REAPER: Death Row Shooters MC Read online

  “She doesn’t want to be touched,” I took a step forward, but Ash placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “Easy, Ryan.” I looked over at him and he signaled for me to look to my left. Three of the members had taken their guns out and the barrels were all pointed at me.

  “We’re just going to have a little fun with her. We won’t hurt your- how do you call her- ahhh yes,” he pressed his lips to her ear and smiled at me. “Firefly.”

  I was ready to murder every single fucker in this place when the doors to the bar slammed opened and in walked four of the toughest bikers I’d ever met. Everyone turned and the club went silent. Wolf Stone, John Grayson, Derek Matheson, also known as Bear, and Cain Scardino, the Hellbound Lovers Sargeant at Arms. They were like bulls entering the stadium and they saw red when they spotted Mario.

  Mario turned pale, he looked back at Carlos and then turned to Wolf. La Plaga snarled and released Cecilia. “I’m not done with her yet!” He pointed at me and took his place near Mario as the Hellbound Lovers bounded through the entry.

  As soon as he released her, she ran to my side, gripping my hand. Securing a hold around her waist I pulled her behind the bar and whispered for her to stay hidden in the back. I knew this visit wasn’t going to be a friendly one, and the last thing I wanted is to worry about her getting hurt. It wasn’t the Hellbound Lovers style to shoot up a place, but money could turn the most honest of men into evil bastards.

  Wolf had been announced the new President of the HLMC just a few months ago after he got back from wherever the fuck he’d been sent to during the war. Ex-navy seal or something. He was said to be a callous son of a bitch, but I had great respect for him. Any man who could walk into a room and command like he did, deserved my respect.

  His eyes narrowed in on the bunch and I caught a few of the cowards stir in their seats. The thing about the Hellbound Lovers MC is that they were the type of club you wanted on your side Being on their bad side would get you killed. They were good men, but they’d been known to lay down the law every once and a while. They did it once with the Devil’s Syndicate, and they’d do it again if they had to. Nick, the co-founder of the HLMC had been good with friends with Nate. He had a warm destitution towards Simon. At Nate’s funeral, Ryder Chase, his second in command, who’d also passed away a few years back, had offered Simon to be patched over if he wanted it. Last I heard, the offer still stood.

  “Mario! Just the person I wanted to see.” Wolf walked in and shifted over to our side of the bar, nodding at us.

  “Hey fellas,” he uttered softly. He has that about him. He didn’t need to shout or act up to be intimidating. I heard he learned that out there in the desert. He’d come back with that look in his eye. The look that said he’d killed over a hundred men and he wouldn’t hesitate to kill one more if he had to. Not a lot of men liked to cross Wolf’s path, especially with that rumor going around that he used to torture people. You never knew what was going on in that head of his.

  “Hey Ryan. Where’s your cos?”

  “Went out on a job. Should be back soon.”

  Wolf nodded and leaned back on the counter. All activity had stopped as they watched him, and I opened a beer and slid it over to him. He didn’t even flinch as he gripped the bottleneck and gulped it down.

  “Good beer,” he stated as he set the half empty bottle down on the bar top and wiped his mouth. I knew he was being sarcastic since the Hellbound Lovers were the ones who supplied our alcohol.

  “You gotta nice place here, Mario.” He took a good look at his surroundings. “Real nice. Lots of space.” His comment implied he was interested in the property. As if Mario had put up our home as collateral and the Hellbound Lovers had come in to collect a debt.

  “It is a nice space. My space,” he replied opening his arms wide, with a smug smile on his face. His missing tooth creating a gap on the right corner. He was one ugly motherfucker.

  “What brings the Hellbound Lovers round these parts. You’re a little far off your territory.”

  The high-pitched screeching of a chair as it scraped against the floorboards made everyone turn towards the sound. Bear took a seat in a corner and crossed his legs up on the table. Grayson, the Hellbound Lovers new VP, pulled a chair out as well, smirking as he took a seat. Like I said, these guys didn’t play. When they showed up it meant shit was going down.

