Why wasn’t Reaper fighting back?
I needed him to fight me back!
“Reggie, it’s Luc. I’ve got a cannoli with your name on it.”
I knew that voice.
It was the voice of reason.
I didn’t want to hear it.
I needed to see her.
He was keeping me from her.
He had no right.
She was mine!
Mine to protect!
“Please, Reggie,” I heard Illyria cry. “Please, Cat wouldn’t want you to do this. Please stop.”
Looking up at her, seeing her tears, my heart shattered as my own tears fell down my face as I wailed, “She was my gift. Mine to protect. I failed her. I failed!”
Moving off of Reaper, I sat on the floor, rocking back and forth, as a pain I never wanted to feel again consumed me.
“He can’t stay here, Reaper,” Someone said.
“I know.” Reaper coughed.
“This is more than he led us to believe. I don’t know what this is, but it’s not puppy love. My gut is telling me only she can fix this.”
“Si chiama amore eterno. Un amore così puro che si dice sia donato dai cieli, Dio stesso.” Illyria whispered.
“What?” Reaper asked as he spit blood on the floor.
“It's called an eternal love. It’s from a fable. A love so pure it’s said to be gifted by the heavens, by God himself. My mother read the story to us when we were children. Reggie loved that story. He always said he would only ever love one woman. He believed that God himself created one woman just for him. He couldn’t wait to meet her.”
“My sister is right. He would talk about her as if she were real, growing up. We all just laughed, thinking he was being silly. I’ve never seen him like this before.”
I said nothing as Luciano sat next to me, “Hey, Reggie.”
“I didn’t mean it, Luc. Honest, I didn’t,” I cried as his arm came around me.
“I know,” Luc whispered as his arms tightened around me.
“This isn’t Player. Whatever is going on in his head is seriously fucking with him. This is not the man I know. How could he have kept all this from us,” Ghost asked.
“We all have demons, Ghost,” Reaper said, getting to his feet. “You know that more than anyone else. Some of us are just better at hiding it. We need to get this meeting over and get Player back to the compound. The sooner we do that, the faster I get my brother back.”
“What is he going to do when he finds out?” Sal whispered.
“My guess,” Reaper said, looking at me. “He’s going to lose his fucking shit and try to take us all down. Call Healer and tell him to get his sedatives ready because when he learns what happened, we are going to have to sedate him.”
“I will go with him,” Luciano said. “If that’s alright with you. He’s always listened to me. I can keep him calm.”
“Fine with me. In the meantime, take him into one of the bedrooms until we are ready to leave. Sal, can you get your brother, Lorenzo, to have a sedative ready, just in case.”