REX
“It can’t really be as simple as that,” I rasped once Rachel had finished recounting the events at the precinct.
The video call picked up on exactly how tired she was, and I felt that in my fucking bones.
I’d wanted to spend the night in a bed beside her. Not on a fucking red-eye back to LA.
“Apparently it is.” She shrugged. “An eye for an eye is what he wants, and Nyx is clearly the only man O’Donnelly knows with the inclination to deliver lex talionis to his door.”
"Nyx and Harlow are back in West Orange?”
“They are. No one’s the wiser for where they’ve spent most of their night as far as I know.”
I reached up and ran the edge of my thumb along my bottom lip as I pondered why the fuck O’Donnelly Sr. had just pulled a stunt like that.
We were fucking allies.
Allies didn’t tangle with the goddamn VP of my MC and get the fucker locked up.
Senior was reckless—everyone knew that. He was also certifiable, but he’d gone too far tonight.
“What happened?” I demanded grimly, finding myself annoyed by this fucking situation but mostly pissed she’d had to deal with him on her own.
“Nyx found a woman being raped.”
I sighed, stopped rubbing my mouth and started rubbing my eyes instead—it had been a fucker of a night. Worst thing being that it wasn’t over yet.
Still on the road to Burbank, I had another twenty minutes before I made it to Wynter’s apartment.
I’d left my hog back at LAX and was using a rideshare again.
This shit was bad for my rep but I’d gone this route, one, because I was exhausted and this endless day didn’t need to end with me crashing.
Two, because I needed to speak with Rachel without a mouthful of bugs and I wanted to see her as we talked.
Three, because I didn’t have the time to waste on releasing my bike from the secure parking lot.
The second I’d gotten another rideshare after I’d armed myself, I’d contacted Rachel and she’d started giving me the lowdown.
“Nyx was too late to stop the rape?”
“He was,” she confirmed, her tone as cool as ice water.
Sometimes, I was jealous of how she compartmentalized because I sure as hell wasn’t as good at it as she was.
Casting the driver a look, I saw he was still wearing earbuds even though it was illegal.
Seemed like small fry in comparison to tonight’s events.
Grateful for the privacy, I asked, “He killed him?”
“Of course he did. It’s Nyx. According to the laws of the land, however, no murder happened, neither did any sexual assault. That poor woman.” That was the first time her voice broke.
My hands itched to pull her close, to comfort her. Fucking Triads. “What did happen?”
“A reckless driving charge and an excessive speeding fine for Nyx. Harlow was arrested for loitering.”
The corruption involved in this bullshit was insane.
“Did Nyx know he was walking into a trap?”
“I think so,” she mused. “His hog and Harlow’s cage were impounded so Emile drove us home. On the ride back, he was pretty quiet. If he didn’t think it was a trap before he went to Harlem, he has to now.”
“You didn’t bring up O’Donnelly with him?”
“No. I didn’t feel like starting a riot in my town car,” she said dryly.
“You certain there are no repercussions from what went down?”
She derided, “I’d be impressed if it weren’t terrifying. Even with the pitiful charges, O’Donnelly made sure that his arrest was bungled from the start.
“No Miranda rights were read to either of them, and Nyx was beaten as he was taken to his cell—” About to ask if he was okay, she raised a hand to stall me.
I wanted to reach through the video call and snag her fingers in mine, but as good as technology was, it wasn’t that goddamn good.
“He’s okay. It was minor, just enough for me to raise hell about his treatment and get his release processed faster.
By the end of it, Harlow was the one in more trouble. ”
“What about the victim?”
“O’Donnelly said he had her taken home.”
“And the body?”
“His men dealt with that too.”
“So, what you’re telling me is that no crime happened last night?”
“Not according to the law. Even if a kid playing dress-up as a cop could have done a better job than Nyx’s arresting officer last night, he’d still be safe.”
“So O’Donnelly was throwing his weight around?”
“He was.”
“And your magic skills weren’t required?”
“No.”
“It seemed like O’Donnelly wanted to talk with you.”
She studied me a second then slowly dipped her head. “I think you’re right.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I have no affiliation with the MC. You’re my client—”
“You’re family,” I countered gruffly as my ride headed down another stretch of lonely highway. “Family is the only kind of language a man like O’Donnelly knows how to talk.”
“I doubt he’d agree with you there.”
Her smile had me frowning. “What’s with the smile?”
“He was more charming than I’d anticipated.”
“Charming?” I hissed under my breath. “The hell? The man’s worse than a fucking snake.”
