Chapter Four
“Pssst. Reb, I’m here.”
Although she’d been outside waiting for her brother, Diesel, the whisper startled Rebel Caldwell and she spun around, already annoyed he’d awakened her to meet him near the treehouse.
Never mind she’d had to walk past the patio, outside pool, pool house, and the yard enclosed by a crayon fence and filled with playground equipment.
In other words, she was deep in the fucking forest and several minutes from the house.
Luckily, the ground lanterns and lamp posts illuminated the property.
Unfortunately, there was no heating source this far out and she was freezing in only a silk robe with a matching nightgown and Ugg boots. She wrapped her arms around her waist.
“Where are you, Dee?”
“Do you know the light beaming in your hair makes it look like golden silk,” he slurred, stepping from behind a tree. He held a bottle of alcohol by its neck and drank from it.
Rebel glanced over her shoulder, toward the house. Diesel should’ve approached her from behind. She’d waited for almost ten minutes. Instead, he stood in front of her, mere feet away.
His bloodshot gray gaze swept her with a look. She licked her lips and he followed the movement of her tongue.
“Fuck.” He emptied the bottle. “Go back inside. I shouldn’t have called you.”
“Yeah, but you did. And you woke me up from my beauty sleep.” Yesterday’s spa visit with Momma, Aunt Bunny, Aunt Kendall, and Mattie wouldn’t go to waste because of a fuckhead. “I’m not moving a fucking step until you tell me what’s the matter.”
“Go back inside,” he said harshly. “I have the cock, so you listen to me.”
“Yeah, dickhead, fuck off. Your cock has nothing to do with me. You’re my fucking brother, so fuck you.”
“Your adopted brother.” He stumbled toward her. “Set up your fucking date yet?”
“Diesel, I swear to Christ if you woke me up for bullshit…I will fuck you up!” He’d already made his feelings very clear about her going on her first date with Kaia Riggs.
Not that Diesel had anything to say about it. The dickhead was married to a bitch Rebel had escaped as soon as possible Friday evening while Diesel, Daddy, CJ, and Rule were at the clubhouse.
Diesel’s caress caught her off-guard. His fingers slid down her cheek and over her mouth. Her breath hitched and heat pooled deep in her belly.
“Did you disable the cameras?”
“And the alarm,” she whispered .
His nostrils flared. “Take me to your room.”
Weeks ago, Rebel would’ve jumped to the command.
For as long as she remembered, she’d dreamed of a future with Diesel.
But, just days ago, she’d watched two men die because of her impulsivity.
For their treatment of Mattie, Eric and Billy got what they deserved.
Yet she wouldn’t risk Diesel’s life because of an infatuation that might never go anywhere.
“What’s the matter? Why are you acting like this?”
He stiffened. “I don’t answer to a bitch. I’m giving you what you want from me. Cock.”
If he would’ve left it at his first statement, Rebel might’ve given in to her shocked hurt. Luckily, the fuckhead didn’t know when to shut the fuck up.
“Look, motherfucker. I’m still almost three years from eighteen and since this is my pussy you want, I can ask whatever I please.”
“It’s Kaia, isn’t it?”
“Kaia?”
“The reason you don’t want me.”
Rebel drew herself up. “Sleep off the motherfucking alcohol, Diesel. Don’t ever fucking call me in the middle of the fucking night for your fucking nonsense.”
She turned. She hadn’t taken three steps before Diesel spoke again and halted her.
“Torie’s dead, Rebel.”
She already knew. She’d overheard Momma and Aunt Bunny talking about it while they cooked dinner Saturday evening after they returned from the spa.
And the club had been abuzz yesterday. Not so much from the girls as much as the bikers.
They gossiped like bitches. However, she didn’t see why Diesel woke her up to tell her about Torie. “That matters to me how?”
“Uncle Christopher killed her.”
Rebel clapped. “It’s about fucking time, although I am a little disappointed since I hadn’t done my coin toss yet.”
“A coin toss?”
Her annoyance fleeing, she faced Diesel again and walked closer to him.
“Yep. Heads, and Torie would be my first kill. Tails—Uncle Johnnie’s a fucking asshole so it’s fitting—and it would’ve been him.
I guess Daddy decided for me.” She wanted details, though she suspected the timeframe.
“When did this auspicious event take place?”
Diesel rubbed his eyes and swayed on his feet. “Night before last. Last night. Fuck, I don’t…I’ve lost track of time.”
“If it was during church, then you’re on target. It was Friday night. We’re currently in the early hours of Monday morning. You know? Work for you and school for me in a few hours.”
