REAPER'S KISS (10 page)

chapter twenty-five

(jace)

*NOW*

I stood at the table. Smoke
lingered in the air. Everyone had spoken their mind and now it was silent.
Everyone taking a drink here and there. Our thoughts racing wild. We had
everything laid out on the table.

Glen was the guy who tried to take
me out all those years ago. He was the one running the games in and out of
Bishop. He was the guy who had kept Frank as a pawn. Which then made Jake a
pawn.

Now it was time to strike back and
take Glen down.

That’s where all eyes went to Sid.
He was the President. It was up to him to formulate a plan for us to vote on.

But I sensed something about the
table. Something wasn’t quite right. A couple of the older guys - at the far
end of the table - they just sat there with a weird look on their faces.

“What is it?” I asked. “I’m feeling
something here.”

“You tell him,” Bill said in a
rough voice. “I’m not fucking spilling old blood.”

“Old blood?” I asked.

“Sit down,” Sid said to me.

I listened.

I looked to the door.

I had Ava in the clubhouse. She was
in the back in a spare room that I used as a fuck pad. Her father ended up
getting all worked up at the hospital and needed to be sedated. The nurse filled
in the gaps. The son of a bitch had been so hopped up on pills that his heart
couldn’t handle it. There was a risk of heart attack, the possibility of
surgery, and, shit, he might just croak right there in the hospital.

It was a fucking mess.

Ava was doing her best to process
basically a life of lies.

I tried to be there for her,
shutting my anger down.

Christ, imagine it… she had a
secret brother. And that brother killed her mother. Jake confessed that the
murder involved money and jealousy. Glen was jealous that Ava had a normal life
and he didn’t. He was a brutal man.

And I was about to find out just
how brutal.

“Glen was a prospect for the MC,” Sid
said.

The entire table lit up with
grumbles. Sid whistled and waved a hand. Everyone shut their mouths.

Sid kept his stare to mine. “He was
brought in by some old guys. I was sitting VP to Spade. We were rebuilding
after a bloody war way out in Reno. We were focusing on the small town feel
again. Glen was fast paced and no fear. That’s what caught all our attention.
He was intense. A month into things he started going too far. Breaking out of
his role. Hurting people. Getting picked up for dumb crimes. And then we got
word he was working behind our backs. Going to the guys that were connected, wanting
to trade favors. In my opinion Glen wanted to blackmail the Bitter Aces into a
leather cut. That didn’t fly with Spade. Or me.”

“He was voted out,” I said. “Lost
his prospect cut but not his life.”

Sid nodded. “We had no concrete
proof. We weren’t in a position to start taking out our own guys. So we made
some cuts to our prospects and we included him. He got pissed off. Really
pissed off. He promised to come back at us, hard. We took it for what it was
worth. Spade had him roughed up a few times and then he slipped away. That was
the end… or so we thought.”

“Until he attacked me,” I said.

“Yeah. By then he was moving up the
ranks in his own gang and shit with the MC was getting shaky. We prevented a
war by killing Arnie, even if Glen slipped away. Spade called a truce and let
it all slide. I swear to you, Jace, I voted against that. I sat in the VP seat
and…”

“Sid is telling the truth,” Bill
said. His face was worn with heavy bags and wrinkles. “Sid almost lost his
patch over it. But the table decided to move forward. As a sign of respect to
you, Jace, we gave you a leather cut. Patched you in. You were on the table
anyway for vote but we decided to speed it up. A sign of appreciation.”

“Once Glen finished with you, he
went to the store and murdered Jake’s wife,” Sid said. “So the PD was heavily
involved. We tried to get as much of the paperwork to go missing or get
destroyed but there was only so much. That was another deciding factor. Plus,
with the PD chasing him away. And that was right around the time we got pulled
into a retaliation war with another club.”

I slammed my hands on the table. I
stood up. “Son of a bitch. This prick tried to kill me. He killed Ava’s mother.
Fuck. He killed Frank. Killing his number one guy - if that was who Frank was -
means he’s scared. I know a way to do this.” I looked around the table. I had
never stood like a leader before. Shit, I even had Sid staring at me.

“Go on,” Sid said. “What do you
have?”

“What I have to say
… it
cannot be voted on
… it has to just happen
…”

chapter twenty-six

(ava)

*NOW*

“We’re leaving,” Jace said to me.

“Right now?”

“Right now,” he said. “I want to
take you home. My house. You don’t need to be here anymore.”

