30. Riley
The kid workingthe counter at Chester’s remembers Chloe coming in. It’s not a lot, but it’s something that proves Logan was right about her being alive. It also proves that my instincts about where to look for her are spot on. Neither of those things point us in a new direction, but I’m still filled with a cautious feeling of hope as we arrive back at the Reaper house.
I dial back the hope, keeping only the caution, when I see that the driveway is full of unfamiliar cars.
“What’s going on?” I ask Logan, relaxing a little when I see that he is. Whoever’s here, they’re not anyone he’s concerned about.
“Reaper meeting,” he answers me in his usual cryptic style as I follow him inside.
“Oh. Okay.”
I half expect to find the house bursting at the seams, but there are only about a dozen unfamiliar people there when we walk in. Still, I’m sure they don’t want me listening in on their business, so when Logan heads toward the living room where they’re all assembled, I veer off toward the stairs, figuring I’ll hole up in my room until they’re done talking.
Dante steps out of the kitchen just as I walk past and stops me.
“Where are you headed, princess?” he whispers, his lips brushing against the side of my neck and his hand landing on the small of my back.
He doesn’t give me a chance to answer as he steers me ahead of him into the living room, right into the thick of things, and then pulls me down on the couch to sit beside him. I stiffen, but no one tells me to leave even though, clearly, it’s not my place to be here.
Dante sprawls out like he doesn’t have a care in the world, manspreading with one arm thrown across the back of the couch while his other hand rests heavily on my thigh, like he’s trying to keep me in place for some reason. When Logan takes a seat on my other side, I get the distinct impression that they want me to stay. I’m not sure why they’d want me here, but I relax a little, deciding not to fight it.
If I’m being honest, I might even kind of like it, even if I don’t really understand why they’re including me.
Maddoc’s eyes land on me with no expression, but when he calls the meeting to order, he doesn’t comment on my presence. It quickly becomes clear that everyone in the room—everyone but me, obviously—is a high-ranking member of the organization. Maddoc seems to have called them all in to discuss the shit that’s been happening recently, although from the grim expressions on everyone’s faces, I suspect he wants to reassure them that he’s still got it under control as much as make sure they’re up to speed.
“You heard about our meeting with The Six?” he asks, looking around the room.
“West Point’s talking shit about it all over the warehouse district,” a bearded man missing part of an ear says. “You want us to put a stop to that, boss?”
“If it’s just talk, no one engages with West Point,” Maddoc says firmly. “Is that understood?”
Everyone nods, even though not all of them look happy about it.
“We’re not going to let McKenna goad us into fighting on his terms, especially not with The Six already taking notice. I want each of you to make sure everyone who reports to you stays alert right now. If shit goes beyond just talking, then no one responds alone. You need to make sure every single person in our organization knows they don’t engage without backup.”
“Troy isn’t happening again,” someone murmurs.
Maddoc’s jaw starts to tic. “Damn right. And we will get vengeance for that, and for Payton, but right now, nothing happens unless West Point initiates. Is that clear?”
Another round of nods and sounds of assent, but the bearded guy with the chunk out of his ear crosses his arms and gives Maddoc a challenging look. “But if they do start something more than just talk, we get to take them out, yeah?”
Maddoc stares him down until he blinks. “The Six pointed out that what went down with Payton and Luis drew too much attention from the cops. They’re right. That can’t happen again. Not like that.”
“But—”
Maddoc raises his voice as he talks over the guy’s protest. “I’m tasking each of you with the job of making sure every Reaper knows they’re to avoid violence and stand down if at all possible. But if West Point initiates, if our people need to defend themselves, then yeah, Vic. We go for blood. There’s no fucking middle ground right now. We’re not ready to take the fight to them, but if they bring it to us, we fucking end it.”
Vic stands down, looking satisfied, but a couple of the other Reapers shuffle restlessly, brows furrowing.
“It’s not all shit talking over in the warehouse district,” one of them says, “they’ve also been fucking with our businesses there.”
“Fucking no man’s land,” another one mumbles with a dark look.
“The warehouse district isn’t a no man’s land,” Logan says, giving him a cool look, “it’s a nexus.”
The guy glares. “A what now? Because I’ve been saying for years we should just clean house and take it the fuck over.”
I try to picture what I remember of that map on Maddoc’s wall, pretty sure I can make a guess about which area they’re talking about. It’s a run-down, industrial part of Halston near where we snatched Chloe from the middle of that drug deal. It’s also, if I remember correctly, the middle of a whole bunch of differently colored sections—gang territories—on Maddoc’s map.
