Rebellious (21 page)

S
EPTEMBER 9

Reb washed his hands in the sink and watched the water turn red, then pale pink, before finally running clear. Joker's hoarse screams still rang in his ears. But unlike countless times before, it wouldn't be the killing tonight that'd keep him up. No, it was the thought of what Emily had gone through. The sight of that basement and her blood spattered everywhere. He'd done this to her. He brought her into this lifestyle. She deserved so much more than the miserable life he could offer her.

Zag came up behind him, and Reb stepped aside so his friend could wash up.

“Any sign of Rhonda?”

Reb shook his head as he took out his cell and checked the screen one more time. Not that it mattered; she'd left behind her purse and cellphone. And they hadn't been able to get any info out of Joker. He could've killed her, or she could've run off. They hadn't heard a word from her or found any sign of her or her car. She'd just disappeared.

And he felt…nothing. He'd spent the better part of twenty years with her, and she was gone. A tiny part of him would always wonder what had happened to her. And he'd have to figure out what he'd tell Tucker, but that was a headache for another day.

“Did the guys get Joker to the abandoned mine okay?” Reb asked. Their typical method of body disposal when they didn't want it found for a long time—if ever. Normally Reb wouldn't give a shit, but he didn't want Emily tangled up in an investigation. She'd suffered more than enough at Joker's hands.

“Yeah. Helps that it's close. I'll have a few guys stop by later to clean up the basement, but I'm beat. I wanna get home to my baby and soon-to-be wife. And I know you're probably dying to see Emily's all right.”

“Yeah,” Reb said softly. “What, uh—” He had to stop and clear his throat. “What hospital did Tank take her to?”

Zag turned off the tap and threw Reb a funny look as he wiped his hands on his jeans. “Hospital? Why would he take her to the hospital?”

“Because she was fucking stabbed? Are you fucking kidding me?”

Zag's eyes grew wide. “She didn't go to the hospital.”

“WHAT?” Reb grabbed Zag by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close. “Tell me that's your idea of a sick joke.”

“No. She's at the clubhouse. In your bed. Tank texted me earlier. She's fine. Doc's checking her over.”

“Bullshit!” Reb pushed Zag away in disgust. All the cathartic torture he'd inflicted over the past two hours faded away. Now he wanted to pound someone senseless, but the only other person in the house was Zag. So instead he let his friend have a large piece of his mind. “She was supposed to go to the hospital. I told Tank—”

“You told Tank to take her to the doctor. So he did. She saw Doc at the clubhouse, and she's fine. He stitched her up and gave her some pills.”

“That's bullshit, and you know it. They stabbed her. Over and over. She needed to go to the hospital and see a real doctor. Not our back-alley buddy, Doc. That's bullshit.”

“No, that's the life. That's what we do. If she showed up in the ER looking like she did, we'd be in the shit. So we took care of it the way we always do—protect the club.”

Reb hung his head as Zag's words penetrated. “I know. I'm sorry, man. It's just this whole thing with Emily—”

Zag held up a hand. “You don't gotta say another word. Been there, my friend. I went to hell and back when it was Jessica. I get it.”

“Thanks.” Reb scrubbed a hand over the back of his head. “I never went through this with Rhonda. Christ, she's the cause of this whole clusterfuck. How do you do this? How do you live with the fact that we put them in danger?”

“I just…” Zag shrugged. “It's not easy, man. But for some twisted reason they figure it's worth it. Being with us—loving us—is worth the price of admission. Welcome to the club, my friend.”

“That's practically poetic.”

Zag grinned as he flipped Reb off.

And it was just what Reb needed to hear. Emily did love him. She said as much every time they went to sleep. Or a variation of it. Usually with a scream afterward. Reb smiled and grabbed his shirt and vest off the counter. After pulling them on, he looked at Zag. “You ready to head home?”

“Fuck yeah. Let's go check on your woman.”

Reb stood outside his bedroom door at the clubhouse. He'd already talked to Doc—all superficial wounds; Emily would be fine after some time and healing. The bruises on her jaw should fade in a week or two and the stitches on her arms would dissolve. She would be fine. Was fine. Safe, all tucked up in his bed.

So why couldn't he go inside?

The guilt over this whole fucked-up night ate him up. She wouldn't have been terrified, tortured, and stabbed tonight but for him. How could he even begin to make this up to her? But Reb wasn't one to ever run from a fight—or a woman. So after taking a second to steady his nerves, he opened the door.

Emily lay asleep in the middle of the bed, her arms covered in gauze and tape, her bloody clothes tangled in a pile in the corner. But most telling of all—she wore one of his True Brother tees. The soft white cotton shirt rose and fell with every breath she took. Reb stood in the doorway and drank in the sight. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he didn't want to join the gorgeous, mostly naked woman in his bed. He'd rather stand here and watch her breathe while he thanked God that she was still alive. Christ, he'd come so close to losing her tonight.