I grabbed his arm. “Hey. What’s
going on? We’ve been hiding here for days now…”

“It’s just time, sweetie,” Jace
said. “If you trust me like you say you do, then you’ll keep quiet and come
with me.”

What else was I supposed to do?

My life kept crumbling by the
second and Jace was the only one there to sweep up the pieces and make the world
seem right again. He held me when I cried and didn’t ask what was wrong. Which
was exactly what I needed. I knew everything in my life had been messed up but
I didn’t realize how bad. And while I wanted to be angry with my father, he was
the one in a hospital bed, suffering. Maybe in some fucked up way the universe
got its revenge on him for me.

All I could think about though was
staying alive. That I had a secret brother who was hell bent on killing me. The
guy that killed my mother. The guy that tried to hurt Jace. All my feelings for
Jace were based off bad things happening to us.

So I followed Jace through the
clubhouse and out the door.

I climbed onto the back of his
motorcycle.

I slid my hands around his body and
held tight as we sped away.

Jace rode back to his house and
took my hand as we walked inside. All my days and weeks had gotten so jumbled
together and I had this feeling as though me and Jace had been together for a
long time.

He pulled me right to his bed.

We crashed to the bed, me almost on
top of him. He kicked off his boots and ran his hands down my body to my lower
back. I touched his face, digging at his scruff. He was chiseled and beautiful
as a man. The killer I used to see in his eyes was now replaced with a
protector. With a lover. With so much more.

I leaned in a kissed him.

Then again.

And again.

I ran my hand down his chest,
knowing right where I wanted to go.

But Jace stopped me.

“Fuck, sweetie, we have to talk,” he
said. “The reason why I wanted out of there.”

“I love talking to you, Jace, but
the subject matter usually sucks.”

“Yeah, this is going to suck,” he
said and grinned.

“How bad?”

“Glen.”

“No. I don’t want to hear that
name.”

I started to slither away but Jace
grabbed me. Kept me close to him.

“Listen to me. We have to finish
this thing. We have to end it for good here. There’s no other choice.”

“Your version of end it doesn’t
mean him going to jail, does it?”

“No.”

“You’re going to kill him.”

Jace gritted his teeth. “Sweetie,
the right thing has to be done. He murdered your mother. I want that wound
closed for good for you.”

“Closing a wound doesn’t stop the
pain.”

“Of course it doesn’t,” Jace said. “But
you can heal. You can scar. You can have the memory. And I want to be the man
that holds you when you’re in pain. But I want you to feel something knowing
that he received the right kind of justice.”

The words were so honest and
powerful. I believed everything Jace said. Call me crazy. Maybe I was falling
in love with him. But when he said that to me, I believed him. Every. Single.
Word.

I kissed his leather jacket, right
at his heart.

“Okay. Go on.”

“We kept the clubhouse on somewhat
of a lockdown,” Jace said. “That’s why you weren’t allowed to split. We needed
you safe. We were out trying to track down Glen. We found him.”

My heart pounded. “What?”

“We’ve been breaking up gambling
and drugs for years. Sometimes we hand it over to the PD to deal with.
Sometimes we take it on ourselves. If the cash is big, we want it. The last
thing we did fucked up everything for Frank. That’s why Frank was taken out.
Sid called Glen and we’re settling this.”

“He agreed?”

“This is where you’re going to hate
me, sweetie,” Jace said.

“Why?”

“Remember when you said you’d do
anything?”

“Sure.”

Jace touched my face and moved hair
behind my ear. “Sweetie, we offered Glen a truce. He’s going to take back half
the money. The other half we’re keeping as a warning. But there’s one more
factor.”

“Which is?”

“You,” Jace said.
“We agreed to
give you to him
…”

I never moved so fast in all my
life. One second I was on Jace’s chest, the next I was flying through the
house. I went out the backdoor and stood on the porch. I slammed against the
railing and thought I was going to flip over it. Luckily I caught myself and
just stood there staring out to the night.

Give me up?

Glen wanted me for one thing. To
kill me.

I heard the door open behind me.

“Sweetie, you know damn well I
would never let anything happen to you.”

“What if I say no?” I asked without
looking back.

“Then the deal is off. Glen is on
the hunt. The MC could only do so much. If you turn your back on the MC…”

I looked back at Jace. His face
looked worn.

“And you’re okay with this?”

“No,” he said. “I hate this. I
fucking hate this. But to me there’s no other choice in the matter. It’s the
only way to isolate Glen. And confuse him. The second he sees you, Ava, he’s
going to lose his mind. That’s where we come in.”

“Where is this happening?”

