Reaper's Redemption: Satan's Sons MC Romance Series Book 3

by Simone Elise

  “About that. I need you downstairs.”

  “Why?”

  “Jeff’s here. He needs some of your blood to have on record.” He shrugged.

  “That makes no sense.”

  He took my hand. “Come on, Abby. It’s in your best interest. And you can think about your answer while it’s being taken.” Then a smirk spread across his face. “And maybe we can start trying tonight.”

  Sick. I felt incredibly sick. But Tyson’s life was more important. I would do anything to protect it, to keep Jake away from him. So I already knew my answer.

  ***

  I stared at myself in the mirror, hating the reflection. I ran a hand through my wet hair. I didn’t know it was possible to hate yourself as much as I did. I hated everything about me, right down to my looks.

  It was because of my looks that I was being raped.

  I was standing in my underwear trying to come up with the courage to face another day. Here. With Jake. Forced to be his pretend wife.

  He told me over and over again he wasn’t letting me go. He even said he was starting to love me. He loved the way I was around. He loved that I didn’t push him away anymore when he went to touch me. I didn’t push him away because I didn’t see the fucking point. His grip on me would just tighten anyway.

  So I stopped pushing him away.

  I stopped doing a lot of things.

  Like drawing. I stopped that. Because I couldn’t look into Tyson’s eyes anymore without wanting to cry. And I wouldn’t cry. Nothing would crack me to the point of crying. Not even being raped. I wouldn’t let myself cry.

  I think my heart was broken.

  I was so determined to not let Jake break me. But, as more days passed, I couldn’t say he hadn’t. He had broken me. As soon as the raping started, I became a walking, breathing shell of the woman I had been.

  I didn’t think I’d ever get back to who I used to be.

  My eyes darted to Jake as he entered the bathroom, grinning like normal.

  I looked back into the mirror. It was only when I felt a sting on my thigh that I looked at Jake. He had a razor and he was digging it into my leg. I never thought I would be thankful for pain. But I was because, for once, I was feeling something else other than the broken mess, the crumpled, breathing shell that I was.

  Jake pulled the razor away and put it in my hand.

  “I heard it helps when you are hating yourself,” Jake said, planting a kiss on my shoulder. “Just don’t do your wrists. I don’t want people to know you do this to cope being with me.” He turned and left.

  Leaving me with a razor. Like he had just solved my problems or, at the very least, given me a way to cope.

  I turned it in my hand. I had felt release when he cut me. I had felt pain instead of sadness and self-loathing. So I put the razor to my outer thigh and cut underneath the line he had just done. And I felt it again. The pain. It was welcoming. And I didn’t stop with just one cut.

  ***

  Jeff had just finished taking more blood from me. I gave up asking why a long time ago. They wouldn’t give me a straight answer anyway. Why did they want to have such a large supply of my blood?

  I got up, leaving Jeff with my blood, and walked into the dining room. Dinner was the next thing I had to do.

  Jake got up, taking a gulp of his beer, and looked at me with regret. “Sorry about this, sweetheart.”

  I frowned and then his fist connected with my jaw. The pain was overwhelming. I think he broke my jaw! My hand went to cup it, as I spat out blood and a back molar.

  Jake picked up my tooth and threw it at Jeff. He then came to me. Tears were stinging my eyes but I wasn’t letting them drop.

  “I’m really sorry about that. Here, let me get you some ice.” He took my hand.

  “What are you? BIPOLAR?!” I yelled at him, pulling my hand from his. What happened to his speech about how he never wanted to and never would hit me again?

  Yeah, I had sat through that speech, not believing he would stop hitting me. Now he had just proven it to me. He didn’t keep his word.

  He handed me ice. “Trust me. I didn’t want to do that.”

  “Then why did you?” I snapped, in a world of pain.

  “Because I had to.”

  “You’re insane.” And that was an understatement. “And a complete jerk! What happened to never laying a finger on me while we are trying for a baby?”

