Page 38 of Reaper

“You have no idea what you saw,” he starts, voice gravelly with a truth he seems reluctant to share. “I’m the enforcer for the club. It’s my job to get my hands dirty. Killing is only part of it, but it’s a necessary evil.”

“Why did you have to kill that guy? You murdered him, right?”

“Murder’s such a loaded word. Is it really murder if the guy deserved it?”

“Did he?”

“Yes. I’d slice him up again if I had the chance. The guy, Vince, was a fucking monster. A child rapist who used his money and his slick lawyers to slip through every crack in the system.” He spits out the words, venomous and filled with contempt.

“Is that why you killed him?”

“Someone had to bring him to justice,” he says simply. “When the pigs fail to put scum like him away, we step in. We do what’s necessary. What’s right.”

His words send chills down my spine. I knew he was capable of violence, but hearing him talk about it so openly is terrifying. And yet, there’s a part of me that understands his motivations. If someone like Vince continued to walk free, who could blame Reaper for taking matters into his own hands? I hate to admit it, but I get why he feels the need to step in when thepolice can’t do anything to stop a predator.

“That’s why there are always women, kids, and some men staying at Nina’s, right?” I ask, putting the pieces of the puzzle together for the first time.

He nods. “She helps us protect the victims until we can get them to safety.”

“Have you … have there been others? More guys like Vince?” The question burns across my tongue as fear and curiosity war within me. How many people has Reaper killed?

“The less you know about that, the better.” His eyes are cold, unyielding, as if he’s locking away parts of himself he can’t afford to reveal. “Just understand this—I’m a killer, Lexi. And killers don’t make good fathers.”

A lump forms in my throat, but I force the words out. “Ace is your son, Reaper. When I saw you that night, with all that blood on your hands … I was terrified. I didn’t know what kind of man you really were, so I ran.”

“Did you know you were pregnant when you left?” he asks, his voice tight with restrained emotion.

I nod, feeling tears gather in the corners of my eyes. “I took a pregnancy test that morning. I was going to tell you that night.”

Silence falls between us as we both struggle to process everything we’ve revealed to each other. The room feels like it’s closing in on us, and for a moment, I can’t breathe. My heart achesfor Reaper and the life he’s chosen to live, but I can’t let him push me away. Not now, not when we have a son together.

“Reaper,” I say, my voice barely a whisper. “I get that you think you’re too fucked up to be a father, but that’s not true. Nobody’s perfect. We’re all screwed up in one way or another. Dealing out vigilante justice doesn’t make you a bad father. If anything, that proves you’d be a great dad. You’re just trying to protect innocent people from predators. I wish you’d told me the truth back then.”

“We were just fucking. You weren’t my old lady.”

“Just fucking?” My heart sinks. Is that all I was? Is that still all I am to him?

“Lexi, it’s not just the killing part that fucks up my ability to be a father. There’s other shit, too. Stuff you don’t know. Stuff about Blackstone.”

My stomach clenches at the mention of Blackstone. I’ve heard whispers about him around the clubhouse, but nothing concrete. It’s clear that Reaper has a connection to him, though I’m not sure what it is.

“Did you know that Blackstone adopted me when I was ten?” Reaper asks.

“I didn’t know he was your dad.” I shake my head in disbelief.

“Most parents don’t rape their kids. He’s not my father.”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut, and I feel nauseous. I want to reach out and comfort him, tell him that none of this changes how I feel about him or our son. But the look in his eyes tells me that he’s not ready for that—not yet.

Reaper’s confession hangs heavy in the silence. My heart aches for him, and I don’t know what to say—how do you respond to something like that? I don’t want to push him away, but at the same time, I feel like we need to have this conversation.

“Reaper, I …” My voice falters, unsure of where to start. “I had no idea about your past. We never talked about it when we were together before.”

He shakes his head, looking down at the floor. “There’s a reason I never told you about Blackstone. I don’t like to talk about what happened with him.”

“I understand that,” I say, trying to find the right words. “But like it or not, we have a son together now. Unless you want to completely cut yourself out of our lives—”

“Never!”

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