“The store,” Jace said. “It’s the
most logical place. It’s the only place. Play into everyone’s emotions.”

“Including mine!” I yelled. I
turned and leaned against the railing. “I hate you for this, Jace.”

He stepped toward me. “I know you
do, sweetie. I hate me for it too. Look, I care about you, Ava. Goddammit, the
feeling…”

I threw my hand forward and covered
his mouth. “It’s my turn to talk for a second. I feel it too, Jace. Whatever
this is. I hate you for making me trust you so much. But I do trust you.
Whatever you need from me.”

I slid my hand away.

Jace grabbed my waist and lifted
me, sitting me on the narrow railing. “Sweetie, I’ve had nothing in my life.
The MC was a last resort that worked for me. Until I met you, I never knew what
real was. All I did was chase the reaper… or let the reaper chase me… Bouncing
around the club. Taking my orders. Taking my hits. I ended up with this fucking
house and nothing to do with it. Now your shit is all over the place. The house
smells like you. Smells like a woman. I’m okay with that. I’m okay with all of
this happening right now. I want you to understand that.”

“Okay. I’m sorry I stormed away. I
feel like everyone in my life is suddenly letting me down. Pushing me away.”

“I would never push you away,
sweetie,” Jace said. “But I have a loyalty to the patch. To the cut. I have
honor there. You see criminals, I see freedom. Glen was a criminal. He took
your mother’s life. I’m going to take his freedom away.”

“What about my father?” I asked. “With
your club…”

Jace shook his head. “He’ll have to
figure it out for himself.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“You wondering if they’re going to
hurt him?”

“Yes. He’s my father. No matter
what.”

Jace pulled me close for a hug. I
loved the way he smelled. Leather, steel, and man, all wrapped up into one.

He kissed the top of my head. “You’re
a good person, sweetie. A damn good person. I’m going to take care of
everything. No matter what.”

There was plenty left to say but I
didn’t want to ruin that moment.

An outlaw with his arms around me.
Holding me.

Inside my heart, I knew nothing
would ever be the same again.

chapter twenty-seven

(jace)

*NOW*

I ended the call and felt my heart
race. I never got nervous going into a deal. Shit, there were plenty of times
when talks broke down between us and other crews and shit got violent. All I
could think about was Ava. She didn’t deserve to be thrust into this position.
But it was the only way to draw out Glen.

I turned and looked at Sid. He was
ready to go. Bandana wrapped around his head like he was ready for war. Black
sunglasses on his face. A snarl to match. We were keeping the clubhouse on
lockdown with prospects out on the road, keeping things protected in town.

Intel provided us with everything
we needed about Glen. He was connected but not running with a crew. That meant
whatever he did was on his own. Anything he earned he kicked a little up as a
tribute. If we took him out, it would stir up some bad blood. Having heavy
powered suits come through Bishop would be a nightmare but we didn’t have much
of a choice. Sid wanted final revenge on this guy.

So did I.

Glen was the guy behind the wheel
of a SUV that tried to kill me. He was the one who ordered the lunk of a moron
Arnie to shoot me. And if I hadn’t played dead or gotten to my cell phone fast
enough, I would have been killed that night.

And just thinking about it… while I
was on the road, broken and bleeding, Glen was hurrying to his second
destination of that night. To the store. To murder Ava’s mother.

“We need to move,” Sid said.

He let out a whistle and a black
car came from around the side of the building.

That’s when my heart started to
hurt. Actually physically hurt.

In the backseat of the car was Ava.
Hands tied behind her back. A bag of money on her lap. It was the only way to
make this thing work. She was the visible variable while I had the invisible
variable coming soon.

“You want to kiss your girl?” Sid
asked me.

“No,” I said. I put my sunglasses
on. I climbed on my ride. “Let’s get this shit out of the way.”

So we left, just me and the Prez,
Diesel driving the black car behind us.

The store was still shut down, a
family emergency sign hanging in the door. It wasn’t like many people went to
the store anyway. The store was nothing more than a reminder of a small town
that used to flourish with little places like that.

I parked my ride sideways and
climbed off. Sid was behind me. I walked to the car and stood there. I nodded
to Sid and he placed a call.

A minute later, Glen appeared at
the front door of the store.

You want to know the worst feeling
in the world?

Walking a woman you care about to
what could end up being her final destination. And I had to play it all off
too.

I walked Ava to the front door of
her family’s store.

Glen opened the door.

I had never seen his face in the
light of day before. Only in the dark as I writhed in pain on the road where he
had tried to kill me.

