Fear The Reapers: A Dark Mafia Romance (Lovesick Villains Book 1)
Fear The Reapers: Chapter 23

“Morning.” Atlas grumbled, sitting in his usual seat at the kitchen table. I gave Tristan a nod as I bit into my toast, and we both eyed our big brother with suspicion. Ever since his reappearance at the tavern last night, he’s been on edge. The shit with Melanie was the obvious reason. Though even she could never usually get him that riled up. That combined with his disappearance the other night seemed so out of character for the man who meticulously planned out nearly everything he did.

“Good morning.” Ezra singsonged, strolling into the kitchen.

“You’re in a s… surprisingly good mood.” Tristan quipped, raising a brow as he watched Ez take his seat.

“You would be too,” Ezra chirped, giving us a pointed look as he loaded up his plate with food the cooks had prepared for us, “if you had a night like mine.”

Tristan and I exchanged skeptical looks. Ezra was always a little off, but this chipper mood was strange, even for him.

“Eat your fucking breakfast.” Mumbled Atlas with his eyes latched onto his phone. “We’ve got a lot of shit to do today and we don’t have time to deal with your antics.”

“No problem, Dad.” Ez retorted with a wink as he bit into his toast.

Atlas let out an exasperated breath as he laid his phone down and massaged his temples.

“Speaking of shit to do,” Atlas continued, “one of us needs to stay and watch the girl. Apparently, she can’t go out in public and stay unnoticed.”

“I’ll do it!” Tris and I offered at nearly the same time.

“Wonder twin powers, activate.” Ezra mumbled with a chuckle, loading up his plate with another serving of potatoes and eggs.

Tris and I stared at each other before shaking our heads with annoyance and leaning back into our chairs. The twin thing could be really obnoxious sometimes.

“I should do it.” I said, stating the obvious.

“Why’s that?” Tris asked.

“Because, she’s obviously more comfortable with me out of all of us.”

“Bullshit.” He retorted. “When s… she thought I was you, she nearly bit my head off for touching her.”

“Wait a fucking minute,” Atlas roared, tossing his phone on the table. “you two idiots have touched her?”

“Technically, three idiots.” Ezra said, leaning back with a smug look on his face.

That statement caused all hell to break loose as our eyes zeroed in him. The room erupted in shouts and accusations as the four of us fought over who should stay with her and why we’d be the best fit. The conversation slowly morphed into cutting remarks and personal attacks, the four of us completely forgetting the real reason we were fighting to begin with.

Tristan claimed he should stay because out of the four of us, he was the least affected by her. I called bullshit on that right away. I saw the way she mounted him, and I saw the moment he debated letting it happen. The fact that he wanted to be around her at all was a sign of trouble. Tris was a recluse. He normally wanted nothing to do with anyone except for the three of us, yet here he was offering to babysit. Something didn’t add up. She had to mean more to him than he was letting on.

Atlas took himself out of the equation almost immediately. I glanced at him and noticed that for the first time in a long time; he didn’t look so well put together. His hair was disheveled and the circles underneath his eyes were prominent. His outfit was still polished and pressed, thanks to the maids, but he seemed off. There was something about Stevie’s presence in our home that was causing him to lose the composure he spent years building. By the looks of it, he wanted to stay as far away from her as possible.

Ezra got voted out almost immediately by the three of us. Whatever happened with them last night had already done enough damage to Ez for the day. I don’t think any of us wanted to see what more time with Stevie would do to him. Or to her, for that matter.

“Damn, I shouldn’t have opened my big fucking mouth.” Ez said, giving us all a sad smile as he slumped in his chair.

“Let’s bring this to a vote.” I said, counting on the fact that Atlas and Ezra both didn’t like how interested Tristan seemed.

“Voting is bullshit.” Tris seethed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Fuck it. I’m out too.”

“Well, shit.” I said, gleaming. “Looks like I’m stuck babysitting the little fireball.”

“Keep your hands to yourself, asshole.” Tris spat, brooding in his seat.

“Fuck, let’s try to be adults about this.” Atlas said, chastising us all. “There’s no need to devolve into fucking animals. She’s one girl, monitoring her should be easy and in the future you guys can rotate.”

The sound of a feminine throat clearing had all of our heads turning simultaneously.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Stevie offered, leaning against the doorway. “I smelled the food and I just really need something to eat.”

When I thought about it, I realized we hadn’t fed her at all since she’d been with us. She Fucking terrible babysitters.

I needed to make amends for our neglect right away. Stevie was going to love being taken care of so much, she’d never want to leave us.

Wait, what the fuck am I thinking?

She’d leave our asses the minute she had a window of opportunity. I saw the look in her eyes when we told her what her role was here.

Malcolm had lied to her and us. We should’ve expected as much. But the situation felt less fucked-up when we thought she agreed to be ours.

Now that we knew her a little better, it was obvious she didn’t agree to any of this.

