Chapter 50
EXPECTING ANYONE?
Rebel Pierce
When I plopped down on my couch, a grunt escaped from my lips. It was such a relief to leave the hospital, but my heart was still heavy. Four long days had passed without any word from J.D., and an unsettling feeling sank in my stomach. Caesar had tried to calm me down but until I heard from him anxiousness would be a part of my daily life.
Caesar sat beside me. “Why aren’t you talking to your sister?”
I let out a groan of frustration. Talking about Rumi was the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted to know if he had heard from J.D., hoping for some news. Of course, she had made another attempt to visit me at the hospital, but I made it clear to the nurses that she could not see me. My parents scolded me, but I was sticking to my decision. She needed to learn her lesson and stay out of my relationship. This wasn’t something she could just take back. She’d pointed the finger at J.D., knowing damn well he wouldn’t shoot me.
“You know why.”
I squirmed in my couch as I tried to get comfortable because I sensed a lecture coming my way, and the lingering pain made it even worse.
He sighed. “She was looking out for you, Rebel.”
“Stop making excuses for her. She was projecting her anger for you against him. It’s been that way since I started dating him.”
“You can’t blame her for that.”
“I can’t believe you’re on her side, Caesar!”
“It’s not that I’m on her side, Rebel. I understand why she did what she did. We have our issues to work out, sure, but you can’t blame her for assuming what she did.”
“I sure as hell can! She knows J.D. would do anything to protect me but she can’t get by her feelings for you. It’s called projection Caesar. And how do you know I told her not to come by?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
“She called me in tears.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course, she did. I’m not changing my mind, Caesar. The cops issued an arrest warrant for him, and you think I’m going to forgive her for that! I’ve told her so many times to stay out of my relationship. I’ve told her so many times that my relationship isn’t the relationship that she had with you. She doesn’t listen.”
“But you know what I did to her, Rebel,” he said with sadness in his eyes. “She was coming from a place of concern even if it wasn’t the right thing to do.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
She might have been coming from a place of concern, but she should have respected my wishes.
“Just think about what I’ve said. She misses you.”
I missed her too, but I wasn’t changing my mind. If she can’t honor the boundaries, I set with her and respect my relationship, then there was nothing left to discuss between us. Until she realized the damage she did, I was keeping my distance. I loved my sister, but she had shit she needed to work through.
“Have you heard anything?” I asked, changing the subject. “It’s been four days. I thought we would have heard something by now.”
“I haven’t and I don’t expect to. This is just how shit goes, Rebel. It takes however long it takes.”
“But four days? You think something might be wrong?”
He shook his head. “He’s not dead or in jail if that’s what you’re thinking. Grimm would get in touch with me if something happened to him.”
“How do you know you can trust Grimm? He’s a part of the Sinners.”
“I don’t trust Grimm because I don’t know him. However, I do trust J.D. and he trusts his cousin. He would have also given him instructions to contact me if anything happened to him.”
“So why the silence then? Why haven’t we heard anything?”
“It’s just how it is. They have to plan and make sure shit is in order before they make any kind of move.”
Even though I wasn’t sure I totally believed what he was saying what could I do? I was on the other side of the country while he was doing God knows what.
Before I could ask any more questions, a knock sounded at the door.
Caesar looked at me. “Expecting anyone?”
“No.”
He hopped up off the couch and ambled over to the door then pulled it open without asking who was on the other side.
“Who are you?” Caesar asked.
“Who are you?” my godfather responded.
I was not up to having any other company. Caesar wouldn’t leave no matter how much I complained about him being here. And anytime he wasn’t here one of the prospects would hang around. The constant company was getting suffocating.
“Let him in, Caesar!”
My godfather walked into my living room, his footsteps echoing on the hardwood floor. He settled into the chair across from me, crossing his leg at the knee and resting his hands gently in his lap.
Caesar sat beside me, eyeing him.
“I need to speak to you,” my godfather said.
“I’m listening.”
He looked at Caesar then back to me. “In private.”
“Whatever you need say you can say in front of Caesar.”
A frown creased his forehead. “You’re the one who was married to Rumi. I remember you even though you look different.”
Caesar just looked but didn’t respond.
“What do you want?” I asked, bringing his attention back to me.
“I want you tell me what happened and why you’re accusing my agent of shooting you?”
“You have the reports. Everything I’ve said is true.”
“That’s not what your sister has said, Rebel. I...”
“And my sister doesn’t know shit,” I said before he could continue. “After you asked him to leave that interrogation room he dragged me into, what did I tell you?”
Despite his narrowing eyes, he maintained his silence.
“What did I tell you?” I asked again when he didn’t answer. “I’m not saying anything more on my case, but I warned you before any of this shit happened. And you sitting here in my home asking about what happened to me tells me that you didn’t take me seriously. It tells me that you didn’t believe me.”
“Agent Revels has always been an upstanding agent, Rebel. There was no reason to believe otherwise.”
“What I told you should have been enough for you to believe otherwise. You of all people should know that I don’t say shit like that without having proof. And you ignored it because you like every other law enforcement agency are out to get J.D. and Demons United when the criminals are in your own house.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Please leave.”
“Rebel...”
“I love you. I really do and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I can’t have this conversation because it involves one of your agents. If you want to talk to me, you need to contact my attorney.”
His gaze held a clear expression of disbelief as he looked at me. I shouldn’t have spoken to him, but I hoped he understood now that he messed up. He should have listened and at the very least started questioning Agent Revels methods. Maybe if he’d done that we wouldn’t be in this position.
Without uttering another word, he rose from his seat and made his way to the door, with Caesar trailing behind. The door closed with a soft thud, and Caesar returned to his place beside me.
“They all have blinders on.”
“Nobody wants to believe their own aren’t trustworthy, Rebel. No matter if they’re the good guys or the bad.”
“But he’s known me my entire life. He knows I don’t say shit when it’s not true. I warned him without getting into the details and he still didn’t do shit about it. J.D. has been dealing with these people for years. Trying to tell them something wasn’t right but because of who he is, they didn’t believe him. But because I was with J.D., someone I’ve known my entire life didn’t believe me either. I’m so ready for all this to be over with.”
“Maybe with what you just said to him, he’ll start listening and look into his agent.”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
But at this point it didn’t matter. I’d already done the leg work. Dug up all the shit I could find on Agent Revels. The only thing left to do was to make sure the man I loved and the men of his club that had become my family didn’t go down for Agent Revels murder even if they had something to do with it.