Page 35 of Shielding Lexi (Temptation)

When I walk into the living room, the front door is wide open, the wind blowing it hard against the wall.

Reaper grips my arm and jerks me toward him, as though it’s my fault. “What the fuck?”

I flinch away from him and run toward the door, looking outside before jumping to conclusions, but she’s gone. She’s really gone.

My hands thread thorough my hair as a panic rushes over me. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

“Where is she, Hawk?” Reaper barks.

I take a deep breath before answering. “I was just sitting in bed. She just went to the bathroom. She wouldn’t have left on her own. I know she wouldn’t have.”

Kane runs into the hallway. “What the hell is all the screaming about?”

“Lexi is gone,” I say, pacing the living room.

“Gone… like she left? Where’d she go?”

Reaper presses into me, forcing me up against the back wall, his fist just below my chin as he seethes.

I don’t blame him. I wish I had someone else to blame too.

“You’re to fucking blame for this,” he growls. “You know that, right? Anything happens to her and I’ll—”

“You guys see this?” Kane says, holding out his phone. He’s barely looked up to notice we’re arguing.

Reaper lets me go and rips the phone out of Kane’s hand. “What am I looking at?”

“Just look,” Kane says, a shake in his voice.

“Is that the same fucking pier?” A lump catches in his throat, forcing a cough as he looks over Brick’s newest post on Instagram. The message clear as day.Just doing a little cleaning up.

“He’s taking Lexi to the same pier he took Julie.”

Reaper yanks the phone back from Kane, pulls on his boots, and grabs his helmet, not bothering to look back at us before making his way to the gun cupboard.

“Let’s go!” he barks.

Kane and I follow behind in a flurry, gathering by the mahogany case as Reaper unlocks the door and tosses each of us a perfectly clean and primed handgun, and a box of ammo. There’s no stopping, waiting, or contemplating our next move. We just drive, riding together into the night as I mull over how this is about to go down. No part of the situation is good. This is outside the MC jurisdiction, it’s personal. It’s between Reaper and Brick. Lexi’s the unlucky pawn caught in the middle.

Reaper’s face stays a shade of red I’ve never seen before as we ride. It’s almost purple, and he is continuously running his hand down over his beard.

“He wants us there,” he growls. “He’s goading us in.”

“So, what do we do?” I ask.

Reaper pulls his Glock, from its holster. “We save Lexi.”

18

Lexi

We drive for what feels like ages. I try to keep my breathing regular, under control, so I don’t panic and choke myself with my own tears, but it’s nearly impossible.

How did he get inside the house? The guys had that place locked up like a fort. Not to mention the fact that he was just sitting at the dining room table like he owned the place.

My heart tightens as I try to catch my breath. The hood he’s thrown over my head shields me from seeing anything. I count the times we stop, the times we turn right or left. If I can remember, maybe I can find my way back from wherever he’s taking me, but when he starts talking, I lose track.

“Whatcha doin’ Lexi?” he asks, taunting me with the highs and lows of his voice as I struggle against the chains he’s bound my wrists and ankles with. Chains. Not tape, not rope. Chains.

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