Page 30 of Shielding Lexi (Temptation)

I twist away from the bar and toward the open room to gather my thoughts. It’s a weekday, so the place is quiet. The only other person here is Rusty, who’s ass I see in the garage messing around with this bike, but he’s retired and has that luxury. I only have another week off before I need to get back to the construction site—which I’m not sure I’m ready for. I had enough in savings to get me through this far, and Kane’s offered to take over so we can start the repair shop we always wanted. Hawk would be more than happy about that too. But I can’t see starting something else right now. My heart just isn’t there. Hell, I’m barely wading through most days.

“Where’d you go?” Dean asks, still standing behind me.

I spin back toward him. “I can take her to—”

“The Daggers’ Prez wants us to wait three days for a meeting. Apparently, he has to call Brick in from wherever he’s been.”

“He’s been following me, that’s where he’s been. We saw his boat circling the island.”

Dean nods then pulls a piece of paper from the drawer beneath the counter, jots something down, then slides it toward me to read. One side is a set of coordinates and the other is a message clear as fucking day.If this is war, be prepared for the casualties.

15

Reaper

When I open the door and see Kane pawing at Lexi, I don’t need any more information. His hand is on her bare leg and her hair is disheveled; they’ve been fucking around.

“I have some work to do,” I grumble. “I’ll be in the garage if anyone needs me.” I don’t bother to look at either of them as I walk back out, but I do hear Hawk walk in the front door before I head to the garage out the side.

“Reap okay?” I hear him ask Kane before the door closes.

Am I okay?What kind of question is that anyway? Of course I’m not o-fucking-k. My sister is dead, the Prez thinks the Daggers already know we have Lexi, we don’t have a meeting with them for three days, and honestly, I’m teetering on the edge of murdering them all just for fun at this point. Not to mention, this cryptic fucking note Prez scribbled down for me.

Why the fuck do I need to wait nearly a week for a meeting? Most likely they’re giving Brick time to get back to wherever he was fucking around, and by now he’s asked questions. There’s no way they didn’t tell him it was the Guardians who wanted to talk. And there’s no way he wouldn’t put two and two together that it was me, the brother of the woman he killed, the man that plastered his face all over the internet, that’s trying to take him down.

A streak of anger lashes against my heart and I throw my toolbox down in front of the bike I’ve been working on. It’s a 1978 Electra Glide, jet black with block lettered tank badges intact. I’ve had it for at least ten years and I’m not sure it’ll ever be drivable, but tinkering with it is what I do for relaxation and fun.

“How’s it coming?” Kane asks, immediately interrupting my solitude.

I groan out a response, hoping he takes the warning, but he doesn’t.

“I’m still waiting for those cylinder heads to come in for mine,” he continues. “I think the guy mighta ripped me off.”

“Yeah, kinda sucks when you can’t trust people,” I say, rubbing grease around the outside of a barrel fitting.

“Really, Reap? You’re gonna be like that?” He lets out a sigh. “We didn’t have sex. I didn’t break our pact.”

“Fuck you,” I say, my anger lifting me from the swivel stool I’d settled on. “You two were doing something. I thought we decided not to let her into our lives until we’d settled the thing with Brick.” I throw down the fitting. “Fuck Kane! You don’t know what you’re messing with.”

Kane’s eyes narrow as he leans against the workbench in the garage. “You like her too, don’t you?”

I look away, stepping back out into the street for a moment before looking back at him, my hands folded behind my head. “Are you asking me if I like the woman you were just fucking?”

“We didn’t have sex. And yes, I’m asking you that,” he says in a manner far too calm for the shit I’m throwing at him. He’s a grown man, if he wants to have sex, he doesn’t need my permission.

“She’s a nice girl, Reap. I get it. Hawk and I both get it.”

I lower my head. “So you’re both fucking her?”

He laughs and shakes me off. “Man, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you crushing on someone like this.”

I narrow my eyes and pace the garage, kicking at an old oil can that never got picked up, as a warm breeze throws sea air through the gasoline stretch of the garage.

“It doesn’t matter what I feel. She’s going through too much right now. She needs protection, not horny assholes.”

Kane crosses his arms over his chest. “We’re keeping her safe, Reap.”

“How? By spreading her legs?” A laugh lodges in my throat as I turn back toward my bike.

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