Goddamn, that took some serious
restraint.

“I think we’re set here,” I said to
Glen.

As fucked up as it was, you could
tell Glen and Ava were from the same bloodline.

Glen was taller than Ava but not as
tall as me. He had a cocky aura about him, as though he was an untouchable man.

His eyes lit up when he saw Ava.

“This is what you wanted,” Sid
said. “We’ve fulfilled our promise.” Sid then tossed a bag of money to Glen. “Half
the money. Your line of business isn’t welcome in Bishop.”

Glen nodded. “Well then, how
interesting this has become. I’m back to where it started for me. Where I
killed this bitch’s mother. Now I’m going to do the same to her. I’ll make sure
her father -
our father
- will have lost everything he loves.”

As Glen started to back up, I
caught myself inching forward. I couldn’t let Ava out of my sight or grasp for
a second. Sid side stepped and blocked me from doing anything stupid.

We were going to wait and see what
Glen’s next move would be.

The goal was to get Ava to safety
and then deal with Glen.

“Since you’ve been so honest with
me, let me do the same with you,” Glen said. “Come with me.”

He walked into the store.

I stepped up behind Ava and I
touched her lower back. I couldn’t say a word to her, but I hoped my touch
reassured her.

When we got into the store, Glen
pointed to the counter.

I saw a bunch of chains and looked
at him.

“What the fuck is that about?” I
asked.

Glen walked to the door and twisted
the lock shut. “We’re going to tie up Ava and finally do what was meant to be
done a long time ago.”

Glen walked down one of the aisles.
He crouched and disappeared for a few seconds.

I looked at Sid. I shook my head.

I didn’t like this. At all.

My instincts were going crazy. And I
couldn’t fight against what I believed was right from wrong. I quickly grabbed
for Sid and threw him back. He smashed into a gum ball machine that was
probably thirty years old. He tumbled over and down to the ground just as Glen
stood back up.

A gun in his hand.

He fucking fired right where Sid
had been standing.

I jumped to my left to get to Ava
next. I couldn’t knock her over because she was still tied up, so I stood
there, blocking her.

The gun went off again and I felt a
hot pain blast to my right shoulder. It jolted me forward into Ava. I wrapped
my arms around her and pushed her onto the counter. I had to put all my weight
on her as I rolled over her and pulled her to the floor. Above us, glass
shattered as Glen kept unloading his clip.

“Jace,” Ava said. “Jace… save me…”

“I’ve got you sweetie,” I said to
her.

I got to my knees, straddling Ava.
I hurried to untie her. I slid back and grabbed her hand, sitting her up. I
couldn’t help myself as I touched her face. I brought my mouth to hers and kissed
her, just once.

Then I grabbed my gun and slowly
inched up.

Sid was already back out the door.
Glen lifted a can in the air and threw it. Glass shattered and liquid poured
from the can. The smell hit me a few seconds later.

Gas.

Glen wanted to burn the store down.
He wanted to burn the store down with Ava inside. That had been his plan.

I had a clear shot at Glen’s back
but I couldn’t take it.

I had a good fucking reason for it.

I looked down at Ava and reached
for her.

I pulled her to her feet. My
shoulder was on fire. Blood dripped down my back and down my arm. I was losing
blood fast but I needed to get Ava to safety.

Trust me, Sid hadn’t bailed on us.
Sid knew what was coming next.

I pulled Ava from behind the
counter.

Glen turned and saw us.

“Fuckers!” he yelled.

He pulled his gun and shot.

I ducked and brought Ava with me.

We hurried along the wall toward
the back room door.

The bullets kept flying but Glen
had no visible target to shoot at.

I busted through the door and
pulled Ava to a storage shelf.

We stood there and waited.

It took all of a minute before we
smelled smoke.

Ava looked at me. Her childhood… everything
she knew… it was going up in smoke.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered to her. “We
have to get out of this alive. Trust me.”

“Why aren’t we running?” she asked.
“Why didn’t you shoot him?”

I gritted my teeth.

I looked at the back door of the
store and waited.

“Trust me,” I said.

Glen made an appearance rushing
into the back room of the store. When the doors opened and shut, smoke came
through.

“It’s all gone!” he shouted. “Now
come out and fucking face me!”

He had the bag of money tucked like
a football. He spun around, holding the gun.

I looked down at Ava. I kissed her
lips then put my lips to her ear. “You stay right here, sweetie. I have to go
out there.”

“Why?” she asked.

I told her the truth.
“I have to
let Glen shoot me again.
”