  “Trust me, Abby. I won’t ever hit you again. That had to be done.” He stood in front of me and, when I didn’t put the ice to my jaw, he took my hand and made me apply the ice. “Ice it. I don’t want to see you bruised.”

  “I think you broke my jaw,” I said, blood still coming out of my mouth.

  “Jeff, can you check her before you leave? I wanted a tooth. I didn’t want her to have a broken jaw,” Jake said, stepping around me. When I didn’t follow him, he put his hands on my hips and made me turn around so Jeff could check my jaw.

  Why did he want a tooth to begin with?

  Chapter 21

  Reaper

  One week.

  I had one week to find Abby.

  I was pulling every string I had to find her. But I wasn’t getting any closer. There was a knock on my door. I didn’t jump up to get it.

  Today was going to be harder. Because today, was, well, it was her birthday.

  There was another knock on the door. “Reaper, it’s Kim. The police are here, wanting to talk to you.”

  The police? I hadn’t done anything to warrant their attention. I opened the door, meeting Kim’s upset face.

  “I think it’s about Abby,” Kim said, with tears in her eyes. “I think it’s bad.”

  “Kim, I still have a week.” It wasn’t about Abby.

  “I’ll get Tyson. You go down.” Kim stepped into my bedroom and I headed downstairs.

  It wasn’t about Abby. It could be about the number of guns we were currently running. It could be about the fact we were raiding drug house after drug house, looking for Abby.

  I walked into the bar, seeing the two cops. I was used to seeing officers normally. I was used to being questioned by them. But these two were in plain clothes. Detectives.

  “You wanted to see me?” I said, coming to a stop next to them.

  “Mr. Wilson?” The man extended a hand. It was something in his voice that had my inner warnings going off. Normally cops and detectives weren’t friendly toward me. So a handshake was out of the normal.

  I shook it. “Yep.”

  “I’m Detective Woods and this is Detective Harlot. We have been investigating your wife’s disappearance.”

  It was about Abby.

  “Didn’t know you lot were even looking.” I didn’t hide my surprise. As far as I knew, I was the only one making it a mission to find Abby.

  “We have been. Yesterday, remains were discovered. At the time, we couldn’t confirm if they were Abby or not. But this morning we got a confirmation.”

  “It’s not Abby.” I didn’t need to hear whatever they had come to say. Abby wasn’t dead. I would know. I still had a week.

  He smiled grimly. “We have a positive match on blood and dental records. Unfortunately, we can confirm it is Abby Wilson.”

  “No, it’s not.” Abby was not dead. I would fucking know! Somehow I would know! “She isn’t dead.”

  “Denial is normally the first stage,” his partner said. “We are sorry for your loss, Mr. Wilson. We wanted to notify you as soon as we got a confirmation. This was found with the body.”

  They handed me rings in a plastic bag. Sure enough, they were Abby’s engagement and wedding rings.

  She wasn’t dead. Kim stepped around me.

  “When will the body be released?” Kim said. I looked at her like she couldn’t be serious. Body. Abby wasn’t a body. She wasn’t dead to begin with! This was a sick joke.

  “Within a week we can have the body released to a funeral ho
me,” the detective said.

  “Do you have a card so I can let you know which funeral home to release it to?” Kim said, still holding Tyson.

  The detective handed her a card. “We are sorry for your loss.” I watched them walk out. This was a sick joke. Jake was going to a new level to torture me.

  The clubhouse door shut. I hadn’t spotted Roach at the bar. But he got up as soon as they left.

  “I’m burying my daughter. You hear me, Reaper? I’m in charge of this funeral. I always knew you would be the death of her.” He looked me in the eyes, tears in his. “You killed her. I hope you never sleep a peaceful night for the rest of your life. As for your son, I’ll be fighting to take him from you.”

  “Oh shut up, Dad. Reaper just lost his wife. I just lost my sister. And Tyson just lost his mom. So don’t stand there and say you are taking Tyson away from his dad as well.” Kim might have been calm before but she wasn’t anywhere near it now, tears running down her cheeks. “Tyson will be staying here with his father. And you can go on a bender as soon as the funeral is over.”

