Page 23 of Claimed By the Rebel

My woman feels ashamed of her actions, but I know what Tank was really trying to say. He’s shocked and disgusted that Viper used his sister, his own flesh and blood, as bait. He either knew we’d intercept or he didn’t care. Maybe he didn’t even think about us at all, and really sent his little sister straight into the drug den of the cartel.

“Piece of shit,” Tank grunts. Aurora jumps and I’m out of my chair in a second, wanting, no, needing to comfort her.

She shrinks away from me, which feels like being slammed in the chest by a wrecking ball. “You’re not in trouble,” I tell her. I want to scoop her up and carry her away from here so we can talk in private, but we’re not done here yet.

I take my seat once more and tell my MC brothers as well as Aurora how my infatuation started. My words are clunky and awkward as I try to describe how I was compelled to follow her. At first, it was for the club, but then it was just for me.

“I should have told you sooner,” I say to Aurora, who never took her eyes off me the entire time. “And I should have clued you guys in,” I confess, looking from Aldis to Tank. “I didn’t know how to… I didn’t even know if there would be anything to tell. It all happened so fast and–”

Aldis holds his hand up, effectively silencing me without a word.

“Your turn, Aurora. Tell me how you ended up in a car with ten kilos of coke headed toward Dallas.”

Aurora swallows thickly and clears her throat. I lean forward in my seat, hanging on her every word.

“When I got back to the Serpents’ clubhouse after…” she trails off, her eyes cutting to me and then back to Aldis. “Anyway, when I got back, Viper said he had a special project for me. He didn’t take it well when I tried to tell him no.”

Aurora rubs her cheek which I notice for the first time is red and swollen. Continuing my search, I notice angry red fingerprints on the side of her neck.

“He hit you?” I growl, unable to contain my rage.

Aurora shrugs. “I should have seen it coming,” she responds matter-of-factly. I don’t like that answer or what it implies. “It wasn’t the violence that made me cave,” she goes on. “I don’t… I don’t have anything outside of the Serpents. As much as I loathe cleaning up after their parties and taking whatever verbal or physical assaults they throw my way, what other choice do I have? They’d never let me leave. Not alive, at least. Viper made that crystal clear. Do the drop-off or…”

She lets the thought hang in the air while adrenaline mixes with rage and sorrow in the pit of my stomach. How fucking dare he treat Aurora this way? The abuse, the threats, the danger he put her in.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, not caring that my brothers are here. I stand from my seat and kneel in front of Aurora, holding out my hands for her to take. She hesitates, her hazel eyes glistening with tears. “If I could go back and tell you the truth so you never would have run away, I would. I didn’t know if you’d leave me after finding out my affiliation with the Rebel Hearts. I was selfish and wanted to keep you all to myself in our little fantasy world. But I don’t just want the fantasy, Aurora.”

My girl finally rests her hands in mine, letting me hold them while I continue. I’m on a roll now and I need to push through otherwise the words and courage might leave me altogether.

“I want the reality. I want you here with me, by my side. I want to show you off to my friends, my brothers and let them know you’ve been claimed. I want you as mine, Aurora.”

“Yours?” she asks tentatively.

I nod. "We're partners. I don't own you like I imagine the men of the Serpents treat their women. But you're mine to protect. Mine to cherish. Mine to love."

Aurora’s eyes flash with surprise, followed by tears. Fuck. I fucked it all up. I lost her. I–

“You love me?”

“Yes,” I answer automatically. “With all of me. I know we have more to discuss and I have more apologizing to do, but you need to know I’m all in. You were never a pawn to me, princess. You’re my whole world. Will you forgive me for keeping this secret from you? For putting you through all of this?”

I wait with bated breath, putting my own rebellious heart on the line for her to either throw away or treasure forever.

“If you don’t forgive him, I will,” Triton says, breaking the tension.

Aurora smiles for the first time in so damn long. It’s small and a bit shaky, but it’s there all the same.

“I love you, too,” she whispers.

“Say it again,” I demand, needing to hear those words a hundred more times. A thousand. It’ll never be enough.

“I love you, Razor. I understand why you didn’t tell me. It hurt like hell to find out the way I did, but I don’t blame you for what my brother made me do. His actions are his own, just like mine are. And right now, I just want to go home. With you.”

I nod and pull her up from her seat, wrapping my arms around her while she buries her face into my shoulder.

“As touching as this is, we still have a few details to work out,” Tank says, keeping us on track.

I sigh in annoyance, making Aurora giggle softly. The sound travels all the way down inside my soul, settling there and warming me from the inside out.

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