We should let her go.

Better men would.

Unfortunately for Princess, none of us were planning on being the one to save her.

“Angel.” Ezra called over, patting his thigh. “Sit.”

I could see the reluctance in her movements as she headed towards Ezra. She was teetering. Caught between outright rejecting or fueling the affections of a psychopath. Both paths were dangerous, and as she looked at the rest of us, she could see that none of us were going to bail her out. The decision was hers to make.

The moment she caught Atlas staring daggers at the two of them, suddenly her steps seemed more sure and within seconds she was in front of Ezra. Ezra beamed at the three of us while Stevie sat on his lap as directed.

“Such a good girl.” Ezra cooed, smoothing her hair. “You deserve a treat.”

Ez fed her forkfuls of eggs and potatoes while kissing her lips between each bite. Stevie looked terrified, but made no move to stop him. She sat perfectly still and accepted everything Ezra offered her.

It was the most chaotic, forced intimacy I had ever seen. Even Tris, who pretended not to give a fuck, and Atlas, who barely knew the girl, looked uncomfortable. I wanted to step in to stop it. But he wasn’t technically hurting her. If anything, he was treating her more delicately than I had ever seen him treat anything in his life. Even as kids, Ez always had a fascination with destruction, but Stevie was bringing out a whole new side of him. He was almost… nice. Well, as nice as a man with a mind like his could be.

“We’re late.” Atlas growled, shooting up from the table. “Ez, come join Tris and I whenever you’re done playing with your fucking food.”

Atlas took one last look at Stevie before storming off, with Tristan following a few steps behind him.

“Sorry Angel,” Ez said, standing up and placing her on his now empty chair, “Cyrus is on guard duty. Stay out of trouble, okay?” He asked, tilting her chin up to lock eyes with her.

“Okay.” She whispered, offering him a small smile.

That seemed to satisfy Ez, and he gave her a quick kiss before jogging off.

Once everyone else had cleared the kitchen and it was just her and I, I spoke up.

“So… that was interesting.” I remarked, taking a sip of my coffee.

“Yup.” She answered shortly, focusing her attention on her plate.

Okay. Stevie obviously wasn’t going to address what happened, so I changed the subject.

“How much of that little argument did you hear?”

“Enough.” Stevie mumbled, looking down at her fork as she stabbed her potatoes.

“Listen Princess, it’s not what you think-”

“Look, I get it.” She said, cutting me off. “You guys didn’t realize how much of a fucking burden keeping me around would be, and now you’re fighting over who has to watch the pet.”

“You are not a pet.”

“Can I leave?”

“Of course not.” I said, stating the obvious. “But you have freedoms, and there are perks to belonging to us.”

“What, you mean besides being treated like Ezra’s personal plaything?” She retorted with an eye roll.

“Has he hurt you?” I asked as my jaw clenched. I couldn’t stomach the thought of anyone hurting her. Especially my own brother.

“Yes.” She stammered, then paused. “Well, no. No, not really. He’s possessive and doesn’t understand boundaries, but he hasn’t hurt me.”

My jaw relaxed a fraction. I didn’t know what I’d do if Ezra hurt her. His obsession with her was obvious, and I couldn’t blame him. She was so much more than any of us ever expected her to be.

“If you’d give us a chance, you’d see that there are some benefits to living with us.” I continued, running my fingers through my hair.

“Like what?” She asked, eyeing me with suspicion.

“Well, you’re under our protection and we can give you anything you want.”

“Anything?” She asked, cocking a brow.

“Yes, anything.”

She laughed for a few beats until she realized I wasn’t joking. I could see her mind working, trying to scour her thoughts for something that she truly wanted. I meant every word I said. One of the many perks of our business ventures was that we had a surplus of money and resources. She could have anything she wanted, all she had to do was ask.

Maybe my brothers weren’t ready to acknowledge it, but she was creating a space for herself in our lives. Day by day, hour by hour, she was burrowing deeper and deeper under our skin. But we still didn’t know what her motivation was for being here and more importantly, what was making her want to stay.

“Okay.” She said, looking up at me. “You know what I really want?”

I nodded silently, readying myself for whatever answer she threw my way. Cars. Jewelry. Hell, even her own fucking place on our property. We could afford it all, but her answer would tell me everything I needed to know about her intentions.

“Could we go to Hell’s Tavern again?” She asked, biting into her lower lip. “It was fun to get out of the house and I could really use another round of Jessie’s Hellhounds.”

That was it? That was her big ask? Damn, either this girl was perfect, or she was playing us, hard. I had just given her the golden opportunity of getting whatever she wanted, and all she wanted to do was go to a fucking bar for a drink. A fucking bar that we owned, no less.

“I’ll see what I can do.” I said, tilting my head to the side and staring at the strange girl sitting in front of me.

With that answer, she gave me the first huge smile I had seen from her. I hoped it wouldn’t be the last time I saw it on her face.

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