Reaper's Claim: Satan's Sons MC Romance Series Book 1

by Simone Elise

  I didn’t feel like eating. I felt like doing another hour or so on the treadmill, running my anger off. But Kim’s snippy way of saying ‘Dad’s waiting’ meant he was expecting me to make an appearance.

  I didn’t feel like speaking to a single person, and I really didn’t feel like sitting at the table watching bikers scarf down their weight in meat. I wasn’t dressed for it either, in my sports crop top and shorts.

  By the time I dragged my butt down to the dining room, everyone was already eating and laughing. I snuck into the kitchen and dished out a plate of vegetables.

  Just make an appearance and leave, and the less food I had on my plate, the sooner I could go.

  I had noticed a full table when I ducked into the kitchen but only as I reentered the dining room did I realize that it was the boys from the Western Charter that occupied some of the spaces.

  My dad was at the head of the table, and Kade was on his left-hand side. He was still here.

  “Oi, Abby, pass the sauce, would ya?” Gitz asked, and I automatically reached for it off the bench and leaned across the table, handing it to him. “Why you still standing? Come on, have a seat.” He gestured to the seat next to him, and I walked around the table, taking the offer.

  Kade had thrown me. Once I got in my seat next to Gitz and Bleach, I snapped out of it.

  “Abby, where you been, sweetheart? I haven’t seen you since I got back.” Dad struck up a conversation with me.

  “Just … um … in the gym.” I stabbed a piece of carrot.

  “I think we can see that, Abby.” Gitz winked at me, causing a sly smile to cross my lips.

  “How was school?” Dad asked, seeming not ready to let go of having a conversation with me.

  Kim had been talking to Trigger at the end of the table, but when she heard Dad ask that question, her head snapped in my direction.

  “Fine.” I shrugged my shoulders, “How was your ride?”

  Normally Dad would just flash me a smile, nod his head, and say the ride was good but this time, this time he looked at me with a “not buying it” face.

  “Really? Because your principal called.” Dad put down his fork, and when the man stops eating, you know shit is going to get real. So it made sense that the whole table chose this moment to go silent.

  “Principal Frigg just likes talking to you.” I brushed it off, but I knew there was a point to this rounded conversation.

  “Abby, you can either tell me what happened, or I can ask your sister.”

  “Ask Kim then.” I ate a mouthful of veggies and just like that, I passed the buck over to her. She wanted me to lie, well, she could lie for me.

  “What’s the issue, Daddy?” Kim batted her eyelids and took a sip of her drink. “If this is about Abby being unsociable, I’m sorry, but what do you expect?”

  God, the quicker I got these veggies in, the better.

  “Abby seems to be getting bullied.”

  I choked on the carrot in my mouth. Gitz came to my rescue by giving me a firm hard pat on the back.

  “Here ya go.” He handed me his beer, and I was quick to take a gulp of it.

  “What? No, she isn’t,” Kim piped in. Seems like passing the buck to her was the best idea I had. I sucked at lying.

  “Maybe you could explain, Kim, what the fuck you are doing. Why this is happening?” Dad’s voice got that angry tone to it, and he seemed to be in full parent mode now.

  “She isn’t being bullied!” Kim explained.

  “Yeah, Dad, she’s right. I’m not really.” I lied, and my face didn’t even give me away because it was already flushed by my near choking experience. “Principal Frigg is just making you worried over nothing.”

  “Don’t lie to me.” Dad slammed his fist down. “Kimberly, apparently you are the leading lady when it comes to bullying your sister at school!”

  Kim looked at me blankly. Dad was past angry and entering a full-on rage. He never really was good at having a conversation without reeling in his temper.

  “Abby, you should have told me.” Dad’s eyes were scorching on mine. “Now start fucking explaining why you have been giving the school a wrong number.”

  “Because it’s not worth disturbing you about it. Seriously, they are blowing it out of proportion.” I kept my eyes locked on his. I was dying of embarrassment right then. Kade was sitting there, quietly, staring down at his plate. He hadn’t touched his food, and I wondered if he could tell how awkward this was for me right now.

