Page 38 of Fear the Reapers
“What, you mean besides being treated like Ezra’s personal plaything?” She retorted with an eye roll.
“Has he hurt you?” I asked as my jaw clenched. I couldn’t stomach the thought of anyone hurting her. Especially my own brother.
“Yes.” She stammered, then paused. “Well, no. No, not really. He’s possessive and doesn’t understand boundaries, but he hasn’t hurt me.”
My jaw relaxed a fraction. I didn’t know what I’d do if Ezra hurt her. His obsession with her was obvious, and I couldn’t blame him. She was so much more than any of us ever expected her to be.
“If you’d give us a chance, you’d see that there are some benefits to living with us.” I continued, running my fingers through my hair.
“Like what?” She asked, eyeing me with suspicion.
“Well, you’re under our protection and we can give you anything you want.”
“Anything?” She asked, cocking a brow.
“Yes, anything.”
She laughed for a few beats until she realized I wasn’t joking. I could see her mind working, trying to scour her thoughts for something that she truly wanted. I meant every word I said. One of the many perks of our business ventures was that we had a surplus of money and resources. She could have anything she wanted, all she had to do was ask.
Maybe my brothers weren’t ready to acknowledge it, but she was creating a space for herself in our lives. Day by day, hour by hour, she was burrowing deeper and deeper under our skin. But we still didn’t know what her motivation was for being here and more importantly, what was making her want to stay.
“Okay.” She said, looking up at me. “You know what I really want?”
I nodded silently, readying myself for whatever answer she threw my way. Cars. Jewelry. Hell, even her own fucking place on our property. We could afford it all, but her answer would tell me everything I needed to know about her intentions.
“Could we go to Hell’s Tavern again?” She asked, biting into her lower lip. “It was fun to get out of the house and I could really use another round of Jessie’s Hellhounds.”
That was it? That was her big ask?Damn,either this girl was perfect, or she was playing us, hard. I had just given her the golden opportunity of getting whatever she wanted, and all she wanted to do was go to a fucking bar for a drink. A fucking bar that we owned, no less.
“I’ll see what I can do.” I said, tilting my head to the side and staring at the strange girl sitting in front of me.
With that answer, she gave me the first huge smile I had seen from her. I hoped it wouldn’t be the last time I saw it on her face.
Chapter 24
Stevie
After breakfast, I kept to myself for the rest of the day. I knew Cyrus was lingering somewhere, but after the morning’s events, I wasn’t ready to face him or really any of them, if I was honest.
I was ashamed. Ashamed of what Ezra made me do at the kitchen table. Ashamed of how much I liked it. Ashamed of how disappointed I was when he had to leave. And I was even ashamed that thinking about it now made my heart beat faster.What’s wrong with me?
I wasn’t stupid. I knew that his fascination with me was fleeting. But I have never had someone treat me so tenderly, yet send my pulse skyrocketing at the same time. I was as enamoured as I was terrified of Ezra. It was intoxicating. He made me feel alive, and that scared the hell out of me because I knew I was just a game to him. Nothing more than a toy to enjoy until he gets bored.
Even if Ezra’s affections towards me were genuine, he had no idea who I really was beyond these walls, and neither did any of his brothers. Well, except for Atlas, but that didn’t seem to matter to him anymore.
The really tragic thing about Atlas was that I would’ve accepted him for who he really was if he had just trusted me from the beginning. It might have taken some adjustments, but I would have accepted The Reaper side of him. Hell, my past wasn’t perfect, but I did what I needed to survive and I could understand that for him and his brothers, this was their way of surviving in this world. I could accept that.
What I couldn’t accept was the secret, bitchy girlfriend. I’m sorry,fiance.The one he neglected to mention while he let me throw myself at him almost every single night. That betrayal stung. But I didn’t know what was worse, that he didn’t tell me about her or that Melanie was everything I could never be.
Since the messy scene at Hell’s Tavern, Atlas’ cold shoulder treatment of me had been consistent, and it was obvious his brothers knew nothing of our history. Apparently, we both thought better of telling our siblings about each other.Maybe we were more alike than I thought.
As volatile as I expected them all to be, they’ve all been consistent with their treatment of me. Cyrus looked at me like he wanted to fuck me. Tristan looked at me like wanted to kill me or save me. Ezra looked at me like he wanted to eat me. And Atlas refused to look at me at all. It was my own treacherous body that wanted to change things and blur the lines between captive and captor.
It had only been a few days and already I was losing sight of why I came here. I needed to protect Alex, and I sure as hell couldn’t do that while being stuck here. I needed a solid plan of escape and unless I got my hands on one of their access cards; I was fucked.
???
“Knock, Knock.” Cyrus said as he opened my bedroom door. His eyes searched around the room before settling on me. “Wear this,” he said, tossing a garment bag on one of my armchairs, “and meet me downstairs in five.”
