Chapter Five
Reaper
Reaper was running late for the morning meeting. He hadn’t slept worth a shit last night. He kept thinking about the woman sleeping in the room next to his and how he had been a total dick to her. After he got back to his room last night, he could hear the shower running in Sledge’s room and knew Amber was in there. That thought alone played tricks on his mind. Thinking of Amber wet, with soap dripping from her flesh, had him harder than he had ever been in his life. Reaper ended the night by having to take himself in his hand. There was no way to sleep with a raging hard-on.
In the light of day, nothing had changed. Reaper wasn’t looking for a relationship. He didn’t do serious. Casual sex, now that was his thing; but, he knew Amber wasn’t that type of girl. She deserved better than that. She needed a man that would open up his world to her. However, Reaper’s world would scare the shit out of her. There was no way he could allow her to see all of his demons.
Back at Walter Reed, the fuckin’ shrink he had to see tried to tell him that talking about the night his life turned to shit, would help, but that was a lie. It didn’t help. It made the flashbacks come more often. So why bother? If he didn’t have to relive that night and the shit storm that followed, then he could keep the nightmares at bay.
“But is that really what I want?” he asked him out loud, running a frustrated hand over his face.
Realizing he wasn’t going to solve his problems by standing there in his room, Reaper walked out of the door, he had a meeting to get to. He knew the meeting wouldn’t start without him, being VP did have its perks, he thought with an internal grin. Plus, he would get to see Amber again, which caused him to walk a little faster.
Entering the meeting room, Reaper’s eyes landed on her. She was sitting in a seat directly behind Sledge’s and his own. She looked tired, but managed to give him a half smile. Maybe she didn’t sleep so well either, he thought.
It was weird to see a woman in the room and looking around, Reaper could see others were thinking the same thing. Normally, these meetings were members only, meaning no women. Period. But, this was a special case. Amber knew Ratchet’s movements. She knew his hang outs. Amber had information that they would all need; even if she didn’t realize it yet.
Reaper took his spot to the right of Sledge. Turning around he smiled at Amber and gave her a wink.
“Good morning,” she whispered.
“Morning Peaches,” he replied. “Sleep well?”
“Not even close,” she mumbled.
“Me either,” he responded with another wink.
Clearing his throat, Sledge called the meeting to order. “Brothers, first of all I want to say thank you for coming in so early. Also, as you can tell,” he said, “this is not an ordinary meeting; which brings me to my second point. I would like to introduce you to my sister, Amber. We have had an issue come up that needs to be handled quickly and with care. As y’all know, yesterday I left the house for a while. I received a call from Amber because she needed help. You can see, the call was justified,” Sledge said as he raised his hand to point to Amber’s face.
Reaper looked behind him again and noticed the blush filling her face. Yeah, she was not liking this. Too much attention. He wanted to pull her against him, to protect her from the looks all the guys were giving her.
The fuck, he thought. Not his place, not his job, he told himself.
“After getting back here, I called in some favors. Which leads us to my third point, and the reason we are here this morning,” Sledge said.
The screen on the far wall lit up. A photo of Ratchet popped up on the screen. Every few seconds, a new picture would take its place.
“The dumbass who thought it was a smart idea to touch my sister, is Ratchet from Velvet Blood.” Sledge relayed.
Reaper looked around the room watching different expressions cross the faces of his fellow brothers. Some were angry, some showed shock and disbelief. Slowly, Viper stood up in the back of the room.
“No disrespect Prez, but your sister didn’t bother to tell you this?” he asked.
“None taken. But no, Amber didn’t tell me because she didn’t know. To her, he was Joe Stephens, which is, in fact, his real name. Amber was told that he sold real estate, which is also true. But, that’s all she knew,” Sledge replied with an even tone.
“So she had no idea she was involved with a lowlife drug dealer? That dude is the reason for most of the crime in the city, hell in the fucking South. How did she not know?” Viper repeated.
Tension in the room was growing. Reaper could feel it and he didn’t like the attitude coming from Viper. Like a drug dealer of Ratchet’s caliber would walk around with an advertisement on his back. Viper was an idiot. The man was about five sentences away from feeling Reaper’s hand close around his throat.
