Chapter 16
Rebel
“Kissing a woman who clearly has trauma from her assault… What were you thinking, man?” I ask as Riot and I escort Tex to the rental vehicle he’s leaving the property in.
At least, that’s what it should look like to anyone outside of our inner circle who happens to be watching. In actuality, Owen provided us with a secondary entry point onto the property that no one, but the Hearts, are aware of.
Tex will leave and come back via the other entry, making sure to stay out of sight while still guarding Rochelle from a distance.
West is keeping a discreet eye on her in the meantime, because the property is several thousand acres and the entry point Owen pointed out is an old cattle trail that requires a hike to get to.
At least when he makes it back on Heart land Owen will be waiting for him with a quad bike to make the rest of the trip quicker.
The sooner Tex is watching Ro’s back again the less we’ll all worry.
“You wanted the argument to be believable.” Tex looks crestfallen, and it has more to do with that kiss than having to hand in his credentials in front of his cohorts as part of the charade.
“It certainly was that. I almost punched you for the stunt you pulled.”
“Why didn’t you?” Riot asks.
He’s still fuming over Tex taking liberties. And also, because he had no idea about the plan. Though he would have if he had read the message thread in bros before psychos. Thankfully it worked in our favor. He reacted perfectly and lent credence to the whole performance.
Riot finally stops fuming long enough to give me lip. “Are you getting soft, old man?”
It was obvious Tex was furious at himself as soon as he realized. “No. It’s because he’d probably rather punch himself in the dick than hurt Ro. And we both know that.”
Riot glares at the bodyguard. “Yeah, fine. But I still think you should have punched him in the dick. Ro must have been freaked out.”
Tex stops walking and puts his hands up. “Go on, if you want to punch me so bad do it. Can’t be worse than the guilt I’m feeling.”
“I wanted Rebel to punch you. These fingers need to be able to play a guitar for the ceremony.”
“Go on then. Take your shot. I won’t react.” Tex stands completely still and waits.
“I’m not punching him,” I tell Riot and then focus on Tex. “If Rochelle wants to, however…”
“I won’t stop her,” Tex says.
“Kissing her the way you did… can’t happen again.” But that’s up to Ro to decide.
“There’s no excuse for how far it went.” Tex’s shoulders drop as he lowers his arms. “Once we’ve dealt with this issue, I’ll be taking my leave. I will leave the names of a few of my colleagues Ro can trust to fill the role in my place.”
He’s kicking himself for his actions. Frustrated on more than one front I suspect. He made a mistake. A big one. It can’t happen again, but I believe he’ll make sure it doesn’t. “Let’s wait and see what Ro wants to do about it once the wedding is over and we’re back in L.A.”
“I’ve already made my mind up. I’m going to go visit my sister Saylor and her husband Arrow for a while. Spend some time with my nieces Bumble and Willow.” Tex gets in the car. Starts it up. “You sure West can protect her until I’m in place?”
“Yes.” He might be aloof and guard his secrets close to his chest, but there’s no way he would work with Nicole. Since he’s not a threat to Ro, his morally suspicious behaviors might come in handy. “You’ve got the directions?”
“I’ve got them.” He shuts the door.
Riot and I stand together while Tex rolls the car back and then drives out through the Heart Ranch gates and over the cattle guard before turning right onto the road heading toward town.
“How long do you think it will take before our quarry makes their move?” Riot asks as we walk the long driveway that leads to the house.
A low buzzing sound has me looking for a bee, and when one doesn’t materialize, I turn my attention to the vast, pristine blue overhead.
Shading my eyes, I search for a drone until I’m certain it must have been an insect after all.
That would be the last thing we need added to this crazy weekend.
“Hopefully not long if this wedding is going to go smoothly.”
“But for now we… wait?” he asks as the house comes into view. Adira spots us and jogs down the steps. He heads in our direction.
“Yes.” Rogue, Ivy, and Dizzy should be landing shortly. We don’t have a cake. And then there’s the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. “We wait. And we prepare. We play our part as best men and make sure tomorrow is going to go smoothly.”
