Chapter 17
Reaper
“What the fuck are you doing?” I barked at Chaos. “Get in my car, and get her to The Burrow.”
“I don’t know where the fuck she’s gone?” he yelled back, annoyed she got the leg up on him.
“Really? You don’t know where she would possibly go?” I turned to him. “Get in the fucking car, take her bag, and get her to safety at The Burrow. I don’t care if she fights you on it. Just fucking do it.”
I marched back inside, pure rage simmering beneath the surface.
Cammie stood at the side of the bar, quaking in her boots.
I’d never called on her before, and I knew she had a kind of friendship blooming with Rowan.
It had been a dick move, but I doubted if I pretended to take Tori or Tee upstairs that I would ever be able to get her back, and eventually, I knew I would want that.
I hated that I had to see the hurt in her eyes, the tears brimming on her lashes, the anger that coursed through her all because I couldn’t be man enough to admit I’d overreacted.
My club needed to see I was in control. And hell, if she wasn’t here right now, I could be.
She was hurting as much as I was. She felt it too, between us, something deeper than we’ve both ever had. Something scary, and life changing. Something worth waiting for. I just had to make her see that at the end, it was all for a reason.
“Um…Reaper…”
“Cammie, go back to what you were doing,” I told her.
“May I suggest something?” she asked me, looking over at the corner where Tee and Tori had slunk off to, wounded by my rejection.
I turned back to her, as she approached me, running her hands over my kutte, in a sensual but respectful way.
“If you truly want me to play the part, I can. I can sell it so Tee and Tori lay off. Be your pretend girl, just to keep them off your back.”
“I won’t sleep with you, Cammie.”
“I actually don’t want you too,” she said, smiling, playing it up for the others in the corner. “I respect Rowan, I really like her, and you’re my Prez. I just think you need a pretense so you can carry on with your job without worrying about them sneaking into your room at night.”
She had a point. I nodded, grabbing her slender wrist and pulling her down the hall and up the stairs with me. At the door to Trey’s old room, and what was Rowan’s, I ushered her inside.
“Wow, this room is cool,” she said, twirling around in it. “Can I stay here?”
“Yeah,” I told her. “To keep up the pretense, and all. You like it? It’s pretty basic.”
“It’s better than the rooms the girls sleep in when they don’t land a biker for the night.”
I nodded, remembering how basic the rooms were for the girls. They weren’t meant to be luxurious. It’s not like we actually wanted them sleeping in them. They were meant for enjoyment, after all.
“Thank you…for what you’re doing.”
She shrugged. “It’s all good. I…had a rather rough pounding last night, and I think I need a day or two to recover.”
I chuckled. “I don’t need to know who it was. Sleep tight, Cammie.”
“Maybe…you should stay for a couple of minutes…you can lay down, and I’ll find something to watch on TV. You know…to really sell it.”
I did that, laying so my ankles were crossed over and my head was on the wall behind the bed. Cammie was busying herself with the remote on the edge of the bed, well away from me.
“You can sit on the bed with me, Cammie. I’m not going to bite.”
She rolled her eyes, flicking the TV on low. “I don’t know, Reaper, I’ve seen bite marks on Rowan’s shoulder while she was working before.”
Smiling, I remembered back to when I’d done it, which had only had her pussy squeezing my cock like a vice, and a moan so deep and loud I thought people on another continent would be able to hear it. My cock was hardening at the memory.
“Promise.”
She smiled and flicked through the channels.
I zoned in and out of what she ended up picking, my mind on Rowan and the fierce determination on her face as she rode away on Chaos’ bike.
The jealousy that it was her ass planted on his bike, and not mine had been unwelcome, but I was proud of her for what she did.
I’d have to ask her where she learnt how to ride, but it just went to prove I knew nothing of the woman I was falling in love with.
“She loves you too, you know,” Cammie said suddenly. “I think at first she was a little wary, you know, because of the whole Trey thing but she’s been so happy since you claimed her. She smiles so much more.”
My chest ached at the admission. “You two seemed to have built quite a friendship.”
She shrugged. “She’s not superficial like the girls. I like her spunk.”
“Me too,” I replied without thinking. “And that’s dangerous, especially now.”
“Is that why you did it?” she asked simply.
“I had to make her hate me so she wouldn’t keep coming back, in danger.”
“I know it’s none of my business, but as a girl, tread carefully. She’s been burned by so many. I know she says she’s totally cool with the whole Trey thing, but I know it hurt her, made her doubt herself, that she was worthy. I just…wouldn’t leave it too long, you know?”
Nodding, I agreed with her silently. “Thanks, Cammie.”
I got up off the bed, pulled my shirt and scrunched it a bit before moving to my hair and doing the same thing. Cammie smirked in approval before I opened the door and disappeared down the hall to my room. Rowan’s eyes, the betrayal, was on repeat in my mind, burning something deep in my chest.
What if she didn’t forgive me?
What if she never understood why I had to do this?
I moved to my bed and threw myself down on it, suddenly feeling the anguish of the day at its peak.
This was fucked.
Rowan
Frankie had given me the biggest smile when I turned up on her doorstep.
Pulling me into her arms, she held me as I cried into her shoulder.
It didn’t matter that her cousins were there, that Tiago was telling them all he would go into the clubhouse and shoot every last fucker where they stood.
I sobbed until I had nothing left in me, and she made me a hot chocolate with marshmallows, and told me I was coming to her avó’s for dinner with them.
I wasn’t in the mood, but I did like the sound of the family night. I’d always loved them, her grandmother had always treated me with such compassion, and love, that I felt like I was already part of the family.