Much like the Grinch's, his heart swelled until it felt like it might burst. Fuck, he loved this woman. Would do anything for her. Shit, now he was starting to sound all sappy.

He stepped into the room and gently closed the door behind him. Emily moved slightly and moaned in her sleep. Reb held his breath, but she didn't wake up. The pills Doc gave her should keep her asleep for a few more hours.

Not wanting to disturb her, he pulled one of the plush chairs close to the bed. Reb collapsed in it and rested his legs on the edge of the bed. The last thought he had before he fell asleep was that he really hoped Emily would forgive him. He didn't know how he could ever begin to make it up to her.

“Reb? Reb? Are you okay?”

He blinked the room into focus. The clubhouse. His bedroom. Emily.

Emily!

Shit. Reb sat up with a start. “Fuck, baby, are you okay? Do you need anything? Water? Painkillers? I can get Doc back in here in a second. Maybe a—”

“Reb, I'm fine. I'm just wondering what you're doing way over there. I want you in bed with me. Holding me.”

“I, uh, didn't want to wake you up. Or hurt you. Fuck, baby, I'm so sorry.”

“Sorry? What are you sorry about?”

“Are you kidding me? Last night? Getting abducted and tortured? Does any of this ring a bell?”

“Well, yeah. I kinda have the marks to prove it.”

All the blood drained out of his head. She might as well have slapped him.

“Oh God. Reb, I'm so sorry. That was supposed to be a joke. It's okay. I'm all right. See?” She held her arms out to her sides. “Fit as a fiddle. Doc swore there was no lasting damage. This time next month, it'll all just be a memory.”

“I'm so sorry, baby. If I could, I'd take all your pain away.”

“Well, Doc did a pretty good job with his pill supply.”

Reb closed his eyes briefly, then looked down. “I'm sorry about that, too. The guys were supposed to take you to the hospital. Get you checked out by real doctors in a sanitary environment.”

“Tank tried to.”

Reb's head jerked up at Emily's softly spoken confession. “What?”

“Tank tried to take me to the ER, but I told him no. I knew there would be questions I couldn't answer, and the cops would be called. I wasn't going to be the one to turn your club on its head. I'm in it, Reb. With you.”

“Christ.” Reb's eyes inexplicably filled with tears. There couldn't be a more profound statement of love ever. Emily knew the way straight to his heart. He leaned over the edge of the bed and gave her a soft, gentle kiss. “I love you, too, Emily Marie Clark.”

“I love you, Rebel…Do you know I don't even know your first name, let alone your full name?”

“It's Rob. Robert Allen Gifford.”

“Rob? Seriously? I was expecting something epically awful. It's so…normal. But okay. I love you, Rebel Robert Allen Gifford.”

“Damn, that sounds so much like that first day you brought Tucker to the clubhouse. I'll never forget your proper little voice calling me Mr. Gifford. Christ, that memory still gets me hard.” Reb groaned against her lips before kissing her once more.

After a few moments, Emily pulled away with a whimper. “We probably shouldn't. I don't know that I'm up to any…extra-curricular activities just yet.”

“You don't need to do a thing. I'll take the heavy lifting for the next little while.” Reb moved to the bottom of the bed and crawled up between Emily's legs. “Let me show you how much I love you.”

“Reb!”

That was the last coherent sound Emily made for a while.

S
EPTEMBER 19

Z
AG AND
J
ESSICA'S WEDDING

The wedding went off without a hitch. My cuts were on their way to healing, and the light cardigan I wore helped hide the worst of my injuries. I certainly wasn't feeling a twinge of discomfort as I twirled around the dance floor.

Although the magic of Reb's arms around me might've been to blame for my high. Or the three glasses of champagne I'd already had. What? This was a night to celebrate—Zag and Jessica tied the knot, I was alive, and Nicole got a promotion at work. Things were definitely looking up.

“What's got you grinning so hard? Or do I even need to ask?” Reb whispered as he rubbed the proof of his arousal against me.

I laughed as I swatted him on the shoulder. “You cut that out. We're in public, and there's no way I'm leaving before they cut the cake. It looks yummy.”

“You just want to stick around and catch the bouquet.”

I couldn't stop the snort of laughter that escaped. “No. God, I hope Jessica doesn't do the lining-up-the-single-women thing. It's so embarrassing.”

“Don't you want to get married?”

“Yes. Eventually. One day. But I don't get the whole spectacle of the bouquet toss. And we're supposed to fight over a clutch of flowers? Ugh. Pass.”

“I guess that told me.” Reb's hand brushed over his coat pocket, and my heart sank.

Oh God. Was he going to…Did I just ruin his whole proposal plan? My scalp prickled as my face heated. We'd only been dating for two months. I wasn't ready for a proposal yet. Oh God. I didn't know what to do or say. Should I accept? I couldn't just humiliate him in front of all his friends, but I really wasn't ready for that. I mean, we were barely, kinda, sorta living together. What was I going to do?

