Page 71 of Reaper

“Doesn’t matter. He was a child. How dare you?”

He takes another gulp of his drink, and pours more from a fancy decanter.

“I assume you aren’t from a mafia family?”

“No,” I answer, but I don’t think that matters.

He chuckles softly.

“I didn’t think so because if you were, you’d know what a mistake it is coming into a mafia man’s house, planning to what? Hurt me? Let me give you a tiny lesson of the criminal world. We raise our boys to be lethal. Violent. They must be to survive in this environment. Nico was always different from the others. Maybe he had too much of his mother’s DNA, I don’t know, but he was soft. Always so deep in his feelings over something. My brother asked me to toughen him up, and I did. Look at him now. The boy kills people for sport. Perhaps you don’t agree with my methods, but they worked. I think that is something we’d both agree on. Although, I do wonder what kind of man would send a woman to do a man’s work. Maybe he’s still the pussy he was as a child.”

“He didn’t send me. Nico is stronger than you’ll ever be.”

His small smile turns into a wicked grin.

“Reaper doesn’t know you’re here, does he? Which means, I have you all to myself.”

Rising from his seat, he goes to the curio cabinet on the other side of the room, and pulls out a drawer and retrieves something I can’t see.

Holding the gun up and aiming it at his head, I prepare to shoot, and he chuckles.

“I can see your reflection in the glass, whore. Go ahead and fire it. It’s empty.”

I pull the trigger anyway, and it clicks, but it’s empty. He wasn’t lying to me.

Turning to me, he holds a lead pipe.

“This is what I used on your Nico. And now I’ll use it on you.”

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

REAPER

Looking up her location on her tracker confirmed my suspicions that she was at Frank’s house. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of looking there to begin with, but I know now, I was right. She’s doing this for me, the one thing I never would’ve asked her to do, because this is not what I want. Not that I have any problem with her wishing him dead, or even killing him, but she’s putting herself in so much danger. I believe in my girl and she is capable of many things, but taking on Frank alone is not one of them. Of course, I want her to prove me wrong, but I know for a fact that I’m about to lose the only thing that means anything to me. I was tempted to go straight there to try to get her, but I’m currently trying to think like Bones, and if I run in there like she did, I’ll only get us both killed.

After getting out of the car, I walk the few steps to my brother’s door and open it. I know he’s waiting for me, and the other two if they aren’t here yet. As soon as I walk in, Athena throws her arms around me.

“I’m sorry, Reaper.”

“Me too,” I respond, and I make my way across the great room to the stairs. I know Bones will be in his office, already working on intel. Before we arrive at the house, he will want to know who is there, entry points, and any possible complications. This is why my father chose him for the job. We joke around and give each other a hard time, but I know all of my brothers have my back, and there is no one I trust more than Bones to help me get Bella, and keep us all alive in the process.

Opening the door, I walk in and find a packed room. All three of my brothers are seated on the couch, as well as some faces I don’t know. I arch an eyebrow at Bones, silently asking for an explanation.

“Have a seat,” he says, as he runs a hand through his hair.

My brother is worried. He has nerves of steel, so I know he’s found something out that isn’t good.

“Again, I have to ask you, how serious are you about this girl, Reaper?”

As my heart drops, I fear the worst. He’s not going to help me, and if he isn’t, I’ll go it alone, but chances are I will die.

“As serious as the fucking heart attack I feel like I’m having.”

I stare at my brother dead in the eyes.

“She’s my Athena. Could you go on without your wife? Because I really don’t think I could breathe a single breath in a world where Bella doesn’t exist.”

He nods his understanding, with his arms crossed over his chest, from behind his desk, then clears his throat. “Then we’re doing this. You should know what we’re up against though.”

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