Page 75 of Reaper Released

After all the photos, we head inside, where people are sitting around. There’s a dance floor in the middle, a massive long table at the top. To the right, there’s a bar and on the left is the food, a hog roast. Fuck yeah, I’m starving. A pudding table and sweet counter for the kids, well, me, mainly me. All the tables surround the dance floor, and all the chairs have white covers and either red or black ribbons around them. On the tables, there are centrepieces of roses floating in bowls with gems at the bottom and tea lights floating inside. There’s a table in the corner with children's games, toys and colouring books with pens. All the toys Dane and me won are set as favours in place of the children who are invited. They all have a cuddly toy, and the ones that are left over are on the children's table. It’s adorable, and there are so many happy kids with their new toys as we head to the top table and find our seats.

Everyone starts clapping and cheering again. Fuck, this is surreal. It feels like I’m a celebrity.

One little girl is swinging around her toy on the floor, and she catches sight of us. She comes over to the table. “Are you… are… you Reaper?”

I smile and nod. “I am, and what’s your name?”

“I’m… I’m… Matilda.”

“I’m glad you could make it today, Matilda. Your dress is so pretty.”

Next thing, her mum is grabbing her up. “I’m so, so sorry; she didn’t mean to intrude. She didn’t realise. I’m sorry.”

I raise my hand to her. “Hey, she’s fine. It’s okay!”

Then a guy I’ve seen a couple of times comes over. “Sorry, Reaper!”

“Hey, it’s fine. Matilda and me are having a conversation, isn’t that right, princess?”

She nods. “Mum, Dad, stop embarrassing me. I’m talking to Reaper. When I grow up, I’m gonna be just like her. I’m gonna be beautiful, and I’m gonna kill bad guys and…” She looks up at Steel and blushes. “I’m gonna marry the most beautiful man in the world, and he’s gonna kiss me like Steel does Reaper, and I’m gonna live happily ever after. The end!”

I can’t help but smile. Leaning over the table, I say, “Well, Matilda, you realise you’re a very strong and intelligent young lady, and you can be whatever you want to be, so I hope that one day you’ll invite me to your wedding when you marry that most beautiful man in the world.”

“Really, you’d come to my wedding?”

“If you invite me, I will come. I would love to!”

Her mum nervously reaches for her. “Come on, Matilda. You’ve taken up enough of Reaper's time!”

I smile at her mum and hold out my hand. She shakes it, “Please call me Ray, and I’ve always got time for anyone in this club. You're always welcome if you wanna chat, or the kids do.”

She actually smiles a genuine smile. “Thank you, Reaper… erm, I mean Ray, I appreciate that.”

I grin, and as they walk back across the dance floor, I shout, “Matilda!”

She spins around. “Yes, Reaper?”

“Don't forget my invite, remember okay?”

“I won’t!” She grins back at me like I’m a god, a princess, or both. A lot of the club members know me by reputation, and with Steel being their Enforcer, they are right to be wary, but I don’t want them to feel they can’t talk to me if they want to. I sit back next to my husband.

“Hey, wife!” He grins at me.

“Hey, my gorgeous husband!” Leaning in, I give him a mother of all kisses, and then there’s a bang on a microphone. As I glance behind me, there’s a stage with a band on, and Ares is asking for everyone’s attention!

“Hello, everyone. You all know who I am, and if you don’t, what the fuck are you doing here?” He barks out a laugh. “I’m not gonna ramble on. I just want to say, Ray, you and the girls look beautifully stunning today, and I can honestly say there hasn’t been a dull moment in our lives since you arrived. You’ve made my best friend one of the happiest men alive, and by making your sister Scar tag along, you’ve made me the other happiest man alive. I just want to say welcome to the family!

“As an honoured tradition, when an old lady marries into the club, we have a cut made with ‘property of’ and her husband’s name on the back. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, this hasn’t managed to happen this time, so instead, we got you this. This is from everyone here. Ray, can you come up here, please?”

Looking at Steel, he smiles and shrugs. Rising from my seat and heading to the stage, I climb the few steps and stand beside Ares. I mutter under my breath as I walk over to him. “Boyband, what the fuck are you doing?”

Grinning, he puts his hand over the mic. “Just shut the fuck up and get over here!”

Turning around, I look out at everyone's smiling faces. Ares hands me a box. Undoing the red ribbon and white wrapping paper, there’s a black box inside. Opening the box is a leather cut. Looking over at Ares, I’m confused. He has just said it isn’t a ‘property of’ cut, so pulling it out of the box, I hold it up, looking at the back of it first. It’s the Reapers logo that’s on everyone else’s cut. As I hold it up, everyone cheers and whoops as I turn it to face me. Looking at the front, it has ‘Reaper’ on one side and ‘Enforcer’ on the other, with the one percenter patch on the shoulder.

Turning back to Ares. “I don’t understand?”

“Welcome to the club, Reaper. Consider yourself patched in!”

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