Fear The Reapers: A Dark Mafia Romance (Lovesick Villains Book 1)
Fear The Reapers: Chapter 38

I should’ve been worried about the mess in the basement, but all I could think about was her. I wanted to taint Stevie from the moment I laid eyes on her. With her hair that smelled like honey and her perpetual scowl, the first night we met, all I could think about was throwing her against the counter and bringing her into hell with me. She was too innocent and way too good, but I wanted her anyway. And maybe that’s where I fucked up.

Slowly pacing the perimeter of our usual VIP lounge, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

“This isn’t like her.” I said, looking down at Tristan and Cyrus. “Something’s wrong.”

“S… she said she’s fine, bro.” Tris noted, trying to pull me out of my head. “Just s… sit down and take it easy.”

“I can’t take it easy.” I roared, darting my eyes between the both of them. “I know Stevie. Probably better than all of you do. The girl that just stalked into that restroom, wasn’t fucking her.”

“What are you talking about?” Cyrus snarled, sitting up in his seat. “You avoid her. You treat her like she’s fucking a nuisance. Now you think that you somehow know her better than us?”

I slipped up. My concern over Stevie’s behavior muddled up my thoughts, and I said something I shouldn’t have. I kept the truth from them for a reason and while my brain floundered, trying to remember exactly what that reason was; I clenched my jaw and turned away, not ready to explain myself.

“Seriously,” Cyrus challenged, not willing to let it go, “how is it you know her better than us?”

“We knew each other before this whole fucking thing started.” I spat, baring my teeth. “Before she ever walked through our fucking door, Stevie was mine. She was one thing I selfishly hid from our world, but somehow, she still ended up being tossed into it.”

Giving them a bitter smile, I continued.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” I sighed, running my hands through my hair. “Everything got so fucked and I honestly don’t know how to un-fuck it.”

“Why d… didn’t you tell us?” Tristan asked, shaking his head in confusion.

“Because I was trying to protect her.” I confessed, squeezing my eyes shut. “And all of you. Because I thought if I could just get her out before anyone noticed her, our secret would be safe. I should’ve known it was a dumb plan. How could I possibly think no one would notice her? That’s like asking someone not to see a blinding fucking light.”

“Look,” Cyrus said, “I know you’re concerned, but Stevie is a part of our world now and with that, comes the occasional violence and murder. We’ll keep a close eye on her and if she isn’t herself in a few hours, we’ll figure it out.”

“There’s one flaw in your plan.” Ezra boomed as he walked in the room to join the three of us. “Stevie’s gone.”

◆◆◆

After Tris played back the security footage, it was easy to figure out how Stevie escaped. Within seconds of entering the bathroom, she climbed out of the emergency escape and into a fiery-red Camaro. There was only one stupid fuck we knew that would drive such a monstrosity. Jacob fucking Daniels. The asshole Jessie fired a month ago. Jessie should’ve passed on hiring him from his fucking name alone. Jacob Daniels? He should’ve just committed to the douchebaggery and went by Jack.

Jacob, the bright bulb that he was, had a big presence on social media. Not only did that help coax his ego, but it helped us pinpoint his exact location. Two minutes ago, he had tagged himself at Second Street Cafe and captioned his post, ‘In desperate need of bottomless mimosas, who’s down?’ By the looks of the photo he shared, Stevie wasn’t with him. Which meant that wherever he left her, it couldn’t have been too far.

It took us ten minutes to get to Second Street Cafe and another five to park our fucking cars. It was a Sunday afternoon, and the place was already bustling with the brunch crowd. Trying not to draw any unwanted attention, I left the others outside in the back alley, while I searched for the man of the hour.

As soon as I spotted the pretty-boy sitting by the bar, I hooked my arm around his neck like he was an old college buddy and yanked him out the back door. To the tipsy bystanders, it just looked like a friendly drunken frat boy greeting, and Jacob stood no chance of fighting me off. Jacob was a big guy, but I was bigger.

“Where the fuck is she?” Cyrus growled, grabbing Jacobs shoulders and shoving him against the building brick wall.

“Where is who?” Jacob asked, as his eyes darted around the four of us.

“You know exactly who he’s talking about.” Ezra hissed, fixing his gaze on him. “You can either tell us what we want to know, or waste more of our time and still end up telling us what we want to know. One way is much more messy, but it’s your funeral.”

Ezra flipped out his pocket knife and advanced on the man with lightning speed. This wasn’t a game for him. Like us, Ezra wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

“Okay! Okay!” Jacob cursed, jerking his body as he tried and failed to get out of Cyrus’ hold. “I’ll tell you everything, just don’t fucking cut me. Blood makes me queasy, man.”

If I had any lingering doubt about Jacob’s involvement in Stevie’s disappearing act, it disappeared. Jacob may have been a bumbling idiot, but there was no way he could’ve masterminded her disappearance. The man clearly got goaded into taking what was ours. The question was, by who?

“Talk.” Ezra hissed, pressing the knife against his Adam’s apple. “How did you know she would be there?”

“I- I asked Jessie to text me. There… there was this girl.” He stammered, pulling out his phone. “She kept texting and c… calling, looking for Stevie a… and I didn’t know what to do. There were messages and voicemails, b… but Stevie deleted them all.”

Tristan snatched the phone out of his hand and got to work. Aside from being our eye in the sky, Tristan had a knack for hacking. He’d be able to access the deleted files and restore the supposed voicemails Stevie had deleted.

“What girl?” I asked, pulling out my Colt Python revolver and pressing it against his temple.

It may have been overkill given the blade against his throat, but my anger needed a target. Jessie wasn’t innocent in all of this either, we kept in the loop with the club, simply because we didn’t want her to witness any of our business and she was the only other person with an access card to the club. We would deal with her when she got back into town. No matter how pure her intentions were, she should have never shared Stevie’s location with him.

“It’s Alex.” Tristan murmured, flashing us one of the text messages on Jacob’s phone. “I’d seen the name in S… Stevie’s phone b… before, but assumed it was an ex.”

“Who the hell is Alex?” Cyrus asked, looking at Jacob and Tristan.

“Stevie’s little sister,” Tristan said, sliding through the restored text messages. “and apparently the girl Malcolm had meant to give us.”

The news of a sister was recent information, but the fact that Stevie had taken her place didn’t surprise me. I knew there was something else that made her want to come to us. Something besides saving her piece of shit stepfather’s life.

“Where the fuck did you take her?” Cyrus asked, slamming Jacob’s body against the wall again.

“Maria’s Cantina. A couple blocks down the street. You can’t miss it. Big fucking neon sign.” He said with a wince. “Please, I swear to god that’s all I know.”

The four of us released Jacob and made our way back to our cars. We knew Maria’s Cantina, and we knew it well. Not only was it the best Mexican place in town, it also housed the worst criminals this city has ever seen. Maria’s Cantina was of  The Diaz Cartel’s favorite hangouts, which could only mean one thing.

Melanie Diaz took our girl and in doing so, incited a fucking war.

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