Reaper: Devil's Rose MC #1

Chapter 8: Fiona Grace

A/N: To clarify, Fiona was able to shower at Beatrice's parent's house. She's anxious for a shower because she's been sweating in the heat. I hope that helps.
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"Would you rather wait here for me or go back to my apartment?"

"I'm good to go back to the apartment. You don't mind right?"

"I think I can handle it."

"You let me know, alright?"

Reaper nods his head again and sets me back down on the ground. Soon, the only people left in the main part of the bar are regular customers that live in the community, Beatrice, a couple of servers (or what Alpha called prospects earlier), and me.

I pull fifteen dollars out of my pocket and leave it on the bar table, even though Reaper paid for my meal already. He might have money, but I can pay for my own things. It's not like I didn't have a job when living with James, and I'm my independent person.

I would prefer having him around me to help me out, but I don't need him to all the time and I don't think I would want him to all the time. I have been able to survive by myself with some help from others for what seems like quite a while. Just because I have a guy in my life who wants to take care of me doesn't mean he needs to or should.

I don't have much to bring with me, only having the rest of my money with me - which honestly isn't much. As I walk back towards Reaper's apartment, a small clothing store catches my eye. I glance down at my dress and remember that I probably don't look clean enough to go on inside.

I'll have to go tomorrow once I'm clean. I don't want to take a shower in case he wouldn't feel comfortable with me doing that. I can tell that he wants his space, and I'm grateful he's allowing me to stay with him. I don't want him not to trust me because I sneakily took a shower and went into his bathroom without him knowing about it beforehand.

To me, it's less of a control thing and more of a fear. Like something happened in his past that makes him wary of people, women in particular. He doesn't allow his fear towards women to make him abusive, but he doesn't want them in his space unless he trusts them or is controlling the situation.

I'm not blaming him for anything though. I know that if I wasn't comfortable around him and it was my own home, I would be terrified of him too. Especially with a name meaning death.

I'm about to open the front door to his apartment when I realize I don't even have a key. But I'm surprised when I twist the handle and it opens anyway. So, he must be trusting of others if his door is unlocked.

Then why the heck is he worried about me being in his home? If he doesn't care about other people opening his door, why is it weird about me being in his apartment without him? With an open door, I'm sure that club members come in here all the time. Maybe it's more about women and trust than I originally thought.

Knowing that before he was okay with me going through his kitchen, I get a Hershey's chocolate candy bar from the pantry and cross the living room to sit on the edge of his window. I lay a blanket down on the floor, sitting there cross-legged, and staring up at the just beginning sunset.

It only takes about another hour for the loud voices of the men to come floating down the street. Once again, I hear yelling coming from two of the members, and I can tell one of them is Reaper. He's always yelling at things like that's going to solve the problem.

And they - whoever they are with no specific person in mind - say women act from emotion. I roll my eyes and just as I think this Reaper is going to come through the entrance of the apartment, Poison bursts through the door.

His eyes are a dark, navy blue, his muscles clenching as though he's angry about something. He stands in front of me, taking in my small frame, glancing briefly into my eyes. With a fleeting look of disappointment, his mouth drooping down, I know that he thought I was forced to sleep on the ground.

"I'm sorry that you've had to deal with Reaper."

"I don't know that he had that side of him. He was nice to me - well, sometimes."

"You're lucky then. He's a rude son of a bitch. Walking into his apartment, I thought the impulsive brat would have ripped you apart already."

"You've been with him this whole time. How would he have the chance?"

"I don't know, but he always finds a way."

"He did try to kill me at the bar. Maybe he's on his way to murder me now."

"Who's murdering you?"

I tilt my head, so I can see the brutish man behind Poison.

"You are."

He smirks, shifting his body so he can see me better.

"Really now?"

"Hell yeah. Murder this pussy!"

His eyes instantly widened in shock, his mouth dropped completely open. I snort at my joke but partly praying in my head that he might. Goddamn. When did I become such a horny human being? Probably when I met him. Oh Lord, help me. Help me get that dick. My goodness. This time, he is the one rolling his eyes and leaves Poison and us to chat. I smile up at Poison to see him smirking at me, the gears in his head-turning.

"What?"

"You'll be good for him."

"I don't know what you mean."

"You will soon."

Feeling confused, I let his comment go and continue to talk to him about other things. I have a feeling that Reaper is watching us from the shadows. There must be something he doesn't like about Poison or something he doesn't entirely like about me.

I feel a connection with him, something that I haven't felt ever, but I'm not sure he feels like there's anything with me. Yes, he came after me but only because Beatrice exaggerated how much I needed help. And Poison might be right, he might actually want to kill me. But that doesn't make sense since he took care of me.

Why would he do everything he has for me, even provide me food, if he seriously wanted to kill me? It could be part of a game for him. It could be that he tortures his victims this way, like some serial killer or something. But, I don't think he would take his time killing someone for how cruel he's supposed to be.

Emotions make shit messy. Reaper doesn't seem like the kind of killer to have emotions involved in his killing pursuits. I could indeed be completely wrong. I've never been good at making judgments and perceiving things about people.

I feel a light squeeze on my elbow and turn to see Poison standing there with his eyes full of concern.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's just that my life has changed dramatically in only a couple of days."

"That can be difficult, but we are all here for you. If you ever need anything at all."

"I appreciate that greatly. Thank you."

"That's what we do around here. Oh, shit."

"What?"

That was a quick change between supportive and absolutely terrified.

"Reaper wants me to get away from you."

"How do you even know that?"

"He's sending vibes from afar."

"What does that mean?"

"Trust me. I gots to go."

"What do you mean?"

"He cares for you."

"And why do you have to leave me alone?"

"Because he's a possessive bastard. I have no control over anything here."

"You don't have to leave me alone. He can deal with it."

"You don't know him as I do, he's gonna kill me."