Chapter Twenty-Three #2
He scowls. “Laying low. They did a number on him, broke a few ribs.” He sighs and sets his hands on my shoulders.
“It’ll be fine, I promise. None of my people are snitches, and they’d never say anything about their president’s girl.
Most of them really are amazed by you and thankful that you protected me. ”
“Most?”
“Nobody can please everyone at once.”
I bite my cheek, only now realizing how anxious I’ve been to see them after Sunday. Theo settles his palm on my face, thumb swiping lightly over my bruised cheekbone. “Don’t be ashamed of who you are or afraid of letting them see you. You’re not broken. You’re everything .”
My eyes burn, and I avoid looking directly into Theo’s.
“These people live in purgatory; they’re not going to turn their backs on the reaper.”
A soft smile lifts the corner of my lips. “Fine, let’s go.”
Like our first visit to the clubhouse, over a dozen bikes are out front. I’m just as hesitant to head inside now as I was then, but for completely different reasons. And like two weeks ago, our entrance earns the attention of everyone.
It’s silent at first, as everyone turns to us. Then there’s an eruption. People cheer and holler. Raph shouts something about me being the new savior of purgatory, and Luna winks from where she’s standing by the fireplace, beer in hand.
My cheeks burn, and my hand sweats in Theo’s grasp. He squeezes it once and says, “You idiots suck at not making a big deal.”
“Sorry, boss,” Benny says, though he doesn’t sound or look sorry with a smile that stretches ear to ear.
“We missed you, Graves,” Valor says.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Theo says. When people don’t look away, he repeats, “That’s enough,” in a more commanding tone that makes everyone shift their attention away from us.
Luna skips over. Today, she’s wearing a short, red leather dress that's so tight I’m not sure how she rode her bike over here.
Though I have seen her ride in a pair of pants, then take them off when she’s done riding.
“Killer, long time no see.” Her smile shows off the tips of her teeth, giving the illusion that she’s a vampire studying her next meal.
Pieces of Monday night and Theo’s words yesterday morning return, and my core pulses with interest.
“It’s been two days,” I say, accepting her hug with one arm since my other hand is still clasped firmly in Theo’s.
“Around here, that’s like an eternity.” She looks at Theo, who towers over her short stature. “Hey, boss.” She doesn’t say anything else, but there’s a clear suggestion in her expression.
He frowns and says in a low, almost threatening voice, “Later.”
She still presses a brave kiss to my cheek before rushing off. His hold on my hand turns painful, and he mutters something about murder under his breath.
I chuckle and whisper, “Which one of us is the reaper again?”
He shakes his head. We continue through the room I intimately know now after spending hours here, often exploring on my own. Today, Theo stays glued to my side, like leaving me was never an option.
For the most part, the Saints act normal and don’t bring up Sunday. Some of the braver and dumber ones, like Raphael, do make comments.
“You never mentioned how badass you are,” he says.
I raise my brows. “Didn’t realize I had to.”
“Guess you didn’t. Just, with the boss’s history…” He catches Theo’s warning glare and quickly changes lanes. “Anyway, I’m glad he found you. He deserves someone who has his back.”
That hits me harder than I expected.
Do I have Theo’s back? I did save his life, but it was the heat of the moment. I was in fight mode. I hadn’t killed in too long. I saw a threat and acted. It wasn’t only about Theo. And these people don’t know what I planned to do to their leader.
My breath catches when I process that I planned to kill Theo. Not that I plan to.
Because I don’t. Not anymore. There’s no way I could kill him now. What does that make me? A hypocritical coward? I know I'm not some transformed person who no longer has the psychotic need to kill. The fire still burns. I’ll still have to douse it with blood.
It’ll just be someone else’s. Not Theo’s.
The rest of the night is fun, and I’m actually disappointed when Theo says we’re leaving.
The disappointment vanishes when he whispers in my ear, “We both have early mornings, and I plan to spend at least an hour making you scream my name before I let you sleep.”
The next day, he says he’ll be busy all evening, once again with the mysterious “club business” he refuses to give me any information about.
I decide to use the night to see the girls and text them about hanging out.
While Sadie and Rose argue about what we’re going to do in the group chat—Evelyn is suspiciously silent—I text Luna to ask if she’s free to drive me somewhere.
She asks where, then wastes no time suggesting I invite the girls to Theo’s house so all five of us can hang out.
Or more likely all four of us, because I doubt Evelyn will join.
