Reaper Unleashed (8 page)

“Why is she still here if you know that I didn’t hire her?” he questioned between clenched teeth, watching her make her way to the bar for drinks.

“Oh, well, I figured it would be funny watching you handle it and I was bored,” Iron told him, shrugging. Reaper’s teeth ground together and he punched Iron in the jaw. Iron stumbled into the bar and everyone turned to look, including the woman who’d caused all the trouble in the first place.

Her eyes widened as she took him in from where she was standing at the end of the bar. He stalked towards her. She backed up a step or two looking like she wanted to bolt but it was way too fucking late for that. She should have run when he told her to get out the first time. Now she was going to find herself trapped. He grabbed her arm and dragged her towards his office.

“Hey, let me go! I am not a freaking piece of furniture that you can rearrange at will!” Sarah screeched, trying to get away.

“Shut up, now,” he said in a hard cutting voice that made her look up into his eyes. Their grey depths glowed with anger and he looked like he was about to explode. Sarah stopped fighting him. Sarah didn’t think he’d hurt her. Any man with rules about touching women in his club was not going to hurt her physically, although he might lock her in the back somewhere and not feed her or something.

He led her back to his office with his hand hard on her wrist. When they were before the door he opened it and shoved her roughly inside. He slammed the door and stood against it, glaring at her.

“What the fuck were you doing out there?” he asked, his eyes boring into hers.

Shit, Sarah thought, watching him warily as she rubbed her wrist. She wasn’t hurt but there was a slight red mark from where he’d grabbed her. He watched, his eyes landing on her hand as it rubbed the mark. A frown appeared on his brow and she wondered what he was thinking.

“Well?” he barked, meeting her eyes again after assessing her arm for a moment.

“I-I…um. Well, I was waiting tables,” Sarah finally stuttered out.

No longer confident he wouldn’t hurt her with the scowl that covered his face and the way he still blocked the door, she worried that perhaps she shouldn’t have let her temper get the best of her again. Why was she always allowing it to get her into trouble? If at any point it should have been present, the other night with Marta would have been better than at the diner or here at a freaking biker bar. Hell, everyone in this town knew better than to push this man and she’d blindly and foolishly done it anyway. She must be losing her mind.

He raised one dark brow, his black hair falling forward a bit when he tilted his head to the right, watching her with a scowl that sent chills down her spine. Not the good kind either. She wanted to bolt but since he was standing immovable in front of the only exit, she wasn’t sure what the hell to do. Her hands shook and she watched him like he was a lion waiting to pounce on her.

“Really,” he clipped out, crossing his arms across his thickly-muscled chest. “I am quite sure that I told you to get the fuck out of my club. So the question is why are you still here?”

“Umm…your bartender looked like he needed help?” she asked softly, her body shaking as he stood to his full height and his eyes pierced her with a cold stare.

“I don’t think so. I don’t know what the fuck made you think you could just start working here without being asked.” He took a threatening step forward, his hands taking her arms and shaking her. “You are not the type we allow to work here. You’re dressed like a damned schoolteacher and this is a fucking biker bar! The men here are not nice and you can’t handle them. So you need to get it through that hard head of yours that it’s not safe for you here. There are women who do okay in this place, but
you are not one of them
.” His tirade stopped and he still held her arms but he’d stopped shaking her.

Sarah was glad because it had been making her a little dizzy. His hands were hard on her arms and she was sure there’d be red marks where his fingers were. She was also pissed that the man acted like just because she’d dressed this way he knew her. She wasn’t a timid mouse and she wasn’t going to allow him to treat her like one.

“You don’t know me! For all you know I could be a fucking hooker!” she screeched at him, jerking on her arms to get him to release her.

“You are no hooker, baby. I could tell that five seconds into the lame as fuck strip tease you gave me,” he roared back, releasing her from his hold so that he didn’t hurt her.

Sarah felt her cheeks flush at that rude assessment. What an asshole! She wanted to scream at him to go to hell but that would just be childish. She needed to stop acting like an adolescent acting out and more like an adult seeking a job. She took a step back and rubbed her arms where his hands had been before she spoke.

“Okay, so maybe me sticking around to wait on tables wouldn’t have happened if you’d just given me a chance and let me try. I hate when people think they can decide my life for me. It makes me angry and then I do stupid stuff. I need this job, Reaper. I can’t get another one because someone from your club ran around town telling everyone I was a shitty employee. I can’t even work for that laundry across the street because of the stupid asshat. I just want a chance.” She looked up at him, her amber eyes pleading.

