I lifted my face to the sun and shielded my eyes. It had been so long since I’d felt it on my face. “Pissed? About what?”
“The condition of your release. You’ve no reason to worry. I’ve a guest room, and you’ll have all the privacy you need.”
I loved the way he said “privacy,” with a short I instead of a long one, but I couldn’t get distracted by that right now. “What are you talking about?”
He took my arm and moved me out of the way when two other people came out the door. “Hammer was able to negotiate your release, but it had to be into my custody.”
“Your custody? Are you a cop?”
“Something like that.”
“But…” What? I had no other option. I shook my head and looked at the ground. “I guess I don’t have any choice,” I mumbled, once again wishing I hadn’t said out loud what should’ve stayed inside my head.
“I’m sorry, Rebel. Truly, I am.”
I looked into the brownest eyes on the face of the most handsome man I’d ever seen—forget the body I could barely tear my eyes from. Under other circumstances, as in if I wasn’t facing a murder charge, I would’ve climbed his body like a tree. “I don’t want you to think I’m not grateful.”
“Let’s go.” He led me over to an old pickup truck and opened the passenger door. “It doesn’t look like much, but it runs.” He closed the door behind me and walked around the front of the vehicle. My eyes tracked him the entire way. Everything about him was so fucking hot it took my breath away.
I ran my hand over the cracked leather of the bench seat, overcome by memories that sat too close to the surface on a day like today.
“My granddaddy…” I began, fighting back tears and trying to clear my throat and find my voice. It was clogged with emotion from thinking about how, when he was alive, I’d felt protected, cared for, loved. “He had a truck like this.”
He reached over and wiped away a tear I didn’t realize had spilled onto my cheek. “We’re going to find Possum’s killer, Rebel. I promise you that.”
Twenty minutes later, we drove through the gates of King-Alexander Ranch. I’d never been on the property, but I’d heard stories about it. It was even more spectacular than I imagined.
“I live in one of the ranch hands’ houses,” he said as we passed what I guessed was the main residence.
“This is for a ranch hand?” I gasped when he pulled into a driveway and waited for the garage door to open.
It was a miniature version of the main house, built from timber and stone. Tall windows all along the front and side gave it an airy, open look, and huge wooden posts were topped with thatched roofs covering outdoor seating areas. There were even a fireplace and outdoor kitchen. It was the nicest place I’d ever seen, outside of a magazine.
“This was the manager’s before he got married and moved to a neighboring ranch.” He came around and opened my door. “I’ll give you a quick tour.” He pushed a button to close the garage door and then entered a code on a keypad. “The ranch’s security systems are elaborate. I’ll give you the rundown after you’ve had a chance to rest.”
I followed him into the kitchen—my favorite part of any house—not that I’d ever seen one this grand. The cathedral ceilings were made of unfinished wood and retained by the same massive wooden posts as outdoors. One of the interior walls was covered with stone with a cutout for the range and cupboards. There were stools set up on one side of an L-shaped island and more at a breakfast bar.
We swept past the family room that was adjacent to the kitchen, and down a hallway. Edge stopped, reached around me, and opened the door.
“This is the gym. You’re more than welcome to use it. It’s obvious you take good care of yourself,” he said as his eyes swept my body.
Not able to resist, I did the same to his. Buff didn’t begin to describe him. Every muscle I could see was defined, as I anticipated was true of those I couldn’t see. Edge was taller than me. He would be even if I wore heels. I liked that. A lot. His hair, that he kept closely cropped on the sides, was a mess of curls on top, and while it was brown like his eyes, both were entirely different colors. His hair was chocolaty while his eyes were caramel. Dark stubble covered his square jaw, but through it, I could see his dimples as he grinned at my blatant perusal.
Edge cleared his throat and continued to the next door which opened to a bedroom.
“The lavatory is right across the hall.” He stopped smiling and scrubbed his face with his hand. “It didn’t occur to me that you might need to stop and pick up some things.”
I didn’t have much in the way of possessions. The idea that after my arrest my asshole landlord had probably trashed what little there was, made me sick to my stomach. The photos of me with my mother and grandparents were what I cared mainly about.
Edge led me back out to the family room. “We can go out later if you’d like.”
I pulled out my dead cell phone. “You don’t happen to have a charger that would work with this, do you?” As soon as the words left my mouth, it occurred to me that I wouldn’t have service since my bill hadn’t been paid since I was arrested.
No clothes, no phone, no money. I had nothing, and considering I was out on bail with a murder charge looming, who would give me a job? I doubted even Bobby would, especially since his brother was the sheriff.
The magnitude of my dire situation landed heavily on my shoulders. “Excuse me,” I mumbled, rushing back down the hall to the bathroom. Once inside, I sat on the toilet seat and wrapped my arms around my stomach as silent sobs racked my body. The truth was, I was better off in jail. At least there I didn’t need to worry about my next meal or where I’d sleep or that I didn’t have a cell phone. I knew it sounded crazy, even in my thoughts, but I had to ask Edge to take me back.
