“You got a death wish?” Cash asks, standing beside me.
“I signed my death warrant when I slept with Milly,” I reply, my voice steady.
Cash chuckles and extends a hand, helping me to my feet. My vision clears, but the throbbing in my face is relentless.
There’s banging on the other side of the door at church. “What’s going on in there?” Sophie asks.
“Reaper,” Ava’s voice follows. “Please come out. I’m worried.”
Reaper’s face is bright red. He’s flanked by Bomber on one side and Viper on the other side. He doesn’t answer her, and it’s because he doesn’t want to lie to her and say everything’s alright when he wants to kill me.
“Everything’s okay. It’s club business,” Bomber says sternly, his voice carrying authority.
The banging stops, and the room falls silent again. I take the opportunity to speak. “Look, it’s not what you think. I fucking love Milly.” My voice cracks with emotion. I wish I’d had the chance to tell her that before blurting it out to her brother.
“Don’t you go lying,” Reaper growls. The venom in his tone is expected, but fuck, it still hurts.
I point at him. “It’s that what’s been the problem!”
He cocks his head sideways. “What?”
“That look of betrayal and disappointment on your face, like we’re the worst people on the planet. You wonder why we can’t be together, why we kept it a secret and lied to everyone.” I look around the table as I’m saying it. Then my gaze returns to Reaper. “It’s because of you! We didn’t want to upset you or betray you because we care, but I fucking love her, man.”
“She’s my sister!” he roars.
“She’s the love of my life,” I yell back, my voice echoing through the room.
Axle steps forward toward me, trying to defuse the situation. “We want to keep you alive. Don’t poke the bear.”
I’ve had a gutful. I’m always the nice guy. Even though I shouldn’t yell, my president has to hear me. Milly’s the one for me.
Reaper shakes his head furiously. “I want more for her than anyone in the club can provide.”
“What’s so bad about us, Pres?” Viper asks. “You settled down with Ava.”
“Milly got kidnapped because she was hanging around with people at the clubhouse!” Reaper’s voice is tortured and raw, and now I get it. He still harbors guilt about Milly’s kidnapping.
“It wasn’t your fault she got kidnapped. It was Ivy’s ex,” Demon adds. I give him a small chin lift for the contribution, since he rarely talks or gets involved in things like this.
Reaper’s shoulders sag slightly, the tension in his body easing. “It’s not safe for her because of me,” he mutters. “She already has a target on her. Being in a relationship with a club member would make it worse. I’ve always protected her.”
“She’s safer here with us than anywhere else,” I argue. “When we thought she and Ivy were in danger, Demon and I found them and brought them home safely. I’ll always protect Milly—with my life.”
He crosses his arms and looks away.
“Milly told me you always protected her, but she’s not a child anymore. I can make her happy. That should count for something, shouldn’t it?” My voice softens at the end because deep down, he loves his sister, and he cares whether she’s happy or not.
His eyes narrow as he processes my words. “How can you make her happy? If anything, I’ve never seen her so down and distant.”
I run a hand down my face. “That wasn’t my fault. Mercedez has been blackmailing me. That’s the whole reason I called the meeting this morning. She threatened that if I didn’t make her my ol’ lady, she was going to tell everyone that she saw me and Milly kissing, so I folded. I didn’t want to come between you and Milly, because she loves you and I didn’t know how you’d react.”
Reaper’s face softens slightly, the fury in his eyes dimming as he listens.
“Look, don’t take any of this out on Milly. It’s all my fault. She’s so scared of losing you and that you’ll disown her, so blame me for everything,” I say, my voice urgent. He has to understand that all this mess falls on me, not her.
I watch the anger dissipate from his face and the tension slowly drain from his body. He plonks down in his seat and lets out a deep breath, rubbing his temples. “Everyone leave. Give me and Twitch a moment.”
Everyone hesitates for a beat before the men start filing out. Axle lingers, his eyes darting between me and Reaper. “Will Twitch still be breathing when he gets out?” he asks, half joking.