Sadie and Rose enthusiastically agree, and soon I’m standing in the middle of the living room, looking around for anything to clean or hide before my best friends show up at the house of the criminal motorcycle club leader whom I tried to kill and am now fucking at every possible chance.
I’m straightening the couch where I found a pair of my underwear stuffed behind a pillow when the front door swings open. “Killer!” Luna shouts, stopping in the kitchen to set the two bags she’s holding on the island counter.
“Lu!” I say. “There’s nothing overtly illegal in sight, is there?”
“You mean serial killer trophies or drugs? Nope!” She pops the ‘p’ on the end of the word and smiles wide.
“Cool, thanks.”
“Nervous for your goody-two-shoes friends to see your boyfriend’s house?”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” The answer comes automatically but with barely any weight.
“Sure.” She winks and helps me unload the groceries for a taco bar and margaritas. “And your Skittles,” she finishes. I take the extended candy bag and set it with the margarita ingredients.
“These are for the drinks.”
“How are Skittles for drinks?”
“You’ll see.”
The island is fully stocked with every taco topping by the time there’s a knock at the front door. My heart skips a beat, and I nervously straighten my top, pausing at the look on Luna’s face.
“What?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing.”
I frown at her, then head to the front door.
“Hey!” they both shout, throwing themselves at me. I laugh, catching them and returning the fierce hugs. Rose’s dark brown hair is in its natural curls now, a big difference from the box braids she had last week.
“So, this is the home of the sex god?” Sadie says, turning in a slow circle. She meets Luna’s eyes and says, “You’re Luna!”
Luna nods, eyebrows raised. Looking from Sadie to Rose, she says, “You’re Sadie? And Rose! I’m so excited to finally meet you.”
“ You’re excited? Bitch, I’ve never heard June talk about anyone like she talks about you guys.”
“Oh?” Luna smirks at me, and a blush colors my cheeks.
“Okay! Introductions over!” I shout, preparing to drag the girls to the makeshift taco bar.
I don’t get the chance before Rose saunters over and adds, “Introductions just began! So, Luna, I hear you’re gay?”
I drop my face in my hands. Luna laughs. “Very. I hear you’re queer and, you, Sadie, are ‘pretty damn straight,’” she says, making air quotes with her fingers.
“Oh, I must know this conversation,” Sadie says.
Luna happily obliges. It’s like we’ve all been friends for years. After filling our tacos and making margaritas, I grab a handful of Skittles and say, “I’m about to change your life,” then drop them into Luna’s glass.
“Skittles, fuck yes!” Sadie says, doing the same to her drink.
Luna takes a hesitant sip, then smiles.
“Ha! Told you!” I shout.
“I never doubted you.”
“Did I tell you guys that Vanessa wants to give up sugar?” Rose says, adding a rim of it, instead of salt, to her glass. “I think we have to break up.”
I scoff. “You’d never break up with Vanessa.”
“Ooh, Vanessa,” Luna says in a singsong voice. “Do tell!”
Rose tells. With enough detail to fill the twenty minutes it takes for us to eat several tacos sitting in the living room. Sadie and Luna are next, sharing their stories about various partners. Then all three look at me. I wipe a line of salt off my lip and swallow a mouthful of margarita.
“Oh no. No, no, no. You all know plenty. You,” I point to Luna, “know too much.”
“Not enough yet,” she mutters into her glass. Since she’s sitting next to me, I’m the only one who hears.
“I need more!” Rose says. “Like, does he have any siblings? Where did he grow up? Why did he become a biker? How many tattoos does he have? Does he like your tattoos? How big is his dick?”
“Rose!” I shout.
“I can help!” Luna.
“Don’t encourage them, Lu!”
“Please, encourage us, Lu!” Sadie says.
I groan. “You get one question.”
“Six,” Sadie says.
“Two.”
“Five.”
“Three.”
“Four.”
I shake my head. “Three.”
“Fine, three. Deal.” Sadie extends her hand. We shake on the agreement. Luna watches the entire interaction with bemused intrigue.
“You want the first one?” Sadie asks Rose.
She nods. “What’s his family like?”
I frown. “The Saints are his family. And they’re… a lot. Some of them,” I gesture to Luna, “are amazing. James, his roommate, is basically his brother. He’s tall, ginger, and tattooed. He’s nice but protective. I get the feeling he doesn’t let people in easily.”