  “Reaper leaves a trail of death in his wake. I’m not letting my grandson become another headstone! He already took my daughter.”

  “ABBY’S NOT DEAD! I WOULD FUCKING KNOW!” I yelled at both of them, finding this whole situation ridiculous! “I WOULD KNOW!”

  Kim went silent. Roach looked at me with disgust and walked off. His lecture and threats disappeared with him as he stormed outside.

  “I’ll handle the funeral,” Kim said, breaking the silence in the room.

  I turned to look at her. “Abby’s not dead.”

  Kim smiled sadly up at me. “We lost Abby weeks ago.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t explain it. But all I know is something happened to her and, since then, I felt like I was living without her already. I thought she had died weeks ago. They only just confirmed what I was feeling.” Kim moved Tyson in her arms. “Abby has everything set up for the funeral. All it will take is a few phone calls. I can do that.”

  I looked down at Abby’s engagement and wedding rings. She wasn’t dead.

  “She’s not dead.”

  “Reaper, I’m going to let you come to terms with this in your own time. But if you won’t accept it, I will just take over. I’m not letting my sister’s remains just sit in the police morgue.”

  Remains? Abby wasn’t just remains. I would know if she was dead. I would feel it. I looked at Kim. She was saying she had felt it weeks ago. Jake said I had a month. I still had a week.

  Kim wiped tears away. “Abby knew this was going to happen. So before you go on a rampage, remember she accepted that it was going to end like this.”

  She was not dead. She was not dead. I clenched my eyes shut. I’d know. Somehow something would change. I would know if she was dead.

  “Abby’s will, do you still have it? If not, I have a copy. I have a feeling Dad was serious about trying to take Tyson. So we will have to handle that soon. Abby would want you to keep Tyson. But if you can’t, I’ll take him.”

  I looked at her. She couldn’t be serious? “No one is taking Tyson from me. And Abby isn’t fucking dead!”

  I took Tyson from her.

  “Reaper, where are you going?”

  “To give Tyson his bottle, and then I’m going out to look for my wife.” I wasn’t giving up on her. I knew she wasn’t dead. Something would change. Something would happen to me if she were.

  My phone started ringing. I didn’t even look at the caller ID. I just answered it, needing a distraction.

  “Hello?” I barked into the phone.

  “Guessing you’ve heard by now?”

  Jake. I froze. “Of all your sick torturous jokes, Jake, this one tops them,” I yelled. Kim was at my side immediately, taking Tyson from me. I let her because I was a second away from letting my temper snap.

  “Not a joke, Reaper. If it makes you feel better, she wasn’t in pain.”

  “She isn’t dead. You said a month. I still have a week.”

  “I gave you three weeks. I wasn’t going to prolong her death any longer. I actually was starting to feel sorry for her. So it was short and it was sweet. Nearly as sweet and painless as Rebecca had.”

  “You didn’t kill her.”

  “Did you get her rings? Because she asked me to make sure you got them. I guess, call it her dying wish.”

  “She’s not dead.” I looked at the rings.

  “Whatever makes you happy, Reaper. But I’m flying out this afternoon. My work here is done.”

  “You didn’t kill her.”

  He laughed. “Denial. Yeah, I had the same. I expected Rebecca to walk through my front door, every day. Wasn’t till I saw her body that I accepted she was gone. But you aren’t going to get that pleasure. I think you deserved it, being left not knowing. Yeah, I would say that was payback enough. Bye, Reaper.”

  He hung up.

  “What did he say?” Kim snapped at my side. “Is it Abby or not?”

  He was telling me it was Abby. The detectives were telling me it was Abby. But my heart was telling me it wasn’t. Did I not want to believe it? Was I in denial? Something just told me I would know, deep down, if she was dead. I would know. Something would die inside me.

  I was sure if she was dead, my heart would stop as well.

  “It’s her, isn’t it?” Kim said.

