Page 42 of Reaper & Ruin
Then she wouldn’t offer it. I knew that without a doubt. She’d play until she was done, and only then would she consider ending the bastard’s soul.
“Fine with me.” I offered her my hand.
“Then you have a deal.” She shook my hand firmly. “When the De Luca family makes their big play, call me. My Red Diamonds will keep them in line.”
I grinned harder. “Pleasure doing business with you, princess.”
She scoffed, but didn’t pull away from me until I let go.
As I turned to leave, I caught Lincoln glaring at me from the corner of my eye. I couldn’t resist winking at him, and his scowl deepened in response as I said, “See you around, Lionel.”
With a dark laugh, I climbed into my car, the engine roaring to life as I pulled out of the lot. The woods swallowed the road ahead, but for the first time in a while, I felt a flicker of hope that the danger wouldn’t be so bad in the end.
The deal was done. Sapphire was on our side. And for now, that was enough.
Chapter Fourteen, Family
The gravel crunched beneath Atlas’s tires as his car rolled away, the faint glow of taillights fading into the dense wall of pines that bordered my home. I stood with my arms crossed, my bare feet resting on the cool, uneven ground, and watched until the car vanished completely, swallowed up by the shadows of the woods.
Atlas was such an infuriating bastard. I liked him, sure. He was funny, and he had saved my life. But I also wanted to shoot him in the head once or twice. Just to see if there was anything left of his inky soul after the devil had taken him away.
My oversized T-shirt fluttered against my thighs as a light breeze whispered through the trees. It belonged to Price, so fit me more like a dress. But it was still a little chilly in the way too early morning breeze.
So was Lincoln.
“You’re really going to help him?” His voice broke through the stillness. He wasn’t standing far away—leaning against the hood of the black sports car he’d been working on earlier. After yet another sleepless night. He’d crossed his arms, his tattooed forearms flexing slightly as he stared at me, waiting for an answer. His pretty hazel eyes were filled with doubt and just a hint of annoyance.
It seemed my bunny didn’t agree with my deal, which didn’t shock me. He wanted nothing to do with Silver or anyone close to her. As though pretending she didn’t exist would help hide the truth of who she was.
As though it would help us both forget all the shit that her bloodline had caused.
I didn’t answer right away. I was still watching the empty road, even though I knew Atlas was long gone.
“I said I would,pendejo. Do you think I lie now just for fun?” My eyes narrowed as I tugged on my lip piercing.
Lincoln’s voice softened just slightly, though the edge of it remained. “We’ve just finished one war, Saph. Are we really ready to dive into another one? For a fucking O’Malley, of all things.”
His hatred and anger were valid. It was a trauma response. A physical representation of the shitstorm of feelings he had in his brain that he could not deal with just yet. I agreed with his sentiment and once again knew that helping someone who shared that family’s blood was horrid to me.
It felt like a sin. The worst kind. The sort of thing my mama would roll in her grave for, as she once again wondered if I forgot her. The way she died. Her screams and pain and the horror that was carved into my soul.
All because of John O’Malley.
“Silver has been ruined by that man just as much as me. I can’t hold it against her.” I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to sting, my jaw tightening.
Lincoln was right. The last war had nearly destroyed us. For months, we’d been caught in the middle of blood feuds, alliances breaking and reforming, every gang in the area testing the limits of the Red Diamonds’ power. Testingmycontrol.
I’d spent years before that dealing with the worst monster of all, whose name none in my household could even speak without all of our souls breaking a little more.
Mental trauma aside, I carried the scars of that war—on my face, on my throat, on the parts of me no one else could see.
The people I loved were scarred too. Some worse than others.
Some were no longer with me at all.
But this wasn’t about whether we were ready. It wasn’t about what we wanted. It was simply part of my job. A thing I had to do as the queen of the gang my daddy had left me. A thing I would do to make sure he was still proud.
I exhaled through my nose and finally turned to look at Lincoln. “It doesn’t matter if we’re ready,” I said, my voice firm but quiet. “I have to help them, and I said I would do it.”
