Page 52 of Reaper

Her body visibly relaxes at his words and she carefully slides off his lap. Her carefulness has me wondering if her wounds are hurting her now that her anger and adrenaline aren’t driving her. She didn’t seem to be in pain downstairs, but again, her anger and adrenaline could have been hiding it.

Heading to my office, I hear her soft footsteps following behind me. I hold the door open and gesture to the sofa that’s in front of my desk.

“Have a seat, Lil’ Bit.”

I sit down at my desk opposite her as she takes her seat, tucking one leg under her.

“Timber was right, I just wanted to check in to see how you are handling everything that happened downstairs.”

She exhales slightly and nods. “I did have a little breakdown after I’d freshened up. That I had come so close to being forced into that lifestyle.”

I pause, my body tensing as my anger grows at what they’d done to her again. As well as how close we all came to losing Mae.

“As for the other stuff that I did and said, I don’t regret any of it. Honestly, I wanted to hurt them even more for what they’d done to me. For what they’d done to Frida. For what they’ve done and are doing to all those women and children. I want them to pay for all of that and I want to free those women and children.”

I smirk as I stare at her. Definitely called it. “Knew you were cut from the same cloth as Levi.” Shaking my head, my mind goes back to earlier this morning and worry once again swirls in my gut. “Everything okay between you and Timber?”

She pales slightly as she visibly swallows hard and nods as determination fills her features again. “I think so. I told him Ican’t be the one to always fight for him. He has to fight for me, too. Which means not letting other women touch him like Candi and Star were and not flirting with them. He told me he thought they were just talking and didn’t realize they were flirting with him or that they were rubbing it in my face. Honestly, I’d love to bitch slap them both, but it wouldn’t do any good.”

Not being able to help it, a booming laugh comes out of me and Mae jumps slightly, but I can’t help the grin on my face as my laughter dies away.

“Fuck, I love when you get so riled up that you actually curse instead of your usual way of cursing.” Shaking my head, I realize by her expression that she didn’t even realize she cursed, which just makes it even better.

But then I feel myself sobering as I remember the other reason why I asked her to come to my office.

Opening my mouth, I go to say something, but I can’t. Turning to look at my shelf, I eye the extra black and blue journals I have stacked there in case I need more or if any of the others need them. Gnawing on my bottom lip, I look down at my hands.

“I’m not sure how to ask this, so I’m just going to say it. I was wondering if we could talk some while we burn our black journal pages? I’m a little ashamed that I haven’t gotten to know you much this past week.”

Glancing up, I feel some of the tension in my shoulders lessening when I find her grinning at me. She stands and walks around the desk before wrapping her arms around me in a hug.

On instinct, my body tenses. That’s one of the many things that I’ve been struggling with as of late. Ever since the kidnapping, I haven’t been able to stand anyone touching me. I even have problems sometimes with Lark when she hugs me or touches my arm. Forcing myself to relax, I wrap my arms around her, returning her hug.

She pulls back and giggles, probably at my surprise that she wanted to touch me.

“I’ll go get my journal and meet you out by the firepits. Okay?”

Still slightly stunned, I nod before I once again mask my emotions and clear my throat. I have a feeling I’m probably going to regret this a bit, but I wasn’t lying in that I wanted to get to know Mae better.

“Sounds good, Lil’ Bit.”

She leans up and kisses my cheek, right on my fucking scar. Not being able to help it, I feel all of my muscles go taut again, but Mae ignores my reaction, smiling brightly at me.

“I want to get to know you better, too, Uncle Reaper. See you in a few!” she says with another smile before spinning on her heel and heading out into the main room.

Fuck.

I think I was right in that I’m going to regret part of what’s going to happen next, because I have a feeling Mae is going to put me through the wringer by wanting to know more about my past.

Shit, I’m going to have to tell her about Julia and Chris, no doubt.

That and I’m sure she’s going to ask about how I’m doing after the kidnaping.

Scrubbing my hands over my face, I lean back into my chair, exhaling heavily.

My gaze goes down to the locked drawer that I keep my journals in, and something twists in my gut as I think back to everything Mae’s gone through. Once again, I’m amazed at how someone can overcome what they’ve been dealt life, and in Mae’s instance, much like Levi’s, it includes torture that has left visible scars.

Then again, maybe some of it’s for show... Maybe they aren’t as held together as they’d like to appear…