Page 97 of Reaper Released

“Do I need to?”

“I would prefer it that way. If we have a problem, it can be rectified.”

Steel steps to the side and quickly glances into the boxes smiling at Leonard, then back at me. “You’ve outdone yourself, Leonard! I appreciate the rush order.” Winking at me, he grabs my hand, and we leave.

As we pull back up to the clubhouse, we climb the stairs to our apartment, walking in through the door. Steel’s behind me as he shuts the door. I turn to face him as he slides to his knee, holding out the ring boxes. “Ray, Baby, will you stay married to me?”

I laugh. “Forever, I will stay married to you forever.” As he opens the box, my jaw drops. As he takes the rings out and places them on my finger, there’s a wedding ring and an engagement ring. They’re both maybe silver or platinum. There’s what looks like a black diamond in the centre with a black onyx skull on either side and a black onyx rose on the top, and on the bottom, there are some small gems, maybe diamonds edging it. It’s fucking stunning, and the wedding band is thin and slides against the other ring. It’s black and silver encrusted with diamonds. It’s the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen.

I’m fully aware that I’m standing next to the kitchen with my mouth open, literally shaking. Steel slides the rings on my finger and stands up, cupping my face and kissing me. “I had them made special.” Then hands me the other box opening it. A thicker ring with the same skulls and a rose is in the centre. They match perfectly as I slide it out of the box, taking Steel’s hand.

“So you wanna stay married to me?”

“Fuck yes!” he barks out as I slide the ring on, and he picks me up and spins me around.

“Fuck, I love you!”

Ray

The next week I spend working at the garage, catching up with my pas, and spying on the Hellhounds. Wearing Steel’s joggers, hoodie, and a baseball cap, I’ve been sliding in with a few of the lower scummy guys. I’ve been tracking these slimy bastards and even slid into their clubhouse as a hang-around a couple of times. They’re fucking gross animals!

I’m going to kill every last one of them and wipe them from existence. From what I can figure out, they’re trying to get in with a lesser group, someone who’s trying to make waves, Dillon or Dalton or something like that, according to the lower guys. I'm wondering if it's Dante. They’re still working toward human trafficking, but the Castillo Cartel and the Reapers have been putting the word out that they won’t tolerate human trafficking, so most are running scared, but the Hellhounds are gearing up.

Pa Bernie’s been keeping his ear to the ground, and they’re looking for gun suppliers. We have contacts with all the local suppliers, so we've put the word out to steer clear. We decide to go ahead with the job for the judge. I’ve talked Bernie into letting me still do it. I’m hoping we can get information from him that may be of use as at least something we can sell.

Heading into the clubhouse with Steel, the guys are playing pool. Ares and Scar are in the booth with Dozer and Beauty, and Roach is behind the bar. My phone rings. It's Carmen. “Hey, girl, you good?”

“Yes, Ray, thank you, how are you?”

“I’m good. What's up?”

“Nothing. I just had a call from Catalina. She's staying with a friend and asked me to message you!”

“Really? What’s she need?”

“Nothing, just asked me to tell you she got top marks on a paper she did for school yesterday.”

“Yesterday? I spoke to her last night, and she didn’t mention anything about a paper! Carmen, what exactly did she say? Word for word?”

“She said she was staying with her friend for a few days as they were finishing a project and that I need to tell you about getting top marks on her paper!”

''Carmen, what was the paper about?”

She didn't say, just said she was working on a project about Santa Muerte!”

“Santa Muerte? Carmen, are you sure?”

“Yeah, definitely!” As I look around, the boys are all watching me. My body language is tense, to say the least. I must have paled, and I’m pacing while I talk.

“Carmen, you need to listen to me, okay? Lock down the villa, get to your safe room and stay there till I get there. Call Tali’s friend and check if she is there, but she won’t be. Carmen, she’s in trouble, that’s why she needed you to give me this message. Do what I say quickly. I’m on my way, okay?”

I don’t give her a chance to say anything. I hang up.

“Ares, there’s an issue. I’m heading out. I gotta go tool up. Something’s happened to Tali. Dice, see if you can track her movements after school today and call me?”

As I head for the door, Steel steps in front of me. “Baby, what’s up? Talk to me.”

“Tali’s gone. I need to get to Carmen!”

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