Page 44 of Reaper's Rage

“I’d say the odds just raised in your favor for getting Deion to work with you on trapping Trask. Want me to set up a meeting?”

“I can’t until I get back into town. But yeah, I think Deion and I need to meet soon.”

“If you send me some of the evidence you have, I can get it to Deion without Trask knowing.” Killian pushes. “If he’s involved with the guy who hurt Tanya, Deion will take him out.”

“I need Trask alive, at least for now. He’s trying to pin a murder he committed on me. He’s got the cops looking for me. I’d like to point them at Trask. But not if Deion will sacrifice the gang to protect him. Can you just tell him enough to make sure he knows Trask is not a friend?”

“Yeah, I can do that. I’ll let you know what happens.” Killian says, signing off.

I hold the phone, debating on my next move. Spark and Hawk are the best place to start. I find them and fill them in on my conversation with Killian, specifically about Tanya and what he knows of her attacker.

“Fuck, that poor girl. We need to end this guy, and soon.” Hawk says.

“In the meantime, go take care of your girl. We’ve got things under control here. If you hear from Killian, let us know, but other than that, take your girl and give her a killer day.” Spark says and I grin. Because fuck yeah, it’s my girl’s day.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: ASHLYN

“Happy Birthday!” Briony sings out when I answer the phone.

“Thank you.” I tell her, laughing at her exuberance.

“So, what are you doing today?” She asks. “Anything special?”

“I’m spending the day with Reaper. According to him, we’re going to be very busy.”

“Busy as in getting busy?” She asks, and I can’t help but smile.

“Definitely. But he has the whole day planned. He’s taking me to visit some of the attractions first and then he has the whole evening planned out. Not sure what we’re doing first, but I know we’re going out to dinner at a nice restaurant, probably doing some gambling and he’s booked a hotel room for tonight.”

“He sounds like he’s taking care of my girl.” Briony says with a laugh. “Can’t wait to hear all about it. When are you coming back?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t really made plans past today, but I imagine we’ll be home in a couple of days.”

“Just make sure you do everything that I would do and then some!”

I laugh as she ends the call. Hopping out of bed, I hurry into the shower. My body tingles in anticipation of the day. A whole day with just Reaper and me. No club, no annoying brothers, blood or otherwise, no distractions. Just us.

Reaper comes into the bathroom as I’m drying my hair.

“Damn, I missed the show.” Reaper says with a grin as he strips down.

“But I didn’t.” I say with a smirk as I turn to watch.

He chuckles as he ducks under the spray.

I finish getting ready as he showers, then follow him back into the bedroom. I notice the bag holding my dress is missing. “What happened to my dress?”

“I had Showtime take our stuff over to the hotel.” Reaper says. “Didn’t want to carry it on the bike.”

I nod and smile at how Reaper always seems to think of everything.

“Who was that on the phone?” He asks as he pulls on a clean pair of jeans.

“Briony. Just wanted to wish me a happy birthday.” I tell him, admiring his ass as he bends over to pull out a t-shirt. It’s maroon and looks amazing against his dark skin, especially when he pulls on his black kutte. He turns to look at me, one eyebrow going up in a question. I glance down and see that I’m standing naked, holding the towel but not making a move to get ready. “Oops.” I say, tossing the towel aside and grabbing my clothes.

We pass through the common room and I wave at everyone wishing me a happy birthday. As I strap on my helmet, I notice my face hurts a little. I laugh when I realize it’s because I haven’t stopped smiling since I woke up. Like most people, I’ve always looked forward to my birthday, but I know that hands down this one will be better than any of the others. Even the ones at Chuck E. Cheese when I was a kid.

Seeing the Vegas strip from the back of a motorcycle is its own adventure. My head is on a swivel as I take in everything. I don’t know where we’re going, but I’m so excited to get there that I’m practically bouncing on the seat. I can feel Reaper laughing at me, so I squeeze my arms a little tighter around his waist. He pulls into a parking lot and leads me down a shaded path until we enter the Venetian. We find a restaurant to have breakfast before he pulls me toward the canal. As we approach the ticket booth for the gondola rides, I’m almost skipping. But my smile dies a little when I see the look on the face of the ticket seller. I’m about to suggest we do something else when Reaper stares the man down.

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