I turned on the faucet and let the cool water run over my wrists. It had always settled me when anxiety threatened to turn into a full-fledged panic attack. I doubted any amount of water could stop one from coming on now.
“Rebel…Lucy…are you all right?” I heard Edge ask from the other side of the door.
“I’ll be right out.” I splashed cold water on my blotchy, tear-streaked face while trying to figure out how to ask someone who had posted bail on my behalf to take me back to lockup.
6
Edge
I leaned against the wall, wishing I knew how to handle this situation better. Would it help if she had another woman to talk to? It occurred to me that I should’ve stopped at the main house and introduced Rebel to Shadow.
Returning to the kitchen, I sent her a text explaining the situation, which Shadow immediately answered, asking what I thought Rebel might need. Need? God, I was a wanker. The woman was wearing the same clothes as when she was arrested. Not to mention her apartment was surely rented by now. Who knew what might have happened to her belongings? When I responded, she told me to bring Rebel to the house as soon as it was convenient.
I heard the bathroom door open and raised my head. The rays of the setting sun streaming in through the windows shone brightly on Rebel, making her look even more beautiful than I remembered. Long, wavy brown hair framed the delicate features of her face, and her blue eyes mesmerized me as much today as they had the night we met.
While she wasn’t as tall as me, her legs still looked miles long in the tight black jeans she had tucked into black military-style boots. The thin black shirt she wore, exposed a hint of her tummy, and what little I could see of it, looked as ripped as mine used to be—before I spent several weeks not doing much more than sitting on my ass.
“Hey,” she said, pushing up the sleeves on her black denim jacket. “Sorry about that. I had a little bout of self-pity. Which leads me to…I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Edge. Getting me out of jail and all, but the truth is…I don’t know how to say this.”
“Just say it.” I walked closer, shoving my hands into my pockets to stop from reaching out to touch her.
“Okay…
well…I need to go back.”
I couldn’t help myself. I took my left hand out of my pocket and brushed her hair from her face. “Back where?”
She bit her bottom lip. “To the jail.”
“Why? Did you leave something there?”
She shook her head. “I just need to go back.”
Thinking that maybe whatever she wanted to return for was something she didn’t want to talk about, I agreed to take her without asking any more questions.
“I need to stop by the main house before we head into town.” I pulled up, cut the engine, and walked around to open her door. “Come on. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
“Edge…”
I took her hand and pulled her out of the truck. “It’ll only take a minute, after which we’ll run your errand.”
“Errand?”
“You know, whatever you need from the jail.”
“I think you misunderstood—”
“It’s okay. Whatever it is, you don’t have to tell me.”
“Hey, Edge,” I heard Shadow holler as she came down the steps of the front porch. “You must be Rebel.”
“This is Shadow—Darrow. Darrow, this is Lucy…Rebel.” I was embarrassed. “I’m sorry, which do you prefer?”
“Rebel.”
“It’s nice to me you, Rebel,” said Shadow. “Please come in. Edge tells me that you need a few things to tide you over.”
“I don’t understand.” She looked between me and Shadow, who tucked her arm through Rebel’s and led her inside.
“Listen, when I first visited the ranch, I had nothing ‘appropriate to wear,’ in the words of my dear husband. Fortunately, my sister-in-law had closets full of clothes that fit me perfectly. You look to be about my size too.”
Rebel stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned around to face me. “Thank you, but I’m going back to jail. To stay.” Her cheeks flushed red when I stepped closer.
“You don’t need to worry about that. Before this goes to trial, me and the boys will figure out who killed Possum. You aren’t going to spend another day behind bars. I promise.”
“Will you excuse us?” she said to Shadow; I followed her back out to the front porch.
“I know this may be hard for you to understand or even fathom, but I have nothing, Edge—literally nothing. Understand? I have no family, no home, no money, I don’t have any clothes other than what’s on my back. I don’t even know where my car is. For all I know it’s been—”
Not knowing how else to stop her from talking, I grasped the back of her neck and covered her lips with mine like I’d wanted to the night we met. I pushed my tongue into her mouth and her back up against the porch post.
Once I started, I didn’t want to stop. For the last few weeks, thinking about kissing her got me through most days. Imagining that one day I’d come back and do to her body all the things I’d wanted to that night, kept me moving forward when I felt like giving up.
I kissed her cheek, her temple, her eyelid, and rested my forehead against hers. “You’re not as alone as you think, little Rebel. You’ve got me, and with me comes my friends.”
“You hardly know me,” she whispered. “Why are you doing this?”
“Tell you what. We’ll go back inside, let Shadow pack up a bag to tide you over until we can find out where your car, along with where the stuff you left in your apartment, ended up. After that, we’ll take a ride and I’ll answer your question. Okay?”
It took a while, but eventually, she nodded after I brought my lips to hers in another kiss.
“I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted to kiss you.”
“Me too,” she whispered, burying her face in my shoulder.
“There’s so much more…” I kissed her one more time before pulling her back toward the house.