  “He told me it was.” I still didn’t believe it.

  Kim’s eyes welled up with tears. “I knew it happened weeks ago.”

  “She’s not dead.” I went to take Tyson again but Kim stepped back.

  “I need Tyson right now. You can go blow off steam or something. But I need Tyson.” She was holding him close to her chest. “He is all of Abby I have left.”

  She was not dead.

  She just wasn’t.

  But if Kim really needed Tyson right now, then I would let her have him.

  “Fine.”

  “Go over her will, Reaper. I know you’re in denial. But we have a funeral to plan and Abby left instructions about what she wanted.”

  I nodded my head. I wasn’t looking at the will. I wasn’t accepting the fact she was dead.

  I would fucking well know. Wouldn’t I?

  ***

  “OK, Kade, look at me. I’m huge.” Abby showed off her perfect stomach in the mirror. “Be proud of yourself, Kade, because you did that.” She flicked the lights off and walked into the bedroom.

  “Guess how I’ve spent my day?” Her face lit up. “This.” She showed me a scrapbook. “Also, I’ve been drowning your poor baby in my music. I hope he or she gets my taste in music.”

  She flicked the page. It was of a half-drawn picture. “Now I don’t know when you are coming back. But if something does happen to me, I want this to be a standing memory.” Abby switched the angle of the camera and her face lit up the screen. “Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. And if history repeats itself and I lose this baby as well as my life, I don’t want you to blame yourself.” She frowned. “Like I said, sometimes things are out of our control. This might be one of those times.”

  Her frown deepened. “You’ll call me stupid but I just have this feeling that I won’t be around for this baby. Call it a bad feeling. But I’m not going to worry you about what might happen. Like I said, some things are out of our control. And I think this turns out to be one of those times.”

  The video stopped. I put the phone down and opened up the scrapbook. God, she was talented at drawing. She was also talented with a gun. But I never gave her credit for either.

  I flicked over the page. Where did she get these pictures from, if we were both in them?

  She had written notes beside the pictures. There was one of me being pissed off, with a note beside it saying, this is the face you pull when I’ve annoyed you. I smiled at that. Because if there was one thing she loved to do, it was to annoy me to
the point of pissing me off.

  I went through the whole scrapbook. She had basically documented our relationship from the beginning. But the last page had drawings all around a blank square. Written in the middle was our baby’s picture goes here.

  She wasn’t here to put it there.

  And it had been days since the detectives and Jake had told me she was dead.

  The first few days, I ignored it, not believing them.

  The third day, I caught Kim crying in the kitchen. She wasn’t doing too well. She was pushing everyone away from her, especially Trigger. She wouldn’t even speak to me because she said it was harder for her to watch me in denial.

  The fourth day came and I woke up alone in bed. Again. The routine was the same.

  Then last night I had a dream about Abby where she was telling me over and over to look at the scrapbook.

  So I did.

  And now, on the fifth day, it hit me.

  She wasn’t coming back to me.

  I wasn’t going to find her. She was gone.

  I looked at her engagement ring and her wedding ring. They belonged on her hand. I got up and just let my feet lead me to where I needed to go.

  I knew Kim was planning the funeral. I had been ignoring that too. While she planned my wife’s funeral, I was still raiding cookhouses. One of the men I got my hands on yesterday said Jake had flown out days ago. He’d headed overseas, leaving his business with Andrew.

  Jake had left.

  His business here was done.

  He had killed my wife. Nothing else was keeping him here and he wasn’t staying around in case I found him.

  “Kim?” I came to a stop in one of the living rooms. Kim was on the floor. So was Tyson. She had become more protective of him than ever. She wasn’t letting him out of her sight. She was even sleeping on my couch at night.

  Not wanting to be away from him.

  “What, Reaper?” She looked up from the paperwork. “If this is about it being late and Tyson not being in bed, it’s because he won’t sleep. I’ve tried him in the crib for hours and he won’t go to sleep.”

  “It’s not about that.” I went to her and sat beside her.