“Where the fuck are you, Rebel!” I screamed to an empty house.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
I had been hiding under the bed for an hour now, and while I desperately wanted to come out and ask them to politely return me to my brother, I knew that was never going to happen.
Not now. Not now that I had fucked up the situation even more than ever.
As I lay there under the bed, breathing as quietly as I could, I wondered if there would ever come a time when everything I touched didn’t turn to shit. When everything I attempted didn’t fail miserably and embarrassingly.
I was a huge failure, and I always had been. It was no wonder Harley didn’t want to take me when I was twelve. Sure, he went through the legal motions, but I could tell his heart wasn’t in it. He was only eighteen, and he wanted to start his life, but still, I knew that if I had not been such a handful, he would have fought harder to become my guardian.
But I wasn’t that kind of kid. I was a troublemaker, an annoyance, a hot mess that nobody wanted anything to do with. The foster family only took me in for the money, and, as I quickly learned, to be a punching bag for my foster mom, and a secret, forbidden plaything for my foster dad.
And ever since then, I had stayed broken. I kept fucking up over and over, until I had proven to everyone else that I wasn’t worth saving.
Until I had even proved it to myself.
And here I was, once again, the fuck-up that needed saving. Tears began falling down my face, making me angry and even more annoyed with myself.
Why couldn’t I just suck it up and deal with the situation at hand? Why did I always start crying and turn into a sniveling little kid?
I couldn’t believe I was in this situation, and as I got angrier and angrier, the tears fell harder, until I was biting the back of my hand and sobbing into it, desperately trying to not make a sound and get my emotions under control.
I had heard voices from the other room the entire time I had been under the bed, and as I slowly got a hold of myself, and my sobbing stopped, I realized it was now completely quiet in the penthouse. I hadn’t heard the elevator door open, but it was possible it rang, and I didn’t hear it.
I waited a few more minutes, listening to the perfect silence under the dark bed before I slowly lifted the dust ruffle and peeked out. I saw no movement, but my sight was very limited, and I could only see the bedroom doorway from where I was.
Slowly, I wiggled out from under the bed, laying still next to it, waiting and listening for any sign of any of Sergio’s men.
Nothing.
I raised myself to my feet, and slipped off my black boots before taking a step. I walked to the bedroom door and peered down the hall.
Nothing.
Slowly, I tiptoed down the hallway, my heart beating so hard I could hear it throbbing in my head. There wasn’t a soul in sight, and Jorge’s pool of blood had been cleaned up, along with all of the broken glass from the vase.
I had never hit anyone in my life, and I almost felt bad that I had made Jorge bleed.
I sighed a huge sigh of relief when I saw that I was, in fact, alone in the penthouse. I sprinted across the living room as quickly as I could, grabbed my backpack and phone and hit the button to open the elevator.
My hands were shaking as the mirrored doors slowly parted, opening up to the promise of sweet freedom. I jumped in, quickly hit the close button and then hit the button to take me to the parking garage. I was sure that Sergio’s men were still looking for me, and there was no way I was going to go strutting across the hotel lobby in full view.
The garage was my only other choice.
I silently thanked the universe for letting me out of the hotel and dialed Harley’s number with my cell phone at the same time.
He answered on the first ring.
“Rebel!” He sounded so relieved, I smiled.
“Harley! I’m safe. I’m so sorry! I just made it out of the penthouse. I’m so fucking sorry, Har —,” the doors opened, and I stood face to face with Sergio.
“There you are, niña!” he said, the most sinister smile I had ever seen spread across his face, as he grabbed the phone out of my hands.
“Rebel! Rebel!” I could hear the faint of sound of Harley’s voice yelling my name as Sergio put the phone to his ear.
“Hello, Harley. Looks like I found Rebel. We’ll call you back in just a few minutes.” He hung up the phone before Harley could say anything.
Sergio pulled a gun from his suit coat, pushing me back into the elevator as the doors closed.
He stood directly in front of me, his gun pointed right at my heart as he snarled at me.
“You’re a little troublemaker, aren’t you?”
I met his gaze silently, the gun cold and hard through the fabric of my t-shirt.
“I almost feel sorry for your brother to have to put up with a little perra like you.”
“Fuck you.” I said, the gun pressed into my chest scaring the shit out of me, but I was determined not to let him see how much.
“Oh, niña. You are so brave, aren’t you?” He reached out with his other hand, wrapping a strand of my hair around his fingers and pulling hard.
He lowered his voice, his menacing stare turning dark and dangerous.
“You and your brother have humiliated me over and over today. Do you know what I do to people who humiliate me?” he asked.
“Fuck you.”
“Ah, niña, no — fuck you!” he replied, his grip on my hair pulling tighter and tighter.
The elevator reached the penthouse again, and he shoved me back into the suite.
“Sit on the couch, you little bitch. And don’t move.”
He threw my phone on the table, and pulled his phone out of his pocket, punched a few numbers, and put it up to his ear as he looked at me, his gun pointed straight at my head.
“Harley. Sorry to hang up on you like that. Yes, yes, I found Rebel. She’s safe, don’t worry. As a matter of fact, she’s right here in front of me,” he said.