“Look, Sarah, it sucks that you can’t find a job, but I am not hiring you to be a fucking waitress here. It’s just not fucking happening.” Reaper could feel anger boiling inside of him at the thought of her anywhere near the men in this place. He wasn’t going to have her sweetness corrupted by his club. He watched her close her eyes before she finally looked at him with a cold fire burning in their depths.

“Fine. I’m keeping the tips I made tonight though, I earned them,” she said before she walked around him and headed out his door. He stood staring at the wall for a long moment as she walked away and knew that he couldn’t leave it that way with her. Not when his dick was throbbing in his pants and he wanted her so bad his back teeth ached.

He groaned, telling his thickened cock that it should just forget it. Only it wasn’t going to and he wished that wasn’t the case, because he knew when he walked away it would likely break her. He wasn’t a good man. He was a biker who owned a fucking strip club and fucked around on a regular basis and she was way too good for him. He told himself this as he tried to talk his cock into letting her leave, but it wasn’t listening.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, and then he was out the door headed after her. He caught up to her just outside the door of the club, grabbing her shoulder to stop her. Sarah turned with tears in her eyes. He felt a sense of protectiveness rise up inside him, which startled him. He never felt protective unless it was for Burner or one of his men and never in regards to a woman.

“Can you do accounting?” he growled roughly, uncomfortable with the feelings she invoked inside him.

Sarah looked at him for a long moment before she softly asked, “What?”

“I need someone to do the bookkeeping. I hate doing them. They take for fucking ever and I don’t want to deal with it. I won’t let you work here as a waitress, but if you can do the books I’d pay you,” he told her, seeing her hesitate for a long moment and he wondered if she’d refuse his offer.

“How much a week?” she asked, still looking unsure, and he thought about what he’d normally pay and doubled it because he didn’t want her to refuse.

“Six hundred credits a week,” he told her and watched her mouth hang open for a second. He also questioned his sanity; that was a hell of a lot of credits to pay for a chance to get into her pussy. He’d never paid for pussy, but that was basically what he was doing. The books were just an excuse to keep her around so that he could fuck her and that was more fucked up than he wanted to think about.

“Okay,” she choked out, her eyes wide.

“Fine, you start tomorrow night. Be here at seven.”

She nodded and then turned, heading to her car. “Sarah,” he called after her, watching as she turned to face him. “Don’t be early. And wear something not so…conservative. I want you in something sexy so you will stick out less. Understood?” His knew that the dark look he was giving her was the reason she looked like a deer in headlights but he couldn’t tone it down.

“Yeah, I got it,” she muttered before opening her car door.

“Do not be early. I want you here at seven, not six forty.”

She glanced back at him, her face twisted into a glower. “I heard you the first time, Reaper. I’m not an idiot. I don’t know why it matters if I’m early or not. Seems to be a bit of micromanagement if you ask me, but whatever!”

“I don’t want you here before I am, so just don’t fucking be here before then if you want the damned job. Now, get the fuck out of here.” Reaper turned away and headed towards the doors and if he stopped to bum a cigar off Rebel, it wasn’t because he was waiting for her car to leave safely before he went back inside. It wasn’t.

Sarah drove back to the motel with a tight feeling in the pit of her stomach. What the hell had she just done? She’d agreed to do the books. She must be insane. She had a problem with mixing up her numbers. She could already feel the sense of doom looming over her; this was going to be a nightmare. Why the hell had she agreed to do that? But she knew why. It was the credits. Six hundred a week, holy shit that was a lot. She’d be able to afford to get a better place for her and Josh to stay and pay for daycare. Of course, that all depended on her being able to hide the fact that she wasn’t able to keep the numbers straight sometimes.

It had been a while since she’d worked with numbers and it hadn’t been that bad. Maybe if she was really careful and double-checked everything she’d be able to keep them straight. If not, at least she could save a little bit of the credits so that she’d have time to look for another job. After all, in a few weeks some of the employers that the man from the diner had told she was a bad bet would have forgotten and she’d be able to find another job. Or maybe Reaper would help her with it since his club was the cause of her troubles. She snorted at that thought. No, that wouldn’t happen, but maybe someone with the club would be willing to help her.

She pulled into the parking lot at the motel, her mind still racing over her agreement to work for him as an accountant. She got out of the car grabbing her purse and opened the door to her room. The sight that greeted her made her burst out laughing.

Derik was covered in applesauce. He looked up at her with goo dripping from his chin and smiled. “He’s been a little moody today.”

Sarah stopped laughing because Josh didn’t become moody much. He was normally a really happy baby. If he was moody he was likely getting sick. Sarah entered the room and shut the door. “He didn’t want to eat the applesauce I take it?” she asked.

