“No one will escape His rapture until the Reign falls and washes away their sins.”
Reign falls, not rain falls. Fuck.
“So, it’s a deliberate play on words?” Priest snarls.
“Is he saying he won’t stop until I go back? I have to fall for him or something because the psycho thinks I’m special for some reason?” Reign asks on a shaky breath, her free hand covering her mouth as if she might be sick.
“Hey,” I cup her jaw and turn her to face me, “take a deep breath. Nothing is going to happen to you, I swear it.”
She blows out a breath before nodding. “I’m okay,” she mumbles. I don’t know if she’s trying to reassure herself or me, but it's enough for now.
“I don’t know what his endgame is, Reign. It doesn’t matter either way because you aren’t going anywhere near this asshole. Kayden and Alex want you to stay down in Florida with them,” Tate says, interrupting our moment.
“Not gonna happen,” Bates snaps, standing up. This whole situation is going to deteriorate quickly if Bates loses his shit, but I can’t fault him. Like fuck is Reign leaving.
“It wasn’t a request, asshole, and I don’t remember the part where I was talking to you,” Tate replies. He stands so fast that his chair topples over behind him, landing in a thud, as everyone goes on alert.
“Enough, Tate. I’m fine where I am.”
He whips his head around to look at Reign when she speaks. I know from the expression on his face that whatever he’s about to say is going to piss her off.
“You’re picking these guys over your brothers?” he asks, incredulously.
Reign climbs to her feet, all five-foot-one of her seething with anger, making my dick twitch. I’m a sick fuck, I know, but her temper has me fighting off images of her bent over the table with me paddling her ass.
Psycho stalker and dickhead brother be damned.
Realizing she isn’t as intimidating as she hoped to be, Reign climbs onto her chair before facing him again.
“I can’t believe you just said that to me,” she says, surprising me with how calm she sounds. I thought for sure she would have ripped him a new one.
He seems wary of her all of a sudden, like her calmness puts him on edge. I’ll file that away for later.
“What do you expect me to believe, Reign? You up and disappear, then when I do find you, it’s to see you shacked up here with a bunch of bikers. Why didn’t you come to me?”
Ah, so his feelings are hurt—fucking hell. I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose to stop myself from saying something sarcastic and adding fuel to the fire.
“You know I ran to keep you safe, right? I ran to keep Dad safe. Why the fuck do you think he’s staying at Travis’s?”
“He said you asked him to for your peace of mind, and we both know Dad will do anything for you.”
“Tate, use your big head for a change. Would Dad really leave the house he made a home with Mom just because I asked him to?” she presses, shaking her head at him.
He looks at her then, searching her eyes. “What haven’t I been told?”
She sighs, rubbing her hands over her face before answering. “He was in my room while I slept. Twice, Tate. He left pictures of me, and I was oblivious to the whole thing. You know what a heavy sleeper I am. Imagine what he could have done to Dad or me as some twisted test or punishment,” she says, her chest heaving up and down.
I freeze solid at her words, the ramifications of what she's saying sinking into my skin like poison. We could have lost her before we even had her.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t he?” Tate roars, picking up his chair and throwing it across the room.
Priest and I stand as Bates edges closer to him. I get he’s upset, but if he hurts her, I’ll snap his neck like a twig.
“Jesus, I don’t know, Tate, why didn’t we tell you?” she snaps sarcastically, reaching over and snagging the collar of his T-shirt.
Pulling him closer, she places a hand on either side of his face. Watching her with him, it’s easy to see why Bates’s temper doesn’t faze her. She’s clearly used to dealing with aggressive assholes.
“We knew you’d lose your mind and kill Garrett, and the truth