I only knew him as The Reaper. I’d never laid eyes on the man, but if it was who Nancy thought it was, we were in a shit ton of trouble. He was huge, even larger than Carter and Caleb who were by no means small men.

He was too harsh to be considered good-looking but there was something scarily arresting about the man. The shit load of trouble we were in increased with his very presence. Not to mention we were completely surrounded by armed lackeys ready to fire on command.

“Beauty,” The Reaper said, acknowledging Carter.

“Asshole,” Carter said in return greeting.

Confusion didn’t begin to define what was going through my head. Carter knew The Reaper? Was that why he thought I was going to be able to make him a cake? I was pretty sure that being acquainted with The Reaper wasn’t going to get us out of this deadly mess.

“Seems to me we have a little problem here,” the man said, eyeing the four of us. “Which one of you sent the information on the research to the CIA?”

“I did,” I said, stepping forward. “No one else had anything to do with it. I’m the one you want.”

“Bullshit,” Carter hissed, pulling me back against his body. “State your case, Reaper. But know if any of us die tonight, your ass will be dragged.”

“Interesting,” The Reaper said, turning his attention to Nancy. “And how are you, Nancy?”

His voice was smooth and Nancy’s color heightened. She raised her brow and lifted her middle finger to him. What in the ever-loving hell was happening here?

“It’s nice to see you haven’t changed,” he said.

“And it’s pathetic to see you haven’t changed either,” she replied, rudely.

There must be a hell of a backstory that was missing right now, but I had a plan. It was a little flimsy, but…

“The information wasn’t just sent to you,” I said.

“I assumed that,” The Reaper replied. “I’d very much like to know who else you sent it to.”

“And I’d very much like to shove your head up your ass,” Carter said.

The Reaper’s swift intake of breath didn’t really bode well for us getting out of here alive. Carter needed to be quiet.

“That’s information you’ll have to kill me to get,” I told the huge imposing man. “However, the information is set to go to every major news outlet in the world if anything happens to any of the four of us. It’s damning and will bring the CIA to its knees. You’re also implicated in the recordings I made this evening.”

Holding the remote out in my hand, I pressed the button and smiled.

The Reaper’s eyes narrowed to slits.

“That will be on the CIA main board shortly, along with several other locations.”

The Reaper inhaled sharply and then smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant smile at all.

“What do you want?” he asked, staring daggers at me.

“I want to die in an explosion tonight,” I said flatly. “Carter Davis and I will die in the explosion here tonight. After tonight, we will be erased from every fucking dossier you have—forever.”

“No money?” he inquired tightly.

“No money.”

“And what explosion are you referring to?” he asked.

I glanced over at Caleb who nodded and grinned.

“The one that will be set after you and your men leave. The two bodies that will be found are the bodies of Carter Davis and myself,” I explained nodding at the dead bodies of Wenbo and Jarred.

“And how am I supposed to explain the disappearance of Wenbo and Jarred?”

“Not my problem. That’s for you to figure out. I mean you are The Reaper, aren’t you?”

“You’re certainly a piece of work,” he said dryly,

“She’s mine,” Carter said with such pride, I laughed. “She’s my piece of work.”

I’d been through unspeakable things, but this day took the cake for surreal.

Nodding and giving a silent command to his men, The Reaper continued to stare at me. His men filed out of the warehouse just as quickly as they’d stormed it.

“Are you really an animal?” he asked.

“I don’t exist,” I shot back. “What I may or may not be is of no interest to you.”

His laugh almost made him attractive, but he was too terrifying to really be handsome.

“You will be living on thin ice for the rest of your lives,” The Reaper pointed out once we were alone with him.

“Been doing that for a decade,” Carter said. “Not a problem. Now on the other hand, if that ice gets too thin, you’re going to be the one with the problem. You feel me?” he said, using my phrase.

“I feel you,” The Reaper said, with a smile that didn’t come close to reaching his eyes. “I will make this happen and I don’t ever want to hear about you or see you again for the rest of my living days. Am I clear?” he snapped, looking straight at Carter and me.

“I can work with that,” Carter replied. “However, I think it’s time for you to leave. You can find our bodies tomorrow.”

With a curt nod and a last look to Nancy who didn’t so much as blink in response, The Reaper turned on his heel and walked slowly out of the warehouse.

We stood in shocked silence for at least ten minutes after he left.

“There is a lot of story there I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know,” I said, glancing at Carter in question.

“Trust me. You don’t want to know,” he said.

Nodding, I began to pull down the cameras and pack them away. We needed to contact Tex and tell him what the hell had gone down, but that would have to wait. Right now we still had work to do.

“You have enough explosives to blow this whole structure up?” Carter asked Caleb, eyeing the enormous barn.

“Does the Pope wear a pointy white hat?” Caleb asked with a wide grin.

“That he does,” Nancy said, pulling her eyes away from the door that The Reaper had left through.

“Then I guess you have your answer,” Caleb shot back. “Let me do my work. You freaks wait outside and get the cars all warmed up. We’re gonna have to drive like bats out of hell once I detonate this shit.”

“I want my cake. Tonight,” Carter said, taking my hand and leading me out of the warehouse. “Chocolate.”

“You can have a cake everyday for the rest of your life,” I told him with a giggle.

“You all heard that, right?” he yelled. “I get cake forever.”

“You gonna share?” Caleb asked as he started wiring the barn with explosives.

“The cake? Yes. Georgia? No. She’s all mine.”

And I didn’t want it any other way. Carter Norbert Davis was the broken piece that made me whole and I was his.

Forever.

And Ever.

And Ever.

Happily ever afters can happen for anyone if they can happen for us.

He was my Beauty and I was his Beast.