It was what I had started to feel at the clubhouse. Like I was one of them, and that’s why it hurt so much now. It hurt because I wasn’t one of them, but my bullies were. They did belong there, and whatever I had with Reaper was done.
Before it could even begin.
As we got ready to head over to her grandmother’s in the cavalcade of cars outside, I flinched when I heard the knock on the door. Tiago stood to answer it only to have Frankie shove him back, and tell him to get stuffed.
I chuckled, watching as Tiago looked over at the other cousins, wounded. They all chuckled, knowing just how headstrong Frankie was. When she opened the door, I grimaced when I saw Chaos leaning against the doorjamb.
“Hey,” he said, with a devilish smirk but Frankie only put her hand on the door, closing it enough that he couldn’t see me.
“Hey yourself. You’re not welcome here, Cruz.”
“Frankie, I need to talk to her, please.”
“No.”
“Can I, at least, have the keys to my bike?” he asked. I looked at the keys I’d set down on the kitchen counter, and nodded at Tiago to hand them over to him. Frankie was momentarily distracted, when he opened the door wider and stepped inside.
“Cruz!”
“Come on, Rowan, please don’t make this difficult. The Burrow is safe, and Trey is there.”
“Fuck Trey!” Frankie screamed at him. “And fuck you and your stupid ass club. Take your goddamn keys, and get fucked.”
I’d never seen her so livid before, and it made me question what happened between the two of them. Had he finally pulled the plug on them? Had he hurt her?
A sudden wave of protectiveness surged over me, and I got off the stool and got in his face.
“You can tell your little boss that I have no intention of following his orders. I’m not his, and I don’t belong to your club.
I quit the second I walked out that door.
I don’t owe him, or you, anything. Now fuck off. ”
“I can throw you over my shoulder if that helps matters?”
“Like fuck you can,” Bruno, one of Frankie’s cousins said, getting up.
“This is to protect you, Rowan.”
“She’s got protection,” Tiago spat. “You really think you can defeat all of us and take her? She’s with her real family, not the one who breaks hearts.”
Chaos flinched at that, and I knew it hit a nerve. Frankie seemed to flinch too. Fuck, what had I missed?
“Rowan…”
“Leave,” I said, firmly.
The keys were thrown at him. When he bent to pick them up, he looked at me. “We can protect you, you know that. He ain’t gonna be happy if I turn up without you.”
Fuck this guy. He hurt Frankie, and now I wanted him to hurt too. If that meant he had to return back to the clubhouse without me, then that was what needed to happen.
I launched myself at him, his arms wrapping around my waist to steady me, and I planted a kiss on his lips. He pulled back quickly, as did I, smirking.
“Now, how do you think your Prez is gonna feel knowing you made out with me?”
Chaos’ eyes widened, knowing Reaper would lose his shit.
Even if he was being a prick, I knew what claiming a girl meant.
No other brother could have her. I was dead to them, but I was still “Reaper’s”.
He made a move to turn back to see if anyone was around, but instead of waiting, Frankie slammed the door in his face.
My heart hammered in my chest, anger pouring through me at an alarming rate.
Turning to Frankie, who looked like someone had slapped her, I pulled her into my arms, and held her.
She held me back, as we digested what the fuck just happened and what it all meant.
Fuck Wyatt, and fuck Chaos.
Fuck them all. I pulled my phone from my pocket, thankful it had been on me when I threw my luggage at Chaos to escape, and sent a text to Trey, just so he knew what had gone down.
The sound of Chaos’ bike taking off, leaving here, sounded loud in the room. I think Frankie hoped he would return for her, drag her onto his bike and take off, but they were as done as me and Reaper were.
Fuck the Shackled Sons MC.
“Let’s go fill up on food,” I announced to which all the cousins—Tiago, Bruno, Luis, Duarte, Miguel and Martim—cheered. Frankie grabbed her purse and led me out to Tiago’s car. The others all jumped in their own cars and we took off toward avó Maria’s house.
“Sit,” Maria demanded, pointing her wooden spoon at the spare seat next to Frankie. I smiled at her, and sat down, and watched as she piled my plate full of food, more food than I could possibly eat in a week.
Oh how I had missed her.
Tiago and Bruno started fighting over the last of something, causing Maria to move over to them and smack both of them with her wooden spoon.
It looked hard too, which only made Frankie and I laugh.
Maria shot Frankie a look, which made her immediately stop.
I bit down on my laugh, and pushed some food into my mouth to stifle the sound.
“So, what keeps you away for so long?” Maria asked me, as she took a seat next to me. I didn’t know how to answer that.
“Work, and…boys.”
“Ah, yes,” she said, as if she knew exactly what I was talking about. “You and Frankie always did follow each other, even down the road of being in love.”
I looked over at Frankie, who had lowered her eyes to her plate. Had she spoken about Chaos to Maria already? I really was a bad friend, I hadn’t been here for any of it, too wrapped up in my own shit with Reaper.
“You love hard, and that is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Only when you’re heartbroken, right?”
“Heartbreak comes and it goes, Rowan. It does not define you. So long as you remain true to your heart, you will always find the one who belongs there.”
“I don’t want anyone else to have a piece of my heart.”
“Maybe not today, but you will. Perhaps he made the decision to hurt you now, so you do not hurt later.”
I nodded. “I think so. He was a little older.”
“Age is nothing but a number and an excuse,” she threw her hands up. “Now, eat, enjoy.”
I did just that, my mind on Reaper and the way he could so easily think he was going to be able to replace me with a club girl.
He has no idea who he’s messing with.