by Amy Cecil
The flight is long but direct. We're offered food, snacks, and drinks. Alcohol is free in first class and it takes everything in me not to order a drink. Lord knows I want to. But my sobriety is important to me, so I don’t. Eventually, I fall asleep and I don't wake up until the plane is about to land. My nerves come back as the plane touches down on the ground, but thankfully we land safely.
We go through the process of customs, getting our bags, and hailing a cab. This part is definitely not fun, but obviously, it is something that all international travelers must go through.
It's pretty late when we finally get to Rebel's family's home. We approach the door and Emma knocks. I'm sure we're going to wake up the whole house. A few seconds go by and nobody answers. Emma knocks again and then we hear yelling from inside the house. Holy crap. What the fuck is going on?
The door finally opens and we see Rebel standing there shirtless and barefoot, wearing only a pair of sweatpants that hang low on his hips. But his state of undress is not what concerns me, it's the sexy redhead standing in the middle of the living room wearing nothing but a pair of black lace panties. We all just stand there in shock and then Emma says, "Rebel? What's going on here?" Poor Ari looks like she is about to cry and frankly, I can't say that I blame her.
I can’t believe that Rebel has allowed himself to get into a situation like this. He’s a smart guy and to cheat on Ice's sister right in front of him would be a death wish. Surely he knows that. But I’ve seen him get himself into sticky situations in the past and it wouldn’t surprise me if this is exactly what it looks like. The fact that Rebel is tongue-tied and remains silent just makes him look more guilty.
"Ari …" Rebel says loud enough for all of us to hear. Silence deafens the room, then Rebel finally yells, "Ciara, I fucking said to go back to bed! Now!"
The half-naked girl who I assume is Ciara looks from Rebel to Ari with a pout. "Fine!" she stammers. As she stomps up the stairs, she yells, "Good luck explaining this one!" Her laughter fills the silence in the room.
Rebel watches her go and then turns back toward us. "What are you girls doing here?" he asks as he gestures for us to come in.
We walk through the door silently, bags in hand. It's very awkward and Rebel hasn't started explaining yet, which is making the whole situation worse. Emma says as we walk into the house, "Maybe first you should explain what we walked in on."
Rebel looks at Ari apologetically and says, "Babe, it's not what it looks like, I swear. I never touched her."
Ari doesn't say a word, but her eyes begin to well up with tears.
"Honey, maybe you and I should step outside and let these two have some privacy," Emma says.
"No!" Ari states. "Stay here and hear what he's got to say. Then, Emma, you can tell my brother all about it," she threatens.
Rebel flinches at her words, then reaches for Ari's arm and pulls her over to the couch. "Sit," he says. "There's no need to involve Ice in this. Just let me explain."
As she sits down, she looks at her watch and says, "We've been here long enough. You can start explaining any time, Rebel. I'm not going anywhere." She crosses her arms and adds, "Yet!"
Emma and I do what Ari says and sit down. Finally, Rebel begins to explain, "Today, we finally got a lead on my mam and da. I was pumped, anxious, and unable to sleep. So, I came downstairs to get something to eat. Ciara came down after me."
"Why is she even here in the middle of the night?" Ari asks.
"She is dating my brother, Damon. I assume she was in his room."
Ari seems to accept that reply and silently gestures for Rebel to go on. He says, "She came down half-naked and tried to get me to take her back to my room, but I refused. I never touched her and I didn't instigate this." He says pleadingly, "I swear!"
He waits for Ari to say something, but she remains quiet, apparently in deep thought. Then he adds, "Babe, do you really think I'd be so stupid to do something like this with your brother upstairs? He'd fucking kill me!"
Ari still doesn't say a word, but I think his last words make sense to her. I mean really, Rebel isn't suicidal.
Emma watches her curiously and when Ari doesn't say anything to Rebel, Emma says, "Ari? I believe he's telling the truth. If there's only one thing he's said tonight that makes perfect sense and totally backs up his story, it's the fact that he wouldn't be stupid enough to do this with Caden in the house."