“Yes, don’t worry, you’ll get her back in no time. Unfortunately, there’s been a change of plans.”
“Harley, if you keep yelling, you won’t be able to hear what I have to say.” I could hear Harley’s voice from across the room.
“Good, that’s better. Now, here’s the deal, mi amigo. Your sister has caused a lot of trouble today, for both of us. And she injured one of my men, too. Jorge is still at the hospital getting stitched up. And as you know, Harley, as a businessman, time is money. And your sister has wasted a hell of a lot of my time today.”
“Harley, listen,” he said, waiting for Harley to stop yelling before he continued.
“Here’s what’s going to happen now. I am going to return your sister, in one piece, but I’m going to need a hundred thousand dollars for my trouble.”
My mouth fell open as he looked at me, pulling the phone away from his ear to avoid the volume of Harley’s voice.
“Harley, of course I’m not joking. There’ll be no negotiating. Bring the money to the warehouse in two hours, and she’ll be there. Don’t bring your whole crew either. Just you and Mason. Also, if this annoying little brat causes any further trouble, the price will double!”
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
I hung up the phone with Harley, my guts wrenched with worry for Rebel. Now that the cartel had found her, there was no telling what they would do to her. I could only imagine, and I could imagine some pretty horrific stuff.
Shaking off those images, I ran to my bedroom. I pulled everything out of the closet, then pulled the knife from my holster that was attached to my belt. Using the tip of it, I pried open the floorboards, pulling six of them up one at a time. Using both hands, I pulled the portable safe out of my hiding spot.
I spun the dial, entering the combination and opened the door. The bricks of neatly stacked cash made me smile. I had been saving this money for years, and in a million years I had never expected I would use it for this.
To save Rebel.
When Harley told me he only had a few hours to come up with the money, and he wasn’t sure if he could get his hands on that much cash in such a short time, I stopped him and told him I had it covered.
I was quiet about my money, but I had been steadfastly saving as much as I could over the years. I had received a small inheritance when my mom passed away, and I had very few expenses. I didn’t trust banks, so I kept it in my closet.
If anyone tried to steal it, they would have had to go through me, and if they made it through me, then I figured they deserved it — if they weren’t dead.
As soon as Harley told me Sergio’s demands, I was happy to be able to help. Harley kept talking about paying it back, but that was the last thing I was concerned with.
I just wanted Rebel back.
I wanted Rebel, back in one piece, safe and sound in my arms. Right where she belonged.
And if it was the last thing I did, I was going to have just that.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
When Mason walked into my house with a black duffel bag full of cash, I gave him the biggest hug I had ever given him.
No matter what Rebel had done to get into this situation, and I still wasn’t clear why she was at the warehouse in the first place, it was up to me and the club to get her out of it.
When Sergio demanded a much larger amount than I would be able to gather in two hours in the middle of the night, I knew I was fucked.
I’d never have imagined that Mason would be able to help out, and yet here he was twenty minutes later walking through my front door, with a big gun on his hip and a huge amount of money hanging from his hand.
“Dude, I can’t thank you enough,” I said.
“Harley, don’t sweat it. It’s just some bills. It’s nothing compared to getting Rebel back. I wanna fucking kill Sergio! That motherfucking prick!” Anger filled Mason eyes, and I knew mine were the same.
I had never been more grateful to Mason, and yet I had never been more pissed in my life. It was an odd mixture — add in the worry I felt for Rebel, and I was a churning mess of emotion.
There was no fucking way Sergio was going to get out of this alive. My plan was to trade Rebel for the cash, and get the hell out of there. And then, when Sergio least expected it, he would be paid back with the full force of the MC.
“So, Sergio said only you and I should come to the warehouse. I have the other guys on alert, they know where we will be, and they will be two blocks away, ready and waiting for a signal for us should we need them.”
“Excellent. Is he bringing Rebel to the warehouse?” Mason asked.
“Yeah, fucking Rebel. Jesus Christ, I can’t believe she escaped and then got caught again.”
“I just can’t believe she was at the fucking warehouse to begin with. I don’t know what she was thinking. I never told her any of the details on the meeting,” Mason said.
“Neither did I. The only thing I can think of is that she overheard one of us. Maybe she heard me talking to Johnny at the graveyard, I don’t know. Whatever it was, it was stupid,” Harley said, “and as soon as I get her alone, she’s going to hear exactly how stupid I think it was.”
Mason smirked, shaking his head.
“Well, she’s going to have to listen to both of us. This whole thing is so fucked up, I just can’t even believe it,” Mason said.
“Yeah, I know, dude, I know. C’mon, let’s head over there and get our girl back.”
Mason and I left our cuts in my living room, put on identical black hoodies and loaded our guns. We placed them in our holsters, grabbed the duffel bag of cash, and walked out to my van outside.
No bikes, no loud noises, and it would be easier to get Rebel in the van and out of there as fast as possible.
I was hoping like hell this went smoothly, because I was beyond exhausted and my nerves were raw. If Sergio pushed me too far with his sarcastic bullshit, I wasn’t sure what I would do.
