Madd Wedding, Vol II (The A-List Rebels #7)

Chapter 1

Rogue

What the hell happened?

Darkness recedes and is replaced with a piercing sound and a pulsing in my head as I take in my surroundings. They don’t make sense. At first, it’s because my vision is unfocused. Then it sharpens.

Dizzy’s shoes are on the ceiling. That’s weird. Pebble size pieces of glass litter the area above my head. When I look through the window the sky is on the bottom and the trees are upside down. The road is next to us… grass is above our heads…

One of the men in the front groans. His arms are raised above his head, and he brings them down to his face. “Davis?”

We were driving back to the ranch. Some asshole ran us off the road. The car rolled… Fuck.

A whimper from beside me has me turning my head fast enough to twinge my neck.

Ivy. Her hair standing on end, except… we’re upside down. Her eyes are closed and her face is slack.

My chest spasms, my voice is a croak, “Ivy?”

Please wake up. Please be okay.

I reach out and touch her face. “Baby, can you hear me?”

Her eyes flicker open. “Rogue?”

“Thank God.” I let out a sigh of relief.

“What…” It must come rushing back because she starts wriggling to look outside the car. “We were in an accident?”

“Yeah.” If you could call it that when whoever ran us off the road acted like it was very intentional. And since the ceiling is above us, I’m assuming we landed on the roof when we flipped. “We need to get out of here.”

Her eyes widen as she turns to her sister. “Dizzy, oh my God, are you okay?”

“Never better.” Dizzy cradles her head and groans. She’s pasty. “Ouch.” She looks at her fingers which come away dark. “Whoever did this just signed their death warrant.” She rolls her eyes at me and puts on a bright smile that’s too tight to be real. “Kidding. Mostly.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ivy asks. “You could have a concussion.”

“I don’t think I do,” Dizzy says. “Just a scratch and a bruise. Can we get out of here?”

“I’ll go first so I can help get you down.” Steadying myself against the ceiling, I undo my seatbelt. I wince when my shoulders hit the ceiling. Glass falls with me.

Davis, our bodyguard, appears in the space where the glass used to be. He must have gotten out immediately. “Everyone okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Ivy?” he asks. “Dizzy?”

“I’m okay,” Ivy responds.

“Yes.” Dizzy follows my lead, bracing one hand against the ceiling and unclipping her seatbelt.

Unlike me, she somehow manages to turn around in the confined space so that she’s crouched on the ceiling, face to face with her sister.

She assesses Ivy with a shrewd gaze and the methodical movements of a paramedic.

“Heart rate is steady. No obvious injuries. Pupils? I need a light.”

“We need to get you out of there.” Davis hands her a flashlight before he grips my shoulders and starts to drag me through the window. Broken glass scratches at my back through my shirt.

The interior of the car is replaced with an inky, twinkling sky. The roughness of the glass and metal to deserted road. Whoever hit us didn’t stop.

Davis drags me into a seated position before he lets me go. My breath is shaky and my pulse is racing. I’m kind of numb, probably from the adrenaline coursing through me. In one piece though, as far as I can tell. I get to my knees. I need to help Ivy.

“We’ve got them.” Davis says.

Our other bodyguard has already filled the space I left and is freeing Ivy from her seatbelt. I’m on my feet and stumbling toward them as he drags her from the wreckage. My equilibrium is starting to come back. Glass grit showers the ground around me as I brush myself down.

I take over when the bodyguard helps her to her feet. Holding her at arms’ length I brush down her arms and back and use my fingers to comb fragments of glass from her hair while I check over every inch of her. “Are you sure you’re okay, baby? We need to call for help, Davis.”

“I’m not hurt.” Ivy touches my back.

It stings.

“Rogue, I think you might have some glass… turn around.”

“I do?” I show her my back.

Her hands are careful and delicate as she checks me over. There is another sting and a tugging feeling. “It’s not much. Nothing serious. I’m going to remove it.”

I take a breath and grit my teeth when I can feel the shards being pried from my flesh.

“It’s out. May need to bandage it though when we get a chance.” She puts herself in my arms when I turn back around. “We were lucky, weren’t we?”

Dizzy slides herself out from inside the car. Straightening, she brushes broken glass from the back of her legs and her knees. Flecks of blood well from a few small cuts on her legs, but she barely seems to notice.

“We need to call the cops. And we should get you all checked out by a paramedic.” Davis reaches for his phone.

“No.” Dizzy’s eyes grow round. One hand turns into a fist, the other goes behind her hip. “Ivy—"

“No, that’s not necessary,” Ivy says.

“Actually, it is.” Both women are acting odd. I’m used to Dizzy being a little, or a lot, extra, but Ivy… “Call it in, Davis.”

Dizzy’s ass hits the side of the car. “You can’t—”

“Don’t call it in, Davis,” Ivy orders.