“Cool it, Amari,” Dante says, a lazy smile on his face but a hard look in his eyes. “You know too much of the city’s business runs through there. We disrupt that shit and everyone loses.”
“Right now, we’re the ones who are losing,” Amari snaps back, scrubbing a hand through his hair. “West Point keeps fucking with our suppliers, and if we don’t fix our cash flow, we’re not gonna have any business to run through there.”
Maddoc’s jaw clenches. “I’m not going to let McKenna squeeze us out of business. Or out of Halston.”
“Okay, but cash flow has been getting low, boss,” one of the few women in the room says, her eyes flicking in my direction for a second. “Do we still have a plan for that? Because you know there’s been some unrest in the organization.”
The others chime in, discussing some of the logistical details of their various businesses and how the recent problems with West Point have been impacting Reapers’ day-to-day lives, and I can feel the worry in the room like it’s a living, breathing force. It’s funny, because before today, I never thought much about the money side of Halston’s gang activities. Listening in on this meeting gives me a new perspective, and I realize how badly they need the money Maddoc was planning to get by taking over Chloe’s inheritance.
But I also notice that when he reassures his people that he’s got it handled, he doesn’t mention that as an option anymore.
“We’re dealing with it, Tiff,” he says to the woman who brought up cash flow. “My seconds have been working on establishing profitable relationships with some new players.”
“Who?” she asks.
It’s Dante who answers her. “People who have reasons of their own not to be dealing with McKenna behind our backs.”
“Okay, but we’ve lost Mario Ricci’s casino now, yeah?” the guy they called Amari asks gruffly, looking back and forth between Maddoc and the men on either side of me. “Who’s gonna clean our money now that McKenna’s gotten to him?”
Dante’s hand tightens on my thigh. It’s the only outward sign of his irritation. “We’ve made arrangements with a couple new businesses in the area,” he says, his voice not giving any of his annoyance away at all. “Laundry ain’t gonna be a problem.”
Amari’s shoulders relax. “Good. West Point’s interference has always been a pain, but lately, not gonna lie boss, that pain has started to feel more like the kind of problem that’s putting what we’ve got at risk, you know?”
I can still see that little muscle ticking away in Maddoc’s jaw, but everything else about his demeanor radiates a cool confidence that his people respond to. The sign of a good leader.
“You don’t need to worry about our business partners. My brothers have them handled, and nothing’s at risk here. We’re gonna hang on to every inch of Reaper territory we’ve ever claimed, and our businesses are just fine. None of that shit is going to fall into West Point’s hands. Not ever.” He pauses, taking a moment to make eye contact with each member of his crew. “And neither is Chloe Sutton.”
I stiffen at the mention of my sister’s name. I really don’t want to be here to listen to their plans for her. I don’t want to find out that what Maddoc said to Austin McKenna was a lie.
“Finding Chloe is our main priority right now,” he tells his people, not looking my way. “This shit with The Six has lit a fire under McKenna, and now he’s fucking rabid. We need to keep her from falling into West Point’s hands. Understand? That’s where your focus needs to be right now.”
“Is she really worth as much as they’re saying, boss?” Vic asks, making me curl my hands into fists.
Maddoc’s eyes narrow. “She’s worth it.”
Vic grins. “We’re talking in the six figures, right?”
“No,” Maddoc bites out, giving Vic a look that wipes the grin off his face. “We’re not talking about an amount. We’re not talking about her money, period.”
My heart trips over itself, but several of the Reapers make angry sounds and the rest just look confused.
“But, Boss—” one of the angry ones starts.
“Wait, I thought the plan was, uh…” Tiff says at the same time, shooting me a look that makes me think they all know exactly who I am. And who Chloe is to me.
“The plan has changed,” Maddoc says, cutting them both off in a voice like steel. “We won’t be using Chloe’s inheritance, but we can’t let West Point get their hands on it, either. Our top priority is keeping McKenna from getting his hands on her. We need to find her first and make sure she’s secure. You got that? Because if I have to keep repeating myself, I’m going to start wondering whether I’ve put my trust in the right people in this organization.”
All the Reapers make the right noises at that, falling into line, except for one of them, who frowns. “But if we’re not gonna be using the girl’s money, why are we putting so much into tracking her down like this?”
“Because Maddoc told you we are,” Logan says in a tone even colder than his eyes.
