Page 51 of Lawless
"Why do you fucking care?" he growled, turning to face me for the first time in days. " You see me as a murderer and a rapist. Aren't I doing you a favor by leaving you the hell alone?"
His words flung out at me from some deep, painful place. Too stunned to reply, I could only back away a few steps.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," he grumbled.
"I don't know, I—“ My mind raced as I tried to reconcile the horrors he committed with the man who treated his animal companion so gently. "As I'm spending more time in the club, I'm starting to think, I dunno. Maybe you guys aren't all bad."
"Not all bad?" he laughed cruelly as he flicked the butt of his cigar, sending ashes raining down over the balcony. "Sugar, you haven'tseenhow bad we can be. We're the stuff nightmares are made of." He leaned in close to me. "The Collapse took all your rights away, but for men like me? We thrive in this world. A lawless land meansImake the laws. And I'll dispense justice in any way I see fit."
His words swung heavily through the air as if made of battle axes, and my heart dropped in much the same way.
"So I was right about you," I said, nearly choking on my sadness. "My first impression, anyway." Nevermind ifhenever forced himself on anyone, or that his hands felt like magic or his kiss took my breath away. Reaper was the living embodiment of the Collapse itself. Cruelty, violence, and chaos wrapped in a sinfully beautiful package.
"Yeah," he scoffed, turning his bitter gaze back to the mountain view. "You were right about me."
With nothing else to say, I turned to leave. Hades' dark eyes followed me, wide and puppy-like as I reached for the door. I would've loved the company of a friendly, nonjudgmental animal since the surrounding humans proved to be just as awful as I thought. But I knew better than to touch Reaper's dog.
"None of us touched her, you know."
I froze a moment before slipping through the doorway, then whipped around to stare at his broad back.
"What?"
"The kitchen girl," he said, tossing the finished end of his cigar over the balcony. "Tom was the one who abused her while his cunt of a wife watched it happen without lifting a finger to help. He made no secret about wanting to do the same to you."
Eighteen
REAPER
Ishouldn't have told her. I should have let her keep on believing I was just another barbaric piece of shit senselessly killing whoever got in my way. At least then she'd feel better about not talking to me.
She was all I thought about as I rode out with Jandro the next morning, which really pissed me off because I needed to keep my head in the game. No woman ever succeeded in distracting me from my duties as much as her.
We were in foreign territory and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was fishy about this deal. It all went according to plan, but Hades' hackles had been permanently raised since we got here. His whole body was tense and he'd been growling more than usual. I swore he hadn't slept at all last night. Every time I woke up he was staring at the door, alert and on-guard.
"No sign of Razor Wire or any other club," Jandro said as we stopped at a ridge overlooking a canyon below. "Gun said Horus hasn't seen anything either. I dunno what to tell you, Reap."
"They're fucking us, somehow," I insisted, raising a canteen of water to my lips. "They wouldn't have gone along with the deal so easily if they weren't."
"Maybe our reputation does precede us," my VP smirked. "Word travels faster now that borders don't mean much. It's not just the Arizona-Utah territory that knows who we are."
"Nah," I shook my head. "There's always a bigger fish and Razor Wire used to be it."
"Til General Tash captured 'em," Jandro reminded me. "And Tash has always been honest with us."
"Yeah, but Razor's a slippery bastard. This area used to be loyal to him. I wouldn't be surprised if he had multiple failsafes in the event of his capture."
"Come on, Reap." Jandro leaned against his steed as he crossed his arms. "What's really got your asscheeks clenched? Mariposa?"
"You son of a horse fucker."
"Hey, don't get mad at me. You're the one being a moody bitch while she's doing the best she can in this situation."
I wanted to throw something over the edge of the cliff. I needed my water canteen for the ride back so I settled on a fist-sized rock on the ground and hurled it over the ridge.
"Feel better?" Jandro asked.
Who died and made you my fucking therapist?
