Page 63 of Reaper & the Lioness
Benjamin’s lips curled into a smug grin as realization dawned on my face. “Your friend Matt was easily persuaded to help us find you.” He chuckled before continuing in a mocking tone, “It’s amazing how easily you can blackmail someone who has a severe gambling addiction and a mountain of debt.”
The betrayal hit me like a physical blow. Matt had been one of my best friends since college. The friend who’d held my hair back after too many shots of tequila. The one who sent me DoorDash when he knew I’d worked a twelve-hour day during a crisis. The weight of his treachery settled in my chest, making ithard to breathe. And now, because of him, I was about to die for something I thought we both believed in.
Hot tears pressed behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not when Benjamin and Hale sought to find a weakness in my armor. I’d die before I gave them the names of the women who’d spoken to me. I’d always known trusting others was dangerous. I just never thought it would be Matt holding the knife embedded in my back.
A flicker of movement near one of the broken windows caught my attention. At first, I thought it was a shadow. Relief flooded through me as Reaper appeared on the other side of the grungy glass, his face a mask of focused intensity. A sob escaped involuntarily from deep within my chest before I could stop myself. The triumph on Hale’s face told me he mistook the sound as me breaking down.
My eyes locked with Reaper’s for a split second, rage and determination etched into every line of his face. I raised three fingers, hoping to signal how many men he’d face inside. Not that it mattered. These three men in suits would be no match for a handful of hardened bikers and veterans. Reaper nodded at me in understanding.
Then chaos erupted.
Glass shattered into the open space as Reaper burst through the window. Merrick, Hatchet, Jay, Archer, and Bones poured in from different entry points. The men moved in a coordinated, lethal manner that left me knowing this wasn’t the first time they’d worked together like this.
The man from the bakery barely had time to reach for his gun before Bones tackled him to the ground. Fists flew as they rolled across the concrete floor.
Hatchet went straight for Benjamin. The businessman was no match for the biker. He tried to run but found himselfcornered and knocked to the ground. Hatchet crushed his face into the concrete with a satisfying thud.
Merrick’s fist connected with Hale’s jaw with a sickening crunch. He dropped like a rock and scrambled backward on all fours before pulling a hidden knife from his boot. He lunged at Merrick, who easily dodged. The blade whistled past his ear. Merrick grinned at Hale as if he liked the promise of a fight. They circled each other, Hale lunging and slashing while Merrick weaved and blocked.
Through it all, Reaper homed in on me. His knife flashed as he cut through my restraints, and I fell into his arms. My limbs shook with relief.
“I’ve got you, my Lioness,” he murmured into my hair. His arms tightened around me. “You’re safe now.”
I clung to him and buried my face in his chest as tears streamed down my face. The adrenaline keeping me defiant faded, leaving me weak and shaky.
Nearly as quickly as it’d begun, the fight was over. My heart hammered against my ribs as I took in the groaning bodies sprawled across the dirty concrete floor, guns held against the back of their skulls. Their bravado was gone, replaced by well-deserved fear and pain. They’d been no match against the Mavericks. A savage satisfaction twisted inside me. The men who’d terrorized me now sat at the feet of my rescuers, and they wouldn’t be merciful.
“Zip-tie these fuckers and take them to the junkyard,” Reaper ordered. His voice sounded colder than it had been moments before. “I’ll meet you there.”
He pulled back, his hands cupping my face as he assessed my injuries. I tasted the blood on my split lip, and my sight was clouded with tears as my eyes swelled.
I swallowed hard. “Matt betrayed me. He’s the reason they found me.”
A muscle twitched in Reaper’s jaw. “I suspected as much. He’s in the back of the SUV.”
His words were both a comfort and a fresh wound. I fought back tears.
“I’m taking you back to the cabin. I need to take care of this situation.”
He wanted to handle this the outlaw way.
“I’m coming with you,” I demanded in a hoarse, shaky voice.
“You don’t need to be here for this,” Reaper said, his tone quiet and gentle. “You don’t need to see what we’ll do. Let me handle it.”
I shook my head. “I need to see this through. Please. I want to talk to them. All of them. I need to confront Matt.”
Tension still radiated off Reaper, and his eyes raked over the bruises forming on my face before he reluctantly agreed. “All right.”
My body sagged as relief washed over me. Reaper wrapped an arm around my waist and guided me out of the warehouse to his truck. Merrick followed to join us while Jay, Bones, Archer, and Hatchet stuffed the three men, bound with zip ties, in the back of the SUV.
Reaper’s truck peeled out of the gravel parking lot with the other guys closely following. The adrenaline coursing through my veins began to slow, and I could feel the tender swelling on my face. I flipped down the visor and gasped at my reflection in the mirror.
“There’s Advil in the glovebox. It should help with the swelling. I’ll get you some ice from the breakroom when we get to the junkyard.”
I shuffled through his glove box to find the bottle, swallowing three before leaning back against the headrest. “So, what’s the junkyard? Is that code for something?”
“It’s an actual junkyard owned by Bones. It has a warehouse we use for these … situations. And, conveniently, there is an incinerator nearby.”
