CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
STORM
I didn’t want to believe what I was seeing. Try as I might, I couldn’t stop staring at my phone. At the photo that River Harris had sent me.
A photo of my brother getting into a vehicle with Rebel the night of the party. After I had left. Which meant that Rebel lied when he said he didn’t know anything about where Chase had gone that night. How could he do this to me?
Maybe I should’ve known better. It wasn’t as if Rebel hadn’t already shown me who he was. Somehow, I’d been stupid enough to believe in the softer side of him. So badly, I’d wanted to believe that he had nothing to do with my brother’s murder. Even though this photo wasn’t exactly concrete evidence, it did prove that Rebel had lied. He knew something.
The longer I stared at the photo, the more the anger festering inside me grew into a bubbling inferno of lava ready to boil over. Unable to stop myself, I began typing a message to Rebel. Before I could rethink it, I hit send.
His reply was almost immediate. Demanding to know what I was talking about and what was going on. I had nothing more to say to him right now. I’d let myself be vulnerable with him. I’d given him another chance that he didn’t deserve. Well, I was done with that shit.
Now it was war.
The more I looked at the photo, the crazier I drove myself. Feeling frantic and manic, I pondered ways to take my revenge on Rebel. Waiting around for the justice system to handle it wouldn’t appease this need I had to lash out at him right now. He needed to know that I knew what he’d done. That I was going to take matters into my own hands.
I checked several times for his car in the driveway next door. Shortly after dark, it was there. He was home. No doubt he was waiting for the right moment to climb up to my balcony and confront me. Not only did I lock the balcony door, I propped a large stick in the track so it couldn’t be slid open either.
Then I donned a black hoodie, pulling the hood up to hide my hair and face. A quick Internet search had told me everything I needed to know about cutting a brake line.
Was it crazy? Was I taking this too far? I didn’t see how. My brother was dead, his organs missing and probably sold off to rich buyers who didn’t want to wait their turn in an organ donor line.
That very thought drove me out the door and across our front lawns to Rebel’s driveway. He’d finally had my key job on his paint fixed. I had half a mind to carve a new word into it now. Murderer. That would take time though, and this needed to be done quickly.
Luckily, Larry had the right tools. Brake lines were strong, so I had to put some muscle into it. I wasn’t sure I’d have been able to pull it off without the rage that filled me. I wasn’t even sure if I did it properly. Hanging around too long would put me at risk of getting caught, so I did my best to do some damage, and got the hell out of there.
I’d just made it back to my own driveway when Rebel’s front door opened. I ducked behind my mom’s car and watched as Rebel left the house and got in his BMW. Shit. I hadn’t expected him to leave again so soon.
I couldn’t resist the urge to follow him. Knowing that he would easily recognize my vehicle, I waited for him to leave the driveway before grabbing my mom’s keys and following.
The streets were relatively empty since it was almost midnight on a weeknight. Most people were at home preparing for the following day. A guy like Rebel Kane was always up to no good though. Was he going to engage in some shady black market business? I assumed as much.
Since there were no vehicles between us, I tried to keep my distance while also keeping Rebel in view. He seemed to be on his way to the graveyard. I couldn’t follow him all the way there without being seen. I’d have to turn off before leaving town.
As we came upon an intersection, I started to grow nervous. Doubts crept in to plague me with worry. Maybe I’d gone too far. Maybe I was as horrible a person as Rebel.
Those suspicions were confirmed when the light turned red and he tried to stop but failed. His car travelled through the intersection and swerved as he realized he had no brakes. I watched from where I’d stopped at the red light as Rebel drove up onto the sidewalk and straight into a tree.
I gasped, slapping a hand over my mouth as I stared in wide-eyed horror. What the hell was wrong with me? Was I really willing to kill the guy?
Once the light turned green, I proceeded forward, pulling over near the sidewalk where Rebel had crashed. Not sure what to do, I sat there in shock. Rebel shoved his door open and got out of the car. He looked fine. Thankfully, he hadn’t been going all that fast.
Spotting me right away, he stormed over to my vehicle and jerked the door open. Grabbing hold of my arm, he yanked me out of the vehicle before slamming me against the side of it.
“Want to tell me what the fuck that was all about? Are you trying to kill me?” Veins on Rebel’s arms stood out as he slammed a hand on the car next to my head.