She looks at Emma and finally speaks, acting as if Rebel wasn't even in the room. "But how do you know, Emma? How do I know I can trust him?" she asks.
"Has he ever given you any reason, ever, to mistrust him?" Emma asks.
"No."
"And do you think he would be stupid enough to take the risk?"
"No," she says as she looks over at him.
"Then I think you have your answer. You need to give him the benefit of the doubt and not make assumptions about things that didn't happen."
Still looking at Rebel and crying silent tears, she says nothing. He pulls her into his arms and says, "Babe, I love you. I would never do anything to fuck up what we have. Ever."
"I love you too, Rebel," she says, hugging him back.
They hug for a few more minutes and then Rebel says, "So what the hell, ladies? What're you doing here?"
I laugh and say, "That's a long story." I pause and then add, "I'll let Emma tell you." I’m not taking the flack for this one. This move was all her. Even though she pulled it off brilliantly, it’s all on her.
Emma rolls her eyes at me. Before Emma can explain, we hear someone coming down the stairs.
"What the fuck is all the noise about?"
It's Ice. Let the fireworks begin. I laugh to myself. When he gets to the bottom of the steps, we see that he is also wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants that hang low on his hips. Holy fuck! My mouth begins to water and then I remember my place. I may not be able to touch, but nobody can stop me from looking.
"Fuck, Emma!" he says when he sees us.
"Hey, Cade," she says with all the confidence in the world. I actually expect “surprise!" to come out of her mouth next. I'm just waiting for him to blow up at her—at all of us, for that matter. But he totally surprises me. He walks over to Emma and carefully pulls her up from the chair. His arm wraps around her waist as he pulls her in close.
He leans in like he's going to kiss her. But instead, he says, "I'm not gonna ask why you're here. I'm not gonna ask why you've pulled my sister out of school and brought her with you. I'm not gonna ask why you didn't give me so much as a notice that you were coming. But if I wasn't so fucking happy to see you right now, I would put you over my knee and spank your ass!" He leans in and kisses her.
Hot damn!
When the kiss is over he turns to Rebel and asks, "Did you know about this?"
"No! I'm just as surprised as you," Rebel replies.
"You can say that again," Ari says. At her words, everyone busts out laughing. That is, everyone but Caden, who just looks confused.
He turns back toward Emma and asks, "What the fuck is so funny?"
Smiling, she says, "I'll fill you in later. It's a long story."
"Fine, so tell me why the fuck you're here. Did something happen?"
"Another long story," she replies.
"Well, is someone going to tell me what the fuck is going on here?" he says and I can feel his anger rising.
Emma plays him perfectly and evades his questions. "Babe, I'm really tired. Can we go to bed now? I'll tell you everything, just not here." He nods grudgingly, seeming to be placated for a while. She then turns toward Rebel and asks, "Do you have room for us?"
"Of course," Rebel replies. "Emma, you're in with Ice, of course. Honey, your room is the first one at the top of the stairs, to the right."
Ice walks over and grabs Emma's bags as well as my own, and then starts to head for the stairs. Rebel grabs Ari's and does the same. As he walks up the stairs, Caden says, "It's been a long day and I'm sure you girls are tired. Let's go to b
ed; we can talk in the morning."
Chapter 21
Emma and I get up early and it's not long before Ari joins us. We are in the kitchen rummaging through cabinets and such trying to put together some form of breakfast. There’s nothing like making ourselves at home.
A few minutes later, Ice walks into the kitchen and says, "Ladies.”
"Ice," Emma and I say in unison. Emma turns toward him and hands him a cup of coffee.
"Thanks, love," he says, kissing her on the cheek.
Just then, Rebel comes in. Ice looks at him and asks, "All good?"
"Yes, they'll be here first thing in the morning," he replies.
"Good," Ice replies.
"What will be here?" Emma asks.
"Need to know, babe, remember?" he tells her and she sighs in frustration. One of these days, she'll get it.
