Page 8 of The Biker’s Guilty Pleasur

Reaper kept moving closer. As the club’s enforcer, he had done a lot of shit in his life. Things that would make the worst of them shudder. He wasn’t afraid to inflict pain. It was his job.

“I’m sure you were. Who?”

“Listen here, she’s my wife! You have no right keeping her from me.”

Reaper grabbed him around the neck, slamming him up against the brick building with force, bringing him high enough that only his toes touched the ground.

“I don’t care if she’s your wife, your mother, or your side bitch. You’re not welcome here. If I see your ass here again, I won’t call the cops, it’ll be just you and me. You don’t want that.”

He started crying but left the property, holding his neck. Reaper would have to reinforce the gates on the side of the shelter. As he returned to the back, he realized all the women had been watching from the big family room windows.

They swarmed him once he stepped back inside. “Thank you, Reaper,” Helen said. “That was Rosa’s husband. He hasn’t stopped calling all day.”

Husbands, boyfriends, and exes were a constant issue. It was the number one reason Gena called him most times. They were usually harmless and desperate for a second chance. Reaper wasn’t judge or jury, he just kept them away.

As a kid, he wished there was someone like him to keep the men away from his mother. But it had just been him. He hadn’t been strong or brave back then. And he couldn’t go back in time to undo the past now.

“I’ll work on the gate tomorrow. The latch is too easy to open from the outside. I don’t like it.”

He saw Grace was standing with them, just staring at him without saying a word. She probably hated him even more now for being a violent asshole.

Reaper needed to do his work for the club now. Time to kick ass and break bones. When someone didn’t pay a debt or Lord had a beef with someone, Reaper was the first face they saw. As he was shrugging on his jacket in front of the shelter, a little boy came and wrapped his arms around his thigh.

“Don’t go,” he said.

Reaper bent down to his level. “Listen, little man. It’ll be bedtime soon. You need sleep to get big and strong. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Can I ride your bike again?”

“We’ll see.” He patted him on the head playfully and stood back up.

Lawrence ran off to the kitchen.

The last person he expected to see before leaving was Grace. She approached him, leaning against the wall in the hallway.

“You let the kids ride your bike? Sounds dangerous.”

“I think by riding, he meant to say sitting on my parked bike while I stood beside him. And it was turned off. Promise.”

“I saw what you did out there.”

“I only did what had to be done,” he said.

“I’m not complaining. I’m sure he deserved it. What if the next husband or ex is a biker?”

This chick didn’t fuck around. She meant business.

“Listen, I don’t know what I did to piss you off so much, but I’m not the bad guy here.” He took a couple of steps closer to her. “Out there, yeah, maybe. In here, not so much. As to your question, if a biker came to hurt one of the women or kids here, even one of my own fucking brothers, they’d live to regret it.”

She didn’t say a thing, but her bravado was gone.

And he knew he’d still be thinking about her tonight.

Chapter Four

Grace tried not to become too comfortable around Reaper. She found herself looking forward to seeing him, which was just crazy. He was a biker, but every single time she volunteered at the shelter, all she saw was how comfortable everyone was around him. Including the women.

At first, they were skeptical, but she also happened to notice that Reaper didn’t push for an introduction. He left them alone, giving them as much space as they needed. Only when they felt safe, did he actually attempt talk to them. After that, it was a greeting, a nod, a smile. Nothing overly familiar.