REAPER: GOLDEN SKULLS M.C. by Rebecca Joyce (elon musk reading list TXT) 📗

“Let’s go honey. I’ll get Healer to clean you up and call you a cab.” Hellhound soothed as he led her from my room. When she was gone, my brothers released me and stepped back, way back, allowing me to fix my jeans and get to my feet.

“You okay, man?” Chaos asked.

“Get the fuck out!”

With that, they left, closing the door behind them. Sitting on my bed, I placed my head in my hands and tried to quell the rising demon within myself.

I did it again. I hit a woman. A woman who volunteered her services just so I could get off.

Fuck!

What kind of monster was I?

When my father was still alive, he helped me to control the demon. He knew when I needed release, and he made sure I got it. Whether it was a woman or fighting, bare fist. Both caused me pain, but I endured because it helped. I couldn’t stand anyone touching me. Hell, I didn’t even shake hands. I slept alone, always. I distanced myself from my brothers and mother. Everyone was cut off, all but my father.

Now, he’s dead, and I’m alone to fight the monster within me.

I can’t do it anymore.

Every time I get near someone, I tense and want to fight my way free. That isn’t any way to live. My brothers have been understanding, though only two really know what’s going on. The others think I’m just the meanest son of a bitch around. They don’t fuck with me, and they steer clear.

“Reaper! Get down here, man! We got a problem!” Savage shouted, bringing me out of my misery. Getting to my feet, I walked over to the chair by my dresser and grabbed my cut as I headed downstairs.

I wasn’t even to the stairs, and I could hear the commotion from down below. Whatever it was, had the brothers arguing fiercely.

What the fuck is happening?

Making my way towards the common room, I see seven of my brothers standing in a semi-circle around someone.

“What is going on?” I shout, halting all conversations. Moving closer, I spot a woman, savagely beaten and scared out of her mind.

I get a good look at her. Her curly blond hair a mess, falling down her back. Her black eye, swollen shut. She has cuts and bruises all up and down her arms. She’s wearing men’s clothing, but that doesn’t seem to bother her. What bothered me was the scared look in her eyes as she looked around the room, searching for something or someone. “Who are you?” I ask, refusing to step any closer. If this was some deranged bitch, I was just going to let my brothers handle her.

“Max. I need Max,” she whispered softly, bracing herself against the wall. Her energy was clearly draining.

How the Hell did this bitch know me. I never saw her before in my life. I didn’t know this woman, and I sure wouldn’t cop to her knowing my name. For all, I knew this was some fucking setup.

“He ain’t here,” I replied.

“Uncle Peter?”

I froze with that one. How the fuck did she know Hellhound. He wasn’t married, never had been. Hell, it was just him and my dad—no other siblings. Moving closer, I got a better look at the woman and said, “Lady, I don’t know you from Adam, and you sure as hell are not my sister. So, who the fuck are you, and why are you here?”

“Max?” the woman cocked her head to the side, and when she did, I tried not to react to the wince of pain that washed over her. There was something about her that made me feel something. Something I couldn’t describe, and when she smiled, something inside me unfurled.

“Remi?”

It couldn’t be. Remi lived in Nebraska. My father said so. I tried writing to her many times, but all my letters were returned. After the fifth letter, I stopped writing. I hadn’t seen her since that last day in the hospital. Tears fell down her cheeks as she reached for the wall before she collapsed. Rushing to her, I grabbed her, holding her close to me, as she collapsed against my body.

For two weeks, she was mine to care for, look after and protect. Not that I was any good at it, especially when I needed help myself. But she stuck with me through it all.

Every horrible, depraved detail.

She knew what others didn’t.

“Max,” she whispered as she clung to me. “I found you.”

I held tightly to her as she passed out in my arms. Sweeping her up, I held her firmly to me, her dead bodyweight against mine. My God, she felt light as a feather. “Get Healer. Have him meet me in my room, and someone find Hellhound!” I shouted, moving quickly through the common room, towards the stairs, not bothering to acknowledge the shocked expressions of everyone around me.

I had just laid her on my bed when a thunderous footfall pounded down the hallway, getting louder as it approached. Hellhound burst into my room. “Is it her? Is it my Princess?” My Uncle asked, moving closer to the bed.

During the hospital stay, my Uncle never left Remi’s side. Staying with her night and day, he doted on her, giving her everything she wanted and then some. He stayed up watching Princess movies and reading to her always. When she had nightmares, he held her and made them go away. In those short days at the hospital, my Uncle fell in love with Remi, but he would never admit that to anyone. Over the years, I would catch him looking at his phone, where he had taken several pictures of her smiling and laughing.

Sitting beside her, I held her hand and just nodded. I didn’t know what else to do or say. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was beautiful. Even though all the bruising and torment she received, she was still the most incredible thing I’d ever