Doc and Ryder join us in the kitchen and Ice says, "I'm gonna go call Willie." I have no idea what he is talking about and I know he isn't gonna tell us, so I just continue to go about getting breakfast ready for everyone.
Not long after Ice leaves the kitchen, Ciara, the chick from last night, comes in. I can tell already that this chick is a player; if someone doesn't set her straight soon, she is gonna cause all kinds of havoc. I appoint myself and just as I'm about to bitch-slap her, Ice comes back into the kitchen. He looks around and he sees the problem.
Just as smooth as ever, he walks over to Ari and kisses her on the cheek. "Hey, sweetheart," he says.
She gives him a big hug and says, "Hey, Caden."
He then turns to Ciara and says, "Ciara, I don't believe you've met my sister."
She stutters, "N…No … I haven't. Not formally, that is."
"Imagine my surprise when Rebel here, my Sgt. at Arms, asked my permission to date my sister. But, as I'm sure you well know, Rebel isn't just my sergeant, right? He's my friend and cousin on my dad's side. We bikers, we like to keep it all in the family, now don't we, Reb?"
Smirking, Rebel replies, "Absolutely, Boss!"
"And you wanna know something else about us bikers?" he asks.
"Yeah, what?" she says defiantly.
She is as dumb as a fucking box of rocks. She still doesn't get it. But I'm sure that she is about to.
"We don't take kindly to bitchy ex-girlfriends fucking around with our old ladies. You got me?" When she doesn't answer, he gestures over to Emma and says, "This is Emma, my old lady. And over there is Honey, the woman who single-handedly takes care of all my boys."
"Nice to meet you," she says curtly. She then turns and stomps out of the kitchen. And just like that, she is gone.
Then Ice turns to Rebel and says, "Liam just came down. Let's go." Rebel nods and they both leave the kitchen. They aren't gone long before we hear them all proceed down the basement. They must be having a meeting.
About forty-five minutes later, we have everything ready for breakfast. Emma walks over to the basement door, opens it, and calls down to the boys,
"Breakfast is ready."
We set up everything buffet style to accommodate everyone. The guys come up and the first in the room is Rebel. He beelines straight for Ari, gives her a big hug and whispers something in her ear that I could not hear. She giggles, so it must have been something good. He then turns to Emma and me and says, "Thanks for making breakfast, ladies. I'm starving!"
"Plates and utensils are over there." I point to the end of the counter. "And food is over there," I say, pointing to the table in the center of the room. "Help yourself and find a place to eat," I say as the rest of the guys begin to pile in the kitchen.
Once everyone has food and is scattered around the living room and dining room eating, Ciara walks in. She's wearing a pair of skinny jeans that look as if they've been painted on her body. She has a Harley shirt on, the front is covered with sparkles and displays the Harley logo but the back is cut out, revealing that she is not wearing a bra. This little bitch is about to get sent packing.
"Where's my breakfast?" she asks petulantly.
"All the food is in the kitchen. Help yourself. We cook, we're not serving," Emma says, and then she leans over to Ice and asks, "What's her deal?"
He laughs again and says, "Another long story."
Everyone seems to enjoy breakfast and Damon and Patrick don't seem too annoyed that we took over their kitchen. The girls and I clean up the food and dishes while the guys chill out in the living room. When we're done, we join them.
The guys talk for a while. Liam, the man that I assume has been helping them, excuses himself, saying that he's got some things to take care of. After he leaves, Ice says, "That reminds me, I need to make a few calls myself." He turns to Emma and says, "Sorry, babe. Let me get this taken care of and then we can discuss those notes." He looks over at the guys and says, "When I'm done, let's meet downstairs."
"You got it, boss," Rebel says.
Cade leaves the room and heads out the front door while the rest of us continue to hang out and catch up.
Chapter 22
About fifteen minutes later, Ice comes back into the house and says, "Let's get to the bottom of these notes." Emma begins to speaks and he adds,
"Let’s take this discussion downstairs." He looks at Emma and says, "You and Honey come, too."