“Nope, he hasn’t eaten anything actually. A few bites, that’s all. I was going to call you if he didn’t eat this batch. I think he might be running a fever too.” Derik looked concerned. He stepped out of the way when she lifted Josh into her arms. She’d noticed he was a bit cranky earlier but he’d eaten breakfast and taken a nap before she’d left him this afternoon just before lunchtime.

She felt his forehead and he was a little warm. She sighed; she would have to take him to the doctor’s over in Grandyvillle if he wasn’t better in the morning. It was a three-hour drive and it always took a while for them to see the patients because it was a walk-in clinic.

“I’m sorry he was trouble for you. I will use the fever strips I have for him and hopefully he’ll be better.” She was a little worried about the time. “Can you keep him tomorrow? I know he might be a bit sick but I just found a job and I will have to go in tomorrow night.”

Derik smiled as he used a towel from the counter to wash the applesauce off his face. “Sarah, it’s no problem. He’s sick and he’s being cranky, it’s understandable. Of course I’ll keep him. Congratulations on the new job too. That’s some fast work. I figured it would take longer. Is it the daycare?”

Sarah felt her cheeks heat and her eyes turned away as she bounced Josh, who was fussing, on her hip. “Umm…no. I got a job doing the books for someone.”

“Oh, well that’s great. I’m going to head home I think. Josh, buddy, I hope you feel better,” he said as he gathered his stuff and left. Sarah had already found the fever strips and put one on Josh’s forehead. He fought her when she tried to stick it on and she knew she was in for a rough night. With a sigh, she sat back on the bed and rubbed his back.

At five the next morning she was blurry eyed and knew she’d have to take him to Grandyville to see the doctor. He’d been throwing up and his fever had spiked three times.  She loaded him into the car and headed out at six. She had to stop three times on the way to clean him up when he got sick in the car and a sense of panic was filling her chest by the time she got to the doctor’s office at ten. There were twelve cars already in the lot and she knew that meant they were ahead of her. She wanted to cry because Josh was still running a fever and she was exhausted.

Entering the waiting room, she wasn’t happy to see it full. She went to check in and found that she was number forty and that the doctor was on patient fifteen. The woman gave her a juice box for Josh to drink and while she fought with him trying to get him to drink it, her phone rang and she dug it out of her bag.

“Hello,” she answered, not really paying attention as she tried to get Josh to drink the juice.

“Sarah! Why the hell didn’t you call me and tell me that you’d lost your job at Hal’s?” Sammy demanded angrily.

“Sammy, I can’t talk right now. Josh is sick and we’re in Grandyville.”

“Oh my God, is he okay?” she demanded. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“No, Sammy, you don’t have to come all the way here. It’s fine, we’re just waiting to see the doctor and…” Sammy cut her off.

“Sarah Banner! I know you didn’t just tell me that I can’t come make sure my nephew is okay. I know that did not just happen!” she screeched. Even while Sarah sighed and shook her head at her friend’s dramatics she was glad that Sammy was insisting on coming to sit with her. She was worried about her baby and having Sammy here would help. 

“Fine, take a three hour drive to sit in a waiting room for hours then,” she growled.

“I will, don’t worry. I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay. Hang in there.” Sammy said a few more things before she hung up and Sarah managed to get some of the juice into Josh before he fell into a fitful sleep on her chest.

They were on number thirty-five when Sammy walked into the waiting room looking around. Sarah waved limply to get the other woman’s attention and Sammy came over taking Josh into her own arms. It worried Sarah when he didn’t stir much as he was shifted from her arms to Sammy’s. Josh had been steadily less active over the last hour.

“How much longer?” she asked.

“We’re forty. They just took back number thirty-five,” she told her.  

“Damn. What’s wrong? Why is he so limp and weak?”

“He’s been throwing up a lot. She gave us some nausea medication in some grape juice that helped, but I think it’s wearing off because he started throwing up again a little bit ago and now he’s dehydrated I think. I was going to go talk to her again. I think he needs an IV.”

“Yeah, let’s take him up there again,” Sammy agreed and they went back to the counter and showed the woman Josh. After a few minutes she declared that he was in need of an IV and they were taken back to a small room where the nurse started an IV. Sarah was even more frightened when he didn’t seem bothered by the needle or the tubes. Sarah sighed after about twenty minutes because Josh began to fuss a bit. It reassured her that he was going to be okay. She’d been so worried for the last hour she almost felt limp from the relief that flooded her.

Sammy was a huge help over the next three hours while Sarah rubbed Josh’s back and waited on the doctor to come in. Sammy kept the nurse involved in caring for Josh and when Sarah, still completely exhausted, fell asleep on the edge of the bed, she handled the doctor when he came in. He gave Josh a few shots after scanning him to discover that he had a flu virus.

