Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“What happened?” Czar snapped before anyone else could say anything.
Reaper tossed the leather carrier bag onto the table. “Assholes called us in a little late. Who the fuck goes off to hide leaving their wife and kid to face certain death because they don’t want to pay a gambling debt? He’s supposed to be the big-ass president of a club and he’s hiding in a dark hole surrounded by his brothers, leaving his woman and child exposed.” He poured a wealth of disgust into his voice, because, really? Who did that? Who could live with themselves? How could his brothers look up to him? “I wanted to cut his throat.” He glared at Czar. “Don’t send me on a mission like that one again. Next time, I won’t have such restraint.”
Czar studied his face. Reaper kept his expression blank. Czar shook his head. “First, tell me how you got blood all over your shirt. Is that yours? Or someone else’s? Please tell me it isn’t the client’s.”
Reaper shrugged because, hell yeah, some of it was that douchebag client’s. The club was called Mayhem. Laughable. Truly laughable. In Reaper’s opinion, the bullshit president had deserved to die, so, yeah, he’d shown restraint. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. The weasel ran up a gambling debt and then, rather than pay it, when the goons showed up to collect, had his boys get him to safety. He went across two states and only then remembered he had a wife and daughter.”
“And he contacted us to get them to safety,” Czar reminded, his tone mild.
“After he made sure his ass was in the clear. Two days later, Czar. Two fuckin’ days. He didn’t even warn her. By the time we got there, so had the idiots who’d been sent to collect. Bodies or money.” He touched his side. The burn of that blade going in was still fresh. “They decided to have a little fun with the two of them before they cut them up. Girl is fourteen.”
“You stepped between the girl and the knife,” Czar said.
Reaper didn’t answer. What was there to say? Was he really going to let a pathetic excuse of a human being kill a fourteen-year-old girl and her mother? Not happening.
“How many stitches?” Code asked.
“What the hell difference does it make?”
“Someone’s in a bad mood,” Code observed. “Five? More?”
“Six. I don’t need the doc. I took care of it myself.”
A small hoot of derisive laughter went up. Reaper flipped them off.
“I gotta see this,” Ice said. “If it’s anything like the last time you stitched yourself up, you’ll be looking like Frankenstein in no time.”
“Already does,” Code said. “Just a little.”
Reaper glanced at Savage. He hadn’t cracked a smile and there was a slight hint of worry in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything.
“You taking antibiotics?” Czar asked.
“I will. I’ll get them from the doc.”
“Tell me what really happened, because otherwise, I’m going to think you’re slowing down. You could have killed these idiots in seconds, Reaper. What the hell were you doing to take a hit that cost you six stitches?”
“We’re done talkin’ about this,” Reaper declared.
“We’re done when I say we’re done.” Czar’s voice dropped an octave, low enough that the room went silent. Low enough to caution Reaper that his president wasn’t asking.
Reaper shook his head. When Czar talked like that, he expected answers. “Didn’t want the kid to see me kill him. I directed the hit where I knew it wouldn’t do much damage. She had Down syndrome and she was terrified. Her father left them hanging out there like that. Pissed me off. I didn’t want the kid to suffer any more than she already had.”
Czar sighed. “Reaper, she’s the daughter of the president of a motorcycle club. The Mayhem Club may not be as big as the Diamondbacks, but they’re violent. She’s bound to have seen things.”
“She was terrified,” Reaper repeated. “It was my call. I had her close her eyes, turn her head away and then I killed the bastard. Before she could look, I covered her eyes and took her the hell out of there.”
“You don’t get to take chances with your life,” Czar hissed, slamming his palm on the table.
Reaper leaned toward him. Looked him in the eye. “I’ve been takin’ chances with my life since I was five years old. I’ve been killin’ that long. I know how to take a blade when I need to.”
“The point is, you didn’t need to,” Czar snapped.
“My call. I’m there, I have to make the decision. You’ll be happy to know I didn’t kill her father when we delivered them safe to him, although it took restraint. He was willing to pay us the fee we asked for, but not pay his gambling debt? He put his wife and daughter in jeopardy, Czar. What kind of man does that?”