Standing up, pissed off, Amber answered Viper’s question. “Obviously, she didn’t know because he kept the two lives separate, asshole,” she said fuming.
Reaper’s head whipped around in her direction. He could tell she was irritated as hell that everyone was talking about her like she wasn’t even here. Her outburst wouldn’t go unnoticed. Sledge would feel a backlash for her insult, but instead of reprimanding her, she was rewarded with Sledge and Reaper bursting out in laughter.
“Did she just call me an asshole?” Viper asked the room, causing Sledge and Reaper to laugh harder. The look on Viper’s face was priceless. Completely baffled that a five-foot-nothing woman had the balls to him an asshole.
“Yeah,” Amber retorted, “I called you an asshole. If you don’t like the term, then I would suggest you don’t act like one.”
Looking back at Amber, Reaper saw her watching Viper with her hands on her wide-curvy hips and an eyebrow raised, like she was looking at a total moron; which, to be honest, wasn’t far from the truth. Reaper often wondered why they kept the man around.
“Maybe you should remind your sister of her place, President,” Viper snarled.
“And maybe you should watch your step Cedric,” Sledge said, the use of Viper’s real name showing his contempt. The guy was fucking snake, so the name fit him well.
“Today, our normal ‘no women’ policy does not apply. Amber has information we need, whether she realizes it yet or not,” Sledge said, glancing at his sister. “She knows his habits, his hangouts. Things that may take us a few days to gather, we can get directly from her now.”
“Okay, if that is all for the Q&A, let’s cut the shit and get back down to business,” Reaper said trying to defuse the ticking bomb sitting next to him, plus he was holding onto his own temper by a thread. The last thing any of them needed was Sledge and Reaper pissed off at the same time. Last time that happened, the garage had to be rebuilt.
“Ratchet knows Amber is here. We’re positive he saw Sledge show up at Amber’s apartment and then leave with her on his bike. He’ll come looking for her and that’s what we need to discuss because when he does, it won’t be pretty,” Reaper stated.
“No, it won’t. We have all seen what the Velvet Blood is capable of,” Tank commented. “We’ve seen some of the women other guys have rescued.”
“I agree,” said Diesel. “Remember when the Kamikaze Crew did that rescue mission last year? Six Bloods came after them for revenge and to take the girls back. They didn’t get them, and died for the trouble; but the point is, they won’t just let her walk.”
“Right. We are not just talking about any drug dealer. We are talking about a guy who has his hands in with the Mexican Cartel - drugs, guns, human trafficking, murder, and probably a shit-ton more stuff that even we don’t know about yet. But, if he or any of the Velvet Bloods come looking for Amber, we have a duty as Henchmen. Protect and Defend. Plain and simple,” Reaper commanded, looking around the room to ensure everyone knew exactly what he was talking about.
If the Velvet Bloods came for Amber, they were signing their own death warrants. They would start a war and the Devil’s Henchmen were just the judges to grant their executions.
“So, we go to war with not just the Bloods, but the Cartel too because your sister has bad taste in men?” Viper asked Sledge.
Before Sledge could answer, Reaper was out of his seat and across the room holding Viper against the wall. This motherfucker was begging for an ass whooping. Reaper was at the end of his patience.
“No, we won’t be going to war. We’ll be taking out the trash. That’s what we do as Henchmen. Not just because that motherfucker put his hands on the wrong damn woman! We take him out because over my dead body will that motherfucker get his hands on her or any other woman again,” Reaper said in a voice filled with venom.
“This is what we do gentlemen,” he announced to the room. “It will serve you well to remember that,” Reaper continued, but looked directly at Viper.
He was beyond controlling his temper now. The Devil’s Henchmen were about honor and loyalty, above all else. They had each other’s backs, no matter what because they were family. Protect and Defend. Amber was Sledge’s sister so that made her an honorary part of the club. The Henchmen would do the same for any member’s family.
The corner of Viper’s mouth twitched and Reaper knew the man was trying to hold back a smile. Fuckin’ asshole, Reaper thought. Always trying to get a rise out of somebody, but Reaper was not in the mood today.
“Tread lightly brother. Today is not the day,” Reaper said low enough that only Viper could hear. “The Grim is only moments away from coming out to play.” Viper eyes widened in understanding. Smart man...very smart man.