Reaper's Stand(9)

“She has to do what I say if she’s going to be in my home,” I replied carefully. “And she’s definitely not taking any steps to support herself just yet, so I’m guessing my place is it for now. I’d just as soon not be responsible for a newborn, too, but knowing my luck, she’s actively getting pregnant even as we speak. Nobody needs that.”

He shook his head slowly, some unfathomable emotion in his eyes.

“You can’t control this,” he told me. “I have daughters. Did you know that?”

“I don’t know you at all,” I said, which wasn’t entirely true. I could still remember the first time I saw him, because he was beautiful and if I weren’t a mature, sensible woman I’d have said I had a crush on him. I definitely felt a strong physical pull—at least, when I wasn’t terrified of him.

That wasn’t okay.

I had a boyfriend. Nate. He was nice and he liked me and I liked him and he made me feel safe. I had a good life. I took care of Jessica and ran my business. I took care of her friends sometimes, too, and inconvenient crushes on bikers—ones I worked for, no less—weren’t on the table.

But as fabulous as Nate was, I hadn’t been able to keep myself from watching Reese Hayes these past months, and there was more than enough gossip about him floating around town to feed my fascination once I started listening. Hayes had two grown daughters, he’d been president of the Reapers for the past decade, and his wife, Heather, had died from breast cancer six years back. Right after I’d won custody of Jessica, actually.

I knew about Heather Hayes’s death because I’d attended her funeral.

She’d gone to high school with Amber, and while we hadn’t really known each other back in the day, I’d wanted to pay my respects. I’d never seen a man look more devastated than Reese Hayes had that cold, dark March afternoon at the cemetery. We’d gotten late snow, and his girls had been crying hysterically the whole time.

He didn’t cry, though. Nope. Reese Hayes had looked like a man who’d lost his soul. Since then he’d gotten a reputation around town as a total slut, a reputation that seemed to be well deserved, based on what I’d seen here.


Not your place to judge, I reminded myself.

When I started my cleaning business, I learned early that everyone has secrets to hide and it wasn’t my job to uncover them. Get in, do the job, get out, go home. Easy and simple.

“If you knew me, you’d know I feel sympathetic toward you,” he said. “Like I said, I have daughters. But I’ve learned the hard way that you can’t control them. I’m a hard man and not even I can control them. You don’t stand a chance with this kid. Why don’t you just go home?”

Enough. I stood quickly.

“I’m not leaving without her. Will you help me, or do I need to start searching by myself?”

He didn’t move and his expression didn’t change, but the air in the room cooled.

“Sit your ass down,” he said, his brilliant blue eyes flashing. The absolute authority and will in his tone was indisputable, reminding me that this was a very dangerous man.

I sat.

Hayes rose to his feet, coming to stand in front of me. Then he leaned down and rested his hands on the back of the couch on either side of my head. His gaze pinned me, and my adrenaline surged.

What the hell was he planning to do?

“You do realize where you are?” he asked softly, which was way scarier than it would’ve been if he’d yelled at me. Quiet menace, carrying visions of bodies buried in shallow graves …

“You’re in my club. Outside this room are twenty men who will do anything to back me up. Anything. And outside this building are forests and mountains that reach all the way to Montana. Only witnesses out there are deer and maybe a moose or two. You sure you wanna piss me off? I just pulled my dick out of a willing woman’s mouth for you, so it’s not like I’m in a good mood to start with.”

I couldn’t breathe. My heart beat so fast that I thought it might explode out of my chest, and I knew for a fact that pissing him off was definitely the last thing I wanted to do.

“Now ask me nicely to help you,” he said, the words slow and deliberate. I nodded, taking a minute to steel myself.

“Mr. Hayes, will you please help me find my cousin Jessica?”

“No.”

Sudden moisture filled my eyes, and I felt myself quivering. I blinked quickly and forced back the tears through sheer will. I’d be damned if I’d give him any more satisfaction. Silence fell between us, his face six inches from mine, palpable tension hanging in the air. In the distance I heard music and noise from the party, all too aware that I was utterly at his mercy.

“Can I go?” I asked quietly.

“No.”

At least he was direct. I licked my lips nervously and his eyes followed the movement. I couldn’t look at him anymore, so I lowered my gaze.

That was a mistake.

“Lower” was his body, and one glance was enough to tell me that just because he’d sent his girlfriend away didn’t mean he’d lost interest in sex. Nope. Nice big bulge in those jeans.

Yikes.

My eyes skittered away, stopping at the big knife strapped to his leg. A hunting knife. Inside at a party. Nothing scary about that at all, right?

“Convince me to help you,” he said softly, his voice growing smooth, almost silky.