Ex-Husband's Regret



Gabe.

We watched our dad leave, heading straight for our mom. According to him, we were boring as shit so he went to our mom, who, according to him, was better company than we were.

The moment he was out of earshot, Travis turned to us with his brows pulled down in a frown.

"I don't get why he is here," Travis complained while staring daggers at Reaper.

"Do we have a problem? Reaper asks. Even though his tone is calm, there is an unmistakable dangerous current underneath it.

The way his eyes flash, even while cooking cool and collected, should be warning enough that nobody should cross him. He is danger personified, but my best friend is too much of an idiot to realize that. To realize that Reaper is anything but weak, even though right now he seems harmless.

"Yes, we fucking do," Travis growled. "You killed my father, and you have the guts to come here?"

"I'm here with my fiancé. Whatever the fuck your problem is, deal with it."

Rowan and I look at each other as the tension between Reaper and Travis increases. If we don't handle this, things will escalate quickly, and the last thing I want is for my wife to be upset because the spouses of two of her best friends are fighting.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

"Tension is running high, so maybe we should all take a breather." I try to calm down the situation.

*Gabriel is right. Your fiancé," he points at Reaper. "And your girlfriend," he points at Travis. "Are best friends. Do you really want to put them in a spot? Not forgetting that Reaper is Iris's uncle."

"If you want to be in Ava's life, you have to accept Reaper. Like Rowan said, he is Iris's uncle, so he will always be around," I add.

"But he killed my dad! He's a fucking murderer and should be in jail where his piece of shit brother is," he growled through clenched teeth.

"You need to get your facts right, you fucker." Reaper snapped; his calm exterior completely gone. "I didn't kill James even though I wanted to for the trouble he caused me. Now, disrespect me or Ethan again, and I'll bury you so deep it'll take a century to dig up your fucking remains!"

A cold shiver slithers down my back. Reaper is a scary fucker and that's saying a lot, coming from me.

"What do you mean you aren't the one that killed James?" Rowan asked, his eyes narrowing on Reaper.

"Exactly that. Do you think I am the only one James fucked over? Where do you think he got the money to expand his company? From banks? He ran into some trouble and was almost going bankrupt. The banks couldn't take the risk since it was so high. He turned to some really bad people. I wasn't the one that killed him, but I was used as a scapegoat since I am the only one people knew he was doing business with."

Damn. I did not see that coming. Color me fucking shocked because what the fucking hell?

"That's a lie," Travis spat the words, seething in anger. "He said you were after him because he outed your illegal business."

"If it's a lie, I wouldn't be here as a free man, would I? What do you think I've been doing all these years in hiding? I've been looking for evidence that I wasn't the one that killed your father. James tried to cover up the shit he got himself into by pointing fingers and blaming me. Go and dig into the sources of your finances going back to five years before he died; you'll find the truth."

Travis continues to stare at Reaper, his eyes conveying how he was having a hard time believing what Reaper was saying.

"If that's the case, why didn't he turn to my dad? They were best friends; Dad would have helped him," I question because it just doesn't make any sense.

"That's a question I can't answer because I am not James, but my best bet is his pride wouldn't let him. Just like his son's pride, won't let him ask for help from his best friends."

Travis looks down when Reaper says that. He is right though. We have offered to help Travis countless times, but he always declined our help, stating that he wanted to do it on his own.

As much as we wanted to help him, we couldn't force him. The best we could do is send investors his way, but that also hasn't been easy given that the Howell's are still acting against him.

"Now that that's settled," Reaper begins. "Are we going to have a problem because I'd hate to kill you? Losing you would devastate Letty and seeing Letty devastated would affect Connie and Ava. I wouldn't want anything affecting my fiancé or the mother of my niece."

Travis remains quiet for a long time before whispering, "We are good."

I breathe a sigh of relief just as Rowan sags against his seat. Reaper isn't someone to mess with. I think the only reason he never came after Rowan is because of Ava and Iris. I'd hate to see what happens when those two clash.

"So," I begin. "When are you going to get down on one knee? You've been with Letty for so long, yet you aren't married."

"I was going to ask the same thing. Letty isn't getting younger, Travis," Rowan adds.

There was a frown on Travis' face. "What does that mean?"

"Exactly that, you idiot," Reaper sneers. "They are trying to be nice, but I am not. Unlike you, who can still have children even when you are old and your balls are shriveled up like a dying plant, Letty doesn't have that luxury. She isn't the kind to have children out of wedlock, so you had better speed it up."

Travis glares at him before he turns back to me and Rowan. His gaze is questioning, as if he's asking if that's what we meant.

"What he said," Rowan mumbles with a grin.

*So, you agree with him?" he asks, pointing at Reaper, who had what I can only assume is a smile. A scary as shit smile.

"I mean," I shrug "We were trying to be nice about it."

"There's just been so much going on," he says, his eyes staring at nothing in particular. "I didn't want to burden her. I thought I'd deal with the problems of the company first before proposing and giving my focus on her and our family."

Travis has been our best friend from the moment we were in diapers. Seeing him right now and how the stress of keeping the company from falling apart has aged him makes me wish that we had pushed harder to help him because our company didn't really get that much of a hit when the Howell's came after us.