Page 137 of Reaper

A moment later, I laugh as Mae pushes her way through the crowd and hugs me. “You’re here!”

I return her hug, grateful that Mae really does seem like she had on the video chats.

She pulls back and turns to Miracle and waves. “I’m assuming you’re Miracle from what Lark and Reaper have told me. Thanksfor coming. I’m Mae and my Old Man is Timber,” she says as she points him out.

Miracle smiles and puts down Cassie when she wiggles to be set down. “I am and thanks for inviting me. Lark’s told me a lot about you guys and your club, so it’s nice to finally put faces to names.”

Mae snags both of our hands and pulls us over toward the couches. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the other ladies.”

When we get to the couches, Miracle and I sit down toward one end of the couch and Mae sits next to me.

“Okay, on the left, we have our lovely queen, Levi, she’s Thor and Dragon’s Old Lady if you didn’t already know, Miracle. Beside her is Mary and her Old Man is Patch. Three of the kiddos running around are theirs—you’ve already met Cassie, but the other two are Ash and Izzy. Susie is Axe’s sister and her son is Jordan. Next to her is Nikki and her daughter is Sadie. Nikki is my aunt, and my dad is Smoke. Elvira is in the kids’ playroom, and I think Mama Astrid went to visit with her in there as well. Elvira is Drae’s mother-in-law and Drae’s daughter is Lindsey.”

My heart breaks a little at that having already heard their story and Jane, Lindsey’s mom and Drae’s girlfriend, being killed by the same men and group that killed Lillian, Mae’s mom. I silently curse myself at Miracle’s slightly confused expression before she masks it. She doesn’t know what happened. I’ll have to mention a little about what happened later.

“So, how long have you guys known each other?” Mary asks us. Miracle and I share a grin.

“Pretty much since we were born. Our moms are best friends so we’re diaper besties as we call it,” I tell them which gets the conversation going.

The more we talk, the more both Miracle and I relax. Levi catches my eye and winks at me. I can’t help but grin in return.

Reaper walks over with a fresh drink for Miracle and me. I take mine and tilt my head back on the couch, silently asking for a kiss. He smirks and leans down, kissing me.

“Bow chicka wow wow,” Miracle and Sasha sass in unison which has both of us breaking apart, laughing.

“Dinner will be here in about thirty, ladies,” he tells us before straightening and walking back to the bar.

Mae giggles. “So how long have you been seeing Reaper? When I talked to him in September, I didn’t think he was seeing anyone.”

I roll my lips in, my good mood suddenly disappearing. Miracle reaches over, taking one of my hands in hers and almost immediately, Levi, Sasha, Nikki, Mary, Susie, and Mae quiet down.

I clear my throat. “Well, ah.” I pause and exhale heavily. “I guess you could say about a year and a half.”

All of their eyes widen in surprise at that.

“In May of last year, I caught my fiancé, Aiden, in bed with my best friend, Kelly. In my bed at my family’s house. A few days later, Aiden and Kelly came into my family’s supper club along with Aiden’s parents, Richard and Jessica Cox.”

Levi makes an unimpressed sound. “Fuck, I hate that fucking family. Learned a lot about them this past summer…” her voice trails off and her eyes widen in shock. “It was you… Reaper told me one of his friends recently broke off an engagement to that spineless dirtbag that’s set to inherit everything of Richard’s.”

I nod, my lips pressed thin. “That was me. They came into the restaurant and a few minutes later, Reaper, Devil, Cannon, Atlas, Punisher, and Odin came in. When Kelly made a scene, which Richard soon jumped in on, the guys came and backed me up. Looking back, even though I was two days out from breaking off my engagement, that’s really when things changed for Reaper and me.

“However, it wasn’t until after the fires in September last year that he told me he wanted me as his woman, but, at the time, I was still trying to figure my new life out after being trapped in my house,” I tell them as I push aside my hair and turn, showing them my burns.

“I wasn’t ready for a relationship, but looking back now, I wish I would have told him yes. I mean, he was there for me whenever I needed him and we talked every day, but I think I would have gotten through things better and maybe even quicker if he were fully at my side through it all.”

“Did you have to totally rebuild?” Mary asks and sadly, I nod.

“Yeah, we did. The house and the supper club. Our family’s lived in that house since 1931. The supper club was built that same year too. Because of the arsonist, we lost almost all of our family’s history and memorabilia.”

Miracle squeezes my hand. “At least you did all that preparation for your grandparents wedding anniversary two years prior.” She pauses and looks over at the others. “For their sixtieth anniversary, Lark put together an amazing slideshow for them, but in the process, she scanned all of their documents, pictures, everything she could get her hands on. They might not be the original’s anymore, but at least you have those documents.”

I nod again, giving her a small smile. “We were able to save some things, and for the rest, I found a company that would ensure the reprints were printed the same as how they would have looked in their respective eras.”

I take a sip of my drink and go back to Mae’s question.

“As for when we officially became a couple, it was actually on Friday, October 13th.”

They all laugh at that, though Sasha more so than the others.