Page 30

Reaper

“Come on, brother, just a few more steps.”

“No.”

It had been a long and arduous trip.

It started when the stubborn fucker flat out refused to get on the damn plane. Short of shooting him myself, I knew the bastard wouldn’t budge.

So, I rented a car.

Well, that lasted a whole twenty-four hours, before he started screaming about suffocating. I quickly pulled over to the side of the road and the son of a bitch jumped out and started running.

By the time I caught up to him and tackled his ass to the ground, the fucker had no more fight left in him.

I should have known that was only because he exhausted all his energy running, because come morning, the fucker was at it again.

By day three, I learned what he needed to stay calm.

The freedom of the open road and the stars above him at night because the bastard slept like a fucking baby in whatever field he could find.

Me, not so much.

I fucking hurt everywhere, and if I didn’t get to sleep in a damn bed soon, I would happily make Sunny a widow.

What should have taken only half a day took seven motherfucking days.

I was done.

This fucker wasn’t my problem anymore.

All I had to do was hand him off to Sunny and I was free.

That’s if I could get the fucker to move.

“Come on, Solomon. I’m tired and you stink. The sooner I can get you inside, the faster you can see Sunny.”

“No.”

“What the fuck do you mean no?” I groaned. “I thought you wanted your Sunshine?”

“No.”

Growling, I shook my head. “Fine. If you won’t go to her, I will bring her to you. Don’t fucking move. I fucking mean it.”

The big guy growled.

Ignoring him, I trudged up the back steps and quietly entered my house. God, it felt like years since I’d been here.

Honestly, I never thought I’d ever see the place again.

Bone fucking tired, I made it upstairs and quietly snuck into her room, walking over to her bed. Not wanting to wake the whole damn compound, I placed my hand over her mouth, startling her awake.

“Sunny. It’s me.”

She blinked a few times while I slowly removed my hand and whispered, “I need your help.”

“Is he with you?”

I nodded.

Flinging back the covers, she hurriedly got out of bed, reaching for her robe. “Where is he?”

“Out back. He refuses to come inside.”

“Take me to him.”

It took some doing, but Sunny finally got the big bastard to move. I thought for sure someone was going to shoot his ass but, in the end, the big guy gave in and did exactly what his Sunshine said.

As for me, when the two of them walked off, I headed back inside.

Standing in the doorway, watching my daughter sleep was a sight I never thought I’d see again. I’d lost so much time, all because I put my trust in two men when I should have gone with my gut. I should have just told her everything.

She would have understood.

Hell, she would have stood beside me and helped if I had just let her.

Instead, I once again kept something from her.

Something that wasn’t my secret to keep.

I should have told her about her father.

She had a right to know.

She had a right to know about everything.

Gently closing the door, I walked across the hall and opened the door to my son’s room. Stepping in, I carefully sat on his bed, running my hand over his mop of curly blond hair. He looked so much like his mother, it hurt to look at him.

He’d gotten so big since I last saw him.

I wondered if he would even remember me.

Would he forgive me?

Grabbing his blanket, I covered him up, then quietly left, walking down the hall to our bedroom.

Mine and hers.

I knew she wasn’t in there.

She wouldn’t make it that easy for me, but what I didn’t expect was to feel and smell her everywhere when I opened the door and walked in. My emotions damn near brought me to my knees. Everything was just like she left it. Bed unmade, dresser drawers open, clothes strewn everywhere. Even a glass of water sat half empty on her nightstand.

It was just like time froze when she left.

And maybe it had.

“She’s not here, brother,” Bullseye said from behind me.

“I know.”

“You home for good?”

I nodded. “My kids are here. I’m not going anywhere.”

I wasn’t leaving them again.

I’d lost too much already. I didn’t know why they were here and their mother wasn’t, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Without their mother, my kids were going to need me and for once in my life, I was going to put someone else first beside me.

“Good, because we need to talk,” Bullseye said firmly. “Now.”

Turning away from the room, I faced my brother and headed back downstairs to find what remained of the California Chapter all standing around in my living room, watching, waiting for me.

Stepping into the living room, I was greeted by Daphne, Ink’s woman, who smiled before hugging me.

“Welcome home, Reaper. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you.” I nodded while she scurried away, Ink watching her every move. My brother had a good, gentle woman. I wondered if he knew how lucky he was.

How lucky all of them were!

Seeing Massacre leaning against the far wall, a sense of relief washed over me, knowing he was here and alive. When Maxim handed me his patch back in New York, I thought the worst. That I got another one of my brothers killed because I once again kept a secret.

“Sit down, before you fall, Reaper,” Bullseye ordered as he pointed to the dining room table.

The brothers moved to take a seat themselves.

Walking over to the head of the table, I looked at the chair, then turned back to Bullseye, who stood, arms crossed over his chest, waiting for me to decide something.

I may be the President, but I wasn’t.

