REAPER'S KISS by Jaxson Kidman

go to
the source.”
    “What is it about her?” Gage asked.
“I’m just throwing it out there. You know, what, nothing of her?”
    “I know enough,” I said. “There’s
something there, brother. She’s a pawn. The things she’s said to me about her
old man and this Frank guy. It’s not good. If you want my two cents, I think
her mother was murdered by Frank. Or someone connected to this shit.”
    “What the fuck does that have to do
with the club?” Sid asked. “Not trying to be rude here.”
    “You’re right, Prez,” I said. “Her
mother’s murder probably has nothing to do with the MC. Neither does her
father, Frank, whatever. The fact is we went after some cash and now it’s
kicking back at us. Ava has nothing to do with that cash. She’s tried to find
her father and can’t. She’s terrified. You think I want some woman in my house?
In my life?”
    Maybe I do, but that is a whole
other situation I refuse to talk about.
    “Get rid of her then,” Gunner said.
    “And do what?” I asked. “Kick her
out? She’d end up kidnapped. She might talk about the MC. I’m forcing myself to
keep her there. Keep her with me.”
    “Yeah, twisting your fucking arm,” Diesel
said.
    “Twisting your dick,” Luka added.
    The table started to laugh.
    I was ready to take out my gun and
start shooting.
    Killing your own brothers?
Because they ’re giving you shit about a woman?
    That’s what I had become. They were
all right though. I barely knew Ava. Seeing her in the store wasn’t the first
time I ever saw her. Bishop was small enough of a town that nobody was really
considered a stranger. But to actually get to know her a little. Seeing this
beautiful woman wrapped up in the tragedy of her mother’s murder and then
thrust into her father’s bullshit business.
    “Okay, okay,” Sid said. “Everyone
take a breath for a second. If we’re getting kick back for taking that cash, it
falls on my shoulders. I gave the order to go after that money. So now we need
to protect ourselves first and second, figure out this thing with Jake, his
store, and how his daughter plays into it.”
    “Agreed,” I said. “I’ve pressed Ava
for everything she could tell me. We have everything we could get. I say we hit
the streets and start spreading the word. See if anyone knows Frank or Jake or
something. Flush him out.”
    “Right out of Bishop,” Gage said.
    “He’s already fucking gone,” Diesel
said. “I went by the store this morning. The same family emergency sign
is in the window. Fucking place is dead if you ask me.”
    “What are the odds that Frank and
Jake are together?” Luka asked.
    “I hate to throw this in, but what
about Ava?” Logan asked. “Can we trust her? Is she in this more than we know?”
    Again, I felt the anger rise up in
me. Shit, it wasn’t just anger but jealousy. These feelings never happened
inside me.
    Sid looked at me, waiting for me to
flip shit.
    I just shrugged my shoulders. “What
do I say to that? I’ve made my point clear. if there’s any question or doubt,
then speak it. Make a decision. Take a fucking vote.”
    “There’s one thing we can do,” Sid
said. “We can talk to her. Let me and a few others see what she says.”
    “Scare her,” I said.
    “No. Just make sure we’re reassured
on her answers.”
    “That’s fine, Prez. Club first.”
    “There’s one other thing,” Gage
said. He looked at me with regret in his eyes. “We can use her.”
    “What?” I asked.
    “You said it yourself, Jace,” Gage
said. “If you toss her out she might get kidnapped. Why don’t we test it out?” Gage
put a hand up at me. “But we’re in control. If we send her out there and Frank
or her father swoops in, we’ll be right there to help her.”
    “That’s risky,” I said.
    “What does she mean to the MC?” Diesel
asked.
    “Fuck you,” I yelled.
    “Easy now,” Sid said. “Let’s think
this out. We know this shit is connected. I made a couple phone calls and