“I think that gives common snakes a bad name,” she retorted.
“I’m not saying I liked the man. In fact, I think what he did to that woman was horrendous.
He knew who the rapist was, knew where he’d strike, but he let it happen because he wanted to ensnare Nyx.
Regardless, I’m only saying that he has a way about him. ”
I rolled my eyes. “Understatement, much?”
She laughed. “Are you jealous of a, what? Seventy-year-old man?”
“No,” I groused.
“I swear it’s a good thing I think you’re pretty or that possessive side of your nature would piss me the hell off.”
“Let you flirt with Valentini last night, didn’t I?”
Temper flashed in her eyes. “Flirt? I handed him a ridiculously overpriced purse.”
“And danced with a bunch of other bastards who had their hands all over you.”
“What do you want to do, Rex? Lock me up in the clubhouse and keep me in a glass case that only you have the key to?” she sniped.
“I would if I fucking could,” I replied grimly. “Everyone wants their fucking hands on you—”
“You’re the only one who can change that.”
The purr in her voice would have stopped a lesser man in his tracks.
“No brand until you know what it represents,” was my stony retort.
“I’ve known what it represents for a fucking lifetime, Rex. Did you know Axel never gave my mom one? Not even after she gave birth to Rain.”
I grimaced. “I knew that.”
“You did?” She shrugged. “I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t have branded her either. Vicious tramp that she was, she didn’t deserve it. Still, you try being the charity case surrounded by a bunch of kids who belonged to the MC.”
“You weren’t a charity case,” I argued.
“I felt like it sometimes.”
“I made you feel as if you were?”
“No. But I know that you had to do a hell of a lot of defending to protect me from people who should have considered me family.”
“You’ve always been family.”
“To you, maybe. To the current council, I’m learning it’s the same. But the rest of those motherfuckers you call brothers? No. They’ll only accept me if I’m branded. Why the hell are you fighting this, Rex?”
Riled up, I shot her a glower. “Wanted you branded when you were fourteen goddamn years old, Rachel. Don’t tell me that I’m fighting this when you’re the one who’s spent the two decades since fucking with that.”
“You wanted to brand me when I was a kid?”
“Yeah. You’re mine. Always have been. Always will be.”
She rubbed her temple. “I don’t understand you.”
“You don’t have to. You just need to know that I’ve spent most of my life working toward us being together. If I find myself surprised that suddenly you want the same thing after fighting it for so fucking long—”
“Ever heard of that saying, ‘Never look a gift horse in the mouth?’”
“Yeah, ever heard of the saying, ‘Don’t pull a tiger by its tail?’” I immediately retorted.
“The second you’re branded, Rachel, that’s the second I’m not letting you go anywhere.
It’s the second you’re stuck fast to my side.
It’s the second that I beat the fuck outta any man who looks at you, never mind goddamn touches you.
It’s the second that you don’t become just my Old Lady; it’s when you become the First fuckin’ Lady.
“That’s when you rule the place like my mom did. When you take over shit you have no interest in taking over. When we stand side by goddamn side and make sure that the bunch of outlaws and fuckwits we call family stay with us instead of rotting away in a grave or in a jail cell.
“It’s the moment you stop giving a fuck about flying all over the country to fight fancy lawsuits in California for serial killers who are tied to the mob, and it’s the moment you stop fighting what we have and start accepting that you. Are. Mine.
“You ain’t just taking ink, Rachel. You’re taking me. You’re taking the club. You’re taking every-fucking-thing.
“I’m not being a pussy by not branding you. I’m giving you time. Not an out. Just time. You were always gonna be the only woman who got my brand. I’ve waited this long. I can wait some more for you to figure out what’s coming your way.”
“You’re a fucking asshole; do you know that?” she spat, and I had to grin at her outrage. I doubted she’d see it in the meager light but I didn’t give a fuck if she did.
This, I’d take.
This was Rachel.
My fucking wildfire.
“I do know that,” I crooned. “You’re the one who fucking loves me. What does that say about you?”
She let loose a shriek that was pure exasperation wrapped up in frustration and snarled, “Tell me when you get Wynter out of there.”
“I will.”
“Don’t you dare fucking die, Rex, do you goddamn hear me?”
She cut the call without waiting for an answer and I didn’t try to call her back. Not only because I was a few minutes away from Wynter’s place according to the rideshare app, but because she needed a breather to think.
It was the first time she noticed she had a very long leash around her pretty neck, and because I wasn’t a prick, I never tugged on it.
I only had today because she’d insisted.
I was not like my dad.