Page 88 of Reckless Rebel

I slip into the driver's seat, “As if you’d let her stab me, Red, you love me and my cock too much.”

She shakes her head with a laugh, as she goes back to texting on her phone, “Seriously, one day that ego will choke the life out of you.”

“And I’ll choke you with my massive c…”

Her hand covers my mouth, “I cannot with you today.” She grins, “Now come on, drive, everyone is waiting for us.”

By the time we make it back to the house, Riley is right, everyone is waiting for us. It’s Arthur’s birthday so it’s another full Elle King style family affair that now includes the Deckers too. Elle has had someone set up a huge tent in the garden, with heaters, table and chairs, fairy lights, and a bunch of balloons. It’s the picture perfect party.

We spend the whole day celebrating as a family. We play games, eat delicious food, and everybody has a drink. Well, everyone but me. It’s nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be, not with them all here to support me, not with my girl by my side.

I know I am still in recovery, and that I will be for a long time. Forever, probably. The scars on my body might have healed, but the ones inside of me will take a lot longer. It’s just about taking everything one day at a time, and accepting the help I am surrounded with the second I feel like I might waiver.

To help with that, Marcus and I have decided we are going to open up a gym on the South Side and allow some of the kids with a rough background somewhere to go. It will just be some basic fighting lessons so they know how to defend themselves, and we can get Max and some of his guys to pop in every now and then and offer more intense training for those interested. But mostly it will hopefully be a haven for them. Somewhere they can go when they feel like they have nowhere else. The kind of place I wish I had to keep me out of trouble when I was younger.

Elle is helping us get everything set up of course, and if things stay on track we will have it up and running in just a couple of months. Until then I plan on spending all my time with my family and my girl, indulging in nothing but them.

As night draws in, I sit back on the patio with both my brothers by my side. Helen and Lily helped a slightly tipsy Arthur up to bed, and Logan is locked in an intense game of chess with Zack. The Deckers took home a sleepy Sofia about an hour ago, much to her dismay, and Elle, Riley, and Cassie are snuggled around the fire pit watching a movie on the projector.

I feel content, happy, and finally willing to accept that this life might be dark sometimes, and you can’t always save the day, but if you’ve got good people around you, people who are willing to risk it all for you, then you’ve got all you need. Elle King didn’t just rescue herself, she rescued us all, and now I get to live an amazing life with my new extended family, and the most perfect girl.

Just as I have that thought, Riley looks my way and I smile at her, just as Elle does the same to Marcus, no doubt the same sappy expression is on both our faces.

“Never thought I’d have to deal with you both being this whipped.” My calm and stoic brother comments as he takes a sip of his beer.

I turn to Lincoln and smirk, “From the noises I hear coming from your room on the weekends, I’d say we’re not the only ones.” I wink at him, but of course he only offers me a slight smirk, even in his slightly intoxicated state.

“That is just a bit of fun,” he sighs, and I exchange a glance with Marcus as Asher comes storming from the house heading straight toward us.

“Oh yeah,” I grin, looking from him to Lincoln, “And what about that?” I question motioning to Asher just as he reaches us.

He zones straight in on Lincoln, “You and I need to talk, now!” Asher demands, his deadly tone just as threatening as always, but there isn’t an ounce of fear on my brother's face, instead he rolls his eyes at him in an almost playful manner. It’s so unlike him.

“Can it wait until we are at work,” Linc drawls, taking another sip of his beer, “I’m busy.”

Asher's face hardens as he grits, “Not unless you would like to discuss your extra curricular activities in front of your friends?”

Lincoln smirks, and it’s as if he is promising dark and deadly things as he replies,“I didn’t think you had an interest in my extracurriculars, Dark Prince.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that,” Asher spits through his teeth, as he stands right over Lincoln now.

“Why? Scared you might start to like it?” Lincoln places his half finished beer on the table and stands, levelling out the height difference between them as he brings them face to face with an almost cruel smile.

Asher sneers, “I’m not scared of anything. Blackwell.”

Lincoln smiles even wider now, “Liar.”

“Lincoln,” Asher warns, and whatever Lincoln sees on his face has him nodding slowly, Donovan doesn’t need more than that, it’s like they can communicate without words and he just spins on his heels and heads back towards the house with Lincoln following closely behind.

“God I wish they would just fuck and release all that tension already,” Logan purrs as he drops into the seat Lincoln just vacated and grabs the bottle he was drinking from to take a sip.

“Bored of my brother already?” I chuckle, and Logan’s eyes snap to mine.

“Not even a little,” he drawls, his face telling me he is thinking things about Lincoln that I don’t want to know. “But you’re not the only one who enjoys a good threesome.”

I almost choke on my water as Riley joins us, “Who enjoys a good threesome?” She asks sweetly with an innocent smile on her face as she stares at me.

Coughing up the water I am quick to reply, “No one, not me,” I start, and she laughs along with Marcus and Logan.

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