  “Looks like you haven’t been very hospitable to Cain here, Mario.” Grayson pointed at the man by the doorway. He was a big man, mean looking. I’d met Cain once or twice, mostly when he came by to claim payment for the dealings we had with them. If he’d brought reinforcements this time around, it didn’t look good on the clubhouse.

  “He hasn’t received a response from you on payment yet. So we figured we’d come over and give you a little reminder.”

  Mario looked nervous as Wolf played with a bullet he’d just pulled out of his pocket. His eyes only focused on the bullet, yet the whole fucking club was focused on him. Mario began to stutter.

  “Uh, well...yeah. I was going to answer him.”

  “You owe us five grand for the liquor, five hundred for shipping it over. Plus, any fees for us coming over here to...talk shit out.”

  “Y-yes.” He turned to La Plaga and whispered in his ear. The fucker looked over at Wolf with hatred in his eyes, but Wolf just smirked at him and shrugged. He turned and went off to find the money.

  Cain paced the entrance like a Lion in his den, a rifle pressed to his side. Everyone just kind of watched him carefully. Every single man was on edge. One wrong move and I knew the Death Row Shooters were dead. Wolf knew his kin, which is why he moved over to our side, his back to me. If something did go down, he knew we would be counted on.

  A hush fell over the clubhouse as we waited for Carlos to return with the payment. Simon chose that instant to walk in. Cain lifted his gun, aiming it at his head, but dropped it when he realized who it was.

  “Bear!” Simon’s smile was big and welcoming as he reached out to the burly and pulling him in for a warm hug. They laughed and pounded each other’s backs like old friends would. After Ryder died, they’d formed a strong bond. My cousin knew what it meant to lose your family, and so did Bear, they’d formed a tight kinship.

  “What the hell are you doing here, brothers?” He nodded at Grayson and Wolf in acknowledgement.

  Bear frowned and shook his head. “Just getting payment on a small debt that your Prez here owes us.”

  Simon narrowed his eyes on Mario. “I hope all is good with the money, Prez,” the emphasis on the title dripped with hatred.

  “We’re working on it. It’s none of your goddamn business, anyway.”

  “Not mine, but it is Pooch’s over there. I mean he is the club Treasurer.”

  Pooch raised his eyes and blinked twice. He was a good kid but had no clue what it meant to run a club, let alone deal with the money coming in. I hated that he was associated with Mario, his nephew and Cecilia’s cousin. He was too easily influenced by his Uncle and the rest of them to let me get into his head. But the kid listened every once in a while, he wasn’t stupid.

  “Pooch does what I tell him to do.”

  Wolf took a step forward and I could see that the silence in the room became heavier as Simon continued to challenge him. “Well then, what the fuck do we have him for? If you tell him what to do how are we supposed to trust our money is taken care of.”

  Carlos walked in at that moment, slamming a wad of cash on the table in front of Grayson. Simon turned to him, fury in his eyes. Wherever he’d just gone, some bad shit had gone down, and Simon wasn’t backing down. He was instigating.

  “The money is taken care of.” La Plaga took his stance at the center of the room eyeing Simon, but we all knew that was a wrong move.

  “You wanna’ tell me motherfucker why I was just chased down Folsom fucking Boulevard by some crazy ass sons of bitches who said you sent them?”

  “I don’t know what the fuck you are talking about. You’re always talking crazy shit.”

  Simon lunged forward and was stopped by Wolf, who placed a hand on his chest. “Let it go, Turner. I’ll look into it.”

  Simon looked down for a minute, clenching his fists and jaw. I could tell he wasn’t happy, and he was trying his best to control himself.

  “He tried to get me killed. If it wasn’t for the Devil’s Syndicate who showed up out of nowhere, I’d be fucking dead,” he uttered beneath his breath. I hopped over the bar and came up to him.

  “You alright?”

  He looked at me for a long moment and placed a hand on my shoulder. He leaned in and spoke just loud enough for me and Wolf to hear. “If something happens to me, you take that girl of yours and you run, you hear me.”

  I shook my head, dread now looming over my head. “Nothing’s gonna happen to you.”

  “You just do as I say,” he gripped the nape of my neck and pressed his forehead to mine. “Swear to me you’ll do as I say.”

