Page 24 of Reaper & the Lioness
“You might think you’re fooling everyone with this little act, but I know what you and your club are really about. Theseparents don’t understand how much your club destroys our community.”
Maisie’s smile faltered, and the children’s excited chatter died into confused whispers.
Danielle looked around, catching eyes with the gathering audience. “Did you know that the Lone Star Mavericks sell drugs? My son’s friend overdosed. The drugs he bought from them were laced with fentanyl.”
Nearby shoppers exchanged uneasy glances.
Danielle continued her rant, raising her voice to attract more attention. “Is that the type of vendor you want at our market? Is that the kind of person you want around your children?”
I stepped between the slightly disheveled middle-aged woman and the craft table. “Ma’am, you’re disrupting a sanctioned event and harassing a vendor. We’ll be forced to take legal action for slander and harassment if you don’t leave right now.”
Danielle sputtered as her face turned even more red. “You can’t threaten me! I know my rights!”
“And I know the law,” I countered as I gestured to my phone. “You’re on camera, Danielle.” I made sure to enunciate her name. “When I involve Thane’s lawyers, there will be no mistaking your threats and harassment against Maisie and her business. Please leave. Now.”
Danielle tensed at the mention of Thane and, for a moment, she acted like she might back down. Then, her face twisted with renewed anger, and she lunged forward, hands outstretched as if to shove me.
Before she could make contact, a large figure slid between us, and she stumbled backward.
“Hello, Danielle,” Reaper said. His voice sounded deceptively calm, but there was no mistaking the brutality belowthe surface. The tone of his voice sent a shiver through my spine, and I wasn’t even the focus of his malevolence.
Danielle’s face paled as recognition dawned. “I … I was just …”
“You were just leaving,” he finished.
Reaper took an intimidating step closer and narrowed his eyes. Without another word, Danielle turned and pushed through the crowd watching the confrontation.
As the tension dissipated, I found myself standing close to Reaper. Heat radiated off his body.
“I had that under control,” I muttered, stepping away to stop the camera.
Reaper’s lips quirked in what might have been a smile. “While you might threaten Danielle with lawyers, she knows my mere existence threatens her.”
He held out his hand. “Your phone. I need that video for Thane.”
“I can send it later.”
“Now.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved my phone in his outstretched hand. Reaper’s fingers moved across the screen, and his device pinged. As he returned my phone, his calloused hand lingered a beat longer than necessary.
“There. Now you have my number,” he said with a hint of satisfaction in his voice. “You can text me the plan for our next PR story … or anything else, of course.”
“Of course,” I echoed. I tried to ignore how my pulse quickened at the thought of Reaper’s number now residing in my contacts.
As he turned to leave, he paused, glancing back over his shoulder. “You did good today. But next time, let me handle Danielle. Some people only understand one language, and it ain’t legalese.”
I watched him walk away, the crowd parting around him. My eyes couldn’t help but trace the broad expanse of his shoulders, the way his dark jeans hugged his?—
No. I would not go there.
Chapter Ten
Tension hung heavy in the night air as I crouched behind a stack of wooden pallets. The weight of my Kevlar vest provided a comforting pressure against my chest.
“Snipers, check in,” I murmured into my radio.
“In position,” Jay said.