And make up for the rest of this weekend and everything that has gone wrong so far.
“The guests are starting to get antsy,” Adira says. “They know something is going on. They can tell. Some of them are talking about going home.”
That’s what we wanted this morning. People talking about the lack of bride and groom was supposed to help us find this asshole Nicole sent by giving them a destination and a reason to leave. But it didn’t work.
Now we have a new plan, and guests who want to depart. Secrets we still need to keep. And a trap waiting to be sprung. “How do we fix it?”
“Well, I have one idea.” Adira screws up his face. “Actually two… and neither of you are going to like it.”
“What?” Riot and I ask in unison.
“You and Summer stand in as proxy for the rehearsal since Rogue and Ivy aren’t back.”
“That’s not necessary. They will be back by then.” Or maybe they won’t be, but it really doesn’t matter if they’re back tonight or in the morning. “It’s not necessary for us to fill those roles when we can do a video call.”
“But it is fun.” He props a hand on his hip.
“Especially since a few of the guests have noticed the engagement ring on Summer’s finger.
They’re expecting to see at least one Maddox twin tie the knot this weekend.
It doesn’t matter if it’s not the real deal.
It’s about the romance. We need to rebuild the anticipation…
the desire to stick around for the real deal when all the gossip is negative. ”
“It’s a great idea, Adira.” Riot claps his hands together strong and slow, a sloppy grin on his face.
“And you…” Adira turns on him. “Will rehearse the bridal procession.”
“Of course.”
“And put on an impromptu performance with Sonatina during dinner. Perhaps you could give us a taste of the new version of 'Chokehold'.”
“What new version?” I had no idea he was revamping one of his old songs.
“You shouldn’t know about that.” Riot frowns. “No one knows about that. Except Bronx and Golden.”
“Well, someone let the cat out of the bag.” Adira looks confused. “Are you sure you didn’t mention it to Sonatina, because she was all over it. She told Kelsey—”
“She told Kelsey.” He grabs a fistful of his hair at the top of his head. The look on his face becomes even more irritated. “What exactly did she tell Kelsey?”
“I was getting to that part.” Adira develops a twitch under his left eye. It’s clear whatever he is about to say is going to make Riot’s mood even less fun. “She told her you changed it to be a duet that you two could sing together tomorrow night.”
“Fucking hell.”
“If you did change it for Sonatina…” he is playing with fire. If he’s messing around with both women, he could lose his best friend. “You’re going to end up hurting one of them. You need to—”
“This is bullshit. I didn’t do it for her.” Riot storms up the path toward the house.
“His love life seems to be a bigger mess than mine.” Adira says as we follow in his wake. “And I’m not sure he deserves it.”
“He’ll work it out.” Hopefully he won’t have to crash and burn first. “I need to find Summer and tell her about the act you want us to put on.”
“You could always make it real,” Adira says.
Summer wants to wait until after the babies are born. “You can’t trick us into a double wedding weekend scenario. It’s not going to happen.”
“Kansas has a no waiting, no blood tests licensing system.” He winks at me. “Everyone is already in attendance, and everything is set up as long as you don’t want a cake. Think about it.”
I shoot the bird at him over my shoulder as I leave him behind. His laughter follows me.
Summer is resting on the bed when I enter the room.
She looks up over the book she’s reading.
It has a dark cover with a half-naked dude on the front.
I have half a mind to get more nudes done and make them into stickers that I can put on the covers of her books so that it’s always me she imagines when she’s reading.
She puts the book down open on her lap. “How did it go?”
“As we expected.” I pick up one of her bare feet and situate it in my lap before massaging the muscles on the underside.
“That feels so good.” She sighs and relaxes into it. “And she’s safe?”
“West is keeping an eye on Ro while Tex is moving into place. She’s safe.
” I press my thumb into the ball of her foot.
Once Tex is back on duty, West will head to the airfield to wait for the others to arrive.
He’s going to be cutting it close making it to the airfield twenty minutes away, but Rogue said the pilot agreed to keep them in the air if needed.
