Page 55 of Reaper's Claim

He hadn’t spoken a word. His face held no expression, and his eyes showed no remorse. I took a step back, letting my arm fall to my side. The tears fell while my lungs struggled for air. “You wanted the truth, and there it is.”

He just stood there, and why did that shock me? He is called the Reaper for a reason. My lips formed a tight line, and when I couldn’t take the silence anymore, I turned my back and walked away.

Time had passed, but the wounds still hadn’t healed. How was that even possible?

Closing my bedroom door, I slid down it, leaning my head against my knees. All this time I had thought I was over him when really I had just been covering the wound up. Now the Band-Aid was off and the tears just wouldn’t stop.

Chapter 20

Abby

I didn’t think it was possible, but the tears did stop. When they did, my clarity followed soon after. I had cleansed him out of my system, and I would love to say forever, but I knew better than to believe that.

“Abby?” Drake knocked on my door before entering. “We’re ordering pizza, are you interested? Oh, wow.” His mouth dropped open.

“How do I look?” I turned my back to the mirror to face him. I never really cared for a cocktail dress, but it was black. It was meant to be sexy, so I hoped that the two would help me tonight.

He slowly nodded his head, “Um, yep, wow.” He finally brought his eyes to mine, “Where are you heading out in that?”

I could tell him the truth, or I could lie. “Nowhere special.” I decided to avoid the question altogether. “I will have to give the pizza a miss tonight.”

“Clearly,” he muttered.

I picked up my oversized purse from the bed and followed Drake out. “So I guess you guys have the house to yourself.”

“Are you coming back tonight?” He still couldn’t take his eyes off me, which gave me a confidence boost.

“Not sure. I hope so.” I gave him a side smile and took the steps one at a time. These high heels could kill me. I was sure of it.

“Abby is heading out, so it’s just us,” Drake spoke into the lounge while I made every effort not to look at Kade.

“Night.” I waved over my shoulder and headed for the front door. It’s not hard to say a word, but it seemed like Kade had just forgotten how to speak altogether. Great that he discovered this after I spilled my every secret to him.

***

He wasn’t someone important, and why Adam wanted me to flirt with him, I didn’t know. But I did it, and I guess I did a good job because after I was done, I got a message saying, ‘great work speak soon, Adam.’

I closed the front door softly and pulled my heels off one at a time.

“Starting to think you weren’t coming back.”

I froze in the foyer, holding my heels, and slowly turned to look through the opening to the lounge. Of course he wouldn’t be in bed like a normal person.

“Well, I am.” I gave Kade a dry look “Surprised to see you are still up.”

“Really?” He walked towards me, “Because I thought it was obvious that our conversation wasn’t over.”

“You mean the conversation the other night that ended when I walked out of the room.”

I wouldn’t let him think he had the upper hand. I hadn’t been like a little girl, hanging on his every word, waiting for him to continue.

“You can’t just dump that on a man and expect him to have an answer, Abby.” The fact he was now standing in front of me made it a lot harder for me to think straight.

“Well, next time I will put it on Post-It notes for you.” I looked him sharply in the face. “Now if you don’t mind, I want to go to bed.”

Want to know what the problem is having an argument with a hotheaded biker? They decide when the conversation ends, so I wasn’t even the slightest bit surprised when he gripped my wrist, turning me back to face him.

“Reel in the bitch, would you, Abby?” he fumed down at me.