Chapter 19 Reaper
The heavy air in the conference room is thick with the scent of oil and leather, a constant reminder of who we are—brothers bound by the road and the code. Scar’s at the head of the table, his presence commanding as ever. He nods at me, and I nod back, our silent greeting cut through by the business at hand.
“Church is called to order.” Scar’s voice is authority incarnate. “Nitro, what’s the word on the custody case?”
“Court date’s two weeks out,” Nitro replies without missing a beat, his normally easygoing face set in lines of concern. “Spoke to the mom. She’s holding up about as good as you’d expect.”
“She still staying with her sister?” Talon asks.
“Yeah, and the kids are safe at Nina’s.”
“Good.” Scar’s eyes scan over us like he’s plotting a ride route on a map. “We’ll ride to the courthouse when it’s time and stand with them. Those kids and their mom aren’t alone in this fight, and I want her piece of shit soon-to-be ex to realize it.”
“He won’t fuck with her if he knows he’s fucking with us,” Nitro says.
“Exactly.” Scar smirks.
“Damn right,” I mutter under my breath. There’s a collective murmur of agreement from around the table.
“Hope she gets full custody,” Nitro adds.
“We’ll make sure she’s got more than hope on her side,” Talon declares.
“Matrix, update on the keycard?” Scar shifts focus, his question aimed at the club’s resident tech whiz.
I see Matrix open his mouth to speak, but something dark and venomous crawls up my throat, spilling out before I can stop it. “Got any other DNA tests you wanna share, Matrix? Find any other kids you want to test behind my back?”
There’s a tension in the room, thick as the exhaust fumes on a hot run. Matrix looks taken aback, and I don’t miss the flicker of guilt in his eyes.
“Reaper, I—” Matrix starts, but I’m already on my feet, the chair clattering behind me.
“Save it!” The words come out like gunfire, each one loaded with betrayal and fury. My hands are clenched, every muscle coiled tight as a wound spring.
“Sit the fuck down, Reaper,” Scar’s nonnegotiable command slices through the air.
But I’m past listening, past caring. I step toward Matrix, ready to let my fists talk since words are failing me. This isn’t about some damn keycard; this is about trust, about brotherhood.
“Reaper!” It’s Scar’s voice again, pulling me back from the edge. I turn, glaring at him, my chest heaving with pent-up rage.
“Sit. Down.”
The two words hit me harder than any punch I’ve thrown or taken. It’s not a request. It’s not even an order. It’s a lifeline thrown into the stormy sea of my anger, and against every screaming nerve in my body, I grab it.
I drop back into my seat, the sound echoing in the tense silence. But my glare doesn’t leave Matrix. It’s a threat, even though I don’t utter another damn word. The air’s heavy with tension. Each breath I take is laced with the bitter tang of betrayal. Scar’s eyes are on me, hard as the steel we ride, and in that unyielding gaze, I find a reminder of why we’re family.
“Matrix did what he thought was right,” Scar says, his voice steady and sure. “We all look out for each other here. That’s the code.”
I can’t help the snort that bursts from me, harsh and humorless. “And since when does looking out for each other come without the courtesy of asking?”
“You needed to know,” Matrix pipes up, leaning forward, hands open as if trying to bridge the gap between us. “You’re a father now. That’s something you don’t want to be in the dark about, even if it stings like hell.”
“Stings? No, brother, this is a goddamn third degree burn.” My fingers drum against the table, a rhythm matching the pounding in my skull. It’s on me to deal with this new reality, but damn it, Matrix could have given me a heads-up before he took Ace’s DNA in for testing.
“Look,” I finally growl, eyes narrowing at Matrix. “You should’ve told me first. It was my right to know before anyone else.”
Scar’s slow, measured nod confirms my position. “You’re probably right, Reaper. Matrix should have taken you aside to tell you. But we weren’t even sure he was yours until we got the results. If Ace wasn’t yours, we would’ve kept the whole thing quiet. But Lexi played us all, and we didn’t know it for sure until that test came back.”
The room falls silent for a moment. Outside, the rumble of motorcycles rushing by on the highway fills the air. I let their words sink in, a tangled mess of truth and necessity. They’re right, I get it. Still, breaking someone’s trust isn’t something you can easily patch up with good intentions.
“Fine,” I concede through gritted teeth. “But next time, I expect to be the first to know. We clear?”
“Will there be a next time?” Nitro asks.
“I didn’t think there’d be a first time,” I grumble.
“Enough about that,” Scar says. “Matrix, did you and Daisy crack that keycard yet?”
