Page 7 of Rebel
“Why did you hang up?” Rebel asked.
“I didn’t,” he insisted, “Jace ended the call. He had to go. He said to tell you that he loves you and that he’ll talk to you as soon as he can.” Her pout was adorable, and a part of him wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her pouty lips, but he also knew that was going against his promise to his best friend. Rebel was hands off, and he needed to remember that, even if he found her irresistible.
“That’s it?” Rebel spat. “That’s all I get from him? I don’t even rate a conversation.” She sat down on a kitchen chair, and he hated seeing her so defeated; he couldn’t help what he said next to her.
“He wanted to talk to you, but he was called into a meeting with headquarters,” Bolt lied.
“He’s at headquarters?” she asked. He smiled and shook his head, carefully trying to figure out his next lie.
“No,” he said, “your brother is still on the run and can’t chance going into headquarters. He had a Zoom call with them. I’m sure that he’ll call you when he can.” She crossed her arms over her chest and settled onto his couch. “Listen, if you need someone to blame, then I’m your guy. I monopolized all Jace’s time, and you didn’t get your chance to talk to him,” he lied again.
“I knew that you didn’t want me to talk to him,” Rebel spat. She stood and looked around for the steps.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m going to find the bedroom, and I plan to stay there until you stop pissing me off. So, I guess that I’ll be up there for the rest of my life.” He wanted to laugh, but that wouldn’t go over well with her. No, she was good and pissed, and marching up the stairs like a little soldier.
He wanted to tell her that they were in danger and that she needed to get her shit together because they were leaving, but then he remembered Jace’s warning. He needed to be stealthy about his next move with Rebel. That was the only way to keep her from flying off the handle. He needed to keep her safe, and if lying was the only way to do that, then so be it. He was a big boy and could shoulder the brunt of her anger, even if that sucked.
“We’re leaving in ten,” Bolt ordered before she got to the top of the steps.
“What?” she shouted at him, quickly running back down the stairs, into the kitchen. “It’s nearly nine o’clock. I’m tired and want to go to bed. Where are you taking me?”
He wanted to avoid having to tell her that their location had been compromised. If the Dead Rabbits knew their location,they would be there in no time. He didn’t have time to discuss all of this with her if he wanted to keep his promise and keep her safe. Jace said that the Dead Rabbits didn’t know that he was harboring Jace’s sister, and he wanted to keep it that way. Rebel’s identity needed to remain a secret if he was going to keep his promise to Jace and keep her safe.
“We need to run back into Savage Hell. The Harlots and Bastards are meeting tonight, and I need to be there for it. I forgot all about it until now.” He left out the part about the meeting being about her and how to keep her safe. The one thing he was sure of—he’d be the one to watch her and take her to the next safehouse, because there was no way that he’d let anyone else do his job. Jace was his best friend, and he’d do anything for him, just as he knew that Jace would do anything for him in return.
“We only just left there. Why can’t you just tell them that you can’t make the meeting? And while I appreciate you asking me out on a date and all, I’d rather decline your offer. Thanks, though,” she sassed. He sighed and rolled his eyes, too tired to fight with her. She gave him a fight at every turn tonight, and sooner or later, she was going to have to figure out who was in charge.
“It’s not a date, and it wasn’t a request,” he growled. “So, grab your purse and get your ass back out in that truck.” Bolt pointed to the garage for good measure, and she laughed—actually laughed at him. He didn’t bother to stand around and listen to her next excuse as to why he wasn’t going to go into Savage Hell for the meeting tonight. Bolt had avoided serious relationships so that he wouldn’t have a woman telling him what to do, and he damn well wasn’t about to let Rebel start bossing him around now, no matter how fucking sexy he found her. He grabbed his duffel bag and keys from the kitchen counter and walked out to the truck, slamming the kitchen door on his way out, for goodmeasure. He just hoped like hell that Rebel would be following him out to the garage, because time was ticking, and he needed to get back on the road. He just wished that he could tell her what was really going on because knowing that the Dead Rabbits might be on their way to the safe house might just light a fire under her, and that was exactly what he needed right now.
Bolt sat in the pickup for almost five minutes, knowing that there was a good chance that Rebel might not follow his order to get her ass in the truck. Hell, he had carried her to his truck earlier, when she refused to leave Savage Hell with him, and he’d willingly do it again if it meant getting to hold her close. Jace was right about one thing, though—she was a stubborn little minx, and that turned Bolt on.
He was just about to give up waiting, walk back into the safe house, and toss her over his shoulder again when the side door opened and she stepped out. She looked pissed, and he knew that he was going to pay for making her go to Savage Hell with him. Hell, she was going to kill him when she found out that they were going to have to move safe houses, and this time, they were going to have to leave town. Rebel didn’t seem like the type of woman who liked surprises, so this whole thing was going to be one giant cluster fuck.
“I want it noted that I’m doing this out of protest,” she insisted.
He couldn’t help his chuckle, “Noted,” he said.
They drove to the club in complete silence—Rebel, with her arms crossed over her ample chest. God, she was beautiful, but he had a feeling that was the last thing she’d want to hear from him right now. Just thirty minutes earlier, he was betting that ifhis cell phone hadn’t rung, he would have gotten his chance with her. Now, his chance was blown, and all he could do was think about their next move. If Ryder was flying them somewhere, then things would have been more serious than he thought they were, and that scared the hell out of him.
He pulled into the bar’s parking lot and around to the back. He quickly looked around to make sure that no suspicious people were hanging around who shouldn’t be, and Rebel seemed to do the same. Maybe she was looking for that asshole stalker of hers, but Kirk was the last person Bolt was concerned about. He might be a nuisance, but the Dead Rabbits were a clear and present danger. If they caught up to the two of them, they’d be dead. Kirk was someone he could handle. He just hated how nervous the guy seemed to make Rebel.
“Come on,” he said. He got out of the truck and met Rebel, taking her hand into his own. There was no way that he was going to give her the chance to take off on him, even if he had to hold onto her tight.
He led the way back to Savage’s office, and she looked him over as though he had lost his mind. “I thought that you had a meeting,” she insisted. This was where things were going to get a little slippery. She wasn’t going to like being kept in the dark, but there was no other way to do any of this without spooking her.
“I do have a meeting, and you’re going to stay in here while I go to it. I won’t be long,” he said, letting go of her hand to head for the door.
“You can’t just lock me back here in this office and expect me to stay like a puppy,” she insisted.
“If I have to have one of the guys fucking sit on you, I will,” he admitted. He needed to figure out their next move, and keeping her in the dark, although a bad idea, was his only option. Jace warned him that she wouldn’t take well to being moved again,and having to deal with her arguments right now wasn’t an option.
She took a step toward him, as though challenging him to make her stay put, as he told her to do. He didn’t back down, closing the distance between them. His heart felt as though it might beat out of his damn chest. She was standing so close to him. Bolt’s lips were just a breath away from hers, and his world narrowed down to the smell of his leather cut and her strawberry lip gloss. God, he wanted to lick all that gloss off her sexy lips. Just one more second, and he knew that he’d give in to everything that he wanted to take from her, and so much more.
He dipped his head to take what he longed for when the door to Savage’s office swung open. “Savage wants everyone up front,” one of the prospects said. Bolt stiffened, a curse low under his breath. His hand was on her hip, fingers flexing as though he hated the thought of letting her go. A part of him wished that she would shove him away and take the interruption as her escape. Instead, she was clinging to his cut as though unwilling to break the spell that he had her under. So much for keeping his hands to himself.
“Did you hear what I just said?” the prospect asked, standing in the doorway, watching the two of them.
