Page 76 of Reaper Razed

“Ray?” Dane sheepishly breaks the moment. “What do you wanna do?”

“Fuck knows. This changes nothing between us. You’re my brothers, no matter who our dads are, but Cade? I want to hug him and kick his arse all at the same time. I’m so confused.”

“Is it really that much of a surprise? I mean, come on, you’re his mini-me and always have been, maybe we all suspected. Maybe sleep on it and get a test to find out before you hug or hit.” I shrug, and she laughs, pulling away from Steel and heading towards me.

“I love you.” She pulls me in for a hug and then kisses my cheek. As she ends the embrace, she walks over to Dane and does the same to him.

I drop onto the sofa beside Demi. “I’m sorry, beautiful. I’m so sorry.” I don’t touch her. I just sit at the side of her, but she climbs over my lap and straddles me, cupping my face.

“Are you gonna tell me what’s going on?”

I look over her shoulder, and Ray and Dane both nod. “They’re gone. They’re both dead.” I rest my face into the crook of her neck and breathe her in.

She pulls back from me and stares straight into my eyes as I feel them well up. “Bran? Who’s dead?”

It’s barely a whisper, and admitting it feels… too real… too raw. “Steven and JJ!” And the tears flow from us all, but none of us make a sound. Demi grabs me and pulls me in as Steel grabs Ray in one arm and Dane in the other and pulls them to him. Once I see he’s got them both, I break. The sob tears out of me as tears stream down my face. No one says anything, but I hear the door click, and I assume that Skye has left the room, but the door clicks again, and something is placed on the coffee table. Then there’s movement towards the kitchen, and as I look over, Skye has placed a box of tissues on the table, grabbing the alcohol from the cupboard and lining up glasses on the worktop.

I stand, and Demi wraps her legs around me as I walk over to the worktop and rest her arse on it while grabbing us a glass each.

“To Steven and JJ!” I say, raising my glass. “To the men that helped raise us.”

“To Steven and JJ!” they all repeat.

“They were too good for this life!” Ray murmurs.

“We were so lucky to have them,” Dane nods, still cradled against Steel’s side.

Slamming our drinks back, I say, “Beautiful, I wanna go home.”

“Take me home then!” She kisses me as I lift her up and stride for the door. Her legs wrap around me, and she nestles into me. I realise I am home.

Dane

As Bran leaves, I feel so alone, even nestled against Steel. “I’m going to the bar if you don’t need me!” I say as I take a step back from Steel, but Ray grabs me.

“I will always need you, little brother! Always.” She smiles at me and pulls me into her embrace.

I give her a tight-lipped smile, but at this moment in time, I know it, but I don’t feel it. I just feel alone, so I nod and leave, heading over to the bar.

As I walk in, the rest of the Psycho Six are gathered around their table, and Ares and Scar are over in a booth, so I give the others a cursory wave as I pass, making sure not to look at Dice and all his annoying beautifulness and make a beeline for Ares.

“Shit, you okay?” Scar pulls me in to sit beside her, and I shake my head. I’m unaware that Ares moves until a bottle of tequila is placed on the table with some glasses, and he pats me on the shoulder and sits beside me.

“Wanna talk?” he asks, and I shake my head. I've no idea where to start, so I just take the lid off the bottle and take a big drink. Scar rubs circles against my back, and Ares's leg is right next to mine. I can feel the heat radiating off him along my arm and down my thigh. “Do I need to kill anyone?” I shake my head, and he relaxes slightly, nudging me a glass.

I look at it but then chug from the bottle again. “Hey, Dane, can I talk to you for a minute?” I look up into those beautiful, rich, warm brown eyes, and those dark lashes that flutter around them, and I almost break that he’s not mine, and he doesn’t want me, and I know he’s just trying to smooth things over and make sure I don’t out him, but I would never do that.

“Not right now, Dice, I’m… I’m… busy.” I chug another mouthful from the bottle.

I hear him mutter, “Clearly!” under his breath as Ares shakes his head and Dice leaves.

“What’s going on with you two?” Scar asks, cocking her head to the side, but I don’t answer. I just take another swig. As I swallow, she grabs my face and turns it to her, raising her brow like she knows I’m full of shit!

“Nothing! Absolutely nothing.” I blow out a breath and take another swig.

“Dane, what’s wrong?” Scar asks as her phone rings. “It’s Ray!” I nod to her to answer it. Maybe I won’t have to say anything. “Ray… yeah, he’s with me and Ares… okay… what’s going on? …Shit.” A stray tear runs down her cheek, and her hand that’s rubbing circles wraps around me. She pulls me closer and rests her head on my shoulder. “You okay…? There’s more…?” Her mouth just opens and closes like a fish, but nothing comes out, and another tear rolls down her cheek. “Okay… you okay? Yeah, love you, too. K.F.D!”

Scar slides the phone down on the table and snatches the tequila from me, necking a massive mouthful. She then looks down at the bottle to see it’s three-quarters empty and looks over at Ares. “We’re gonna need another bottle.”

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