“Sarah, honey, wake up,” Sammy said shaking her.

“What? Oh sorry, did I fall asleep? Is the doctor coming in soon?”

“Sweetie, the doctor just left. He gave Josh a clean bill of health about five minutes ago. The shot he gave him worked. He’ll be a little tired and fussy today but he should be fine. It was a flu virus,” Sammy informed her.

Sarah was glad that it wasn’t anything serious. Flu was one of the many viruses that they’d found a cure for before the ocean had decided it was taking back its land.  As they exited the back headed to the desk to pay, Sarah saw Sammy digging in her purse.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“Paying. Sarah, you don’t have a job and I have some extra credits saved up. I’ll take care of this.”

“No, I have a job. I can pay for it,” Sarah told her glaring.

“Wait…what? You have a job? Where?” Sammy asked surprised.

“It’s doing the books for a company. They pay well. I’ve got this.” She handed Josh to Sammy and moved to the desk to pay. She found that it was seventy credits for the medications and IV. Sarah handed them over to the woman at the desk with a sad little sigh because it was every bit of the tips she’d made last night. She took Josh from Sammy and began walking.

“Sarah, I thought you have trouble with numbers sometimes,” Sammy said, looking apprehensive as they headed towards Sarah’s car.

“I do, but I am going to be really careful and it will be fine,” she told her as she loaded a less lethargic much crankier Josh into his car seat.

“Okay, what office is it for?” Sammy asked watching her.

“Just one on Todlson Street,” she evaded. She didn’t want to tell Sammy that she was working for Reaper at the Blue Bird. She’d freak. Sarah checked her watch and almost freaked herself. It was already three fifty. She’d have to book it to get back and she’d likely be late getting to the club. She just hoped she wouldn’t lose her job before she’d even worked a single night.

Sammy’s eyes narrowed. “What office on Todlson Street?” she asked.

Sarah knew that she couldn’t avoid a direct question like that one. Sammy waited, her foot tapping and her arms crossed because she sensed something was up.

“Look, if I want to keep this job I need to get moving, so can we talk about this later?”

“No. Where at, Sarah? Why don’t you want to tell me? Are you lying because you didn’t want me to pay, because if you are I’m going to hit you,” Sammy grumbled, her foot still tapping. Her eyes were slits of angry green fire.

“No, I’m not lying. I got a job.”

“Where, Sarah?”

“The Blue Bird,” she finally spit out after they had a staring contest for more than a few minutes.

Sammy’s mouth dropped open and she looked like she was going to explode. She grabbed Sarah’s arms and demanded, “Are you insane! You can’t work at a strip club!”

“No, I am not insane…”

Sammy cut her off. “You must be. Reaper runs that place! What the hell, Sarah. Those guys are bad news. And in a strip club I doubt that you’ll be safe. You could get raped or worse, killed. The Blue Bandits have a high body count coming out of that place, you know that.”

“Stop, there are rules that will keep me from getting raped and as for the bodies, they are mostly male. Don’t be so dramatic.”

Sammy shook her by the arms. “Sarah, you’ve lost your damned mind! You can’t work there.”

“I can and I will, Sammy. I already took the job and Reaper seems like the type who would be a bit offended if I quit before I started,” she said, shoving Sammy off her.

“Oh my God, you can’t be serious. Sarah, please. You can’t work in a place like that. If it’s about credits, you and Josh can stay with me. You know that. Please don’t take this job, please. You can find another one.”

“Sammy, the guy who got me fired went around to most of the places in town bad mouthing me and nobody will hire me,” she told her walking around to her door. “I really have to go and Josh is getting fussy again. Please. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“That bastard! Sarah, we can move. I can quit Hal’s and me, you and Josh can move somewhere else, just please don’t work for that place.”

“No, I’m working for the club and that’s that. I’ll be careful, I promise.” Sammy looked at her with worry on her face before she hugged Sarah, squeezing her tightly. “If something happens to you I swear I’m going in there and taking as many of them out with me as I can.”

Sarah smiled, hugging Sammy back because she knew that Sammy meant every word. “Nah, you’d take care of Josh and make sure he knew that his mother was a perfect, perfect person,” she told her as they drew apart.

“You’re such a pain in the ass,” Sammy said shaking her head.

“Yeah, I am but you love me anyway,” Sarah told her.

“I do. I really do, but I would teach him not to be dumb like his mother instead of how perfect she was,” Sammy said, sticking her tongue out at her as she stepped back allowing Sarah into the car. Sarah drove away with a little wave to her friend, worried that she’d never get back in time to make it in to work on time. Shit, she’d likely lose her job before she even got to start it.