“I took the liberty,” said Shadow, meeting us inside the door with a packed bag. “You’ll need to go into town for some essentials, but at least you won’t need to buy a whole new wardrobe.”
“Thank you so much. I’ll…um…get it all back to you as soon as I can.”
“No need. The clothes are yours to keep.”
“I can’t…”
Shadow squeezed Rebel’s hand. “Please. Let us do this. Quint told me what happened. The guys,” she looked at me, smiled, and winked, “the Invincibles will find out who killed that man, and you’ll be able to put all this behind you.”
Rebel’s eyes met mine, and I knew part of explaining why I was helping her meant I also needed to tell her what I did for a living.
When she said that I hardly knew her, she was right. Just because I’d spent weeks fantasizing about her, didn’t mean she was anything like the woman I’d invented in my head. Only time would tell who she truly was, and the way things appeared now, we’d have a lot of it. Conversely, she didn’t know me either.
“Edge, I’m not sure how to say this,” she began once Shadow left us on our own.
“I told you before. Just say it.”
“I don’t have any money. I know I told you that already, but I’m not sure you understand that I literally have no money. None, and I highly doubt I could get my old job back.”
“One thing at a time, okay?”
“But—”
I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck.
“Are you going to kiss me every time you don’t want to hear what I have to say?”
I laughed and dropped my hand. “It isn’t about not wanting to hear it. It’s about not wanting you to worry. Please, let me help you. I know you don’t have money. I’m not concerned about it.”
“But…”
“Yes?”
Rebel looked down at the ground. “I was kind of hoping you’d interrupt me again.”
“Gladly.” I kissed her again. “I could do this all day. Not that there’s much left of it.” I wrapped my arm around Rebel’s shoulders and led her over to the truck. “Let’s get you…what did Shadow say?”
“Essentials.”
“Like…knickers, for example?” I winked.
“Exactly.”
Probably wouldn’t do if I told her now that I’d rather she not wear them. Ever.
Two hours later, essentials purchased, including several pairs of the aforementioned ladies’ undergarments as well as a toothbrush, paste, and other womanly sundries, my mind was still on the knickers. A particular pair, in fact. Red lace and quite skimpy. Thin enough that I could easily rip them from Rebel’s body with my teeth.
“Maybe we should do this tomorrow.” She stifled a yawn after I suggested we run by her old apartment.
“If you’d like. On the other hand, I reckon it might be nice to have it done with.”
“I bet you could talk anyone into anything with that smooth English accent of yours.”
“I’ve no interest in talking anyone into anything. Other than you, of course.”
“And what, exactly, do you want to talk me into?”
I reached across the seat and took her hand in mine. “It’s more what I want to talk you out of.” I pulled up in front of the address Hammer had given me and tried my best to hide my dismay. Dreadful didn’t come close to describing the place Rebel used to call home.
“There it is!” she screeched, jumping out of the truck and running across the lawn. I got out and followed her to an empty parking lot, with the exception of a lone vehicle, which looked as though it hadn’t run in decades. By the time I caught up, Rebel was reaching under the wheel well.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for this.” She smiled and held up a key.
I stepped back so she could unlock the door, but she didn’t. Instead, she went to the boot.
“Thank God,” I heard her murmur before I peeked around to see what gave her such relief. “He put it all in here. At least he didn’t throw it in the garbage.”
I stood back and watched as she ran her hand over the small amount of possessions as though they were the finest tr
easures in the universe. She picked up a framed photo and hugged it to her.
“Who is that?” I asked.
She held it out so I could see.
“Is that you and your mum?”
“Yes.” She studied the photo, running her fingertips over the image. “I was seven when this was taken.”
“Do you have any others?”
She sifted through the box and pulled out two more. In one she looked younger and in the other, much older. It didn’t look as though it was taken that long ago.
“When was this?” I asked, peering over her shoulder.
“I was eighteen.” Rebel shook her head. “It feels like a lifetime ago.”
I knew from the dossier I’d asked Decker to put together that Lucy “Rebel” Marks was twenty-four years of age, yet she considered six years a lifetime. Lord knew what struggles she’d endured in that time.
I’d looked away, and when I turned back and my eyes met hers, all I could think was that I didn’t want this precious girl to have to endure a minute more of hardship. I couldn’t explain why, given that prior to now, all I’d thought about was getting her starkers. Maybe it was because after my parents died, I’d felt as alone as she must be feeling. I had Lennox, though. Rebel didn’t have anyone. When Hammer was questioning her, she’d said that Possum killed her mother. Odd that there wasn’t anything in the dossier about her mother’s death. It was something I’d follow up with Decker about.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
“I promised you a story, didn’t I?”
She nodded.
“First, what shall we do with…this?” I waved my hand at her car.
“Susan.”
“What?”
“My car’s name is Susan.”
“Your car has a name?”
“She does.”
“All right, then. What shall we do with…Susan?”
She climbed inside and put the key in the ignition. There was a clicking sound, but it didn’t start.
Edged (The Invincibles Book 2) Page 3