Chapter 6
Six
Adam
When we get outside, I put the box and the dress on the back seat of my truck, lift Rebekah into the passenger side, and fasten her seatbelt.
Before I can shut the door, another engine comes rattling down the lane.
This one does not belong to one of my brother’s trucks.
Whatever the vehicle is, it’s sputtering and sounds like it might not make it up the last hill.
Rebekah stiffens. “That’s him.”
I kiss her forehead. “You stay right here no matter what, understood?”
“But…”
“I mean it, Rebekah. Let me handle this.”
“Yes, sir.”
I flinch. That’s the first time she’s called me sir. I’m not sure I like it. She will not be my servant. She will be my equal partner. But I’m grateful she intends to obey this directive. It’s for her safety. “Good girl.”
I shut the door and step away from the truck to join my brothers where they stand in a line, firmly planted, feet wide, chests back.
“You were going to have to face him at some point,” Adrian says.
“Yeah. I just would have preferred not confronting him in front of Rebekah.”
Richard Sharp pulls his beat-up, blue truck into the grass before leaping out of it. Oh, yeah. He’s angry. He’s also staggering, and he looks like shit. He’s emaciated from drinking his calories. He appears to be thirty years older than I’m sure he is.
“What the fuck are you doing on my property?” he shouts, hip-checking the corner of his truck. Yep. Drunk.
I don’t want him to know we took anything from the house, so I take a different tactic. “Came to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.” Perhaps if I pretend to ask, it will help my case.
Sharp’s eyes widen. “My Rebekah?”
“Yes.”
He sways again and braces himself on the bed of his truck. “All four of you gonna fuck that harlot?”
I grind my teeth, trying to hold my temper while praying Rebekah stays in the truck like I demanded. “I’ll be the one marrying Rebekah.” Now I understand why she tosses that antiquated word around.
He shakes his head. “No.”
Fuck. I figured he wouldn’t let me take her without a fight. She’s his maid. “I’m marrying your daughter. With or without your blessing.”
“The fuck you are,” he shouts. His gaze moves past me toward my truck. “Rebekah,” he bellows. “Get your slutty self out of that truck right this instant. You’re not going anywhere with these Gallant assholes.”
I’m grateful that she doesn’t move. Good girl. I’m sure she’s freaking out, but it says a lot that she trusts me over her father. It says a lot about the conditions she’s been living in, too. And the level of abuse she has undoubtedly suffered.
When I glance over my shoulder, I can see the back of her head. She has slunk down a bit in the seat, but she isn’t facing this direction.
“Why the fuck did you pussies move back here for anyway?” Sharp asks, swaying back and forth.
“You should have stayed gone. Can’t you take a fucking hint?
You’re not wanted in these parts. Your fucking mother thought she could meddle in my life by befriending my wife over twenty years ago.
I had to nip that shit in the bud. Don’t think I’m not aware you people fucking filled Rebekah’s head with nonsense when she was a child.
I won’t let you pick up where you left off.
Too bad you didn’t all die in that fire. Get the fuck off this mountain.”
I grit my teeth, trying to control my temper. My brothers and I have long suspected Richard Sharp of starting the fire that killed our parents. We had no proof, but I don’t like what’s coming out of his mouth right now.
Asher growls and lurches forward. It takes both Andrew and Adrian to haul him back.
“It’s our land, Sharp,” Andrew informs him, “and I suggest you change your attitude, old man. No one talks that way in front of a lady, and you have no reason to speak to us like that.”
“The fuck I don’t.” Richard staggers forward. “You’re not taking my daughter. I don’t care if she is a harlot and all six of you have fucked her. You can’t have her.”
I’m surprised how steady his speech is. Finding us in his driveway has sobered him up a bit. He’s barely slurring.
“Go inside and sleep off that alcohol, old man,” Adrian tells him. “This isn’t a fight you want to have. You’d break your hand if you tried to take a swing at any of us.”
Sharp points toward the truck. “You’re not taking that bitch with you,” he shouts. “Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. The. Truck. Rebekah.” His voice is so loud that birds fly into the air.
When I look again, I can only see the very top of her head. I’m so proud of her. This can’t be easy. She’s probably shaking violently, and I want to end this conversation and get her out of here.
“She’s mine,” Sharp screams.
Asher steps closer, veins bulging across his forehead. “That woman does not belong to you, Sharp. She belongs to my brother now. If you want her to ever come and visit you, you’ll treat her with the respect she deserves. Go inside and sober up, you fool. We’re leaving.”
Sharp lunges forward.
Adrian and Andrew block him, but Asher calmly grabs his arms, pins them behind his back, and escorts him toward the house. “I’ve got this. Take your woman and get out of here,” he says over his shoulder toward me.
He may not fully support my decision to marry a woman I reunited with a few hours ago, but blood runs thick between us. When push comes to shove, like it just did, he will support me.
I’ll thank my brother later. For now, I heed his advice and jog over to the truck. I climb in, fasten my seatbelt, and reach out to set a hand on Rebekah’s thigh before I start up the engine and pull away from the house.
On second thought, now that we have that pretty dress, we’re not going straight to town. We’re going home so my girl can bathe and change first. I want her to feel beautiful when we say our vows.
It only takes a few minutes to get back to my place, and as soon as I shut off the engine, I reach across and unbuckle her. I don’t like how quiet she is. I climb out and jog around to her side of the truck.
