Chapter 1
ROGUE
Present Day . . .
For the past week, I haven’t been able to get Rebel out of my head.
The sight of seeing her on the arm of Grant Devore is seared into my head.
Out of all the men she’s been with in the past ten years, they were never someone I knew.
Especially not someone like Grant. I know what type of man he is and don’t know how I feel about that.
We’re both men that have sexual appetites exceeding a normal man’s.
It doesn’t take a brain to know what he’s doing with Rebel, and that shit pisses me off.
Ten years ago, Rebel was mine. She was supposed to be mine.
From the time she was fourteen and I’d been eighteen, we were together.
Yeah, we had rules on what we could and couldn’t do together the first two years of our relationship, but on her sixteenth birthday, I took her virginity.
Then everything went to shit six months later, right before she graduated high school.
Rebel is smarter than a lot of people—she’d finished school two years ahead of other people her age. She was even taking a few college classes.
When the lies and deceit came between us, I thought she would come to realize for herself it was all bullshit.
None of what happened should have come about, but it did.
I’d planned to ask her to marry me when she turned eighteen.
Then she’d pulled away from me—lying about what’s going on with her. Keeping secrets and pushing me out.
I finally found out what she was hiding from me. I remember being pissed as hell Rebel could believe I could do that to her. Cheat on her with another woman. You could clearly see the images were photoshopped.
Getting out of my bed, I head to the bathroom and get in the shower. I gotta get my head together.
That night at the bar when she’d waltzed in to handle some bullshit warrant for us, we also nearly lost CJ, Axe’s ol’ lady.
If it weren’t for the fact, we needed to go after CJ before she ended up dead—I’d have gone after Rebel.
But CJ came first. It still pisses me off just thinking about the way we found CJ due to Walton holding us up at the bar.
I don’t even want to think about if we didn’t get to her in time.
I finish my shower, get out, and shake off the thoughts of what had happened a week ago. I’ve given it enough thought. Now it’s time to step up—do what I gotta do.
Drying off, I dress in a pair of jeans, a leather belt, and a grey Henley. Slipping my boots on, I stuff my cell phone in my front pocket and wallet in my back pocket. I grab my watch to slide it over my wrist and snag my keys on my way to the door.
Making sure to lock my door on the way out, I walk down the halls of the clubhouse. Spotting Cy, Axe, and Hammer, I head in their direction. “What’s going on?”
“We’re just discussing how CJ’s doing,” Axe says, meeting my gaze.
“How is she?” I ask. We’ve all been worried about her.
“She’s happy to be out of the hospital, but hating bedrest,” Axe chuckles.
“It’s better than her being dead or losing the baby,” Hammer grunts.
“That’s for sure. I still can’t get the sight of that night out of my head,” Axe grimaces—the smile he was wearing a second ago is gone.
I don’t think any of us will forget the way we found her.
Hammer’s right. She’s lucky to have not lost the baby due to the trauma she had endured at the hands of her sadistic cousin.
“She’s alive. That counts for something, right?” I quip, not wanting to bring up anything negative. The club, in the past few years, has been through hell.
All of this started when Avery had moved to town, and Prez got with her—no one blames her—she does that enough for us all. We’ve all told her that she can’t control what her siblings do. They’ve wanted to make her suffer, and by her blaming herself, they’re succeeding.
They’d not only set Avery’s business on fire which we’ve since rebuilt, they’d also blew up our bar, killing a few of our employees in the process. One of those being Quinn, the mother to Gunner’s daughter. The fucked up part, she hadn’t told him until a week before she ended up dead.
We’ve all felt the pain for our brother. Sure, he was pissed with her for keeping the truth from him, but we all know he loved her or at least cared for her. They’d been growing close whenever she would stay at the clubhouse with Avery and Willow.
“Yeah, that’s all that counts,” Axe grumbles.
“Not to change the subject, but you talk to my cousin yet?” Cy asks, giving me a questioning look.
With Cy being Rebel’s cousin, things between us have always been tricky.
He knows how I feel about the woman, and he’s loyal to the club, which doesn’t mean he doesn’t have mixed feelings over the fact his flesh and blood being hurt.
