Page 69 of Reaper

“Reaper,” he answers quietly, like maybe Athena is still sleeping.

“She’s gone.”

I talk to him while carrying the letter upstairs, to see if I can find out what she’s been up to on my laptop.

“Did you have a fight?”

“No, just the opposite. Everything was perfect. Then I woke up to this fucking letter.”

Opening my laptop, I see it was never turned off, and I remember her closing it when I came into the room. I should’ve gone with my gut, and found out what she was up to. Had I, she’d probably be here now, instead of putting herself in harm’s way.

I read him the letter, and he’s quiet afterward, as I stare at the picture of my uncle’s house on the screen. Running my keystroke program, I see that she was searching the area, directions, as well as contacting a fucking drug dealer. What the absolute fuck? I’m not going to spank her, I’m going to beat her ass until she’s black and blue. But of course, I have to find her first.

“Bones?”

“Yeah,” he responds softly.

“She went to find Frank.”

I hear him walking, and then he says, “Is she a fucking idiot? Jesus Christ, this is bad, Reaper.”

Nobody knows what Frank is capable of more than I do, so I don’t need him to tell me how bad this is.

“Get over here. I’ll call Kage and Psycho. We are going to need all hands on deck. I don’t have to tell you how dangerous he is, and I assume you’re attached to this girl.”

My voice comes out as low and broken as I feel at this moment.

“I can’t fucking breathe without her, Bones. I don’t even want to.”

“You helped me save my woman, and I’m going to help you save yours. This is what family does.”

I know my brother is angry with me, and maybe he has a right to that, but at the moment I can’t deal with it. There can be nothing I focus on other than finding Bella.

“I’ll see you soon,” I say as I disconnect the call.

Aside from my family, there has been nothing I’ve given a fuck about for my entire life. She’s the only stability I’ve ever known, and the short time she’s been gone has me feeling like I’m unraveling. My chest hurts as an emptiness fills me. My sweet girl wants to make Frank pay for what he did to me, but she has no idea what she’s walking into. He is the most evil man I’ve ever known. And if he gets the upper hand, and he likely will, death will be a walk in the park compared to what he does to her.

She knows how to fight, and is surprisingly skilled at taking normal lives, but mafia men are anything but normal. We are born into a violent criminal world, and are raised with it.

As bad as enduring his torture was, this is worse. Life with Bella made every ounce of pain worth it. If I’m left with nothing, my life may as well end, because it’s all meaningless.

I get dressed quickly, and grab my keys to go to my brother’s house. We know where she is. That’s not a mystery, but will we get there before or after he kills her, that’s the question that causes the lump in my throat to grow.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

BELLA

I’m not entirely sure what I expected, but when I arrive at his compound, I am surprised by the number of armed men standing around. It looks like the goddamn swat team is here. Yet, I know it’s not the police, it’s the mafia. Chances are fairly good that this is a suicide mission, but I won’t back down. This is for Nico. My intention was to sneak onto the property, but a quick scan tells me that is not an option.

Walking up to the black gate that surrounds the property, I see it’s open, but simply walking through is impossible, due to the man with a machine gun standing in front of it. I go up to him, and place my hand over my heart and gaze up into his eyes.

“My, you’re tall,” I say sweetly.

I bat my eyelashes at him slowly, and his lips lift into a smirk.

“How can I help you, sweetheart?”

Tilting my head slightly, I say, “I’m here to see Mr. Bonetti. He paid for the night.”

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