Chapter 41
Reaper
I am fucking fuming as I head back upstairs toward our room.
Stepping inside, I immediately go to my bed, ripping off the blankets and sheets.
My lip curls as I get a whiff of Star’s perfume.
I never could stand the smell of her perfume—something citrusy and extremely strong. It always made me want to sneeze.
Devil steps into my room and tosses me a garbage bag while he opens another one.
I shove everything in them, even the pillows.
As much as I want to toss the mattress, it’s still a good mattress, so I won’t.
However, it won’t be staying in here. There’s no way I’d make Lark sleep on it.
Mama Astrid texted me that she’ll clean it for me and then we can put it in storage for when another brother needs it.
Devil grabs the bags and I toss the bags out into the hall.
“I propose we get new locks just in case there’s more copies that we don’t know about,” Devil grits out.
“Agreed, but not just the ones that she made copies of. We’ll redo everyone’s just to be on the safe side.”
Turning around, I scrub my hands over my face. Fuck. That fucking bitch could have fucking messed everything up for me with Lark. Thank fuck Lark didn’t just run out of the room when she saw Star on my bed.
“She’s not leaving, Tony.”
I look over at him. He’s sitting on the corner of the bed, resting his elbows on his knees as he watches me.
“Your woman’s not leaving, and she did a fucking fantastic job just now.
” He pauses, the corner of his lips twitching.
“Fucking loved her dragging Star down the stairs.” He looks over at the garbage bags and his eyes go distant.
“She had every right to demand blood, but she gave her a second chance. I just hope Star realizes how fucking close she came to dying today and doesn’t fuck it up. ”
So do I.
While I know Lark is capable of darkness, it isn’t her go to. And that’s something I definitely love about her.
Devil gets up and clasps my shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get this shit out of here, spar, and then head down to the office. We need to let the others know about Star,” he pauses as he smirks at me. “And you need to order a new bed.”
My muscles ache but it’s a good ache. I spared with Devil and a few other of the guys in our gym downstairs before I hit the punching bags. My rage has definitely cooled, but it’s still there.
Shaking my head, I refocus and reread the email I’m sending out to the other Steel Archangel’s Presidents.
After verifying that the correct documents are attached, I hit send.
I made sure to include all the video footage Python got for me as well as a few still images of Star so they can better see what she looks like.
I’ve already called Thor and let him know what happened, and he fully backs our decisions.
As my gaze lowers to my bottom desk drawer, my gut twists. I’ve already gone through my office and I don’t think Star took anything else, but I’ve been dreading finding out exactly how much that bitch actually stole.
Pulling out my keys, I get the folder out and then pull up the spreadsheet that we use to track who donates what money or check-wise and what all we get donated from the bins scattered around town in various stores.
I skim through the document until I get to the amount we should have in cash. Periodically, we deposit the money into an account that we set up specifically for our donation drives. Unfortunately, we only do that a couple of times a month.
Something that will be changing going forward.
I had thought that no one would be stupid enough to break into my office. If someone was that stupid, that’s part of why I have different keys for my desk, file cabinets, and the closet storage. I’m not making that mistake again. Maybe I need to get a safe installed.
Emptying the contents of the folder, I gather all the cash and start counting. As I do, my stomach drops more as I get to the end of the cash pile.
Fuck.
Three thousand dollars is missing.
My mind goes back to the video and I know she didn’t take that much last night. The roll of bills just seemed too small for that amount—even if it was all one hundred dollar bills.
Someone knocks on my door and I sigh, putting everything back into the folder before closing out of the spreadsheet.
“Come in.”
My shoulders relax as Lark comes in and shuts the door behind her.
“Punisher, Razor, Nathan, and Drake just got back. They gave me these. Punisher said they found them when she was cleaning out her shit. They got it out of her that this is some of what she stole. They didn’t say what they threatened her with, but it apparently worked.”
She hands me a couple of envelopes and when I open them, relief pours through me.