  “You and your sister always come first,” Dad spoke with such firmness.

  “Oh please, Dad, really? You are going to spin that one?” Kim got guts from somewhere and actually rose to her feet, pointing a finger at him. “The club comes first, and stop trying to act like it doesn’t.”

  And just like that, shit got messy.

  “Better reel in that tone, young lady.” Dad rose to his own feet, and it seemed like the Harrison family was going to go for gold.

  Looked like the boys were in for dinner and a show.

  “Dad, Kim, calm the fuck down,” I piped up in between their glare off.

  “What? Dad wants to sit there and pretend that he cares more about us than this club. Well fuck me, I’m not playing along with that anymore.”

  “KIM!” I snapped at her. Dad was already angry; you don’t go fucking poking a bear.

  “So Dad, if we come first, where were you last week? When I had my finals? Where were you when Abby got awarded outstanding for exams last month? Hell, where were YOU when we both got in trouble last month?”

  “KIM!” I roared at her this time and rose to my own feet, tipping Gitz’s beer over in my rush. “WE both fucking promised not to mention that!”

  Just drop us in more shit, why don’t you, Kim?

  “What?” She snapped at me, her eyes firing with rage. “I’m sick of pretending like Dad gives two shits about us. Sure, you love us, but the club comes first, Dad, and you really need to wake up to that.”

  If a man could burst from rage, Dad was going to. Even a few of the boys were watching him closely, ready to jump up in case he charged at her.

  “Kim, you need to calm down and stop saying shit you don’t mean.”

  “NO! I’m sick of it! I’m sick of this club! I’m sick of living in this fucking messed up lie that Dad gives two shits about what happens to us. Hell, Dad, you might want to think you’re not the ride-in-and-out dad, but you are!”

  Kim was digging our graves one mouthful at a time.

  “Kim, this has nothing to do with Dad’s parenting skills.” My voice was firm; it even sounded strong. I couldn’t believe she was giving him a mouthful after she made me feel bad for even thinking about talking to Dad about what Noel had done.

  “You’re right, Abby, because he is no fucking parent.” Kim threw her fork on the table and glared at him with a look of disgust.

  “Ok. Clearly, I have missed something because only a few hours ago you were all concerned about his health and that I wasn’t to upset him, and here you are yelling at him!”

  I don’t know when it happened, but Kim and I were now standing in front of each other.

  Dad was still standing at the end of the table, shaking with rage.

  “You’re right, something did change. I just don’t give a fuck if he has a heart attack anymore.”

  I grabbed Kim’s arm as she attempted to storm past me. She was not leaving this mess that easy.

  “You better start apologizing, Kim, before I knock your fucking teeth out,” I snarled in her face. My own temper was boiling over now.

  Kim looked at my hand, then looked back at me. “Why are you even bothering to protect him? Since when did you start caring about him? After all, I don’t blame you.” She looked at Dad with such bitterness. “Where was he when you were assaulted last month? When you were bleeding out in the hospital, and they couldn’t get in contact with anyone? Where was he when his Vice President tried to rape you? Oh, that’s right…” Kim slowly turned
her head and glared at Dad. “You were too busy screwing your way through any legs that would open.” She ripped her arm free and stormed out, leaving me there, speechless.

  I was shell-shocked. Only when the boys began to rise from the table did I snap back into the moment.

  Trigger was on his feet, my dad’s eyes zoned in on him.

  “Is it true?” Dad’s words were so deeply quiet, so threatening.

  I stepped in, grabbing Trigger’s arm. There was only a table keeping the distance between them, and Dad could flip that in barely a second.

  “Dad, you need to listen to me. Kim made that...”

  “Move, Abby!” Dad roared at me.

  I didn’t listen. Instead, I pushed myself in front of Trigger. He looked shocked, not sure what he should do.

  “DAD!” I yelled when Dad seemed zoned in on Trigger, not looking at me. “Kim made that sound like something it wasn’t.”

  “Abby, I think you need to leave.” Trigger had his eyes on Dad’s, and he placed a hand on my arm, trying to pull me away from him. “Now.”