  I nodded. “I swear it.”

  “Good man,” he patted my cheek and turned to Wolf. An unspoken understanding between them. Looking back at Bear, he smiled.

  “I hope you got what you came for, old friend. Make sure we don’t owe you anything.”

  Bear looked at him, worry furrowing his brow. “I got it. But you let me know if you need anything. I promised Nate you had my full protection. Anyone touches a hair on your head, they answer to the Hellbound Lovers. That goes for your family there too and anyone who is your kin.”

  Simon nodded. He knew what that meant. The Hellbound Lovers had just offered protection and they had done it on purpose so that everybody heard. We were under the HLMC shadow now, which meant if anyone fucked with us, they’d hunt them down and kill them. That was an un
written law, one that was rarely challenged. I could tell Simon was grateful, and God help me, so was I.

  Wolf patted my back and put a hand over my shoulder. “Now that the debt is settled. I got somethin’ for you kid. Courtesy of yours truly.”

  I looked at Simon and he only nodded. “Go on.”

  Grayson thanked La Plaga for his services and laughed as the fucker cursed under his breath. “I hope I don’t have to see your ugly mug again, Muerte. It won’t be such a pleasant visit next time.”

  “Fuck you!” Mario cursed and the lot of them laughed while I walked out with the Hellbound Lovers. For some reason, leaving Simon alone didn’t sit well with me.

  As soon as Wolf had me outside, he turned me over to Bear who placed his hand on my shoulder. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask us kid. You understand.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Simon asked me to bring this for you,” he handed me a key, a Hellbound Lovers patch engraved on a silver keychain. He backed up and pointed to the shiny black Harley parked in the alleyway. “This is yours. Technically Simon’s but he wanted you to have it. He did a job for us a few weeks back and we wanted to bring the payment over. It’s a good baby, take care of her.”

  “Are you shittin’ me?” I ran over to the bike, excitement in my bones. I was dying to have a bike and Simon knew it.

  “We were going to bring it by anyway, had spoken to Simon a few days ago. He told us you just turned twenty-one.”

  “He sounded like a proud dad,” Wolf chuckled.

  I smiled as I stroked the leather seating. “Sit, try her out,” Grayson came over.

  I slid into the seat and revved her up, loving the sound of the engine when it roared to life. Fuck, this was my bike. Mine. I’d never been given anything in my life, and here I was receiving a second gift, the first was the leather bracelet secured around my wrist. I took a second to grasp this when I felt Wolf walk up beside me

  “You need anything, you know where to find us.”

  I nodded, gulping down the knot in my throat. I wanted to ask if they’d take me with them, if I could join their brotherhood, but I looked back at the bar and remembered who was inside. I couldn’t leave. I had too many people who counted on me in there.

  I watched as Bear hopped into the Chase vehicle they’d brought, Wolf’s black pickup truck. Grayson and Cain revved up their bikes and their engines roared to life, filling the silence as they took off. My only thought was how badass they were, how they didn’t have a threat over their head on a constant basis. I wanted to live like them, and in a way, I was envious and angry that I had to watch my back every second of every day. Their lights disappeared in the distance leaving me in the dim silence once again. I was concentrated on the bike when the sound of a bullet being fired pierced the quiet of the night. My eyes shot up, and dread swept over me, telling me things weren’t going to be the same again.

  5

  Ryan

  That night- Six Years ago…

  The bike toppled over in my rush to get in through the doors. It was long forgotten as I tugged my gun out of the waistband of my jeans. It nearly slipped from my fingers when I walked in, stopping short at the sight before me. Both Ash and Poe were on their knees, guns pointed at their temples. Standing just a few feet before them was Simon, La Muerte’s gun pointed to his head.

  “Kneel,” Mario uttered, but Simon refused, spitting at his feet.

  “Always going against me! Eres un traidor de mierda!”

  “I will never kneel to you,” Simon growled.

  Mario took a step back and grinned. “Then I’ll just have to make you.”

  As the door slammed shut behind me everything went still. Simon turned to look at me, an apology carved in his eyes, and suddenly there was the blast of a bullet being fired. Simon’s head snapped back as blood splattered out of his temple and he fell to his knees first, before slowly crumpling to the floor.