I needed to concentrate on saving Rebel, but damned if I wasn’t seeing red every time I thought about that asshole.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
If Mason and Harley weren’t mad at me before, they sure as hell were now. A hundred thousand dollars? What the fuck did Sergio think we were? Rockefellers?
I was pretty certain there was no way the boys would be able to come up with that much money, and now I had no idea how everything was going to go down.
I was sick to my stomach with worry. Worry for Mason and Harley and everyone else involved. Those two weren’t the type to give up without a fight, and however this all happened, it wasn’t going to be pretty.
Shortly after Sergio and I returned to the penthouse, it filled up with his men. There was no way I was going to be able to escape again, not with ten large men within ten feet of me at all times. Make that ten very pissed off, giant men.
Sergio kept yelling at them, making fun of them for thinking I was gone when I wasn’t, for not searching the apartment properly, for being complete fuck-ups, basically. All at the hands of a “niña”, he kept calling me.
I wanted to yell right back at him, tell him it was all his fault for leaving me with such incompetent idiots, but if he got any angrier, I was certain that the throbbing vein on his temple would burst.
Not too long after that, they loaded me back up in the SUV with Sergio and one of his men, and we made our way back to the warehouse in Deep Ellum.
Part of me was dreading seeing Harley and Mason, knowing their eyes would be full of disappointment directed at me, and the other part was so grateful to be in the same room with them again. I had no idea how I was going to explain everything to them, but I was hoping like hell they had figured something out to get us all safely out of this horrible situation I had created.
When we pulled up, I saw Harley’s empty van already parked outside the door. Sergio’s giant pulled me out of the car so roughly I stumbled, and Sergio yelled at him again. They pulled me along into the warehouse, each of them holding my arms so tightly, I was sure I would be bruised tomorrow.
As soon as we turned the corner, my eyes locked on Mason’s. It was all there. Everything I knew I would see. Everything I hoped I would see, as much as I hated it.
He was a wreck. Quickly, I looked at Harley as he called my name.
“Rebel! Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m —,” I replied.
“She’s fine!” Sergio interrupted. “And she’s lucky about that. Holding on to this girl is like trying to hold a tiger by her tail! I’m surprised you want her back at all, to be honest.”
“Fuck you, Sergio. You’ve got some serious balls pulling this shit, you fucking prick.”
“Business is business, mi amigo. Where’s the money?” Sergio obviously didn’t appreciate being talked to like that, but I was glad he was being all business. None of them wanted to get out of there faster than I did.
I looked at Mason, his eyes glued to me, his hand glued to the gun on his side. He was standing ten feet away and it took all my willpower not to run into his arms. I had thought of nothing but that for days, and I was yearning to kiss him and be alone with him.
Harley handed the duffel bag to Sergio and we all waited, holding our breath, as he opened it and inspected the contents. I gasped when I saw inside — the bag was full of more money than I had ever seen.
“Excellent,” Sergio said, and he suddenly pushed me right into Harley’s arms.
He hugged me quickly, and then pushed me over to Mason. I wanted to embrace him, pour kisses all over his face and melt the hardness that was covering it, but I couldn’t.
The tension in the room was so thick you could have touched it. The look in Harley’s eyes scared me. I had never seen a man so angry and as he stared menacingly at Sergio, I knew this wasn’t over.
I looked back and forth between Mason, Harley and Sergio and Sergio’s man, each of them having pulled out their guns and holding them at their sides.
“Harley, mi amigo, I can
see you’re angry,” Sergio said, watching Harley carefully, knowing he was on the verge of exploding. “I’d like to advise you not to do anything stupid, not now, or later. It would not end well. I’m sure you know this.”
“Fuck you, Sergio,” Harley was seething as he fixed his intense gaze on his now enemy.
“Harley, I know this was not an ideal situation. But, it is what it is. And it’s over now. I didn’t hurt your sister, you got her back, I got what I wanted, it’s all water under the bridge. I trust you can respect me as much as I’m respecting you right now. Now, I’m going to walk out and we’ll be in touch another day. Let’s not do anything stupid, shall we?”
Harley smirked, his voice laced with sarcasm.
“Goodbye, Sergio,” he said quietly.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
My heart soared when I saw Rebel. It took all my strength not to rush over and pull her into my arms, ensuring she would be safe for the rest of her life. There was no way in hell I was going to let anyone ever touch her again, and I was filled with gratitude just to be in the same room with her again.
But I couldn’t. Not yet. First, we had to deal with Sergio.
When I saw the twitch in Harley’s jaw out of the corner of my eye, I knew this wasn’t over. And I knew it wasn’t going to end without blood on the floor.
The only question was whose blood it was going to be.
I had known Harley since we were kids, and there was one thing that never changed about him. He never let someone get away with betraying him. He was never one to start a fight, but he would never walk away from one that someone else started with him.
And he never lost.
Not once.
Sergio didn't know that, and I’m sure he wasn’t a fearful man, either. But he was definitely underestimating Harley if he thought he was going to walk away from this unscathed.
SAVING REBEL: Renegade Rebels Motorcycle Club Page 12