Once we get downstairs, everyone grabs a seat at the table. He says to his brothers, "So, I bet you all are wondering why the girls are here."
Doc speaks up and says, "Well, the thought did cross my mind, but I wasn't gonna ask." He laughs. "Not my business, man," he adds.
"Me too," says Ryder. "I figured that was between you and your old lady."
"Well, for the record, it's not a thing between me and my old lady, Ryder. This is more pressing and fucking serious, so cut the laughter."
"What's up, boss?" Doc asks, the smile disappearing from his face.
"Well, it appears that we have another situation back home: threatening notes and a fucking stalker. This guy—I assume it's a guy—is after her as well as me. My first thoughts go directly to Grayson, but … shit, I don't know. I have nothing on this."
He continues, "I want to call Hawk and get his take on this, but I also want you all here when I do. Who knows, maybe he's gotten more info since the girls left the States." He turns toward Emma and says, "But before we call Hawk, why don't you get the boys up to speed on what you know?"
She nods and proceeds to tell them about the threats, the rose, and the rattlesnake.
"Fuck, Emma! A rattlesnake? Did anyone get hurt?" Rebel asks.
"No, luckily we heard the snake before it was able to bite anyone. Spike shot it."
"You got anything else, sweetheart?" he asks. "Maybe something that you might have overlooked?"
She shakes her head. "No, that's everything that I know."
"Ok, I'm calling Hawk now."
He dials and the phone starts ringing. He sets it down on the table and puts it on speaker—after three rings, Hawk answers. "Ice, man, listen before you say anything. You need to know that I had no fucking idea that she was going to Ireland. She left no clue until she was at the airport boarding a flight. I couldn't stop her, man. I tried, but I found out about her leaving too late. I'm sorry. I fucked up."
I can't help but laugh. It's a quiet laugh because I don't want to be disruptive, but … the poor guy. He's beside himself over this. Suddenly, I feel bad for him and hate that he is so upset. Hopefully, Ice won't come down on him too harshly.
"Hawk, stop." Hawk keeps talking and finally, Ice has to speak over the top of him, "Hawk, I know. It's ok.”
"What?" he says. Another giggle escapes me.
"Emma told me everything. It's ok," he says, then adds, "I've got the girls, Rebel, Doc, and Ryder here. You're on speaker." He waits for him to say something, but he doesn't, so Ice keeps on going. "Emma filled the boys in on everything that she knows up to the point when she left the States. You got anything to add? Anything happen since?"
"Possibly. I've had Dbag doing som
e digging and I think we might have an idea who's doing this."
We're all expecting him to continue, but when he doesn't Ice prods him along. "And?"
"My initial gut feeling told me that this had something to do with Grayson. So I had Dbag poke around Grayson's aunt first since he lived with her. Then I had him look into the Graysons themselves, the family who adopted him."
"Anything?"
"It looks like Mark isn't their only kid. They adopted three other children—two boys older than Mark and a younger girl. Both adoptions happened after Mark was adopted."
"So, he has siblings. Do you really think they could be involved in this?" Ice asks.
"Not these siblings."
"He has others?"
"Well, I believe that the Grayson family is clean. But, if you remember, he spent his earliest years with his mother's sister. She couldn't keep him and after a year put him up for adoption."
"Yeah, I remember that. So?"
"Well, Aunt Jenny did give up Grayson. But she kept his brother."
"His brother?" Ice asks incredulously. It is clear that he is completely blown away by this news. Fuck, I think we all are. By the expression on her face, I don't even think Emma knew Grayson had a brother.
"Yep, Mark had a brother. A biological brother."
"How do you know they are biological brothers? Maybe Aunt Jenny had another drug addict sister who had kids," Ice says.
"That could be the case, but I seriously doubt it," he replies.
"Why?"
"He's a twin."
"A what?"
"A twin."
Ice looks at Emma. "Did you know anything about this?" he asks.
"No," she says, astounded.
Yep, I was right. She had no fucking clue.