Queen of The Reapers by Jessa Halliwell
Three
“She still sleeping?”
I peel my eyes away from the passing city streets and glance at Atlas. It takes a second for me to register his question and as I do; I release a heavy sigh.
“Yeah.” I offer, glancing at the woman nestled against my side. “The painkillers are doing their job.”
Atlas gives me a quick nod before returning his attention to his phone. Guaranteed, he’s missed hundreds of emails just in the few hours we’ve been unreachable and is doing his best to catch-up.
While we run our syndicate like a democracy, with each of us having equal say in every pertinent decision, Atlas is our leader and when it comes down to it, he’s who we all look to for answers. The one tasked with making the tough calls. Others may envy the power he holds, but the three of us know how heavy the responsibility of running a highly organized crime syndicate is.
It isn’t all guns and intimidation bullshit. In fact, most of the time, the job is highly political and pretty fucking boring. Days filled with business meetings, contracts, and email after email. Aside from the legalities, heading The Reapers is like running a Fortune 500 company and At is right up there with some of the most powerful men in the world.
But in the criminal world, it takes more than business savvy and a degree to succeed. After working his way up in the ranks since he was sixteen, there is no one who deserves the power more than Atlas. He alone is the reason The Organization allowed four Half-Mexican, Half-Swedish kids with no Russian familial ties to run their second largest stronghold on the west coast six years running. Our revenues come only second to The Devil’s Disciples who run a pretty impressive operation in Los Angeles. Despite the odds stacked against us, Atlas has kept us together and kept us whole.
“Should we discuss the s… sister shit now?” Tristan asks, bringing up the topic we’d all been avoiding.
“There’s nothing to discuss.” Atlas mutters, scrolling through his phone. “If we deny her sister, Stevie will fight.”
“Bringing her s… sister into our world is dangerous.” Tristan says, keeping his voice low. “We need to cut this s… shit off before it goes any f… further.”
I shake my head dismissively. “We do that, we lose her.” Maybe not physically. Ezra meant every word he said earlier, but the Stevie we know would disappear. If she was ever really here to begin with.
Despite how it worked out, allowing Stevie into our world was a stupid decision. We assumed we could easily discard her without a second thought, that she was just a toy we wouldn’t give a fuck about in a few weeks. But the fiery little thing got under our skin and now there’s no way in hell any of us will let her go.
In a lot of ways, Stevie terrifies me. She’s a wild card in every sense of the word. She alone holds the power to become our greatest ally, but on that same note, she could easily become the greatest enemy we’ve ever faced. The worst part is, I don’t think any of us could tell the difference until it was too late.
Every single one of us would let her destroy us from the inside out if she felt inspired to do so. We would sit back and watch her rip our entire empire to shreds and still give her a smile like pathetic bastards we are. She has us in the palm of her hands, and having that much power over men like us is a very scary thing.
“Then what the fuck are we s… supposed to do…” Tristan murmurs, cracking his knuckles.
“We give Alex the choice.” Atlas says, bringing all of our attention to him. “We bring her in, lay everything out on the table, and she gets to decide what she wants to do.”
“And if Alex doesn’t want this life?” I ask, cocking my head in At’s direction.
“Then we send her away and Stevie will have to accept it.”
Ezra scoffs, shaking his head at the three of us like we’re the most gullible assholes he’s ever seen. “That’s assuming she doesn’t just follow her. None of you have taken into consideration what would really happen if her sister doesn’t want this. If forced to choose, Stevie will take her little sister over us without question. We could try to stop her, but as long as her sister is out there, she’ll keep fighting us to get to her.”
“You don’t know that.” Atlas retorts, setting his phone down to glare at him.
“Don’t I? Alex is the reason Stevie came into our world to begin with. If she was willing to risk her life for her sister then, who's to say she wouldn’t risk us to do the same?”
As tough as it is to hear, Ezra has a point and we all know it.
The car fills with a heavy silence as we cut the discussion short and the three of us mull over his words. While I think, I lean against my door and look out at the evergreens off in the distance, slowly drawing closer.
Caspian Hills is unlike any other city in the world. Within a twenty-mile radius you can find a bustling downtown, a scenic hillside forest with breath-taking ocean views, and a pristine beach complete with a seaside boardwalk. It’s where we’ve lived and worked for the last seven years, but it never truly felt like home until Stevie came into our world.
She’s impulsive, and a bit unhinged, but I could say the same for any of us. Having her in our lives gives us something to look forward to each day, and as I look down at her sleeping form, I know in my gut I’m not willing to give her up.
“We eliminate the option.” I say, feeling the sincerity of the words in my chest. I’d do anything to keep Stevie, and if Alex becomes a threat, she needs to be eliminated. It’s as simple as that.
“Eliminate.” Tristan sneers, looking at me in disbelief. “We can’t kill her s… sister to suit our needs.”
“Baby brother, have you forgotten?” Ezra smirks, drumming his thumbs against the steering wheel. “It’s part of the family business. Besides, it’s not just us we’re thinking about. As long as Alex is out there, she’s a danger to our girl and when it comes down to it, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Stevie safe.”
“Even killing her own blood.” Tris spits, crossing his arms over his chest. “Unbelievable.”
“It won’t come to that.” Atlas chastises, glaring at the three of us. “Alex will choose to stay, we’ll make sure of it.”
“And if she d… doesn’t?” Tristan asks, his brows creasing into a scowl.
“If she doesn’t.” Ezra hisses, glaring at Tristan from his rearview mirror. “I’ll keep you blissfully unaware, baby brother, so you can still sleep well at night knowing you had nothing to do with it.”