The Sinner's Club [18+] Complete

chapter forty-two.

THE TEARS FILLING Elodie's eyes make my heart ache, but there's warmth in there too.

She and Luka sit on the grass of the empty park near our apartment building, exchanging soft goodbyes. It is sad; they're upset to be parted. But it's nice as well because their sadness shows just how close they've become in only a short amount of time.

Reaper's sister gets out of the hospital today. He is taking Luka back down to Georgia to help her officially regain custody of her children.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" I ask, my voice low so we don't disturb the kids.

"I don't know. A few weeks, at least. I need to make sure my sister is ok, and get her a decent lawyer."

I nod, my eyes sliding up to the orange horizon, where the sun sinks lower and lower. "It'd be ok if you were gone for longer, you know. Elodie and I would be fine—if you were worried about that."

His eyes tick over to me, and I see the concern he always holds towards me simmering in their icy depths.

"It just might be nice for you to spend some more time with your sister and your nephews," I add.

"She won't want me to stay. Besides," he scoffs, "I'm lucky Sterling is letting me take off any time at all."

I don't tell him that luck had nothing to do with it. Nathaniel and I were in the building for the new franchise tearing down walls when Reaper called him yesterday. There was no way Nate could deny such a request with me staring him down so intensely.

"He'd give you the extra time off, if you needed it," I tell him, quietly confident in this fact.

"Maybe," Reaper mutters, clearly unconvinced.

"Did you...Did you talk to Luka about keeping quiet when it comes to what he saw that day?"

Reaper nods slowly, his face hardened with displeasure. "He knows Sterling covered up his father's murder, but he now knows that it's not something he can speak about. Ever."

I tug the sleeves of my sweater over my hands nervously. "And does he...know who killed his father?" I hedge. It is a topic Reaper and I have skirted around recently, one we both don't quite breach.

"No," Reaper bites out, "and it's going to stay that way."

I say nothing, just nodding. It isn't my place to push further, and besides, I am quite sure Reaper's making the right decision in this regard. Knowing that his uncle is responsible for his father's murder will only traumatize Luka further. He still hasn't told us what happened in the group home that made him run away, and maybe he never will, but he is certainly more at ease now than when he first arrived.

Elodie reaches out and wraps her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly. He is awkward at first, stiff in her embrace, but eventually lifts his arms and hugs her back.

When they pull apart, I call out, "Time to go, El."

"Call me if you need anything," Reaper says quietly.

"I will."

"I mean it, Amelia," he adds, his voice sharp. He gives me a meaningful look.

"I'm keeping my distance," I tell him, which is a lie. It is such a lie, my God. I'm closer to Nathaniel now than I have ever been, and based on the pain swirling in Reaper's eyes, he knows it.

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"I'm going to miss him," Elodie says quietly as we walk home together, hand in hand.