
“Jax is a big boy. Anyway, he is nearly as good as me with a gun.”
Reaper laughed dryly. “I’ll never understand how he lets you do what you do.”
“You mean, be a part of the club?”
He looked at me coldly. “He should know better.”
“Last time I checked, he does. You’re the one needing lessons. He puts his son and me first. Club second. You need to learn that if you want to keep Abby. How do you think she is going to find being a single parent and widow in her twenties? She needs to know the risks you are going into. And if you don’t tell her, you will just leave her with a lot of unanswered questions at your funeral.”
He smirked grimly. “So sure I won’t be coming back from this.”
“Jacobs won’t take it lying down.”
“No, but he also doesn’t see me coming.”
“I think he saw you coming as soon as he put a hit on your wife. Sorry, future wife.”
Reaper was a firm believer in fate; I remember him once telling me that the bullets already had the names engraved on them; all he did was deliver them.
Reaper put a bottle of Jack Daniels down and gave me an unwelcoming stare. “Jax would do this for you. I fucked up and put her in danger, now I have to fix it.”
“I know he would, but I also would know every detail about it.”
“Jax has never put your life in danger, so you wouldn’t know how he would react. I sure as fuck won’t be letting Abby get close to this.” He pointed a finger at me. “And you better not get involved.”
Did I look stupid? I also didn’t have a death wish. Though the thought of Jax and Reaper fighting about it did occur to me, though they were such good mates they most likely wouldn’t even argue.