“Going to see her.” I shrug, not wanting to give away my plan and what I intend to do when I confront Rebel.
“Good, she’s been dodging me this past week.” Go figure she’d dodge him. For being a badass lawyer, Rebel definitely doesn’t do personal confrontation. She runs from it. Always has.
I remember when she was a kid, her mom would be fighting with her deadbeat dad.
Rebel would leave the house through the backdoor, run nearly two miles until she got to the clubhouse to find her uncle.
Cy and I’d be outside when we’d see her tiny body running our way, bright blonde hair flowing behind her.
The club has always been protective of Rebel and her mom.
Cy’s dad is one of our older members who had first started this charter for the Devil’s Riot MC.
With Rebel’s mom joining the military when she did to support the two of them at nineteen, they’d moved in with Cy and his dad.
This meant Rebel’s deadbeat of a dad stopped coming around harassing her mom.
Rebel’s mom is still in the military, thriving.
“Cy, you know how Rebel is.” I check the time on my watch, seeing I don’t have much more time to set my plan into action. “I gotta get out of here. Got a stop to make before heading to deal with a woman.”
“Good luck with that,” Hammer chuckles.
“Yeah, I’m gonna need it,” I snort, giving them all a two-finger salute.
Leaving them, I strut out of the clubhouse and head for my bike.
Straddling my girl, I slip my helmet in place and start her up.
Lifting a foot off the ground, I kick up the kickstand and back out of my spot.
Hitting the throttle, I pull out of the club’s parking lot.
The prospects already have the gates open for me as I pass through, giving them a jerk of the chin.
Speeding down the road, it doesn’t take me long for the building I’m heading toward to come into view. Winding through the streets, I pull up right at the front entrance, eye the words, Devore Brew.
Putting the kickstand down, I shut my bike down and climb off. I straighten my cut as I walk up to the doors—throwing them open—stepping inside.
I walk past the front receptionist, ignoring her as she tells me to wait. I already know where Grant’s office is. Approaching his door, I open it and step inside like I own the place.
I find Grant sitting behind his desk. He looks in my direction when I close the door. “I’ve been expecting you. Figured you’d be coming by sooner or later. Though I thought it would be the former rather than the latter. What can I help you with?”
“You know what you can help me with. Stay away from Rebel,” I grunt, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You want me to stay away from Rebel?” Grant smirks. “Now, why would I do that?”
“Don’t play games with me, Grant. I honestly don’t have the patience or the time to deal with them. Now tell me you’ll stay away from Rebel.” I know I’m close to stepping over the invisible line between the two of us, but I don’t give a damn. Not when it comes to Rebel.
Chuckling, Grant stands and rounds his desk, his eyes never leaving mine. “Rebel isn’t mine to do anything with. She’s her own woman and can choose who and what she wants to do. But if you must know, Rebel and I are only friends.”
“Didn’t look like you were friends a week ago,” I grunt.
“That was before I knew of your past with her. You know the type of man I am and the relationships I have with women.” Yeah, I know what he does with women and his taste, because they match my own.
“I made Rebel tell me about the two of you. There’s unsettled business there that needs to be taken care of.
I’ve ended things between the two of us, having told her she needs to speak with you.
Work out whatever it is that’s between the two of you. ”
“Why would you do that?” I demand, wondering about his motives.
“Because, whether you like it or not, Rebel will always be my friend. She may have been my Sub, but she’s always been my friend first and foremost.” Grant’s admission shocks the hell out of me.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting I was getting ready to leave for,” he says, nodding toward the door.
Leaving Grant’s office, I get to my bike and start her up, still surprised by what he’d said.
Unsettled business?
More like a lifetime that’s been at a standstill. Rebel has always been mine.
Taking off, I put the next step in my plan in motion in getting my woman back. Knowing Grant won’t be in my way lifts a weight I hadn’t even realized was pressing down on my shoulders.
Grinning, I hit the throttle and head in the direction of Rebel’s house. She won’t be home for a while, and I’ll have time to get everything set up for when she does. It’s a good thing I’d remembered to grab the cuffs.