Page 154 of Reaper's Claim

I kept saying it, but that still didn’t mean I meant it.

Reaper’s words had whipped across me, and it hurt; it still hurt.

“Your old man being sick puts a lot of pressure on him. He walked away from a President patch; he never wanted the responsibility of it again. Suddenly he has it fucking dumped on him, and the safety of the President’s daughters is on the top of his list.”

“Don’t make excuses for him.” I turned my head back on to Dad. “Anyway, I don’t care.”

Brad’s leather crackled as he moved. “He’ll wake up.” He still had his hand on my shoulder, and when he didn’t lift it, I was glad.

Because right now I was scared of losing my dad.

“I hope so.” My voice was barely above a whisper. Tears filled my eyes for the second time tonight. “The last time we spoke, I was yelling at him.”

“Most of Roach’s conversations involve yelling.”

“But I started it.” I glanced away from Dad, meeting Brad’s smooth, kind eyes. “I can’t even remember what it was about.”

Brad ran a hand through his messy black hair and sighed slowly before he did something I hadn’t expected. He dipped his head, locking his eyes with mine. “Stop beating yourself up.” He cupped my cheek. “And fucking stop crying because it doesn’t suit you.” He wiped away a tear with his thumb.

I smiled weakly. “When did you become so soft?”

A smirk spread across his lips, “Can’t stop the charm when a pretty girl is involved.”

I didn’t know what I could call the feeling that engulfed me hearing that, but it was something that softened me and stopped my stomach swirling with nerves, and somehow, it gave me some relief.

Chapter 65

Abby

It had been twenty-six hours since Dad had come out of surgery, and he still hadn’t woken up.

“You girls need to go home, shower, get some sleep, and come back. You heard the doctor, it could be days before he wakes up,” Trigger attempted to reason with us.

The boys had left and came back this morning.

I hadn’t acknowledged Reaper, even though his presence in this room was causing me to suffocate.

“Trigger has a point, Abby,” Brad backed him up.

Kim had gotten a few broken hours of sleep last night. I couldn’t. The chair was uncomfortable.

I was too busy watching the nurse check Dad to look at them. But I would bet they were giving us a pleading smile to go with their convincing words.

“I’m fine,” I said, clipping my words. I didn’t want to talk to them. I was tired and angry.

“So am I.” Kim gave them her answer.

“You know,” the nurse turned to look at us, “I could arrange for another bed to be brought in here and perhaps if the girls really don’t want to leave, you could bring them a change of clothes. There is a full en-suite to the left, you both are more than welcome to use it.”

I blinked continually at her. Why hadn’t we thought of that?

“I like her idea better.” Kim said and twisted in her seat. “Could you organize someone to bring our clothes up? Cherry or Red could do it.”

There was a heavy sigh behind us. “Better than nothing,” Trigger muttered. “We’ll organize it.”

“Abby, I need to speak to you.”

I didn’t need to turn around to know who was speaking to me. I knew that voice better than I knew my own.