Page 13 of Reaper Razed

“Yeah, that’s not happening any time soon.” He walks through into the bedroom. I hear him rummage around in what sounds like the drawers. “Fuck!”

He storms out of the room. I can see he’s angry. He’s literally shaking. “What’s up?”

Sitting on the coffee table in front of me, he shows me the bottle of pills. “She’s not been taking her meds.” Shaking his head, he says, “Fuck, Cade, she must be in agony. What the fuck’s she playing at?”

“Steel! You need to calm down, okay? Ray’s never liked drugs of any sort, so if she doesn’t need them, she won’t take them.”

“Cade, you’ve seen the state she’s in. Surely you can talk some sense into her. She listens to you lot.”

Well, I can’t help myself. “You’re joking, right? Look, she’ll take them if she needs them. You’ve got to trust that she will. Why don’t you go get some sleep? You might feel better.”

“I can’t sleep… every time I drift off, I see her… falling… dying… I just can’t bring myself to trust she’s here, that she’s safe. I don’t know what to fucking do.”

His eyes glaze over. He looks like he’s fighting back with everything he has.

“You trust me? Yeah?”

Cocking his head to the side with a questioning glance, he asks, “Yeah, why?”

“I’ve got her. She’s safe! I’m not going anywhere till you wake up, however long it takes… okay?”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, go, son, you look dead on your feet. I’ve got this.”

Steel thanks me and heads towards the bedroom. “Cade?”

“Yeah?”

“Is Hades wearing a fucking bow tie?”

“Apparently, it’s a dickie bow!”

“Sure… does he need eight bowls?”

“Apparently, two each for here, the bar, the garage and Ray’s office.”

“Ray’s got an office?”

“Apparently.”

“Thanks, Cade.”

And he steps into the room, shaking his head.

Fuck knows how long we were asleep, but the door opening wakes me up as Steel comes back out of the bedroom. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Nah, you’re good. I should get off and get settled in. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

He nods as I slip out from under Ray, “Don’t be too hard on her, okay? She’s never really been looked after. We were rubbish when they were ill. Marie used to do it, but Ray, she would always tough it out like the rest of us.”

He nods as I leave and head to my new room to settle in. I didn’t even put the bedding on. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow, fucking jet lag!

Steel

With everyone’s help, we manage two weeks before she convinces me she’s well enough to leave on her own, take the dog out for a walk and stay around the MC land. Cade promises he will stay with her even though she’s convinced me she’s well enough to leave on her own. Cade really needs to teach me how to get her to agree. It’s priceless.

They are gone for hours, and when they come back, Ray’s knackered and goes to bed. Cade tells me they’ve been up to his lodge. Ares’s letting him fix one up. Ray’s gonna go up there to help and sort out what he needs to order to get cracking, and he promises he will ease her in gently. She’s chomping at the bit, and Dozer has refused to have her anywhere near the garage for six weeks. He says if she turns up, he will shoot her.

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