Page 18 of Reaper

Beside Punisher is a man who is almost identical to him, except an older version. Odin has the same murderous glare in his sky-blue eyes, a similar build, and the same blond hair. Unlike Punisher though, Odin has his long blond hair almost completely braided in various sizes of braids and he has a bit of gray starting to show at his temples. Odin looks down at me, and with an almost soft, fatherlike expression, he tilts his head back toward the others. I blink and shake myself a bit as I come out of my thoughts to find Richard belittling me again, and I wonder what I’ve missed.

“...I can’t say this enough. That I’m relieved her true colors have shown before my Aiden was snared in her trap. The Coxes don’t affiliate with low-life thugs and criminals such as the likes of you.”

I bristle and my fingernails dig into Reaper’s arm again as I try to push past him. My teeth grind so hard I’m surprised I don’t crack a tooth.

This time, he lets me step in front of him, but he rests his hand on the small of my back, almost as if he’s ready to pull me behind him at a second’s notice.

“How dare you speak about me like that! It isn’t any of your business who I have as a friend or who I see, but for the record, Reaper and I are just friends.”

I know ‘friends’ is a far stretch at the moment, since we just had our first real conversation just minutes ago, but it’s what I’m going with. Especially with how he and his friends are sticking up for me. Reaper’s arm moves from the small of my back and he grips my hip, squeezing it slightly. The action almost short circuits my brain as heat spreads throughout me, but I shake it off.

“And I’m not blackmailing you.Youare the one that ordered your son to do whatever was necessary to get his hands on our property and land.” All around us, there are gasps of surprise as I reveal the motive behind Aiden’s actions, but I ignore them.

“You and your wifeare the ones that sat silent through every supper, event, or gathering we were at together, including when we started planning our wedding. You bothknewAiden was seeing Kelly behind my back the entire time and you said nothing. You are despicable, and if anything, I’m relieved I don’t have to tie myself to a sniveling baby who can’t stand up to his own father. I’m relieved that I’m not going to be tied to your fucking conniving and manipulating family. Now, leave my restaurant and leave us alone. Stop harassing us. We will never sell, so find some other spot for your precious resort.” I pause again, turning my attention to Kelly as I narrow my eyes at her. “Stop spreading your ridiculous lies. Stop tagging me in whatever you’re posting. Stop sending me text messages showing you and Aiden as a happy couple and images of your sonograms. Stop all of that.All of it.And that’s for every single one of you and anyone that works for you or is tied to you. Stop and I won’t release the video. But if you come after me, my family, our restaurant, our home, or our land ever again, I’ll upload it onto every social media account there is. Now, like Reaper said, get out.”

I pause and wait, but when none of them make a move to leave, I pull my phone out of my pocket and open up my personal social media page. I attach the image of the video, along with a short message, making sure to tag all four of them. Reaper’s grip tightens on my waist, and I know he’s seen the paused image of Aiden and Kelly in my room because I can feel the anger rolling off him even though I can’t see him. I turn my phone around, wiggling it slightly at Richard.

“I’m dead serious. Leave and never bother any of us again, inanyway, or I will release this.” My voice is hard, and even though I’m fucking furious, I’m also scared that I’m opening a major can of worms that I’ll never be able to put the lid back on. Taking a deep breath, I borrow strength from Reaper and his friends standing at my back. “If you don’t leave, I’ll hit send and ask my friends here to forcefully remove you from the premises. The next step is to call the cops and file harassment charges as well as getting a restraining order against all of you.”

I cock my eyebrow at Richard, who’s glaring down at the paused video on my phone. His face gets redder as he turns his attention back to me, and I seriously wonder if he’s going to have a heart attack.

“You will regret this,” he hisses, and his face blanches as I reach up, hovering my finger over the post button.

“No, I won’t.”

His scowl deepens as he turns and it’s then that I see Jessica, Aiden’s mom, sitting there sipping her wine and looking bored. Her eyes are glazed, more than they should be from a single glass of wine, and I wonder if she’s on anything else. Or if she’d already had some wine before coming here tonight. Then again, if I had to be trapped in a house with Richard, I’d probably be drunk the entire time, too.

I shake off my worries as he roughly hauls her to her feet and I’m about to step forward and say something about how he’s manhandling her, but Reaper’s other hand grasps my waist, holding me back.

Someone knocks my shoulder with theirs and I narrow my eyes at Kelly. I know she’ll be just as difficult as Richard, which prompts me to repeat myself.

“I mean it, Kelly. This is the last thing I’ll ever do for you. If you don’t harass us or come after us or our property, the video willnever get posted. But if you do, then this video will be on every single platform I can find.”

“You’re just pissed that Aiden never loved you,” she sneers, and I shake my head sadly.

“Like I said as you were leaving that night, Aiden’s already shown he has no problems with cheating. Be careful, or you’ll end up in a miserable marriage that you’ll never get out of because everyone knows the Cox family never divorces.”

She rolls her eyes as she stomps past me, holding her head high like she hasn’t done anything wrong, and I sigh. Some people will never learn, I remind myself and make myself ignore the fresh stab of betrayal from my former best friend.

Aiden steps past me, and he pauses like he wants to say something, but I shake my head, cutting him off.

“There’s nothing else left to say. Your actions have said enough.” My voice is quiet and it betrays some of the emotions that are whirling inside me, but I know he still hears me by the small drop in his shoulders.

He nods and follows Kelly and his parents out.

I blink as the door shuts behind them and take a deep breath before jolting as I realize everyone is staring either at me or the door. Fingers slightly trembling, I quickly delete my message and pocket my phone before clearing my throat.

“I am extremely sorry you all had to witness that. Please, enjoy your meals and your evening. There will be a percentage taken off of all your bills tonight because of the disruption.” I dip my head, and then turn, instantly missing the heat of Reaper’s hands on my waist as I put some distance between us.

“Thank you all for standing up for me and supporting me.” I swallow thickly, not wanting to think about how this mess could have turned out if they hadn’t been at my back.

“Of course, Lark. No one should have been subjected to that.” Reaper pauses, and his blue-gray eyes bore into me again. “Youand your family are a staple in this community. I don’t think, especially after tonight, that you’ll have to worry about anything. But if you do, we’re here for you.”

I can feel myself blushing, and I hate that I blush so easily. Swallowing hard, I nod. “Still, thank you.”

The corner of his lips kicks up slightly and fuck, when this man has his attention solely on you, it’s fucking hot as hell. However, even though he stood up for me and protected me, I still doubt that he’d want a woman like me. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be the main feature in a lot of my fantasies going forward.

I step around them and head back to the bar. As I do, I once again feel the weight of his gaze on my back.