“She’s not wrong,” Luna adds. “But killer here is getting past those hardened walls.”
“Killer?” Rose asks.
“She thinks she’s being clever,” I say. “I’ve gotten a lot of nicknames based on Graves.”
“Nah, it’s because you’re a lady killer. Or man killer, I guess. Really, an everyone killer with that face,” Luna says. I hear the double meaning in her words, but she’s thankfully nonchalant with how she says it. Still, Sadie’s eyes twinkle as she turns her inquisitive gaze from Luna to me.
After a moment, she says, “Okay, my turn. How big is his dick?”
“I haven’t measured it, Sadie!” I say, cheeks reddening despite expecting the question.
“Just ballpark! Small? Average? Big? Huge? Painful?”
Knowing I won’t get past the question, I make a guess and hold my hands nearly seven inches apart. Luna reaches over and pushes my hand further. “You’re right,” I say without thinking. Both Rose and Sadie look between us, brows pulled together. “What?”
“I thought you were…” Rose says.
Luna shrugs. “Doesn’t mean I don’t know how big things are.”
“And he has a Prince Albert,” I say.
Rose’s face contorts in a painful expression. Sadie grins and says, “Oh, hell yeah. Love a pierced man.”
Deciding I don’t want to explain Theo’s dick further, I ask, “Next question?”
Sadie and Rose discuss before asking, “Does he love you?”
Luna and I answer at the same time.
I say, “No.”
She says, “Yes.”
“Lu, he doesn’t love me.”
“Is she always so blind?” Luna asks.
“No, she’s normally pretty perceptive,” Sadie answers. “But when it comes to believing people love her? Yeah. She can be obtuse.”
“I’m not obtuse.”
“No, you just don’t believe you’re worthy of love.”
“That’s not fair. Trust me, Theo doesn’t love me.” He loves fucking me, sure. But after what I’ve done, of course he doesn’t love me.
Sadie’s look is almost pitying. “Babe.”
“Nope, not doing it. No therapy.”
She holds her palms out in surrender. “No therapy, promise. But forgive me for believing Luna on this.”
“I like her,” Luna says.
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
Thankfully, their focus doesn’t stay on Theo long.
Three hours later, I start to worry they’ll still be here when he gets home, and I don’t want to deal with that tonight.
But then my phone rings while Rose is working to convince Luna to come to hot yoga.
I stand and head to my room before answering.
“Hey.”
“Hey, little reaper,” Theo says, his voice soft. “You doing okay?”
“Is this you checking up on me? Why don’t you just check the cameras?”
His silence suggests he didn’t expect me to know about his hidden cameras. “How long have you known?”
“How long have I been here?”
He chuckles, but there isn’t much life in it. He sounds exhausted. “That’s on me for thinking you wouldn’t notice, isn’t it?”
I grin. “Yes, yes, it is.”
“I did see we have guests. How are Sadie and Rose getting on with Luna?”
“Like long-lost triplets. I worry you’ll never be rid of them.”
“That’s fine with me.” He lets out a heavy sigh, then says, “I don’t think I’ll be home for a while, so don’t wait up for me tonight. I’m sorry.”
Leaning against the dresser, I’m surprised at how disappointed the news makes me. “Is everything okay?”
“It will be. But I’d much rather be there. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”
I cross my feet, anticipation already curling low. “Oh yeah? How?”
“I’m thinking on my knees, feasting on you until you can’t see straight.”
“Hmm, that might make it up to me.”
“It definitely will. Hey, I got to go, but have fun tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow when I pick you up from work. Luna will take you in the morning.”
“You won’t be back by then?”
“I’m sure I will, but I’ll be too tired to safely take you to work. Don’t worry, I’ll be more than ready to make this up to you later.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, and little reaper?”
“Yeah?”
“If you need help relaxing before going to sleep, check the drawer in my bedside table. But be sure to smile for the camera if you do, so I can see exactly what I’m missing.”
My thighs push tightly together at the idea of what he has in his bedside table. And of him watching me get myself off over a security camera.
“Get back soon and watch it in person,” I purr.
There’s a moment’s pause, then a low, “Fuck. I’ll do my best. Now go back to your friends. They’re starting to roam, and I don’t want them exploring my room.”
“Bye, Tink. Stay safe.”
“Only for you, little reaper.”
Then he hangs up, and with a controlled breath, I return to the living room to corral my best friends and try desperately not to think too much about the aching yearning in my chest for Theo’s return.