Page 42 of Rebel Fighter

For now, there was nothing I could do except trust that Alexis was safe with Steel. I’m hoping he took her to his friends, that Brotherhood that was nearby, and they will keep her safe. Even if they are criminals, maybe they are exactly what we need to protect my daughter. I’m sure once Trevor finds out I’m gone he will have everyone searching for me. Until then, I just need to keep my head on me and try to get out of this alive. I’m still valuable to my father even if he wishes I wasn’t. That fact alone is the one thing that may just keep me breathing in the end.

* * *

I don’t knowhow long I had been sitting tied to the chair. Thankfully they had left my hand in front of me but my arms, hell my whole body, was starting to kill me from being stuck in the same position. God, what I wouldn’t give to at least be able to stretch. I tried to fidget and get some blood flow to return to my extremities but it didn’t work. The only thing it did was make the guy who tied me up and was guarding me stare at me harshly like he was telling me to stop moving. His look alone made me want to fidget even more but I tried to sit still and not infuriate the man.

The door to the outside slides open once again and the sound makes me flinch from how loud it is. From the small sliver of the outside, I was able to see it was still night time which is good since I was taken at night. That meant a whole day hadn’t passed yet there was a good chance I wouldn’t have to be here long, just maybe. My father walked in the stretch of door that had been opened with the same man who had hit me before following behind him.

“It’s really too bad, Wyatt, that you’re already married. I think your firm hand would be good to keep Emma contained. You wouldn’t have to let her leave your compound except for special occasions.”

Of course, my father wanted to try to marry me off to that psycho. I have no idea who the man is but he was already scary enough. Robert Delcoure has enough allies, he doesn’t need anyone like this man further attached to him or his empire. No, my father needed to be in jail.

“Ha, sorry, Robert,” the man chuckles darkly. “I have a wife and have no interest in a second one or a mistress, even if your daughter is damaged goods and would make a decent mistress with some training.”

“There’s still time if you change your mind,” my father shrugs.

“Nah, my boy Aiden will be able to get her in line, don’t worry. Your ties to our family will be strong even with him,” the man answers quickly before going silent when the two reach where I’m seated.

“Glad to see you still awake. How’s your head?” my father questions as he pulls up a chair in front of me.

I glare at him unable to answer around the rag gagging me. My head still hurts but not all that much anymore. I could go for some water but I doubt I’d get that at this point.

“Right can’t talk,” he laughs nodding to the man who was guarding me. The gag around my mouth was removed and it felt amazing to be able to breathe once again without tasting that filthy thing. “Need anything? Water?”

My eyes widen at the mention of water and I nod my head slightly. I’m too afraid to speak not understanding why my father is worried about something like that. I don’t even know why he is holding me like this. Why wouldn’t he just bring me back to the house? There has to be more to this than he is letting on.

The guard brings a bottle of water over and places it against my lips giving me a couple of sips. The water isn’t cold but it does feel good against my dry lips and throat. The water soothes the burn I didn’t even realize I had at first. All too soon the guard is pulling the bottle away from my lips and I can’t help the panicked squeak that escapes me when he does.

“Now, let’s get to the question of why you’re here and what I want from you. Shall we?” my father questions, crossing his leg over his knee and resting his hands on top.

TWENTY-EIGHT

TREVOR ~ TEN YEARS AGO

Graduation was coming up in a few days and I knew my time with Emma was about to be coming to an end. Robert has made it very clear over the last three months that Emma and I will never be together. All the deals I made he continued to go back on and I had no leg to stand on against him. I thought about going to the cops. Several times in fact, but I knew they’d never listen. Not to a guy like me who was brought up on the wrong side of town. A guy who was fighting in an underground MMA ring so I could earn a few bucks and keep Emma safe. No, they’d never believe my word over what Robert would tell them. He’d say I was lying, that I made up the whole thing. The man owns the whole damn town. Of course, he would own the police department too.

I tried everything I could think of to change this outcome. Everything. No matter what it wasn’t going to be enough. Hell, I even thought about selling my damn soul to Robert if it let me keep Emma but I knew she would never forgive me for that. The damn woman constantly protected me from her father when she could. Just two days ago she took a beating because of me. I showed up at the front gate to pick her up for school and I honked my horn, my damn horn. I had thought her father was gone already for the morning but he wasn’t. He came barreling out the front door demanding to know who was honking their horn impatiently at the front gate. He had almost reached my truck when Emma ran out the front door screaming to leave me be.