Not technically.

I forfeited that when I lied to my brothers and went my own way.

“If you are looking for my permission, you’re gonna be waiting a long time. Just sit the hell down.”

Pulling out the chair, I sat, looking around the table at all my brothers. They didn’t look entirely happy to see me.

I didn’t blame them either.

I went back on my word. Kept another secret from them. Only this time, it wasn’t my secret to tell. I just wanted to keep my wife safe. They couldn’t blame me for that, but the other shit they could.

Instead of coming clean about the alliance with the Soulless Sinners and Maxim Fedorov, I went against my better judgment and left them all out of the loop. Instead of relying on my brothers, I reverted to doing what I always did and it cost me everything that mattered.

My club.

My brothers.

My family.

My wife.

A moment later, Catarina, Player’s wife, walked in carrying a tray of coffee mugs, followed by Daphne, who carried two pots of coffee, placing them at the center of the table before leaving.

The second the wives left, Bullseye took his seat next to me, leaned forward, placed his elbows on the table, and sighed.

No one moved.

No one said a word.

The silence was deafening.

Spoke volumes, considering not one man at this table had a problem speaking their mind. I had put this club through hell over the last several years. We’d lost so much, too much. Some more than others, but the men sitting around the table were my brothers, my family

Now it was time to atone for all the shit I did.

“I don’t know what to say to you all.”

“Better think of something, Prez, ‘cause Bullseye’s ready to shoot your ass.” Massacre smirked, easing the tension around the table as some of the brothers chuckled.

Massacre was good at doing that.

I missed the goofy brother and was eternally grateful he was with us again.

“I wouldn’t mind doing that myself,” Matrix mumbled, glaring at me.

“Anyone follow you here?” Ravage asked point blank, getting down to business.

“Maybe, I don’t know,” I said, sighing, rubbing the back of my neck. “I just knew I needed to get Sandman to Sunny. He’s in bad shape.”

“This club is in bad shape,” Phantom snarked, scowling at me.

“Where is Savage?”

“Sent him home to Jessica. He’s gonna take over the Tennessee Chapter. Ravage is transferring here,” Bullseye explained. “You should also know that I called in the marker with the Soulless Sinners. They owed our club. I wanted to make sure they paid.”

“What did you ask for?”

“Satan’s Angels. Dead. Eradicated. Instead, that cheating mother fucker took the easy way out. Have about ten to fifteen years before those bastards come for us.”

“You severed ties?”

Bullseye nodded.

Well, that made it easier for me.

I was planning on doing that, anyway.

Neither Maxim nor Montana kept their end of the bargain. As far as I was concerned, they were persona non grata, and if they ever showed their faces around me again, I was going to kill the fuckers.

“Scab is still out there,” I said, leaning back in the chair. “He’s working with Chaos. That’s how Scab was able to stay on Sandman’s tail the whole time. Almost got him in Oklahoma, but then everything went to shit.”

Brothers shifted in their seats.

Ravage leaned forward. “Montana said that little bitch was dead after the shit that went down in Tennessee over a year ago.”

“He lied.”

“I’m going to kill that motherfucker,” Bullseye growled.

“We need to talk about what happened,” I said, looking at Bullseye.

They all needed to know.

Everything.

“We already know, Prez,” Hangman stated, holding a cup of coffee. He looked like shit. Lost a lot of weight too. Something was going on with him, but I couldn’t think about that now. Right now, I needed to tell them everything. Hangman added, “Massacre and Bullseye filled us all in. Ain’t gonna say I agree with what you did, but I understand it.”

“Me too.” Player nodded. “Don’t like it, but I understand.”

“Are the tunnels secure?”

“Yep.” Massacre smiled. “Saw to that shit myself. Plus, Sypher and Ace are here. They updated everything. Got all the new bells and whistles. Anything moves down there and the whole place goes on lockdown.”

“Why are the Wraith Warriors here? I get Disturbed, but not them.”

Ink smirked. “Gonna let Sunny and Sandman explain that one. Let’s just say they are now family.”

Looking for an answer, I stared at Bullseye, who grinned. “Wraith is Soleil’s uncle.”

“Didn’t see that one coming,” I uttered with a smirk. “How is Sunny taking that revelation?”

“She seems okay with it.” Phantom sighed. “Soleil adores Wraith. Found out that Soleil’s mom, Fleur, was part of the church cult in Oregon. Wraith called the FBI hotline and sent in documents. His sister was one of the dead.”

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered. “Maybe I should have let Ghost burn that place down when he wanted to.”

“Should have done a lot of stuff but didn’t,” Bullseye growled, adding, “Before you ask, Ghost is gone. Handed in his cut and fucking left. He’s out. Took Ari and the kids and moved to Oklahoma to be closer to Shadow and his sisters. Last we heard, he’s happy.”

I grinned at that.

At least someone was happy.