She makes delighted sounds as I continue to squeeze and knead the exhaustion and stress from her feet. “So now we sit and wait?”
I move onto her other foot, bringing it onto my lap with the other. “Now… we get married.”
“Very funny.” She shoves my shoulder playfully. “We talked about this.”
“Adira wants us to stand in for Rogue and Ivy at the ceremony rehearsal.” I let her off the hook.
“What about getting them to do it via video?” She sinks down on the cloud-like pillows as I knead her thigh. “Like we did at the bridal shower.”
“I think he’s worried about what the guests will think if Rogue and Ivy don’t manage to show up for the video call.
Everyone is getting a bit antsy.” She parts her legs, making enough space between them to give me bad ideas.
I smooth my fingertips under the hem of her dress and higher toward her panties. “I said we could do it.”
“Okay.” She shudders when I skim her pussy through her panties. “If Rogue and Ivy aren’t back by then.”
“But for now why don’t you pick up your book and go back to reading.” We have time and I want to spend it with her hot and needy for me. “We could both use some stress relief.”
Her breath hitches and she picks her book back up. I let her sink into the story again before I grip her hips and move her down the bed, so I’ll have better access to her pussy.
She gazes at me over the top of the pages, already anticipating.
“Ignore me.” I crawl between her knees and place a kiss on the inside of one then the other. “Read.”
I suck and kiss my way up to her thighs before curling my fingers in the fabric covering her pussy and tugging it to the side.
Covering her with my mouth, I lick my way along her slit.
I dig the tip of my tongue inside her entrance and swirl it around her clit.
Nice, easy, and slow enough to be frustrating.
“How am I supposed to ignore you when you’re doing that?” Her breathing is starting to shallow. She tosses the book aside and grips my head instead.
I chuckle against her clit.
She moans and bucks her hips to my mouth. “More.”
I eat her the way she knows she loves. Like the starving man I am. Dipping a finger inside her while I feast on her clit, then thrusting my tongue inside her until her wetness covers my mouth and chin.
Her fingers claw and tangle in my hair as she fucks into my mouth when I hit that super sensitive spot deep inside. It’s a beautiful thing when she comes.
I crawl over her, lifting her hips with one hand on the small of her back while I thrust inside.
I tug her onto her side and into my arms so that her curvy ass fits my lap and bring the blanket up over us.
“We should probably get ready to play our part.” She sinks back against me when I place my open palm over the expanse of her belly.
“We will.” I murmur. “In a minute. Let me hold my beautiful fiancée and precious baby girls first. Tell me how it really went in town. Do you think the flyers will make a difference?”
“I hope so.” She covers my hands with her own, holding me as closely as I’m holding her. “But I doubt it.”
“Why is that?”
She goes quiet for several breaths. “It seems likely that some of the people in this town knew the truth and chose not to give a shit.”
I can hear the pain she’s trying not to show. Feel her clamping down around the emotion and trying not to let it overwhelm her. “I’m sorry, kitten.”
“I don’t know what to do now. The problem is bigger than me.
Duke’s hurting Violet. What if everyone knows and they’re all turning a blind eye?
How do I take down a town who won’t stand up to these men?
I’ll be happy to go back home and put Devil’s Bend back in the past where it belongs.
Forgetting about it might be the best move I can make. ”
Except that didn’t work. As long as her brothers are here, she’ll never be able to put it in the past. Any time we make the trip out here she’ll be reminded.
I could have a word with Owen about moving, but after his reaction to the goat, I doubt asking him to up and relocate would garner a positive response.
Dealing with it head on is the only answer.
“You know I would burn it all down for you.” I hate that she’s hurting.
That she’s been villainized and now made to feel helpless.
I’ve never given any fucks about what people—other than her—think about me.
If she wanted the whole place to burn, I would find a way to make it happen.
“That would probably mean involving West and getting some help from Dizzy. I’m sure she would have some thoughts on how to go about it. ”
If her fingerprints don’t show up on the knife, that is. Because if they do, we possibly have a whole other issue on our hands.