MasukMilaWhen I finally opened my eyes again, the suffocating darkness was gone this time.The blindfold had been removed. The metal handcuffs that had bitten into my wrists were nowhere to be found. And the freezing air conditioner had been replaced by a soft, warm breeze.I gasped, shooting up from the mattress. Panic instantly gripped my chest as my hands flew to my stomach, checking on my baby. I was still pregnant. I was still alive.But I was no longer floating in that darkness.I looked around and my eyes immediately widened in absolute shock.I was sitting in the middle of a circular bed. The sheets were made of the softest white silk I had ever felt. Above me, a sparkling crystal chandelier hung from a high, beautifully crafted ceiling.The room looked like it belonged inside a royal palace. There were velvet curtains, pure gold handles on the doors, and expensive rugs covering the floors. The sunlight was pouring in through huge windows, completely blinding me for a second."Go
Flashback ~ The morning in the club…MilaThe very next second, Ryan stepped out of the office, the window exploded.It wasn't just a gunshot this time.It was a blinding flashbang that flared in the center of the small room. I closed my eyes immediately. But it didn’t help. The violent burst of white light burned right through my tightly shut eyelids. Then, a high-pitched ringing completely completely blew out my eardrums. I couldn't hear Justin scream. I couldn't hear the door being kicked open.I just felt the freezing wind of the alleyway blowing into the room, followed immediately by few hands grabbing my arms."Ryan!" I screamed, blindly kicking out. My bare heel connected with solid muscle. A man cursed viciously in a language I couldn't understand."Get her out of the window! Move, move!" A harsh voice barked.I fought them with every single ounce of strength I had in my body. I clawed, I thrashed violently like a wild animal to protect the child growing inside me.But they
ReaperBy the fifteenth day, the rage finally burned out, leaving behind only a heartless void.I was losing my patience. I was losing my mind. The streets had run completely dry. There were no discreet demands. No anonymous calls. No bodies dumped in the river for us to find. The Skulls had swallowed Mila, my unborn child and my brother and the earth had simply closed back up over them.I needed a different angle. The cartel wasn't talking and my men were turning up empty-handed at every port and border crossing. I was a man starving for a single drop of water, desperately searching for a thread to pull.On the fifteenth day, I finally left the clubhouse and drove back to the Wylder estate where I built the lie that destroyed me.The gates swung open automatically as soon as my car approached. I parked carelessly on the driveway and marched toward the front doors.I didn't bother greeting the staff. I walked past the grand foyer and took the staircase two steps at a time, heading
ReaperI made good on my promise. I turned the entire southside into a slaughterhouse.For the first twenty-four hours, the Midnight Reapers moved like storms. We kicked in the doors of every known Skulls trap house, every front business, every warehouse by the docks. We broke bones, shattered teeth, and dragged their bleeding lieutenants into the mud.I became the absolute worst version of the monster Mila had accused me of hiding. I didn't flinch as I drove my fists into the faces of men who begged for mercy. I didn't blink when the Irish mob locked down the ports, or when the Bratva choked off the highways.But it resulted in absolutely nothing.It was like the Skulls had vanished from the earth. Every safehouse was abandoned. Every low-level dealer we tortured spat out blood and swore they had no idea where the cartel had taken the Reaper's Queen.And it wasn't just Mila who had been swallowed by the dark.Aaron was gone too.I sent a twelve-man extraction team to his corporate pe
ReaperThose three words shattered my entire soul.They took her.The monster I had unleashed only moments ago completely shattered."No…” I growled. "No, I am going to get her back. But…” I swallowed the lump in my throat as I looked down at my best friend. “Right now, you have to stay with me. Do you hear me? You stay with me!"I reached into the waistline of my denim jeans and ripped my combat knife from its sheath. I shoved Justin roughly forward, ignoring his groan, and slipped the blade beneath the industrial zip-ties binding his wrists.With a violent jerk, I snapped the plastic. Justin’s arms fell limply to his sides. The skin around his wrists was rubbed raw and bleeding from how hard he had fought them."Reaper..." Justin wheezed. His head lolled back against the glass of the gun cabinet."Shut the fuck up and breathe." I grabbed the hem of shirt and violently tore the fabric right up the seam. I balled the ruined material in my hands and slammed it directly over the gunsho
ReaperI didn't wait for Justin’s response. I didn't look back at the terrified, tear-streaked face of Mila. If I looked at her for even a second longer, the absolute fear of losing her would chain me to the floor.Right now, she didn't need a broken, apologetic man. She needed a monster. She needed the Reaper.I stepped out of the office and pulled the door shut behind me until the latch clicked. The instant the door separated us, I forcefully buried every single shred of my humanity. My breathing slowed. My vision tunneled. I sprinted down the corridor and burst into the main clubhouse room. The neon beer signs above the bar had been blown to pieces, raining sparks down onto the leather sofas. The steel front doors were dented inward, holding by a single hinge, while the front windows had completely shattered.Gunner was crouched behind the overturned pool table, blindly firing an assault rifle through the broken glass toward the front gates. Two of my prospects were on the flo
ReaperI emerged from the basement into the main hallway, the heavy steel door clanging shut behind me, sealing the screams and the smell of fear below. The air up here felt different It was stale with cigarette smoke and spilled beer, vibrating with the bass of a song I didn't recognize. The party
Caleb’s POVThe numbers swam before my eyes on the monitor: $400 million.That was the estimated worth of my company. That was the initial stock price. That was my ticket out, the way to pay off the massive debt I had saddled Sterling Industries with.I was sitting in my office, the glittering Manha
Mila’s POVThe glow from my laptop was the only thing breaking up the darkness.My heart hammered against my ribs, a hummingbird trapped in a cage. The call with the lawyer's office was still fresh in my mind. I had set things in motion. Now I just had to wait for the fallout.I kept refreshing the
ReaperThe basement stairs were steep, skinny, and had a musty, rotten smell. With every step down, the thumping bass of the music upstairs faded, replaced by the hum of the generator and the dripping of a leaky pipe. Justin was panting behind me, his fury burning hot. He was craving some blood. H