“I actually just got done counting what we had left and we’re missing three grand. Let’s see how much we’re really missing.”
I bring up the spreadsheet again and start counting. We’re still short, but it’s not as bad.
“Five hundred. We’re off by five hundred.”
Lark’s shoulders sag. “That’s way better than three grand.” She looks around the office and frowns. “We need to make things more secure. She didn’t plant any bugs or take anything else, did she?”
I hesitate and then shake my head. “We don’t think so.
Python is still scouring over the security feed, so we’ll see what he finds from that.
Devil and I already talked and we’re going to get everyone new locks for their room.
I need to get a safe though. I didn’t think anyone would be stupid enough break into my office, but that’s also why I had different locks on everything as a precaution, and the bitch still got through. ”
Lark tilts her head as she looks at the wall of closets to my right that we use for storage. She gets up, unlocks the doors and opens them all up. She reaches in to the far back of the closet before nodding.
“I know a place that can get you a good one. It’s where we got ours.
The closet is deep enough that you’ll be able to get a good one that’s fairly big so it can double as some of your ammo storage, though I would definitely suggest making sure it’s a firesafe one as well.
Once that’s in, I can figure out the best way to store everything else that’s in here.
It shouldn’t be too hard, but I may need to change around some of these shelves and maybe how we store a few things. ”
She shuts and locks the closet doors back up and when she’s done locking the one closest to me, I snag her wrist, pulling her toward me. Grasping her hips, I lift her and set her on my lap so that she’s straddling me.
“Lark,” I pause as I clear my throat. “You’re the only one for me, you know that, right?”
Her face softens as she smiles. “I know, Hercules. Star’s been trying to get under my skin for a while now.
Well, they all did but Star especially. I just let her comments roll off my back.
Sure, they bothered me and I made sure to end whatever she was trying to do at the time, but I know that was all in your past. You’re not a saint.
Neither am I. But that’s all it is. Your past. I know you’d never cheat on me.
That’s not the kind of person you are. That’s how I knew she was lying the whole time.
Did it piss me off? Fuck yeah it did, but everything else she did pissed me off even more. ”
She pauses as her face hardens. “And if that bitch doesn’t listen, I’ll be the one to deal with her.
I don’t even care if it’s another club that picks her up.
I’ll drive down there and end everything once and for all.
I know I could have demanded blood today, but something in me kept telling me to give her a second chance.
The ball is in her court now. It’s up to her if she takes the chance or not. ”
I squeeze her hip. “I also wanted to apologize about how long it took to get your cut. The daughter of the lady who normally does our cuts went into labor early and from what she told us, it was a rather difficult one. She had to have an emergency c-section. Both mama and baby are fine,” I quickly reassure her when her eyes widen with worry, “but that meant she was gone for a couple of weeks while she helped her daughter as she recovered. Her daughter is also her backup so we were left in a lurch for a little bit.”
She gives me a soft, understanding smile.
“While yes, it would have been nice to have it earlier, it’s only because of the hang arounds and the bunnies.
I dealt with everything they dished out,” she quickly tells me when I scowl, “but what’s more important is that both of them are healthy and happy.
Is it possible to meet them sometime? I’d like to thank them for my cut and maybe give her daughter a present for her baby. ”
Leaning forward, I kiss her. “I think they’ll love that.”
I’m about to say something else when I feel her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulls it out and her shoulders sag.
“It’s another unknown number.”
I pull my phone out and text Python. When he replies, I nod at Lark. “He’s got it up. Answer it and put it on speaker.”
“Hello?” she asks.
Nothing comes through the line for a few beats but then the heavy breathing starts up again.
Lark growls. “What do you want? Who are you?”
Once again, there’s nothing but heavy breathing on the line. Then I frown as I realize the breathing seems different than before. It’s faster and shallower. It takes all my restraint not to say something as I try to keep my hands from tightening on her hips.
“Stop calling me, asshole. Whoever you are, I want nothing to do with you, and I won’t be answering anymore unknown calls.”
Lark hangs up, her body tense.