  “Don’t tell her what to do,” Dad spat. “I trusted you.”

  “Dad, Trigger didn’t do anything to me.” I spoke softly, quick and direct. I had to get Dad to see reason before he killed the man.

  It wasn’t fair that Trigger was going to cop all of Dad’s rage.

  “Dad, it was years ago, and it wasn’t what Kim made it sound like.”

  “Leave, Abby,” Trigger spoke in my ear. “Now.”

  I knew what I had to do, and I knew what would happen if I did, but I had to get Dad’s attention on me, so I did the only thing I knew that would get his full attention.

  “Mark Defalcon wanted you to know what it felt like to lose something you loved, and he wanted me to tell you...” my stomach twisted with disgust and shame.

  “Abby, when did Mark speak to you?” Dad’s voice was softer, and just like I had hoped, he was no longer interested in Trigger. He moved around the table and gently grabbed my hand. “Abby, what did he say?”

  Trigger did the smart thing and backed right off, leaving me standing there with Dad.

  I never wanted to speak these words, and it felt like I was letting Mark win by doing what he asked. But Dad wasn’t going to drop it, and he placed a hand under my chin, tilting my head up.

  “Abby, tell me now.”

  A month earlier, I was heading down to the stationery shop when a car pulled up beside me. One second I was walking, listening to music, and the next I was pulled into a car. Mark Defalcon was my dad’s personal enemy. They hated each other. Mark led a rival biker group. They were sworn enemies.

  I don’t remember too much after the third punch. But I do remember the words he whispered in my ear before leaving me in that alley where he inflicted so much pain on me.

  ‘Tell your father that you tasted as sweet and as innocent as your mother.’

  I promised myself I would never tell Dad those words. I was found by a stranger, taken to the hospital, and that’s when Kim was called in. She promised she would never speak to Dad about it, and it was at that moment I had my sister back. Pity, though, the next day she was back to normal.

  I stayed at Kayla’s for a few weeks while the bruising went away, and then from that point I tried hard to suppress every memory of that night.

  “He said...” I pulled my head from his touch and took a step back. Tears welled up in my eyes. “He said, ‘tell your father that you tasted as sweet and as innocent as your mother.’” I squeezed my eyes tight.

  All I heard was Dad’s breathing; it was sharp and deep. “Please, Dad, don’t do anything stupid.” I opened my eyes again, looking up into his furious, narrowed ones. “Please, Dad, don’t sink to his level.”

  “Go find your sister.” Dad nodded his head at the door for me to leave. “Go on, now.”

  “No.”

  “Abby, I need to speak to the boys. Leave.”

  “Not till you promise you won’t hurt Trigger.” I crossed my arms. If I had to relive that awful memory, there had to be a reason for it. “Dad, you told me he’s the best VP you can ask for and if you are going to do something stupid, you need him by your side, and I won’t leave until you-”

  “I’m not going to kill him, Abby. Now go find your sister before she leaves.”

  “What do you want me to say to her?” If I were Kim, I would have already been gone after giving Dad a spray like that.

  “Tell her that she can’t run away from this family, pregnant or not.”

  My mouth dropped open. “She’s knocked up?”

  “Go.”

  I knew I had to leave, but I couldn’t help but give Trigger a small, sad smile. I might have saved him tonight, but he was a dead man if he was the father.

  I grabbed Dad’s arm and went to my tippy toes to whisper in his ear. “Kim loves you, Dad; don’t think otherwise. And he didn’t rape me. Neither of them did.”

  I walked quickly out of the room. Never in a girl’s life does she want to bring up her virginity with her dad, and I had to do just that, as well as let him know my darkest secret.

  Tonight was the worst night of my life, and I had Kim to thank for it. That hormonal bitch better still be here because she was going to get a piece of my mind.

  ***

  I woke up to my mattress sinking. Opening my eyes, I was shocked for a moment to see Dad sitting at the end of my bed.

  I elbowed Kim in the ribs, waking her up.

  “You ok, Dad?” I asked.

