Page 43 of Reaper's Rival

“Abby, I’ll do anything for you. You know that. Whatever he is offering, I’ll match it. Just please,” he linked his hand with mine, “don’t give up on me.”

I pulled my hand away. “He is offering me a life away from the club, Reaper. No club rules. No club-related bullshit. I’ve been brought up on it, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life living and breathing the club.”

“So you are breaking up with me because of the club?”

“I’m breaking up with you because it’s best for both of us. You can’t change into the man I want. And I can’t be the woman you want. We are just…” I swallowed sharply, “going in different directions.”

“Who is it?” he gritted out. “Who the fuck is offering you more than what I can? And since when did you not like the club?” He wasn’t giving up. He was going to fight me on this. Every single thing I said, he was going to fight me on it.

“Can’t you just accept it?” I said, frustrated. “We are done. Over. You can leave now and go to your new charter and I can move on.”

“Who. Is. It? Is it another member?” He arched his eyebrows.

“No.”

“So it isn’t Brad?”

My eyes went wide and I shook my head. “No. Do you really think Brad would leave the club for me? He isn’t a member of a club.” I made sure to say that last bit a bit slower. “It’s Daniels.”

“The guy you were in a gang with?”

“He just showed up at the right time and is offering me something I can’t turn down.” I shrugged my shoulders. God, this was painful. Why did pushing away the people you love hurt so much? I never wanted to let him go, but I knew I also couldn’t fulfill my requirements to Blake while being with him.

He scoffed, shaking his head. “What about the baby? Do you expect me to forget about that as well? To let some stranger bring up my kid?” He was hurting, badly. And I had done the hurting. He wasn’t just grieving the loss of me right now, he was grieving the life we would have had. “How can you stand there and tell me you don’t want me?” he yelled.

Is this how it was going down? Me breaking his heart? Just don’t cry.

“I’m sorry.” And I honestly was. I was sorry for hurting him. For leading him on, and mostly I was sorry this was how I was ending it. It was ending very badly. But I guess I should have expected it. There was no way to end this nicely. We couldn’t be friends. We never were friends. We skipped that step.

“Is that all you’ve got to say?” The veins in his neck were bulging and the tattoo of my name had never been clearer.

I nodded my head. “Like I said, I’m sorry.”

“Fuck that, Abby. I’m done. You hear me? I’m DONE! Don’t come looking at me to patch things up. Just stay the fuck away from me. And you thought all this time, I’d hurt you. Clearly I didn’t fucking know what a cold, hard bitch you can be.”

I deserved that, so I took it. “I’ll um, stay away from you then.”

“Trust me. That won’t be hard because I’m planning on leaving as soon as possible. Don’t come crying to me over your boyfriend when he tries to kill you again.”

“Trust me, Reaper. You are the last person I’ll go to for help.”

I didn’t know it was possible, but my last words whipped across his face and the hurt expression on his face, well, it broke my heart, and the tears I was holding back flooded out.

“I would never have let you down. I would never have hurt you. I would have given up everything for you. I would have fought everything and everyone for you. You were my world, Abby, and you just ripped it away from me.” I didn’t know it was possible, but Reaper cried. It was one tear, but it was there running down his cheek. “Just stay the fuck away from me.”

The pain in his eyes, it was making anger run through my blood. I hated myself for doing this to the love of my life. I hated myself more than I hated Blake for making me do it. After all, I had done it, hadn’t I? I had caused the pain in his eyes.

If I had just stayed away from him, this would never have happened.

I knew we would end badly. But I never thought I’d be the one to pull the trigger on us. Reaper actually looked like I had pulled the trigger on him. He looked to be in that much pain.

“Kade, I’m so sorr-”

“It’s Reaper, and what the hell would you be sorry for? You’ve moved the fuck on. And so will I. Now stay the hell away from me, you hear? Stay the fuck away from me!” He turned and threw open my door, leaving me.

So this is what your heart breaking feels like. I wished I was numb from the pain, but I wasn’t. I could never have been prepared for that. But I had gotten my wish. He was letting me go. This pain was just too real. Too consuming.

I wiped the tears off my face and dialed Daniels’ number. The sooner I started, the sooner I finished. I knew I wouldn’t be coming back from breaking up with Kade. This sickness that spread through my veins, it would never leave me. Pain. I was in physical pain. My heart was beating but I felt dead.

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