to talk to him, especially after their mother left. Viper’s way of making himself feel better about the situation was to keep busy.
Silas was more down to earth. He had a feeling, with such a large family, that Silas had seen and heard it all. In the days of his long stay with them, Silas had made time for all of them. He had breakfast most mornings with Moses. Then he did the chores around the mountain before going to help Fynn with his online schoolwork. After eating lunch with both Fynn and Ezra, Silas helped Jody and Jacob load their truck with what they needed for the next day’s jobs. Before dinner, he stopped to see Matthew and Isaac and see what they had done for the day or what they were working on.
Ginny had said Silas wasn’t her stalker, and Reaper freely admitted that she was right. The mountain wasn’t what was important to him; his family was. They were his whole world.
Stepping to the side to say good-bye to Ginny was one of the most difficult things he had to do in his lifetime. Unable to look into her eyes, he kept his on the SUV that Viper was in. “I asked Matthew to switch out that back door in the room I slept in. It’s too flimsy.” Reaper felt as if he was talking through glass—each shred cutting him to the quick.
“Matt told me. He and Isaac are putting it in after dinner.”
“Good. Make sure you check in with Viper if you see anything suspicious or someone contacts you.”
“Why call Viper when I can call you?”
“I don’t plan to stay in Treepoint.”
He didn’t turn his head at the small sound Ginny made.
“Viper’s waiting. Good-bye.”
“Gavin ….”
Walking away, he pretended not to have heard her, slamming another lock on his heart.
“Don’t forget your promise about my mirror. I’ll be waiting ….” Ginny’s voice broke.
Opening the back door of the vehicle, he put his suitcase inside before going to the front. When his hand went to the door handle, Ginny moved closer. “And don’t you ever forget … I love you.”
Opening the door so fast, Reaper was surprised it didn’t come off in his hand.
Inside, he turned toward Viper. “Let’s go.” Keeping his gaze on Viper, he refused to look toward Ginny or the men watching him leave. “And don’t say a fucking word.”
When Viper started backing down the driveway, he couldn’t prevent himself from taking another glance.
Any idea of his heart just being an organ that only provided oxygen to the cold blood pumping through it was a lie. Ginny was standing in front of the vehicle with tears streaming down her cheeks, heartache and longing visible to Viper, her brothers, and him. Hope shone on her face that he would get out of the car and hold her; it was plainly written across her expression. As the SUV moved farther away, she began walking down the hill.
Taking all his willpower not to shout to Viper to go faster, Reaper memorized every facet of her face, the dress she was wearing, and the fact that Silas was behind her each step of the way.
When Viper made the turn onto the road and he saw the last glimpse of her and her hopeful expression die, he almost reached for the door handle but didn’t. He couldn’t go back. To renew her hope would be cruel.
The future before him didn’t involve Ginny. It couldn’t. All the things that had been done to him, what he had done, what he planned to do, plus every fucking videotape of him, he needed to put more distance between them than it took to drive to the club.
Some distances were insurmountable ….
“You can’t keep doing this.” Viper put his foot down on the barbell Reaper was about to lift. “Your body can’t take this abuse.”
Reaper moved to the leg press machine, refraining from telling Viper that his body had tolerated far more abuse than lifting weights.
He added ten more pounds to the weights than Shade had pressed. “Fuck off.”
Viper moved to stand in front of him. “Don’t talk to me that way.”
“Then leave me the fuck alone!” he snapped.
“You only come out of your room to work out. It isn’t healthy.”
“I don’t look healthy to you?” Reaper turned his head toward Jewell. “Do I look healthy to you, Jewell?”
Jewell picked up her laundry basket. “I’m going to fold my clothes upstairs.”