Page 15 of Ruthless

"Mmm."

I flipped off the hallway light, but decided to leave the one on in the kitchen, then made my way back to my own apartment. Rebel had left the door unlocked, but I locked it behind me. He was nowhere in sight, so I figured that he was in the bathroom. As I headed toward my bedroom I had to pass the bathroom and I could hear the shower running. He seemed to have made himself right at home. I was going to grab a quick shower when he was done, so I went to my bedroom for my pjs.

Inside I paused, looking down at the bed, shifting my thoughts to my small couch. He'd have to make it work, because there was no way he was sleeping in the same bed with me. It had been four years since I’d seen him last, and now he was a stranger to me. A lot could happen to someone in that much time, and there was a haunted look in Rebel's dark eyes that unnerved me. To make sure that there was no question about where he was sleeping I grabbed one of my pillows and the folded quilt at the foot of my bed and brought it out to the sofa.

The bathroom door opened and Rebel entered the room. I sucked in my breath, my gaze falling to his magnificent bare chest. I couldn't pull my eyes from the mouth-watering definition of his pecs and washboard abs. The muscles in his biceps flexed as he ran a towel over his head, but it was the thick muscle that created the deep 'V' down to his groin that held my interest. His jeans, which were molded to his thick, powerful thighs, were open, revealing a tuft of dark hair.

Holy hell, the man was tanned and ripped, even more than he'd been all those years ago, and that was saying a lot. His six-pack had turned into an eight-pack. Heat filled my cheeks, because my body was responding in a very wet-between-the-thighs, nipple-hardening-way. I realized that I was holding my breath and staring, but I couldn't look away. The man was beautiful, and I had no doubt that he had women falling all over themselves for a piece of him.

He cleared his throat and my gaze lifted to the knowing smirk on his mouth before meeting his eyes. He'd stopped rubbing his hair dry, and the look of hunger in his eyes sobered me up quick.

"Keep looking me over like that and I'll do something about it."

I swallowed, knowing what that something was. And he was so good at it. Unexpected fear rushed through me. I couldn't afford to get involved with Rebel, because I knew in the end that he would hurt me. I couldn't blame him for what had occurred between us in Wildman's clubhouse because he'd saved us both from death, me from much worse, but I had control over my life now.

I decided to ignore his comment, pointing down to the blanket and pillow. "This is where you sleep tonight." I grabbed my pjs, which were lying on top of the blanket, and headed his way. "There are leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry, maybe a beer or two. I'm getting a shower and going to bed."

"You're not going to eat?" he asked when I reached him.

I shook my head. "I'm too tired." It was the truth. I'd eat something when I woke up, hopefully a solid eight hours later. And then I reminded myself that I'd need to set my alarm to check on Della.

"We need to talk."

"If it's about your money I told you that I have half of it." I pivoted to go to the kitchen where I had it stashed. Once there, I opened the pantry cupboard and reached for the coffee can, and immediately sensed movement next to me. A glance out of the corner of my eye showed that Rebel had moved into the kitchen with me. He'd draped the towel around his neck, the loose ends hanging down over his pecs. I ignored his snort when I removed the lid and began to dig around in the grounds. "Here." I handed him the plastic baggie that contained the money.

He opened it up and removed the cash, counting it quickly. The eyes he turned on me were of stunned disbelief. "You're kidding me, right?" I didn't like the hard grit in his tone.

My gaze shot down to the money in his palm before darting back up to his. "There's almost two thousand dollars there," I said. Hadn't he heard me tell him that I'd only had about half?

His half-chuckle, half-snort sent warning signals through me. "What about the other thirty grand?"

My jaw dropped. "Thirty grand! I don't know what you're talking about!" I felt my heart slam in my chest, my eyes growing large. "I only took four thousand dollars!" Was this a joke? Rebel crossed his massive arms over his equally massive chest and glared at me skeptically. I could see that it was definitely not a joke. "Rebel, I swear, I only took four thousand." What could I do to convince him? He looked like he was ready to explode. No wonder he'd hunted me down.

"When I finally made it to my apartment that day I found you gone, and the money along with you." I shook my head with confusion as he spoke. "Kind of hard to believe you, angel."

"I-I didn't take it!" I insisted, hoping to wipe the intense look off his face, because it scared the hell out of me. And then I remembered why I'd run in the first place. "Wait--the Red Devils were there."

His brows shot up incredulously. "Convenient, wouldn’t you say?"

"It's the truth, Rebel. That's why I ran away. When they showed up at your apartment I snuck out a back window and went straight to the bus station. Look, I admitted to the four thousand. Don't you think if I'd taken more I would have told you? I've got no reason to lie. And I pay my debts, that's why I was saving up." I was getting angry, having to defend myself when I knew that I was telling him the truth.

"You've had four years to think up a good story."

I took a step closer in frustration, determined to make him see the truth. "I'm telling you the truth," I said between my teeth. "There was only four thousand," I stressed, hoping that it would make a difference.

His eyes remained hard and unsympathetic. "So you want me to believe that you left the other thirty, and that the Red Devils took it?" he snorted. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I . . . I," Why indeed? I was nobody to Rebel, and thirty thousand dollars was a lot of money. God, what was I going to do? He’d told me that the Red Devils were gone, but them taking it was the only thing that made any sense. They'd been there that day. Tears began to cloud my vision when I realized that there was nothing that I could say to answer his question. If the situation had been reversed, I probably would have come to the same conclusion as he had.

My shoulders slumped as I realized the futility of the situation. "It might as well be thirty million," I mumbled to myself. I'd never be able to pay Rebel back that kind of money. I raised my gaze to his. "Are you going to turn me in?"

"So you admit that you took it?"

"No! I'm not admitting to something that I didn't do, but I have no proof. I need to know-- are you going to turn me in?"

"Turn you in to whom?" he grunted.

"The police," I replied, thinking about all the horrors I'd heard told about what they did to a person in prison.

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