REAPER: GOLDEN SKULLS M.C. by Rebecca Joyce (best e book reader TXT) 📕

While he and the other brothers jumped into a second SUV with Pavlov, I held the keys that would be transporting my daughter back to California. We’d only been into the drive less than an hour when Mia let loose.

“Are you going to be quiet the whole trip?”

“Yep.” I wasn’t going to do or say anything to fuel her rage. Nope, anything regarding Mia, I needed a calm, clear head. As it was, I was already spun up over the fact she failed to let me know about Becca. Then there was the fact that she took it upon herself for whatever reason to traipse all over the world after a known human-trafficker, then she subjected my daughter to said pervert. Yeah, I wasn’t going to say shit until I calmed down.

“He took her Baltazar. I didn’t have a choice. I’d come home after my shift to find my apartment destroyed. He was there, Sergio, sitting on my couch as if he owned the place. My nanny was dead on the living room floor. He wanted to know where you were at. He said you had something of his. When I told him I didn’t know, he got up and said that he would give me back Becca when I found you. I had the card that he gave me, and when he left, I lost it.

“That’s when my friend Baddi found me. He got me to focus. When I did, I knew there was no way any brothers would tell me where you were even if they knew. But, Sergio, well, he was easier to find. So, with Baddi’s help, I was able to track him all over the globe. I looked for so long, and each passing day, I worried about her. I didn’t know if she was hungry, hurt, or worse. When I found out that Sergio was headed to San Francisco, I knew that was my chance to get her back, and I almost did, until some fucker with a badge showed up. That’s when everything went to hell.

“I let Sergio take me, knowing he would fuck up, and he did when he put me in the same room with Rebekah. That’s when everything went downhill for him. Then you showed up, and well, that’s what happened.”

I was beyond fucking pissed. I wanted so much to pull over the SUV, rip her from her seat and blister her ass until she couldn’t sit down for weeks. Instead, I gripped the steering wheel so hard, I feared I was going to rip it from the dash.

“Baltazar, please understand, I should…”

“No!” I shouted, then quickly looked in my rearview mirror to make sure my daughter was still sleeping. “What you should have done was tell Grimm you were pregnant and stayed your fucking annoying ass home. Instead, you endangered your life and my daughter’s life. For what? Because you were pissed that I fucked you and left without a word. Well, get the fuck over that. There is shit going on that you don’t even know about, but I’m supposed to stop what I was asked to do, to make sure your fucking feelings weren’t hurt? God damn, Mia, you can sometimes be a real evil bitch, but I never thought you’d drag my daughter down with you. Instead of being safe and loved, you were found in a hotel room with a fucking pedophile! Instead of being home safe, you went batshit crazy and hell-bent for leather on a suicide mission that could have gotten you and my daughter killed. I will never forgive you for that.”

Mia said nothing more for the entire trip, and I was grateful for that. I knew my words stung, but there was no other way to get her to understand the depraved situation she was really in. I wanted more than anything to console her, love her, and tell her that I would eventually forgive her, but I couldn’t say the words. She needed to understand that actions had consequences and if putting the fear of God into her wasn’t enough, then not knowing what my true intentions towards her and my daughter would have to be enough.

I still didn’t know what I was going to do or how I would explain my daughter to Reaper, but that was the least of my worries. Right now, I was trying to figure out how to stop Mia from leaving again and taking Rebekah with her. Technically she had every right. We were not married. Hell, I didn’t even know if my name was on Becca’s birth certificate.

No, right now, the only thing I knew to do was hedge my bet and assure myself that I had the right to my daughter too. So, when the Las Vegas skyline came into view, I sent a text to Shadow and told him what I needed.

TWENTY

GHOST

“Are you out of your fucking mind!”

I sighed as she railed against what was about to happen. Not that I was giving her any choice. I didn’t give a fuck. She was going to do it, even if I had to drag her ass-kicking and screaming down the fucking aisle. Her concerns were not my problem. All I cared about was my sleeping daughter in my arms as I gently rocked her back and forth.

“I won’t do it. You can’t make me.”

“Mia,” Shadow whispered. “See it from Baltazar’s point of view. He needs to protect you and Becca. He needs to ensure that both of you are safe. With him as her legal father, then he can do that.”

“He is her legal father. Her name is on her birth certificate. I showed you!”

“I know, but that isn’t enough. What would happen if you decided to up and disappear again and take Becca with you. Because Baltazar isn’t married to you, you could technically leave without any consequences. By marrying him, it gives him the right to go after you if you do.”

“What