REAPER: GOLDEN SKULLS M.C. Rebecca Joyce (romantic story to read .txt) 📖

house. But what did I know? I only went to the mall once with Shamrock and Snake and found myself lost with everything I saw.

I tried not to think of Snake or Peter. It hurt too much. I loved them both and would have done anything for them. Yet they betrayed me and paid with their lives. Shamrock didn’t mention Snake around me, but I could see the sorrow on his face at times when he missed his brother.

Two little boys came running from the kitchen as they headed for the outside, with their mother running after them. Patty. I remembered her. She was still here, helping wherever she could. According to Shamrock, Patty had taken over the cooking for the club, and the brothers were grateful. I found out that Patty’s husband was in the military and still deployed, and until he returned, she and her sons would be staying here. Not that I minded one bit. Patty was a sweet woman who had lately been sneaking me some of her baked goods when she found out I took a liking to them.

Max and I hadn’t spoken since that day where we both cried, and though I was willing, he was not. Instead, he kept busy doing whatever it was he did. Shamrock told me it was club business, and though it never bothered me before, it did now. I wondered what it was precisely that occupied his time. Was he still doing those vile things? I know he said he wasn’t, but we really hadn’t talked about it all. I needed to know the truth, and the one person who could tell me was avoiding me.

At nights, he would just come into our room and sit in a chair. He would watch me sleep. It was creepy, yet deep down, he made me feel safe. I still didn’t trust him, and he knew it.

The day was beautiful. Normal. Everything was as it should be. Life moved on. Sitting on the lounger, I looked down at my hands, noticing the brace Healer put on my fingers after he reset them. They no longer hurt, and the bruising was beginning to fade. I reached up and felt the gauze that still covered my head, closing my eyes. I knew there was no hair underneath, just scars and stitches that Healer checked regularly. My body was littered with cuts and bruises that hadn’t healed. I knew in time they would, but the scars ran deep.

I didn’t know it, but when I saw a teardrop on my hand, I paused to wipe my eyes. I’d cried so much since I had returned. I thought I was all dried up. Apparently not.

“Please stop.”

“I can’t.”

“Tell me what to do.”

“I don’t know.”

Instantly his arms were around me, holding me as my tears came in earnest. “I can’t get them to stop.”

“Then let them all out.”

That’s where I stayed. In his arms, on the lounger with the warm sun shining on my face as Max held me until I cried myself to sleep.

TWENTY-EIGHT

REAPER

“Where the fuck is he!” I shouted, slamming my hand down on the table before me as my brothers all stayed quiet, waiting for Player or Phantom to respond. I’d been patiently waiting for close to a month now. Well, as patient as I could for that mother fucker to show his face. He was somewhere out there, and as long as he walked this earth, Remi would never heal. I knew it. We all knew it. She was retreating. Falling deeper back into the void of nothing. It was like losing her all over again, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. If I had to wreak havoc on this entire planet to find that son of a bitch, I would.

When neither Player nor Phantom responded, I sat down in my chair and spoke. “Let me be perfectly clear. I want Darrin Reynold’s found within the next twenty-four hours, or I will start culling this clubhouse. If you fuckers can’t find one mother fucking man, then what good are you to me. I don’t care who finds him. Just find him.”

“Reaper,” Massacre said carefully. “We are all looking for him. All of us have people out searching for him. He will fuck up. When he does, we’ve got him.”

“Massacre is right, boss,” Chaos said. “We have his wife and kids under constant surveillance. His office, the FBI building, hell man, we managed to low-jack his car, thanks to Bullseye. When that fucker surfaces, we will know.”

“I have a theory,” Ink began cautiously. “Now, hear me out before any of you say anything. What if he isn’t where we can locate him? I’m talking somewhere underground. Off-grid. Think about it. This is a man who works hand in hand with the lowest criminals in the world. We all know they have places all around the world to hide. That’s why these fuckers get away with what they are doing. What if Reynold’s isn’t the head honcho, as we all believe. Remi said something the other day that caught my attention. We were watching TV, and a commercial came on. She cringed and asked me to change the channel immediately. I didn’t think anything of it, but then she said something odd, ‘Men like him should be in hell.’ I didn’t understand, but after a while, it still bugged me.”

“Ink, this isn’t time for one of your conspiracy theories,” Bayou stated.

“Everything is a conspiracy, now hear me out a minute. The commercial was about that new watch, you know the one that’s supposed to help you live your life better, check your heart rate, steps, how much food you eat, locate you if you’re lost—all kinds of shit. Anyway, the owner of the company was talking about it. What’s his name…”

“Christopher Wheatly!” Axel, Shamrock, and Viper all said at once.

“That’s him!” Ink snapped his fingers and continued. “The man is like some mega-billionaire or