Page 76 of Rebel

“Well, the joke’s on you, asshole,” Storm added with a few kicks of his own.

I probably should have felt some way about seeing a man being held down and beaten like that, but when I thought about what he could have done to me, I found it hard to feel any sympathy.

Edward yelled, “Lacey call the police, I’m being assaulted!”

Storm responded, “No way. You played stupid games by abducting one of our old ladies and now it’s time to collect your stupid prize.”

Celt muttered, “Yer pretty feckin’ ignorant to abduct one of the Dark Slayers’ old ladies.”

Edward groaned as he flailed around on the floor.

Storm snarled and gave him another good kick. “It means she’s untouchable for a dirtbag like you.”

I spoke up for myself, “He forced me into his van and tied me up on the floor. I begged him to let me go, but he said I’d either end up in his bed or I’d be a loose end to be tied up.”

Rebel’s head snapped around to glare at him.” Oh he did, did he?”

Edward pushed himself up, stumbled forward and made a grab for me. “You shut the fuck up, bitch. I was planning to treat you right, but you fucked it all up you—”

He didn’t get a chance to finish whatever he planned on saying, because Rebel casually backhanded him so hard he flew back, landing on top of the coffee table and rolling off onto the floor again.

Storm and Celt saw that for the prime opportunity it was and began kicking the shit out of him again. Between him trying to get at me, and discovering he planned to kill me if I didn’t let him rape me and use me as his office slave, the beating ramped up considerably.

“Stop,” Rebel finally told them. “Bring him up to the garage and handcuff him inside his van, just like he did to my Lacey. We’ll put my bike inside. I want to take my time with him. Grab all his electronics and everything out of his safe. If he gives you any trouble with the combination, beat it out of him.”

I had every confidence that Edward would tell them everything they wanted to know. He was the type of man who abused women and clearly feared other men.

“I’ve got a better idea,” Celt said. “My cousin and I will put our bikes in there and take him to the clubhouse for ye. Ye and yer lassie can ride together without having to look at this fecker’sugly face. Ye can meet up with us when ye get your old lady settled down.”

When Rebel looked down at me, I nodded. “Let’s ride together. I’ve had about as much of Edward as I can stand for one day.”

He jerked his chin towards the door. “You got it, ladybug.”

I kicked my feet for him to put me down. The second my feet hit the floor, I ran over to Edward and gave him a couple of good kicks of my own. “That’s for putting your hands on me and thinking for one single second that I would eventually come around to the idea of being your fucking sex slave and office drone.”

Rebel wrapped one arm around my stomach and tugged me away. “Come on, save some of this asshole for me to deal with later. By the time that I’m finished with him, he’ll be sucking his food through a straw.”

Strangely, after everything I’d been through, I liked the idea of Edward finally getting his comeuppance. Rebel helped me out of there and put me on the back of his bike. I’d be lying if I said my body wasn’t sore from the injuries Edward inflicted on me. There was a nasty bruise where he’d handcuffed my ankle and then jerked on the cuffs, and I felt bruised from trying to get through the window. Still, I was alive. I hadn’t given in at any point, and I was in the process of rescuing myself when Rebel and his club brothers showed up.

As we rode away, I tightened my hold on him. The fact that he’d tracked us all the way to LA was impressive in itself, and that he’d sent one of his club brothers to rescue me, made me feel safe and protected. I thought back to when I’d told him thatI thought property cuts were ownerish. But now I saw them for what they were. As long as I wore his cut no one could hurt me.

When we stopped for gas, Rebel noticed how sleepy I was getting. “Do you want me to rent us a room? We’ve got another couple of hours riding yet,” he asked.

I shook my head. “I can hold out for as long as it takes, I just want to get home.”

He put me right back on his bike and got me home at record speed. I didn’t even care about having a shower, I just wanted to crawl between the sheets, close my eyes and drift off into a blissful sleep.

Chapter 27

Rebel

We decided to hold Edward in our clubhouse lockup while I took care of the woman he’d had a mind to rape and possibly kill. That fucker could rot in a cell for weeks or even months as far as I cared. I had every intention of giving this asshole the beatdown of a lifetime. I was keen on getting him to admit that he’d broken into Lacey’s office.

Okay, I didn’t know for sure that it was him, but I’d eliminated everyone else. That meant it was either him or it was like the police said, some random break-in by the same gang who had broken into other establishments on the same street. One way or another I was going to get to the bottom of this mystery and see that Lacey and her family got justice.

In the meantime, I had Storm bring over the jeweler who custom-designed many of the engagement rings for my club brothers to give to their old ladies. I’d decided it was about time I made an honest woman of her. Lacey was recovering from her ordeal, but she still felt tired. I’d left her in bed, and Storm, his jeweler friend, and I, were on my porch where she couldn’t overhear what we were talking about.

His friend seemed straightforward enough as he set out a multitude of clear containers, each with about twenty compartments containing a single ring each. Next, he pulled out a tray of sample gemstones.

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