“Ivy—"

“Rogue.” Ivy grips my face and forces me to focus on her, as if my intent wasn’t her protection and health.

“I know we have to call it in, but you weren’t there when the sheriff showed up tonight.

The man has it in for Summer and anyone attached to her.

That includes your identical twin. Maybe we don’t call the accident in immediately. ”

“But you need to be checked out,” I say.

“Yes, and I will be, but not here. Not right now. I’m fine,” she says then sweeps an arm out to indicate Dizzy. “You okay, sis?”

Dizzy nods.

“How about you two?” Ivy turns to both bodyguards.

“We’d be better if we weren’t out here, exposed,” Davis says, phone still in his hand though he’s waiting for us to make up our minds. “Viktor, do a sweep.”

His partner nods and goes to check the shadowy tree line in case we’re not alone. He blends into the darkness.

Ivy turns her gaze on me. “You?”

Why is she being stubborn? I’m blinded by Dizzy shining a bright light in my eyes. I lift an arm to guard my sight. “What the hell, Dizzy? Do you know what you’re doing?”

“I know enough to assess for a head injury. And keep a man from bleeding out quick if one were to cut too deep.”

Right. Okay. She’s definitely acting weirder than normal. “Seriously, Dizzy. Get that fucking light out of my eyes. I’m fine.”

The light clicks off. Dizzy hands the flashlight back to Davis. “See, we don’t need first responders. Especially not that janky sheriff. What we need is a car.”

“And a plan,” Ivy adds.

“All clear.” Viktor reappears.

“I’ll call in to command and let them know there’s been an attack. Organize another vehicle,” Davis says. “It’ll be best if all three of you stay close to the shadows in case they come back and we need to act quick.”

I grasp Ivy’s elbow and usher her ahead of me until we’re under the trees and I can barely see her standing next to me. Or Dizzy, who must have found her own hiding spot.

I card my fingers through my hair loosening bits of glass from the strands. “I can’t believe this is happening. Again.”

Was this Nicole? Her protégé? It had to have been. Not that Nicole ever ran us off the road before. But the roses. The way she’s messing with us so close to our wedding. Acid and emotion rise in my belly. The way she had Ivy’s dad killed... It’s all too familiar.

“She’s in jail. This shouldn’t be possible.” Ivy slips her arms around me and rests her cheek against my chest.

“I know, baby. But she’s devious. And Alec is still out there. They could be working—”

“I don’t think so.” She steps out of my embrace. She tips her head back when there’s a scraping noise overhead, the leaves whispering against one another. “Dizzy?”

“I wanted a better look out,” Dizzy calls down.

“Ivy.” I get why she doesn’t want to face the idea that Nicole and Alec are working together, but we can’t bury our heads in the sand.

“I don’t think we should go back to the ranch,” she says.

“I know it’s scary.” I’m anxious too. We don’t know what the hell is going on and it’s starting to feel like everywhere we turn another person who has it out for us could be lurking. With Nicole…

And the goat…

And those Devil’s Bend dickheads threatening Summer too.

“But is leaving really the answer? Is Vegas what you really want?” It isn’t what we planned for.

It isn’t the day we dreamed into planned reality.

Ivy is still supposed to have her bridal shower tomorrow.

And I’m supposed to let my brothers roast me for a couple hours tomorrow night before I spend the first night in months away from my woman.

“I’m supposed to be finishing my vows. You’re supposed to be relaxing and enjoying your time as a bride. And then, at the top of the aisle, I’m supposed to wait and watch the most heavenly creature I’ve ever seen walk toward me so that we can pledge our eternal devotion to each other.”

“Aww.” Dizzy sniffles up above. “You two are so sweet together.”

“I’m really struggling with how you haven’t finished writing your vows yet.” Ivy smiles softly at me. “The things you say to me…”

Dizzy drops out of the tree, hanging upside down from a branch. “The sweetest.”

“Car is on the way,” Davis reports to us as Dizzy lands on her feet close to us. “Should be here in five minutes.”

“Great.”

Davis steps back from my line of sight, and I focus on Ivy. “I’m not going to let that woman ruin our lives—or our wedding— anymore.”

“I understand.” Ivy touches my jaw. It stings a little where her fingers landed.

Must have been grazed by some of the glass.

“But we’re not just talking about Nicole.

We’re talking about someone who ran us off the road tonight.

We’re lucky none of us were hurt. That between us we only have a couple of scratches and a few bruises.

If we go back to the ranch, we’re putting all our friends and family in danger too.

I’m not saying Vegas is the answer. I just think we need a plan that we currently don’t have. ”

“I need to call Rebel then.” I capitulate. I can’t say no to those round doe eyes when she looks at me like that. “Let him know we’re not coming back.”

And hope between us we can come up with a plan to turn this near wedding disaster around.