The other man swallows hard and nods once, then quiets the fuck down.
I don’t blame him. I would too if Logan ever used that tone of voice on me. But… I don’t think he would.
Not anymore.
Not with me.
I bite back a smile, because this isn’t the time or place to get hit up by more feelings. Not that I have much choice about that. Not when Maddoc pins the guy who challenged him with a hard gaze, making those same feelings bubble up in my chest so fucking hard I almost can’t stand it when he puts him in his place.
“We’re tracking Chloe down because making sure West Point doesn’t get their hands on her money will keep the playing field even between them and us,” he says, spelling it out for them. “And once we’ve made sure of that, once we’ve got her secure and make sure they can’t tap her funds either, it will be time to take the initiative ourselves. It will be time to move against McKenna.”
He really means it. He’s not planning on taking Chloe’s money. He won’t marry her. None of them will.
They’re helping me for some other reason now.
“And what’s that move gonna look like, boss?” Vic asks, rocking back on his heels and stroking his beard.
“It looks like us kneecapping the motherfucker,” Dante answers before Maddoc can.
Maddoc nods, his lips curving up too, but not in anything I’d call a smile. It has too much predator in it. “Once we get Chloe back,” he says, “our next move is taking West Point the fuck out.”
The words hit his people like a bolt of electricity, taking the mood from tight and uncertain to energized and active.
Maddoc’s so fucking good at this. Of course they follow him. He makes them believe in him, and then he gives them every fucking reason to be sure it was the right choice. And as they wrap up their meeting, I can’t help thinking he’s given me a few reasons too.
I want to talk to him about it, I want to know, but I’m not sure I trust myself to have that conversation yet, so as his people start to file out I slip up the stairs to my room. With Chloe still out there, tension sky high between the Reapers and West Point, and The Six breathing down everyone’s neck it may not be the time or place to get hit by feelings, but too fucking bad. That’s exactly what’s happening to me.
And it’s too much. I’m not just overwhelmed, I’m… conflicted.
It’s one thing to have caught feelings for these three hard, dangerous men who get me like no one ever has, but it’s something entirely different to know what the hell to do with those feelings.
“Liar,” I whisper, closing my bedroom door and leaning back against it with a sigh as I call myself out. It’s not that I’m not sure what to do with those feelings. I’ve got a lot of ideas about what to do with them, some of which I can’t quite bring myself to admit even here in the privacy of my own mind.
So the real question isn’t what to do, it’s whether I should do anything with them at all.
When we find Chloe, doing what’s best for her will still need to be my priority, just like it always has… and I’m not sure if staying involved with the Reapers is going to be that.
And not just because dangling the temptation of her inheritance in front of them would always be an issue.
I can’t quite wrap my head around that kind of money, not really.
I shove away from the door with a quiet curse, stripping off my clothes and pulling out something soft to wear to bed. It’s a little early yet, but I don’t have it in me to go back downstairs or deal with dinner. I need to just shut everything down for a bit and not get bogged down by thinking too hard about how Chloe’s inheritance will change things.
Or how, for the Reapers, it would change everything.
I’d already started to suspect as much from some of the clues I’ve picked up while I’ve been living here with them, but being allowed to sit in on their meeting just now made that fact crystal clear. And as much as I hate to admit it—because the thought guts me on two entirely different levels—I can see why Maddoc thought marrying Chloe was the best thing he could do for his gang. Of course he did. He demands loyalty, but he doesn’t just give it back, he lives and breathes it, so with Chloe’s money in his grasp, he’d have to put the Reapers first.
Except now he’s saying he won’t.
I finish getting ready for bed, but when I consider screaming into my pillow just to release some tension, I settle for punching it into shape instead.
I hope Chloe has somewhere safe to sleep tonight. I hope she has something soft under her head too.
But I’m scared that she doesn’t.
And I’m so fucking grateful that Maddoc is moving heaven and earth to make sure she will again.
“Goddammit,” I mutter, rolling onto my back and staring up at the ceiling for far too long. Then I finally shut my eyes hard, as if I can shut out the hot mess of doubts and hopes clamoring for my attention along with them.
It doesn’t work. Despite what Maddoc told his crew tonight about evening out the playing field by keeping my sister out of Austin McKenna’s hands, it feels a hell of a lot like he’s putting me first this time. Me and Chloe, both.
No one’s ever done that before, and it’s hard to believe it’s real.
But more and more, it’s even harder to believe it’s not real.
I’m starting to believe in Maddoc too.