When Emma had reached the car he slapped her across the cheek. Not hard enough to bruise but hard enough that it would be red for a little bit. Long enough that others at school would see it and I would be the first person to blame. We both knew it even if we didn’t want to say it. As Emma went to open the passenger door, Robert slammed her face first into it and gave her three punches to her kidney before he walked away telling us to get the filth away from the house.

Every part of me had wanted to get out of the truck and beat him bloody. If it wasn’t for needing to take care of Emma I would have done it, consequences be damned. Emma was always my first priority. With her being injured I knew the ice was going to be needed immediately and our chances to get it and get to school were getting smaller by the second. Letting her father go, I rushed around to her side and helped her in before getting us to a gas station along our route to school.

Just as I had suspected everyone assumed I had hit Emma. We both had even gotten pulled into the principal's office to be questioned. No one believed me when I said I was innocent. Before we had gotten to school, both of us agreed that our story was that when I picked her up she already had the mark. She and her brother had gotten into a fight and it had gone too far as they were getting ready. It really wasn’t the best cover story but with our limited options, it was all we could do. Emma told everyone the same story and then they called William down to the office. That had been our flaw in the plan. We didn’t think they would actually call him down. He said the story wasn’t true. At least he admitted he didn’t know how his sister had gotten hurt but he did blame me. Since Emma refused to say it was me they couldn’t do too much to me. I got detention for the week and was suspended for the rest of the day. That was getting off lightly compared to what it could have been.

The rest of the day I waited nearby for Emma to get out of school. She came out to join me for her lunch break since I was suspended. I picked up her favorite sandwich at a deli nearby campus and we sat in the bed of my truck just eating and talking. I hated leaving her at school, prey to everyone who hated her. Since she and I were together most people disliked her but they would never really say or do anything to her face because they were afraid of her father. They didn’t know that her father would never do anything to help her as long as she was in a relationship with me. No, I was her scary boyfriend that made those who would hurt her cower while I fought her demons for her. I didn’t mind protecting her. Hell, I loved it. I loved her.

Even if we weren’t together, I don’t think her father would really do much to protect her if it didn’t affect their family name. Robert only cared about his son. Nora, Emma’s older sister didn’t see it much because she was daddy’s little good girl and followed all his commands. She didn’t hesitate when Robert forced her to get married. She always knew that was her role and she was perfectly okay with being the housewife on some rich son's arm. Emma hated how much her sister followed the rules and never questioned anything.

Just last year when she had to attend their wedding, it made her violently sick. It was hard enough having sent her away for the week with her father for that affair. She was barely able to sneak a couple of texts to me but she did it just to let me know she was alive and hadn’t been set up in an arranged marriage yet with anyone. I still remember when she told me that she tried to talk her sister out of the ordeal and remind her she was an adult who could make her own decisions. Her sister immediately told on her to Robert and he beat her for it. Of course, all the bruises were hidden, not wanting to ruin the perfect family image. When they returned though, the only thing I saw was murder in my eyes. Her stomach was black and blue, not even turning yellow to heal I’m almost positive she had some internal bleeding but she refused to let me take her to be looked at. She sat out of cheerleading for two weeks claiming an illness and hid at the body shop with me. Thankfully, my boss was fine with it and even put her to work at the front desk to keep her busy.

I’m almost positive my boss wanted to hire her if he could. He’d never seen the front office so organized after her time with us. Hell, he threatened all of us that if we messed it up we had to clean it. All of us were terrified to touch anything after that. The cleanliness lasted through the rest of summer. My boss was amazed any of us had pulled it off. He just never realized that Emma was the reason for it. She would stop in to visit me and spend about thirty minutes organizing everything once again for him. All of us at the shop loved her for it.

“Trevor,” Emma squeals running to the truck as she yanks the passenger door open.

“Vixen,” I growl possessively. It’s had been two days since the ordeal got me suspended. Two days that I had been forced into in-school detention and didn’t get to see her much at school. This time, after school, was our time together and I loved having her sitting beside me.

“You’ll never guess what I was just told,” she beams at me from the passenger seat.

I just stare at her waiting for her to tell me. She huffs and rolls her eyes but eventually gives in.

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