“After I took Tabitha home, I came back,” he said, ignoring her pointed reminder they needed to sleep because they both had obligations. “I helped Johnnie with Torie’s disposal.”
The pain in his voice didn’t escape Rebel. “Why are you so upset? Do you know what that fucking bitch did to Momma? Daddy should’ve killed her long ago, since he allowed her bullshit. He should’ve stomped her fucking throat.”
“When you’re asleep you look like a fucking angel. Makes me forget what a brutal little cunt you are,” he muttered.
She gasped, hurt at his labeling. Tears rushed to her eyes, but she swallowed them. Fuck him. “I’m going back inside,” she bit out. “Don’t fucking call me again.”
“I can do anything I want if it pleases me. I won’t call you anymore. I’ll just break into your room and watch you sleep as I did tonight.”
“ Wha t ? You watched me…you picked my lock…you…what the fuck, asshole?” she demanded, too appalled to form a coherent thought and unpack the fuckery of his announcement.
His hand brushed her neck, skimmed across her chest. Her nipples beaded against her silk nightgown. If it wasn’t so cold, she’d open her robe and allow him easier access. He gripped her waist and pulled her closer. His erection pressed into her belly.
“You’ve fucking ruined me, Rebel.” Alcohol wafted from him and mixed with the scent of sweat and his expensive cologne. “I don’t want to look at you and remember your naked body. I don’t want to rub my cock and imagine it deep in your mouth.”
Between her legs grew hot and slick, though she felt so conflicted. She loved Diesel with all her heart. Sometimes, she just didn’t like him. Dreams of being his wife flared to life and she parted her lips, hoping he took her invitation and kissed her tonight.
“When you were asleep, I studied you without impediment. I didn’t have to worry about your fucking smart mouth, in my fucking head all the time. I didn’t fear losing myself in your beautiful blue eyes. You were just Reb. Monkey Butt .”
She hated that nickname.
“Asleep, you’re sweet and innocent, the opposite of me.
All my ugliness and dirtiness dissolves.
” A pained expression crossed his beautiful face, and his pupils dilated.
“Seeing you underneath your luxurious covers, your eyelashes fanning your cheeks, so fucking gorgeous I forgot to breathe. I buried the shock.” He watched her closely.
“Uncle Christopher strangled Torie for five minutes then obliterating her gorgeous face with twelve point blank shots.”
He paused, as if he expected her shock or horror.
“I knew he was going to kill her. Then, I thought, no . He would just warn her. But he was so cold. In the years I’ve known him, I’ve never seen the killer.”
“What do you want me to say, Diesel? Do you want me to feel sorry for her? Because she’s dead or because of how Daddy killed her? I don’t care.”
“You should ,” he barked. “You’re a female. Nurturing is inherent to those with a mothering instinct.”
“Protecting her family is also inherent to mothers, dickface. I’ve told you before stop comparing me to what your mom did to you. That has no fucking bearing on me. Torie got what she fucking deserved—”
He tightened his hold on her. “Uncle Christopher ordered her put through the woodchipper, which meant she had to be dismembered. Further desecration of her body.”
She snapped her brows together. “Why the fuck do you care so much about what happened to that bitch?”
“Does it matter?”
“It must. I asked the fucking question, and I don’t make a fucking habit of talking just to hear myself talk.”
“Her manner of death shook everyone up. The younger brothers who swore Uncle Christopher fucked Torie or had her suck his cock. The older ones who thought the same but knew better than to admit it. Our family. Me . Uncle Christopher is infamous for his headshots. Someone must die? He shoots them and it’s done.
” Diesel hung his head. “But this …this, Reb. This was a clear message.”
“Hopefully, motherfuckers will heed it. If not, they get fucked up, too.”
Glaring at her, he shoved her again. She stumbled back, nearly losing her balance.
“You’re so fucking cold-blooded.”
She returned his shove, though he didn’t budge.
“And you’re so fucking stupid. Thinking she was a beautiful woman, so she didn’t deserve her fate.
What about my beautiful woman? My mom. What about her and what Torie did?
What about how Torie tried to fuck up my parents’ marriage?
Fuck her! Stop thinking with your cock and—”
Pain and betrayal cut through her. Diesel bore witness to the fight between Rebel and Torie. He knew how that bitch had felt about Rebel. For that matter, he knew how Torie felt about their mother.
“You slept with her,” she declared in an accusatory tone that masked her deep despair at the realization. “You…”
She backed away, her pulse thumping through her body. Unable to look at him anymore, she turned and ran toward the house, a sob escaping her.