  “Nooo!” My eyes focused on his limp body and suddenly everything in my body went deadly still. I let the darkness consume me as I raised the Glock in my hand. After a moment’s pause, as if in slow motion, I started to fire.

  Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.

  One right after the other, as if I were in target practice. First the two holding my brothers captive, the one in the back who had taken out a rifle, the one to the right of me who thought he was faster than I was. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Ash and Poe slide across the floor, shots began to fire around me. The steel barrel of La Muerte’s gun turned to me, staring me in the eyes. I cocked my head and we both fired at the same time. His shot whizzed by my temple, while mine hit him right in the center of his ugly face. Right through his cheek. He stumbled back, and I followed him as he lay on the floor, squirming and squealing like the rat that he was.

  I stood over him, his wide black eyes on me. “You thought you’d win? You thought you could take everything I had and you wouldn’t pay? I want you to remember my face before I take your miserable fucking life and know, that I was the one who took over. I was the one who sent you back to hell.”

  I cocked the gun and fired two shots into his head. I spit in his bloodied face and turned to find Cecilia crouched down low on the side of the bar. Her big eyes watching me, shock penetrating through them.

  Fuck my life!

  I flew across the bar towards her only to be tackled by one of the opposing members. He was a big guy, went by the name of Morgue. He wanted to be like me, the asshole. But he was an arrogant motherfucker and couldn’t match up to me in any fight. I was an agile son of a bitch, and he was a big tub of lard that didn’t know when to give up. A piece of shit who shot people dead just for pronouncing his name wrong. I fucking hated the bastard.

  With a right hook I sent him down to the ground, cocking my gun I shot him twice. One in the chest, one in the head. Fucker didn’t even have a chance.

  “Ryan watch out!” Ash’s shout made me turn, and sure enough, Pooch was standing behind me-the hand holding his gun was shaking real bad. If I wasn’t careful, he’d scare, and I’d get a hole through me.

  “Pooch think this through. You don’t want to do this.”

  “Y-you killed my family.” I knew how he felt. I’d just lost all of mine.

  Nodding, I tilted the gun slightly as I spoke. It was as if somebody else had taken me over, the gun becoming a part of me. “You could say that, but I don’t want to kill you. You’re a good kid Pooch. I can give you a family here if you give me a chance.”

  His eyes focused on movement behind me and I saw Cecilia shift. “Eyes up here, Pooch. She’s under my protection, nothing’s gonna happen to her.”

  “How do I know that?”

  “Because I’m giving you my word. And out of all these fuckers you know my word means gold.”

  We stood there, guns pointed at each other, one hand trembling, the other steady and lethal. If I made any sudden movement, he’d snap. “Come on, Pooch. Make the choice.”

  He looked down for a second and slowly began lowering his gun. “Cobarde,” the sound of La Plaga’s voice echoed from my right and the bullet hit Pooch square in the chest.

  “Motherfucker!” I yelled as I emptied my gun in his direction. The fucker was fast, and he tackled me around the waist, slamming us into tables that broke beneath our weight. He was a heavy-set guy, and it felt like a ton of bricks had taken my breath away. He was incessant in his blows and I wound up trying to fight him off me, curling up and trying not to get hit in the sides anymore. The blows were heavy, and I knew I was going to lose a few ribs. Suddenly, someone lifted him off me and I was able to get in a gulp of breath.

  A quick blow to the head and the fucker stumbled back. Poe lifted him and rained down on him, one punch after the other. Letting him go, he dropped to the floor. He fumbled back towards the door and suddenly a shot rang out sending Poet back a few steps. I watched terrified as my friend fell to his knees, but before the other member could put a shot in him, Ash got to him first, bullets imploding in his chest and bringing him down. I grabbed at Poe and dragged him towards the back of the bar. The bullet went clean through the shoulder, but he’d survive. Grabbing the rag on top of the bar I pressed it to his wound. I looked back at Cecilia and managed to stagger back up. I took the bullet out of my pocket and slid it in the chamber.