Just then, I felt a tug on my dress.

I pulled away from Reb and looked down at Tucker standing between us, and I had to smile. The kid was just too damn cute for words.

“Can I dance with you?”

Reb opened his mouth, but I jumped in before he could say anything.

“Sure.”

Reb raised his eyebrows. After a beat, he stepped away without a word. I took Tucker's hand and let him do his interpretation of slow dancing, which mostly consisted of holding our arms in a large circle and occasionally spinning around. I had a blast. My cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so much.

It was good to see Tucker laughing, too. He'd asked a few times where his mom was, and Reb had told him she was visiting family back east. But actually, we didn't know. After she ran up the stairs at Joker's house, she'd never been seen again. She hadn't shown up for any of their scheduled custody exchanges with Tucker. Odder still, her car hadn't turned up, either. So either she ran or Joker did something to her and got rid of her car, too. But he hadn't fessed up, so we didn't know where she was. Reb was loath to tell Tucker the grim truth, so for now he went with a gentle lie.

Reb also had a debt to settle with Michael and his family, since he hadn't been the one stalking me these last couple months, after all. I wasn't losing any sleep over it. After the hell Michael had put me through for so long, he'd been karmically due some pain. But apparently something else had happened at Michael's house the night Joker and Rhonda had kidnapped me. Reb had been kinda light on the details—club business and all that. He'd tried to get ahold of the family over the past few days but so far hadn't had any luck. It seemed like they'd all maybe moved to Texas or something.

My pale pink bridesmaid's dress billowed out as Tucker twirled me around for the fifth time. I was starting to get dizzy, but the music blissfully came to an end. I curtsied to my partner as the DJ took the mic.

“We'd like to gather all the single ladies for the bouquet toss. Please, will all the single ladies come to the center of the dance floor.”

I froze and threw a panicked look Reb's way. He just laughed as he shrugged. Bastard.

Tucker was oh so helpful, pushing me toward the center of the dance floor. “Come on, Emily. That's you!”

Yay.

Soon I stood in a cluster of ten or so single women. I hung in the back with Nicole—who, like me, wore a pale pink bridesmaid dress and had her long hair twisted up in a complicated bun. Jessica had been adamant that we both have our hair up while hers was down. She'd gotten so high-strung the last week before the wedding, if she'd wanted us to wear poufy layers under our dresses we'd have agreed. Anything to get her to stop freaking out.

Nicole passed me her longneck bottle and I took a gulp of her beer. God, this had been an endless week. But we both survived.

I passed the bottle back to her and lamented as we watched Jessica take her position on top of a chair with her back to us. “I forgot to talk to Jessica about this farce. Why do brides still insist on having a bouquet toss? Do they love public humiliation or something?”

The crowd around us chanted. “Five…Four…”

“I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't listen to me,” Nicole lamented before taking another pull on her beer.

“One!”

The three women in front of me dived out of the way like a grenade had been tossed onto the dance floor.

Wap.

The bouquet smacked me right in the face. I put my hands out reflexively and caught the clutch of roses.

Dammit.

I smiled bravely and held up the bouquet as the audience cheered.

Nicole smirked. “Better you than me.”

I gave her a one-finger salute behind my back as Reb appeared in front of me and took my hands.

Oh God. He really was going to ask me. Here. In front of everyone. Oh God.

My respite had ended. Now I had to figure out what I was going to say.

Reb bent toward me and kissed me hard. After a second I relaxed into his kiss as I forgot my nerves, the crowd, and, for a few seconds there, my own name. Soon Nicole cleared her throat loudly.

“Um, guys. That's really hot and all, but you do know you're still in public right? And we have some young eyes here?”

I pulled away with a gasp and batted Reb's hand away from my breast. He chuckled at my glare, then grabbed Tucker by the hand and pulled him into our minicircle. My face flushed deeper at the knowledge that Tucker had seen us. Again. I didn't think I'd ever get used to that.

“We have something we want to ask you.” Reb's voice rumbled, making me turn my focus to him. “Tucker?”

Oh God.

Tucker blinked his beautiful blue eyes at me, and I melted.

“Emily? Would you move in with us?”

I sagged with relief as my laughter bubbled up. “Yes.” I looked down at Tucker as a huge grin swept my face. “Of course I will.”

“Yay!” He jumped in the air, then gave me a huge hug with his scrawny little arms.

Reb's arms enveloped us as we shared a group hug in the middle of the dance floor. I gave Reb a wobbly smile.

“I thought—”

“I know.” Reb smiled back at me. “Neither one of us is ready for that yet. But we might as well make our living arrangements official.”

I had to laugh. He knew me so well. “God, I love you two.”

“Right back at ya, sunshine.” Reb kissed my forehead.

“Me, too!” Tucker smiled up at us.

My heart melted all over again. God, I was so lucky.

So lucky and so loved.