  It was the dead of the night, but my room still had soft lighting from the outside lights drifting through the curtains.

  “I let you girls down.” His voice was low.

  Kim pulled herself up in bed. I knew she regretted what she said because she spent a solid hour crying about it. She was knocked up, and she was angry at Trigger about it. I told her it still wasn’t a reason to get Trigger killed.

  It didn’t help either that Trigger had told her he wanted nothing to do with it, and Dad had pretty much told her the same thing—it was her problem. Neither of them made a smart move by pissing off a hormonal woman.

  It made sense now why she didn’t want me to mention my problems to Dad tonight— because she was going to drop her own bomb on him.

  “You didn’t, Dad. I’m sorry.” Kim climbed out of bed and went to sit next to him. “I’m really sorry, Dad.”

  “I should have let you girls go live with my sister. I shouldn’t have kept you both.”

  “Dad, don’t be stupid.” I got up and flicked the lights on. The blood on his hands and the stains on his white shirt became visible. “Dad, please tell me Trigger is still alive.”

  Kim went stiff, and her eyes met mine for a moment. For a split second, I saw her regret.

  “Trigger knew he was on borrowed time.” Dad looked up at me.

  “You promised me you wouldn’t kill him!” I felt guilt build up inside me.

  “I didn’t kill him.”

  “Then who did?”

  I knew he was playing with words, and I didn’t like it.

  “No one did. He got a few punches, but he’s still breathing. The same can’t be said for Mark.” Dad grunted, getting up, looking his age.

  “Kim, you’re not having that baby. Tomorrow, you’re going to the doctor. As for you, Abby,” he looked at me, “tomorrow, you’re telling me everything.”

  We both nodded our heads.

  “Then I’m calling your Aunty. Next week, you’re both going to live with her.”

  I gasped, and Kim looked like she wanted to kick herself.

  “Dad, you can’t send us away, it’s our last year! I can’t change schools now. If I do, it will affect my university choices!” I was outraged at the suggestion.

  “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” Dad gave Kim a kiss on her forehead. “What you did tonight, Kim, I can’t have you speaking to me like that in front of my brothers, but we will deal with that in the morning.”

  I was fr
ozen and was still chewing over the idea of having to leave and move to god knows where when Dad kissed my forehead.

  “I thought you knew, Abby, you could always come to me if you were in trouble.” He shook his head. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

  He left, closing the door behind me, and suddenly my thoughts of killing Kim from earlier this evening seemed like a good idea.

  “You really fucked things up for us.” I snapped at her. “I hope you’re happy.”

  “Can’t you see, Abby?” Tears were falling down her face. “I’m fucking thrilled.”

  She might be regretting it now, but she would be regretting it more when she woke up tomorrow and reality hit us both.

  Dad didn’t want us here anymore, and it was all her fault.

  Chapter 8

  Abby

  I wasn’t a big believer in second chances or forgetting about the past. I was a firm believer in learning from your mistakes. I don’t believe in second chances because if you got one shot, by my books, you got one shot too many.

  My dad also shared this opinion, which led me to my new problem.

  “Dad?” I knocked on his bedroom door. It was the middle of the afternoon, and I hoped, by now, he might be waking up, but by the lack of a response, I knew he wasn’t.

  “You ok?”

  I spun around, shocked to see Kade. He looked like his normal self: black tee shirt, leather vest over the top. He was the picture of what your parents warned you about.

  I walked away from Dad’s door and towards Kade. “Yeah, I’m ok, but I don’t know about Dad.” I glanced back at his closed door. “He doesn’t usually sleep this much.”

  “Might have something to do with the fact he isn’t here.”

  My head snapped back at him. “What?”

  “Your dad left early this morning. He wasn’t really in the mood to answer questions, so no one really asked him where he was going.”

  I groaned. I knew where he was going, and I had hoped to see him before he left. “He would have gone to see my Aunty.”

  “That a bad thing?”

  “It is because I don’t really want to live with her, but thanks to Kim’s outburst last night...” I looked down at the ground. “Dad thinks that shipping us off will fix everything.”