Page 50 of Reaper's Rival

I nudged Roach. “What’s with Abby and the gun?”

Roach grunted. “That boyfriend of hers has her doing his connections. I’m guessing that is one of the samples she got this week.”

“What, she’s dealing guns?” He had to be fucking with me.

“Yelled at her. Shouted at her. Still won’t see reason. I can only yell at her so many times. She does what she wants. She doesn’t care if I disapprove or not.”

“Well, be firmer,” I gritted out. I couldn’t have her running around doing gun deals!

“Don’t know if you noticed, Reaper, but Abby’s cut all ties with us. The club and her family.” Roach looked at Abby as she walked toward the clubhouse. “Fuck, I’m expecting her to move out any day. In with that boyfriend of hers. She spends all her time with him as it is.”

“Can’t you put her on lockdown or something? Make her see reason!”

“Is she listening to you?”

That hit me right in the stomach. “No.”

“Like I said. She’s cut all ties. Any day now, there will be a truck here and she will be packing her shit in it and I’ll lose her altogether.”

“You can’t let her. You have to stop her from…” What? How could we stop her? She was on this path of destruction, and she didn’t care.

Roach arched his eyebrows at me. “See, son? Not even you can think of a way to save her from herself. She’s chosen him over her own family. I’m only putting up with him because if I don’t, I lose her altogether. And I can’t face life without Abby in it. Even if at the moment all we do is fight.”

Abby disappeared into the clubhouse. She didn’t even seem to care about the party going on around her.

I had watched her withdraw from the club. I had watched her withdraw from me, from her family, but this. Seeing her so crystal clear. Like she really, really didn’t care what anyone thought of her anymore. It hurt. Because she wasn’t just saying she didn’t care that she was sleeping with our enemy. She was basically giving us all the finger and doing whatever the hell she wanted.

Maybe I could make her see reason…oh, who was I kidding? She didn’t want to speak to me. Hell, she didn’t even want me in her life. She made that clear when we broke up and she disappeared. Like I was nothing to her; that what we had was nothing.

Feelings for her still ran deep in my blood, but I couldn’t say those feelings were returned by her.

Still, I could try, couldn’t I? Just the thought of speaking to her had my blood racing, but the thought of her pushing me away and giving me that cold exterior that she was giving everyone else?

Well, that scared me because it wasn’t just going to hurt my pride to be pushed away from her again, but it would bring all my feelings for her to the surface. Still, I had to try.

***

I spotted her at the bar, leaning over and grabbing a soft drink. She was by herself. At least no one would hear her reject me. I walked up behind her. I knew I shouldn’t, but I still couldn’t help myself. I guess old habits die hard.

I reached around her, grabbing her hips and guiding her back to the stool.

She frowned, looking behind her and when she realized it was me, her eyes widened.

“What do you want?” she said sharply.

The AK was on the bar, along with her phone and purse.

I couldn’t just tell her that I wanted her to break it off with her boyfriend, could I? She would think I was doing it because I was jealous. Which I was, but I also was more worried about what she was getting herself into.

“See you are hitting the hard stuff.” I didn’t answer her question.

“Yeah, it’s as strong as it gets at the moment.” She smiled at me. And I could honestly say after being away from her for this long, seeing that she was smiling at me, well, it made my fucking month. And I knew how desperate that made me.

I kept my hands on her hips. Was I crossing a line? I needed to touch her. God, she didn’t know how much I needed her. But she was doing perfectly fine without me, and that’s what made my life that much sadder.

“How you feeling?” How many times had I wanted to ask her that question? She was pregnant with my kid. I had to know how she was. If she was having morning sickness. Was she eating the right food? Was she looking after herself?

The wall she normally had up wasn’t there, and I could read her expression. She wasn’t ok.