Page 24 of Reaper

“It’s time to level with us.” Matrix slides into the chair behind the desk. “Sit.”

Lexi perches on the edge of the chair across from his. “I’m not hiding anything. I swear.”

I stand with my back against the door, arms crossed over my chest. My shadow looms over Lexi. “This has Blackstone written all over it,” I say, his name tasting like bile on my tongue. “Why would he want you dead?”

She looks smaller somehow, trapped between my dark form and Matrix’s intense gaze. Her eyes dart from me to him, then settle on the scuffed floor beneath her boots. She sighs, and it sounds like the wind howling through empty desert roads at night—lonely and bone-chilling.

“Blackstone fired me yesterday,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper. “I accused him of … something.” There’s hesitation in her eyes. She’s holding something back.

“Of what?” I demand, my gut twisting at the thought of any harm coming to her. “You gotta give us more if you want our help.”

She doesn’t look up, and I know she’s caught in the past, tangled in memories best left buried. But we don’t have the luxury of time or secrets—not when death rides hard on our heels. The Demon Riders could be preparing another attack as we speak. It’s time to stop fucking around.

I cross the room and lean my hip against the solid oak desk. My patience is a thin wire, stretched too tight, and it’s about to snap. “Lexi,” I growl, my voice laced with frustration. “You need to give us the whole story. Now.”

She glances at me, her eyes flickering with something like defiance before it drowns in fear. “It’s … it was the way Blackstone was with Ace.” She swallows hard, and I can’t miss the shiver that runs through her. “He tried to take him down to the basement yesterday. I … I stopped it. I stopped him.”

The chill that races down my spine is like ice water in my veins. Matrix sits motionless beside me, his face turning a shade paler. Basements. Damn. I know all about the secrets they can hide—the club’s own interrogation room is underground, out of sight, and it’s soundproof, so no one outside will know what’s going on in that place.

“Basements are never good news,” she adds quietly, almost to herself. “They’re where people keep things they don’t want found.”

Her words echo in the small room, and my mind races with what-ifs. Could she know about our basement? Is that why she vanished all those years ago?

“Did he ever get Ace alone?” I ask, needing toknow the extent of what might have happened to her son.

“Never.” She shakes her head vehemently, strands of her hair sticking to her damp forehead. “I wouldn’t let it happen. I kept Ace with me, always had an eye on him. He’d sit in the kitchen watching cartoons while I worked.”

Relief floods through me, swift and fierce. It’s one less nightmare to haunt my thoughts. But it doesn’t solve the riddle of Blackstone’s interest in Lexi or why she’s suddenly in his crosshairs. Whatever it is, we’re going to find out, and when we do, there’ll be hell to pay. No one messes with one of ours and gets away with it, especially not Blackstone. One day, he’ll rot in hell, and I hope I’ll be the one to put him there.

I watch Lexi’s face as flickers of doubt dance across her features. She bites her lip and drops her gaze to the floor before she mutters, “Maybe I overreacted. Maybe it was nothing.”

“Hey.” The urge to reassure her overwhelms me. “You didn’t overreact. Trusting your gut is the right move—always. Never forget that.”

Her eyes snap up to mine, wide and startled like she didn’t expect me to have her back. She looks away quickly, but not before I catch something in her expression. She knows she’s right about Blackstone, she just doesn’t know what she’s right about. God, if only she knew.

“Is there any other reason Blackstone might want you dead?” Matrix probes.

Lexi shakes her head, lost. “I can’t think of anything. I just … I just cleaned and took care of Ace.”

“Were there any other kids around the ranch?” Matrix asks.

She frowns, hesitating. “No, never saw any. Why are you asking about other kids?”

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he turns his gaze toward me, and an unspoken message passes between us. This whole situation reeks of the past, of secrets we’ve buried deep in our souls, the kind that could get you killed for digging them up. Of all the people to end up working for, I can’t believe her path crossed with Blackstone’s.

“Listen,” I start, voice firm as I grab her attention. “Until we figure out why he’s after you, you’re staying at the clubhouse. We need time to figure this out. Blackstone doesn’t target people unless he’s got a good reason. He’s gunning for you. We just don’t know why yet.”

Her shoulders slump, but there’s a glint of something like relief in her eyes. “I have nowhere else to go anyway. If you’re willing to protect Ace and me, then we’ll stay.”

“Good,” I tell her, trying to ignore the protective surge that wells up inside me. Protecting her feels like the right thing to do, regardless of the past.

“That’s what we do here,” I add. “We protect people who are in trouble. Which brings me toanother thing. You remember Nina’s ranch, don’t you?”

Lexi nods, a faint smile tugging at her lips as she recalls better times. “Yeah, the kids always seemed so happy there.” She glances at me, her gaze softening. “I loved those summer BBQs. Nina would grill up a storm, and we’d all just forget the world for a while.”

“Good memories,” I say, though my thoughts are already racing ahead. My gut twists with the decision I need to make, but it’s one that can’t wait. “Ace is going to be staying at Nina’s ranch house for a bit.”

Her head snaps up, eyes wide. “What? No, Reaper, I can’t—I won’t let him go.”

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