Page 38 of Reaper & Ruin
Atlas chuckled and pulled me over to the dining table, sitting us together and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “I think you’ll survive this one,malyshka. But if you need anything, just say the word.”
I snuggled into him, soaking up his warmth. “A new body, please. One without a uterus. In fact, I would like a dick. A big one. At least a foot long so I can swing it around and get all the ladies obsessed with me.”
Atlas pressed another kiss to my head, his fingers brushing through my hair. “I could bring you a dick, but I doubt you’d enjoy the way I got it. Or how messy it would be.”
I sighed dramatically, enjoying the attention and how easily he played my games and relished in my childishness. “Fine, but if I’m going to survive, I at least deserve extra dessert.” I sighed again. “A big dessert. Made with love.”
“I think we can manage that,” he said, his lips curving into a smile against my hair. He smelled of woods and death, and it was my favorite morbid scent. “What’s Gio making anyway? It smells good.”
“Gross stuff that his gross brain thought of.” I huffed.
“Bolognese,” Gio answered before I could speak again. “And if she weren’t being so melodramatic, she’d admit that she’s going to love it.”
I groaned. “I’m only eating it, so I don’t die from starvation on top of everything else. It’s not like I have a choice. I’m not a trad wife whose sole purpose in life is breeding and feeding. I have way more important things to do with my time than cooking.” It had nothing at all to do with the fact that I couldn’t cook for shit. That was just… an afterthought.
Atlas laughed softly, his hand trailing under the blanket and down my arm, and for a moment, the cramping in my stomach didn’t seem so bad. Having him with me, with his calming presence, always made me feel better. Plus, he’d been out for the last hour, checking on our traps in the woods, so he was nice and chilly. It made me shiver, but in a good way.
“So what’s new in the world of paranoia and conspiracies?” I asked him, trying to distract myself from the pain in my abdomen. “Any sightings of Bigfoot, or is it just boring things like people who enjoy hiking?”
He sighed, his face growing more serious as he leaned back against the chair. “Nothing. It’s all quiet. But I don’t like that. It feels… off. Something doesn’t feel right.”
I frowned, sitting up a little straighter. “You think our mortal enemy is planning something bad?”
Atlas nodded, his blue eyes scanning the room as if he could see the threats hidden in the shadows. “Last I found, he was busy trying to figure out where we are. Even when Emilio showed the family our proof that Gio had just run away with a stripper, Giorgio didn’t buy it. But for the last few days, he’s just been radio silent, and I don’t know what that means.”
Gio, who had been plating up the food, grunted in disapproval. “He didn’t care that I ran off with a stripper? That doesn’t sound like him. He’d be wanting my head just to prove a point.” He sighed. “I keep having nightmares that he sent some Company hitmen after us. That they found us and took Heather. That is more like what he would do.”
I threw a balled-up napkin at Gio’s head, and he ducked just in time. “I am not ‘just a stripper,’ thank you very much. I have talents beyond booty shaking, even if my booty looks great when shook.”
“You’re my favorite stripper,” he shot back before hurrying to place a plate of pasta in front of me. “See? I feed you. I do not feed everyone; only people who are mine and who are one day going to carry the De Luca name.”
“Wrong. If I get married, I’m going to change my last name to Flame. Or Cobra. Or something equally fun.” I looked down at the plate, my stomach growling despite the cramps. It did smell amazing. “But you’re forgiven for being a loser. Only because this looks incredible.”
“Good to know food is the way to your heart,” he said, flashing me a smug grin as he took his seat, after handing Atlas his food, too.
As I instantly tucked in, Atlas hesitated, still busy brooding and thinking about all the dangers in the world I couldn’t afford to think about.
If I thought about danger, then I was reminded of how much of a liability I was. And then once I thought about that, I thought of who paid the price for me being me.
I remembered how I hadn’t avenged the cunt who’d stolen Missy from me… it was a spiral. A thought spiral of the worst kind.
Atlas grabbed his fork, careful not to drop me, nor asking me to move out of his way. “It’s not just Giorgio. There was a hit nearby recently—some politician. The way it was done… it reminded me of someone I used to know, and I’m cautious about them figuring out I’m still alive.”
“Who?” I asked, twirling my fork in the pasta, intrigued by the shift in his tone. “One of your ninja friends?”
He hesitated, his jaw tightening. “No one important. Just… someone I thought was gone.” He wiped a tattooed hand over his face.
I knew better than to push. Atlas had a lot of history he didn’t like talking about, and I respected that. But his unease was contagious. If he was worried, that meant something bad was on the horizon. Plus, he was talking about a girl, and I was curious to hear more about any bad bitches he knew other than his sister.
“Is she more dangerous than you?” I wondered.
“Yes.” He didn’t lie, and I loved that. He wasn’t plagued by toxic masculinity, where he had to pretend that a woman was his lesser. “Danika was just like me, only she never got out. She’s spent more years with The Company, and her soul would be further gone than mine. I honestly don’t know who would win in a fight between us anymore.” He speared a bit of pasta on his fork. “Plus, I was more of a hacker in the end because that’s where I excelled. Shewasan assassin just like Silver, only worse. Danika thrived in death.”
“Sounds like she’s hot.” I swallowed a few mouthfuls of food, trying not to let my anxiety be deflected again with too much shitty humor. “Is she crazy?”
I felt bad for Danika, and all the other people like her and Atlas. They’d had their souls stripped away as children and been turned into assassins for an organization that saw them as assets and nothing more.
I wasn’t surprised Atlas was a bit of a funky dude. I would have been unhinged if I’d killed half the number of people he and those like him had.
