Page 105 of Rebel Obsession

But his mom stepped out onto the porch, wiping her flour-covered hands on a flowered apron. “What’s going on?” Her gaze landed on me, and her arms automatically opened. “Rebel! Oh, sweetheart. It’s really lovely to see you again. How are you?” She put a motherly arm around my shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “How are you holding up? It’s been the worst couple of weeks, hasn’t it? Please come inside. It’s cold out here.”

She’d already drawn me two feet over the threshold, so I didn’t have much choice but to continue following into her home. I glanced over my shoulder at Vaughn, right as he flinched away from Brooke’s touch again.

At least that was vaguely satisfying.

Riva steered me into a big open-plan living area, with a huge kitchen and an attached eating and living area. “Karmichael. Vaughn and Rebel are here.”

Her husband dragged his gaze away from the TV and strode across the room to Vaughn. The two men shook hands, and then he turned to me, nodding coolly before going back to his game.

Riva tittered. “Excuse him. He’s a man of few words. Come, sweetheart. Come sit while I cook. Vaughn and Brooke have a lot of catching up to do. They’ve been separated for so many weeks.”

“Cali has been woeful without my sweetie there,” Brooke said in the most annoying baby voice I’d ever heard.

I glanced at Vaughn and raised an eyebrow, as if to say, seriously? This is the woman you married?

Vaughn ignored me and scowled at his mother. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing here, but—”

Brooke put her hand on his arm. “I spoke to your father’s business partner the other day. He said all is going well. That you’re learning your place within his business.”

Vaughn’s laugh was bitter, but I seemed to be the only one who noticed.

Riva just nodded approvingly at her boy. “I always knew you were a good fit for that company. They need your young blood. Your father and Harold are…were…too set in their ways. You coming back here is probably the best thing that’s happened to Harold in years.”

Brooke gave him a pointed look. “He said he’s working on getting you a salary and a sign-on bonus. A very substantial one, so I’m told.”

Vaughn folded his arms over his chest. “Did he just?”

I had the feeling this was the first Vaughn had heard about any of it.

He stared Brooke right in the eye. “Is that why you’re here? To make sure your grabby little fingers can snatch it up the moment it hits my bank account?”

Karmichael’s head snapped around toward his stepson. “Vaughn! We did not raise you to speak to your wife like that. What’s gotten into you?” His gaze darted to me, and for a second, I was sure I saw a flash of disgust.

I sighed. It was the same expression I’d seen my entire life once people realized I was the gutter trash from Saint View. It never mattered what I wore or who I was with. At the end of the day, to these people on the other side of the border, I was nothing but scum.

Riva seemed dismayed at the rapidly disintegrating dinner party, her gaze darting between her husband, son, and daughter-in-law.

I tried to smile at her. “Thank you very much for inviting me, Riva. Maybe another time?”

She nodded, a sad expression morphing on her aging face. “You’re welcome anytime, sweetheart. I’m very sorry.”

I got up stiffly, but before I’d even gotten both feet down off the stool, Vaughn’s fingers wrapped around mine. I tried to pull away from his touch, but he clamped down on my hand, refusing to let me go.

“It’s called affection, Roach. Learn to like it.”

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. It was the same thing I’d said to him when I’d hugged him for the first time.

When had we gotten close enough to have inside jokes?

I didn’t know. Everything about Vaughn seemed to have crept up on me. Especially the way I felt about him.

At least when he wasn’t being a douche canoe.

Brooke gave me a triumphant smirk as we passed, despite the fact her husband was holding my hand. Irritation prickled at the back of my neck, but her expression was mostly just baffling. I had no idea what she thought she’d won, until we got out on the porch again and I realized her expression was because Vaughn would be going back in. Back to her.

Which was probably where he belonged. Who the hell was I to get in the way of a marriage? “Thanks for seeing me out. I can walk the rest of the way home. I’ll be fine.”

But Vaughn led me over to the car and opened the passenger side door for me. “Get in. Did you forget Fang’s orders? I can’t let you out of my sight.”

---