The moment I open the passenger side door, she leaps into my embrace. Her tiny arms wrap around my neck and hold on tight. Her equally small legs go around my waist. She nuzzles into my neck. “You really mean it, don’t you?”
I rub her back and carry her into the cabin. “Every word, sweetheart. Do you want to take a bath and put on that pretty dress while I call the judge and let him know we’re coming?”
She giggles.
My cock swells.
My god, I love that sound. I want to hear it every day of my life. It will be my mission to make sure I do. I smile at her.
Her head cocks to the side, her hair swaying against the backs of my hands. “We’re getting married?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to kiss me?” She giggles again.
“Yep. As soon as the judge declares us man and wife.” I carry her into the bathroom and sit her on the vanity. “I’m sorry, I don’t have fancy girly shampoo and soap for you. It was on my list, but Aaric isn’t back yet.”
She furrows her brow. “I don’t need fancy soap, Adam.”
“I know you don’t need it, but you’re getting it, anyway.”
The rumble of a truck outside tells me at least one of my brothers has arrived, so I lift my woman to the floor and kiss the top of her head. I can’t wait to kiss her lips, but I will because why not? We’re so close to getting hitched. Might as well save even our first kiss for the altar.
“How about you get in the tub while I go see who’s here?”
“Okay.”
I close the door, leaving my wife-to-be in the bathroom.
I’m a bit worried about her father. I don’t need to be.
Asher is going to be watching our property like a hawk now that he suspects a threat.
I’m sure it bothers him that Rebekah managed to get past him so many times.
We’re installing a surveillance system around the property and on every structure, but it’s not all hooked up yet.
I suspect Adrian—who’s in charge of security—will fast-track that shit now, not sleeping until he can see every camera view from his office.
As soon as it’s ready, we’ll keep our land monitored at all times.
We don’t have proof, but all of us suspect the fire that killed our parents was arson. Someone didn’t want our family on this mountain, and we have to assume whoever that someone is probably doesn’t like that we’ve returned.
We will not be chased off our land, and we won’t be caught unaware again either.
Our parents came to Gallant Mountain nearly forty years ago to escape society.
What most people don’t know is that they were brilliant minds, and they had developed and patented a GPS app before deciding they didn’t like the limelight.
When they bought this land and moved here, they did so hoping to lie low and live authentically.
All six of us boys were born on this mountainside.
Our parents raised us to humbly respect our environment and gifts.
The truth is, we have enough money to sit back and relax for the rest of our days if we so choose, but we aren’t idle people. If our parents could see us, they would be proud. We have not only managed their business, but have grown it and continued their legacy.
By the time I step onto my front porch, I find Aaric is the one who has arrived. I’m glad. I really want Rebekah to have some nice things to wear.
“That was fast,” I tell him. “I really appreciate your help. I owe you big time.”
“What’s going on? I got a cryptic text from Asher.”
I grin. “I’m marrying Rebekah.”
His eyes bug out. “For real?”
“Yes. Today.”
He takes a step back. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“At the risk of sounding crass, why?”
“It feels right. I knew it almost as soon as I set eyes on her. I can’t explain it, but I’ve never felt like this with any other woman in my life.”
“So, you could take her on a date,” he suggests, chuckling.
“There are other factors. Turns out her father is a fucking jackass. He uses her as his personal slave, and when she doesn’t do what he wants how he wants it, he punishes her.”
“Fuck. She’s…what? Twenty?”
“Yes. I couldn’t let her go back there. It didn’t sit well with me. And she was very nervous about how improper it would be for her to stay with me as an unmarried woman. So, I made the leap.”
He grins wider. “You’re fucking getting married. Today.”
“Yes, I am.” I have zero reservations about my decision, either. Not one.
Aaric reaches into the back seat of his truck and starts pulling out bags and handing them to me. “No wonder you wanted so many things. I doubt I got everything a woman needs, but it’s a start. Is she really as tiny as you indicated? I was nervous buying such small clothes.”
“She really is. They’ll be baggy on her for a while. She’s undernourished.”
“Well, she won’t be for long. Not with the way we cook around here.” He suddenly pauses. “You didn’t ask for condoms.”
I shrug. “Don’t need them. She’s coming to our bed tonight as my wife.”
“You sure she’s okay with that?”
“I’m not going to force her to get pregnant, if that’s what you’re asking. If she’s not down with the idea, I’m sure one of you has condoms around here.”
Aaric laughs. “I might have a box.”
I roll my eyes. “See?”
“When was the last time you had sex, man? How the hell are you so unprepared?”
I shoot him a mind-your-own-business look. “It’s been a while. If I had any, they would have expired.”
“You’re too ugly for any girl to want to fuck you,” he jokes, laughing.
“If I am, then you are, too.” Since we’re identical.
Aaric helps me carry everything in and set it all on the kitchen table.
“Thanks again. Can you do me one more favor?”
“The list of favors you owe me is growing longer by the minute,” he teases. I know he doesn’t mind helping me; I would do the same for him in a heartbeat.
“Can you bring some food up from the main house? I rarely eat here. It’s pretty bare. I don’t think we’ll be joining you at the family dining room for a few days.”
“I’m on it.” He slaps my shoulder. “And congratulations. I haven’t seen Rebekah since we got back, of course, but she was always the sweetest child. And if I remember correctly, she worshiped you. Didn’t she tell you she would marry you when she grew up?”
“She did.” I beam. “I guess I’m the sexiest of us, after all.”