Page 6 of Reaper

“I’ll carry her up,” Matrix says, striding over. The look of concern etched in his rugged features doesn’t quite reach his eyes. There’s no gentleness in the way he scoops me into his arms. He tosses me over his shoulder as if I weigh nothing. His grip on the backs of my knees is firm and unyielding—like the rest of him. Overwhelmed by pain, my body goes as limp as a rag doll against his back.

“What about you?” Scar asks Reaper. “Anything broken, other than, you know …”

“Just tired. Need rest. An hour. Two, maybe.”

“You can’t ride like that,” Scar says.

“Nope.”

I lift my head to see what’s happening. Scar’s gaze flicks to his phone. He turns away from the chaos while swiping his thumb over the screen. “Tucker,” he barks into the receiver. “Bring the cage. We’ve got a situation.” His eyes briefly meet mine. They’re hard and unreadable.

My mind races as fast as my pulse. The word “cage” doesn’t mean a prison in their world. It’s what they call cars or anything that isn’t a bike. It’s a lifeline now, a way out of this ravine, away from the crash site that nearly claimed more than I can bear to lose. I can’t exactly walk down the mountain, so I’ll have to go with them, atleast for now.

“Mom?” Ace’s small voice jolts me from my thoughts. I force my eyes to focus on his worried face.

“I’m okay, baby.” The words are a lie. Every inch of me screams in protest as Matrix hauls me up the side of the ravine.

Ace watches with wide eyes, but my little man is so brave. He doesn’t cry. Instead, he clambers up the slope with a determination that swells my heart with pride. If only I could summon a fraction of his courage.

Suddenly, Ace slides down the ravine, sending rocks scattering below.

“Gotcha, kiddo,” Scar’s voice booms as he steadies Ace, keeping him from falling farther into the yawning abyss. “Let me give you a piggyback ride, okay?”

“Sure,” Ace says.

Scar lets Ace climb onto his back. “Hang on tight.”

“I will.”

Using his huge hands to climb, Scar’s halfway up the ravine when Matrix and I reach the top. Although I hate to admit it, I trust Scar with Ace. I’ve never seen any of the men be mean to a child. If anything, they seem to bend over backward to take care of kids. I never quite understood what they were doing with the women and children who seemed to filter through their lives, but I got the sense they werehelping them in some way.

It doesn’t make sense, knowing what I know now. That said, I still trust Scar enough to let him help Ace. I don’t know how to explain it other than it’s a mother’s instinct to know who’s safe and who isn’t. Kids are safe around these men. Adults aren’t.

“Think you can climb up the ravine?” Nitro asks Reaper.

“Maybe,” Reaper grunts.

He staggers as Nitro helps him to his feet. Leaning heavily against his club brother, Reaper attempts to scale the ravine. Talon, who’d been scanning the tree line, snaps to attention and marches over to help them. He’s a giant of a man, with tattoos snaking up arms as thick as tree trunks. Without a word, his hand closes around Reaper’s upper arm, steadying him. Together, they make their way up the slope.

The sight stirs something inside me, a sense of belonging that I thought was long buried. These men used to be my family. Years ago, we were bound together by a sense of loyalty that ran deeper than the ink in their skin. Now, everything’s different. I feel like an outsider looking in, yet the ties that once held us together seem to still be present. Why else would they help me?

It’s strange to see Reaper need so much help. He’s usually so strong. Did he fall while he was trying to rescue us? I can’t remember when hearrived or how it all happened. One minute I was in the car, and the next, I was flying through the air. Then he was just … there.

Matrix sets me down on a patch of grass on the side of the road. Scar lifts Ace off his back and sits him beside me. Talon and Nitro get Reaper settled on the other side, sandwiching me between my son and the man who was once my greatest lover.

“Tucker’s five minutes out,” Scar says after glancing at his phone.

He glances at me and Reaper before walking a few feet away to talk to Matrix, Talon, and Nitro. They form a circle, whispering so softly I can’t hear a word they’re saying. But I know they’re talking about me because they keep looking my way.

“Lexi?” Reaper’s voice cuts through my thoughts.

I turn my gaze to meet his gorgeous, dark gray—almost black—eyes. There’s an intensity there, a flicker of something that tugs at the frayed edges of my heart. I shove it down, locking it away. I can’t afford to feel anything for him—not fear, not attraction, nothing.

“Yeah?” I ask, steeling myself.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me, too.”

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