I stammered a few times in my effort to get the words out. “I didn’t… I’m sorry. I lost my head when I saw the photo of you.”
“What photo? You need to tell me what’s going on here, Storm. Why did you send me that message earlier?” His voice rose to an angry pitch, his body shaking as he pressed against me, trapping me.
“It’s on my phone. I’ll show you. River sent it to me. Why did you lie, Rebel?” My voice cracked as emotion overtook me. I really wasn’t feeling like myself these days.
Holding me in place with one hand, he reached inside my pocket to dig out my phone. Shoving it against my chest, he hissed, “Show me.”
I did my best to fumble my phone open and scroll to the picture River had sent. Turning the phone so Rebel could see the screen, I waited for his reaction.
His expression remained hard and unreadable. Finally, he said, “I didn’t tell you about that because Chase asked me not to tell anyone. He wanted me to hook him up with some drugs, some hard shit. So we took a little drive. But we went back to the party after, and we went our separate ways. That’s not a lie. You can believe me or not.”
Part of me wanted so desperately to believe him. It would explain the photo without incriminating Rebel in any way. Still, it almost seemed too good to be true. I wanted it so badly.
“You should’ve told me,” I said. “I trusted you. I wanted to believe that you wouldn’t do something like this, but I don’t know what to believe anymore. Every shred of evidence makes it look like you and your friends are behind this.”
“Because that’s exactly what River wants. I can’t believe you’re buying into his bullshit. You’re smarter than that, Storm. Didn’t you once stop to ask yourself why River was taking a photo like that? Why was he watching Chase and me so closely that night?”
I felt like an idiot. Seeing the photo had made me so angry that I couldn’t think straight. Not once did I stop to consider why River even had such a photo. He played me, and I made it too easy for him.
Putting both hands over my face, I muffled the scream that broke from me. “God, I’m such a dumbass. I can’t believe I fell for that. This isn’t like me, Rebel. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”
“That’s for you to figure out. In the meantime, I’ll remind you who you belong to.” Rebel spun me around so I faced the car. Shoving me down so I splayed across the seat through the open car door, he roughly jerked my pants down to my knees.
The sound of his zipper followed. I had no time to prepare before he shoved his hard cock inside me. There was a moment of pain as my body resisted. He would not be deterred. Thrusting deep, he gave me mere seconds to adjust to the sudden intrusion.
My breath caught as he continued to pump inside me. I gripped the seat, holding on for dear life as he roughly pounded into me. My body began to open up to him as my pussy grew wetter. Some sick part of me loved his possessive claiming.
I loved it even more when he grabbed my hair and jerked my head up, snarling in my ear. “You are mine, pet. I will punish you with my cock every time I catch you communicating with River fucking Harris in any way. You will not speak to him. You won’t even fucking look at him. Is that understood?”
With a vigorous nod, I panted, “I understand. I won’t talk to him. I promise.”
Thrusting especially hard so I cried out, Rebel said, “That’s a good girl. Now stop fucking with my car or we’re going to have a real problem.”
I cringed from sheer embarrassment. This entire situation with Chase’s murder was getting to me. Making me someone I didn’t recognize.
Getting fucked by Rebel on the side of the road was going to be embarrassing as hell if anyone came along and saw us. I should never have messed with his car. He could have been seriously hurt. Or someone else. Who even was I right now?
My pussy took a pounding as Rebel’s aggression guided him. My cries grew louder as he quickly drove us both to the edge. It didn’t take long before he exploded inside me with hot spurts. Legs shaking, I clung to the seat so I wouldn’t slump to the ground.
Rebel’s sudden slap on my ass cheek was startling, making me yelp. “I’ll see you later, pet. I have some business to take care of. Leave your balcony door unlocked.”
Tugging his pants back into place, he strode over to his car and got back inside. Luckily, the accident had only crumpled the hood. It hadn’t even set off the airbags. He left me slumped there with my pants down and drove away.
I hurriedly pulled up my pants and got in the car. Hightailing it back home, I went straight up to my bedroom. Shame filled me at the thought of my actions. Such a stupid thing to do in the heat of the moment.
Pulling out my phone, I went to River’s message and promptly blocked his number. There was clearly a war going on between the Kings and Venom. A war that I was now caught in the middle of.
Whether I liked it or not, I had to choose a side. I knew that I would choose Rebel each and every time. He better not make me regret that.