Page 87 of Reaper and Ruin

Wyatt was a shell of the man he’d been when his wife and kids were alive. Wyatt was dead on the inside, fucking around for money because it was the only time he’d felt even a spark of being alive.

I wanted to be Whip. With X driving me nuts. With Violet sweet and soft in my arms.

With Levi beneath the sheets, his body hard against mine, his fingers and tongue and cock demanding.

Fuck Levi. Fuck him for making me want that. Fuck him for only giving it to me when we were behind closed doors but never outside them.

“He can think what he wants,” I told Kade.

Kade chuckled beneath his breath and pulled me past a roped-off area, giving the bouncer watching it a nod.

“Cedric know his security is somewhat lacking?” I asked. “That guy didn’t even look twice at me.”

“He thinks we’re going down here to fuck. The whole club probably does. But you already know that, don’t you? And you’re using it to make Jail Bird jealous.”

On instinct, I shook my head.

Kade laughed it off. “Come on, we’re here.” He rapped his knuckles across an unmarked black door. He opened it as he called out, “Ric! Got someone here who has news about Nyah.”

I was willing to admit I had been envisioning a scene out of aGodfathermovie. I’d expected men in expensive dark-colored suits, sitting around a mob boss, his fingers adorned in gold, and beautiful, scantily clad women draped all over him.

The reality was quite different. A slim man with black-rimmed glasses sat behind a desk, peering at a computer screen. The desktop was a mess of papers, pens, and take-out coffee cups. There was no dark, suave suit to be seen. Just a nineties retro T-shirt with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on it.

Kade cleared his throat. “Ric. This is Whip. He needs to talk to you.”

Cedric dragged his gaze away from the screen and blinked up at me. “Is she dead?”

I bit my lip. He’d said it bluntly but not without emotion. He tried to hide it, but his fingers shook as he lowered them beneath the table.

This guy was not at all what I’d expected. “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I hope not. She went missing two days ago, and nobody has seen or heard from her since. We were hoping that—”

He let out a sharp laugh. “You were hoping my father had her?” He shook his head. “You’d be better off wishing she was dead. Because that’s what she’d prefer if he does have her.”

“You sure he doesn’t?”

Cedric nodded. “My father barely notices me. I run his books. Keep track of his finances. Our other brothers are his brawn and the outward-facing muscle of his business, but—” He gestured down at himself. “I never exactly fit the mold. So I was put to work in other ways, behind the scenes.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on in my father’s house. If he had Nyah picked up, then I would know.” He turned back to his computer. “I’m sure she’s fine. She probably just got spooked that our dad knew where she was and had to move on.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. She’s become really close with my girl and she’d started a relationship with a friend of mine. I don’t think she would have just walked out on both of them without a word.”

“She walked out on me without so much as a goodbye, and I’m her brother. This is just what she does. I can’t even be mad at her for it. If Dad were going to marry me off to one of his ancient, narcissistic, violent friends, then I would run without looking back too.”

I still wasn’t convinced.

Cedric sighed and sat back in his chair. “I can see you actually care about her, and I appreciate that. But she’s run before, andshe’ll run again. This is her life. If my dad catches up with her, she may as well be in prison for the rest of her days. You can’t blame her for just skipping town. If she saw someone we know, that would have been enough to send her running to start over again. She wouldn’t risk someone mentioning where she was to our parents.” He stood, holding out his hand, clearly ending this impromptu little meeting. “I appreciate you making the trip out here. It’s clear my sister made some true friends, and for that, I’m really grateful. She deserves some happiness. I’m just sorry it couldn’t last.”

I took his hand. “Me too. My girl and her, they were close.”

Cedric nodded, and there was true regret in his expression. “Enjoy yourselves tonight. Kade, give them whatever they want, on the house.” He eyed me. “But in the morning, be smart and leave. Go back home before our father gets wind of your presence. He ruins everything he touches. Don’t let that be you.”

His gaze slid back to his computer, and I realized I was being dismissed.

His warning didn’t scare me. But I believed him when he said Nyah wasn’t here. It was what I’d suspected all along but just hadn’t wanted to believe.

Maybe his suggestion that Nyah had run was true. For all I knew, she’d gotten on a train that morning and was now sunning herself on a beach a few hours up the coast where nobody knew her.

I hoped like hell that was the truth.

But my gut said it wasn’t.