“I sure as fuck hope so, because I’m going to fucking kill Blackstone,” I growl. “It’s not just about what he did to us. It’s even more personal now because that fucker tried to hurt Ace, my blood. He’ll pay for that.”
Hatred pulses through my veins. My fists clench and unclench as I think about all the ways I want to destroy Blackstone before I kill him. I can’t sit still. Getting up, I pace back and forth like a caged lion.
“What did Blackstone do to Ace?” Matrix asks cautiously.
“Nothing! But he tried to get Ace into the basement.”
“But … nothing actually happened?”
“Would you be happier if Blackstone had touched my kid?” I’m ready to lunge, but Talon gets between us. His hand is a vise on my shoulder.
“Stop being an asshole,” he snaps. “Blackstone will pay for what he did to each of us. Don’t forget we’re all in this together. You’re not taking down Blackstone alone. You need us, brother. But if you keep acting like a fucking dick, I’m going to have to beat your ass.”
“You’re right.” I shake his hand off my shoulder before retaking my chair. “Fine. So, what’s the status on the keycard?”
Matrix’s fingers drum a staccato rhythm on the worn tabletop. “I’ve been running a new algorithm. Brute-forcing isn’t getting us anywhere, so I switched tactics. I’m using a differential cryptanalysis approach now, targeting the side-channel emissions. Daisy’s working on another angle.”
I grunt. The technical jargon rolls off his tongue like water off a duck’s back, but to me, it’s all smoke and mirrors. Matrix and Daisy see codes and patterns where I only see chaos. Although I’m still pissed off at him about the DNA thing, I can’t help but respect his hacking abilities.
“We should have something within twenty-four hours,” Matrix adds, raising his eyebrows, a silent challenge for me to open my mouth.
“Fine,” I say, pushing the impatience out of my voice. “Just make it fucking quick.”
“Getting into Blackstone’s house will be easy once we’ve got the keycard,” Scar notes. “But those damn guards are the real problem.”
“Reaper and I have been trying to find a way in without detection,” Matrix says, eyeing me warily.
“Last time, we made it to a door on the back side of the house. We were this close.” My fingers pinch the air, showing the slim gap between success and failure. “But then the guards came.”
“If we had a silent way in, we could take down half of Blackstone’s team before they even knew we’d breached the walls,” Talon says.
“Exactly,” Nitro affirms with a sharp nod. “No noise, no alarms. We get in, find Blackstone, and send him to hell before anyone even realizes we’re there.”
Scar’s gaze flicks between us. “Let’s make sure we’re ready to roll when Matrix cracks that keycard.”
“I’m ready,” I acknowledge with a tight smile. The image of Blackstone’s downfall plays behind my eyelids—a promise of retribution that fuels the fire burning in my chest. For Ace. For the club. For family.
“We need to stay focused on what we all want—Blackstone’s head on a platter.” Scar glances at me, a challenge flickering in his eyes. “But you gotta keep it together, Reaper. All this infighting over that DNA crap? We can’t have it.”
“Fine,” I spit out. “Consider it dropped.” The weight of knowing I’ve got a son still presses on my chest like a two-ton bike, but what’s done’s done. Matrix can’t undo what he did, but at this point, I’m kind of glad he did it. At least now I know the truth.
“I should’ve asked,” Matrix concedes with a shrug, the closest thing to an apology I’ll ever get from him. “Next time, I won’t go running tests on random kids, okay?”
“Make damn sure of it,” I warn, but the edge of anger is already dulling. We can’t afford distractions as long as Blackstone is still breathing.
“You got any more kids out there we should be aware of?” Nitro quips, a smirk playing on his lips.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Nitro.” Scar scowls.
“You never know when to shut the fuck up,” Talon says.
“Church is over.” Scar slams the gavel while shaking his head at Nitro.
As I turn on my heel and storm toward the door, Nitro’s last comment claws at my guts. Could I have more kids out there? It’s doubtful. I never screwed anyone but Lexi without a rubber. I guess it’s technically possible but very, very unlikely.
Even though it’s probably never going to happen, the thought that I could have more kids running around out there is fucking horrifying. One is bad enough. I mean, it’s not bad, but it’s not good either. The idea of being a father is slowly starting to grow on me. I won’t be getting a father-of-the-year award anytime soon, but I’m also not going to turn my back on my kid.
Like it or not, I’m his dad. I’ve got to do right by him. I can’t let him turn into someone like me. I’ve got to protect him the way no one ever protected me. If I can just do that much, then I’ll be a better father to him than mine ever was to me. Maybe that’s where I need to set the bar. Not too high. But not too low either.