Page 13 of Ruthless Rebel

Elle: ????????

Logan: See you on Friday?

Elle: If by Friday you mean when you come home and stalk your boyfriend all weekend, then yes I will see you Friday.

Logan: ????????????

Boyfriend. The word bothers me more than it should, but I don’t quite know why. It’s not like I haven’t had a boyfriend before, or a girlfriend for that matter. There have been plenty of high school and college flings over the years that would constitute the term, hell there was even that fling with my professor, but none of them have felt like this. Like free falling and never knowing if you will be caught, again it’s something I should be familiar with. I have been sinking into the bottomless pit that is Asher Donovan for years, yet it didn’t stop me from jumping head first into Lincoln Blackwell.

With Asher I know there is no hope, or if there is it is very minuscule. He is more fucked up than all of us, despite what he wants us to believe. I don’t think he knows any true human affection outside of Elle and Cassie, and who can blame him, I only know half the horrors he must have experienced at the hands of his father and brother thanks to Elle. His mom abandoned him with those devils and they took a child and turned him into his own brand of evil. A monster molded by their hatred and neglect, who somehow still has a light inside of him that burns for his daughter and her mother. I don’t know if he will ever have room for anything more, despite how much I wish he did.

Lincoln is another story entirely. I know nothing of his childhood, just that both of his parents are dead and he was in foster care for most of his life, but I think Marcus and Jace saved him from himself. I see the silent monster lurking beneath the surface, but then I see the other part of him, the one who was quite clearly pulled from the depths of hell by his brothers and has chosen to stay on top. I felt it the first time I laid eyes on him. Granted he had me by the throat and shoved hard against a wall, so I was feeling a lot of things that day, but I knew when we locked eyes that he was a survivor. He doesn’t let the monsters of his past define him, no, he defines them, and he does it without restraint. If he wants something, he takes it, and I am more than willing to give him whatever he wants.

By the time I make it to the restaurant, I have shamelessly checked our text thread once again, before switching my phone to silent and focusing on my family dinner. I don’t bother giving my name to the hostess, she recognizes me instantly and leads me to our usual table at the back where I find Max and Zack already waiting.

“There he is,” Zack booms, standing up to greet me, and pulling me into a one-armed hug, which is his new norm ever since he took a bullet to the shoulder last year. I try not to think about that night too often, I still remember all the blood, and thankfully he distracts me. “You look tired,” he scolds, and I have to smile because he reminds me so much of our dad these days.

“Yeah, school is kicking my ass,” I admit freely, pulling back from him, and then leaning over to fist bump Max, before I take a seat.

“I bet that’s not the only thing kicking your ass,” Max beams with a knowing smile, and I shake my head with a laugh.

“Jesus christ,” Zack mutters under his breath as he reclaims his seat. “You guys know this is a Michelin star restaurant right?”

I hold my hands up in defense. “Hey, I didn’t say anything.” I signal to the waiter for a drink and then look between the two of them. “Where’s, Lils?” I ask, wondering how in the hell I made ithere before my sister. We might be twins, but most of the time we are polar opposites. I am always running late, and somehow she is always annoyingly early, yet for once I have beaten her somewhere.

Zack opens his mouth to respond, but then pauses as he looks past me, and when I turn my head I see why. Lily is being led through the restaurant by the same hostess from a moment ago, turning every head as she goes. My sister is beautiful, and I say that in an unbiased way. She just has that strikingly pretty look about her, but it’s never something she exaggerates, not usually anyway. Yet as she walks towards us I can’t help but stare along with everyone else. She is wearing a figure-hugging black dress that reaches her mid thigh, with a pair of black pantyhose, and matching stilettos. Her hair falls in waves down her back and her makeup is heavier than anything she ever usually wears, and I can’t help but whistle.

“Well, damn, Lils, you look hot,” I praise her, standing up to pull her into a hug, and I swear I can feel her heart racing against my chest, and I pull back and frown.

“Thanks,” she mutters, appraising me in return considering she hasn’t seen me in almost a week. “You look tired,” she echoes Zack’s earlier assessment and I have to roll my eyes.

“Yeah I had a busy weekend,” I mutter, pulling out a chair for her to take a seat. “Why are you so dressed up anyway?” I ask, and her eyes flash to mine in a panic. I feel like a dick for making her feel insecure, but before I can defend myself, my brother beats him to it.

“Ignore him, Lily, you look beautiful, Sweetheart,” Zack tells her, as she fidgets with her fingers beneath the table, and he nudges his best friend. “Doesn’t she?”

Max is already staring at her but flinches when Zack nudges him. “Stunning,” he blurts, before coughing to clear his throat. “She looks stunning,” he nods, dropping his stare to his drink and taking a hefty swill of it as Zack eyes him with an assertive stare.

I keep my eyes on my sister though and don’t miss the blush that stains her cheeks at their praise. She has never been good with attention from the opposite sex. Like I said, we are polar opposites.

We quickly order food and catch one another up on what we have all been up to, and it isn’t long before Max and Zack start talking about the new security procedures they have been working on and I quickly zone out. I don’t hear anything they say until the mention of Lincoln’s name.

“Did you say something about Lincoln?” I cut in, and both Max and my brother smile in my direction.

“Yeah, I thought that might get your attention,” Zack muses, sipping on his whiskey.

“We are just talking about the travel configurations for the wedding,” Max cuts in. “We finalized all the details with Elle this afternoon and then went ahead and booked all the flights.”

I nod, knowing this was the plan for this week, to get everything sorted and booked, and I for one am looking forward to a vacation with everyone. “Sounds good, what’s the plan?”

Zack quickly runs through everything they decided and I smile knowing that I get to travel not only with my mom and dad, and Zack and Lils, but also Cass too. She was a baby the last time we took a family vacation and it was just us Roytons, now we get the Rebels too, and Cass also gets her dad. I am nodding along to all the flight plans until Zack confirms the last one.

“Wait, Linc and Ash are flying out together three days after us, just the two of them?” I ask, praying my panic and horror doesn’t sound as obvious as it feels.

“Is that a problem?” Zack muses with a smirk, and I swear my sister smothers a laugh, but it’s Max who taunts me next.

“I think our little Logan here is jealous,” he teases, reaching past Lily to tickle my cheek, and I slap his hand away.

“I don’t get jealous,” I snap, ignoring the feeling that now burns inside my chest at the thought of them.

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