Reaper shuffles closer again and pulls me back into his chest. “You are courageous. He is the coward.” His voice hardens at the end.
Instead of telling me to get out when I brought issues to their clubhouse, he is here, holding me. I burrow further into his chest like he’s my safety blanket.
Even at the beginning of my relationship with Beau, he never showed affection or held me when I was upset. I wasted so much time on him.
When I was with him, all I wanted to do was scream. Scream for someone to help me. Scream at Beau for making me feel worthless. But I was worried about the consequences. I need to do something now. “Okay. I’ll go to the police station.”
He kisses the top of my head. It makes the weight of hopelessness lift slightly.
Two light knocks sound from the door, followed by Elena’s and Axle’s voices.
“I told you she is fine. Reaper is with her.”
“She’smysister. I need to hear it from her.”
“You stubborn woman!”
Reaper chuckles and sits up. “I’ll let her talk to you. If you need me, I’ll be downstairs and ready for whenever you want to go.”
I shake my head and sit up, then reach over and take his hand in mine. “Please stay.” His eyebrows pinch, making his forehead wrinkle. He wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me into him. “If you need me to stay, I won’t leave until you ask me to.”
“Come in, Elena.”
She bursts through the door, her eyes bulging.
“I’m sorry, Reaper,” Axle says while staring with narrowed eyes at his wife. “I tried, but when it comes to her sister, there’s no talking to her.”
I give Elena a small smile to reassure her that everything’s okay.
“It’s not a problem,” Reaper replies to Axle.
Elena’s eyes move to my and Reaper’s hands, but then they wander to my bag and the few scattered clothes around it on my bed. She frowns. “You were going to leave?” She sounds hurt.
Axle frowns at me too. So many emotions course through me at once, but Reaper squeezes my hand as if he can sense my feelings.
“I didn’t want to cause any trouble here,” I reply honestly.
“I told you we will sort it out.”
“Someone from the MC contacted Beau, so I thought I wasn’t welcome anymore.”
“I’ll find out who it was,” Reaper assures me.
“We had a meeting,” Axles says. “All the men agreed to you staying here. We were all aware of the implications.”
It makes no sense, then. Why would someone call the police on me?
“Did you want me to go to the police station with you?” Elena asks.
I glance at Reaper. “It’s okay. Reaper said he will take me.”
EIGHT
STAY WITH ME
Reaper
After all the shit we went through overseas in the Special Forces, me, Bomber, and Viper came back home and forged friendships with men who also worked in the military. Creating the MC was like finding a home. Ava makes me feel the same.
