Page 44 of Rebels & Rejects

I glower at him. “What’s going on,” I snap, yanking my arm out of his hold and ignoring the tingling sensation his touch leaves on my skin, “is that your men have been following me all week. I can’t go to the fucking bathroom without them knowing, and today I arrive home to find a note from my brother informing me that he’s hanging out with the fucking kids you call gang members.”

The fury I’ve been bottling up inside spills over, and I take a threatening step toward Oliver, ignoring his wide eyes as I throw him my deadliest glare. “Your men have no right to be anywhere near my little brother. He’s got nothing to do with any of this, and the last place he should be hanging out is a gang clubhouse filled with guns and whores.”

A frown forms on Oliver’s face. “I thought Jon said he was like fifteen or something?”

“What does that have to do with anything? He’s got no business being here.” I gesture with my hand toward the apartment complex. “Look what just happened. He doesn’t deserve to have guns shoved in his face, and I sure as hell don’t want him getting hurt or killed because of yourgang.”

“He’s just playing ball with the guys. Nothing’s going to happen to him.”

I shake my head. He just doesn’t get it. Not wanting to waste time engaging in a pointless argument with him, I take off across the street toward the gym. I can still hear him behind me, his heavy boots slapping against the asphalt as he follows me.

“They’re around back,” he states as I approach the gym. At his words, I veer away from the front entrance, following a path that leads around the side of the building. As I get closer, I can hear voices and the sounds of laughter along with the thump-thump-thump of a ball bouncing against the hard ground.

Turning the corner at the back of the building, I find a bunch of guys—Jon and Luc included—running around a makeshift basketball court that’s been spray-painted onto the asphalt.

“See, he’s perfectly fine,” Oliver states, earning himself a glare before I focus back on the guys on the court, noticing that they must all be only a few years older than Luc.

“Why are they all so young?” I ask Oliver. It’s not surprising to see teenage boys hanging around clubhouses. They’re at an impressionable age that makes it easy for assholes to manipulate them into doing shady shit for them. However, I’ve never seen so many who are already affiliated with a gang and seem to have a good relationship with the rest of the members. Usually, they are nothing more than grunts—bottom of the food chain, expendable members that do the jobs no one else wants to do.

Oliver’s shoulder brushes against mine as he steps up beside me, the two of us watching the game unfold before us. “They were all being held captive in this compound in Cali where they were being trained to become killers.”

At his words, I tear my gaze away from the game to gape at him in shock.

“They don’t talk about it much, but they were street kids that were taken and were being molded into soldiers when Cain rescued them.”

“So he could use their skills for himself.” My dislike for Cain only grows. He’s as bad as the people that initially kidnapped these kids. He just wants to use them for his own gain.

Oliver barks out a laugh and shakes his head before looking at me. “You’ve got Cain all wrong. Yeah, he’s an asshole, but he’s not the person you think he is.” He focuses his attention back on the game when a round of hollers goes up as someone scores a basket. “He found homes for as many as he could, but these guys here had nowhere to go. They want to be here. For the first time in their lives, they have somewhere they belong, where they can be themselves and build a life they want.” He looks back at me, pinning me in place with a serious expression. “If they decided tomorrow they wanted to leave, Cain would let them. Hell, he’d probably buy them a bus ticket to wherever they wanted to go and give them money to get themselves started.”

I don’t know what to make of that. Have I really misjudged Cain? Is his dickish exterior just that? Somehow, I doubt he’s a fluffy little bunny rabbit that saves desperate children on the inside. I think Oliver is a little blinded by Cain, but I’m not here to interject myself into their gang politics. Hell, I’m supposed to be staying as far away from them as possible.

“Well, it’s really none of my business,” I state in a hard voice, refusing to let what he just told me to soften me toward Cain or the Rejects. “I’m only here to get Luc.” Before he can say anything further that might break the tenuous hold I have on my tough exterior, I stride toward the guys running around the court.

When I’m close enough, I call out Luc’s name. The interruption has all of them stopping mid-game as they turn to look in my direction. Luc’s eyes widen when he spots me, and although I can’t hear what he says, I’m pretty sure he mumblesfuckunder his breath.

I quirk a brow and pinch my lips, letting him see how pissed I am at him. He starts to move toward me, but Jon comes jogging over, and I shift my glare from Luc to him.

He grimaces. “Look, I can see you’re angry. I’m sorry. I just thought he’d wanna hang out with kids his own age.”

“That’s what he goes to school for,” I snap. “He doesn’t need to be hanging out with teenage gang-wannabes right outside a fucking clubhouse where any number of dangerous things could happen. Do you have any idea the risk you’ve put him at by bringing him here?”

I can see the guilt swimming in Jon’s eyes, and written into the hard press of his lips as I rip into him, the anger that’s been simmering in me sparking to life the more I talk.

“It was reckless. This might be the life you’ve chosen for yourself, but it’s not Luc’s.” I shake my head in disappointment. “I don’t want to see you anywhere near him. You’re not to message or call him, and I definitely don’t want you in our apartment.”

I almost feel bad as his head drops, and he looks properly chastised, but Luc’s safety is my number one priority, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect him.

“Hey,” Luc snaps at me, looking furious himself. “I’m old enough to be making my own decisions. You think the kids I go to school with aren’t already deep in gang life? Do you have any idea the number of times someone tried to get me to sign up for the Satan’s? I can’t hang out with anyone at school without someone thinking I’m associated with one gang or another. I just wanted to have some fun for once.”

“Well, fun time is over. We’re leaving.”

“We’re not finished.”

I glower at Luc. “I don’t give a shit.You’refinished.”

“No,” he snaps. “I’m not leaving. What are you going to do? Drag me out of here?”

I take a threatening step toward him, planning on doing just that when Oliver interjects. He steps between us, putting himself in the line of my wrath. “Why don’t we let them finish up their game, then I’ll take him straight home?” I open my mouth to argue when he cuts me off, leaning in to whisper in a quiet voice that’s meant only for us to hear. “It’s not like you can take him on the back of your bike anyway.”

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