Page 27

Rebel

W e decided to hold Edward in our clubhouse lockup while I took care of the woman he’d had a mind to rape and possibly kill. That fucker could rot in a cell for weeks or even months as far as I cared. I had every intention of giving this asshole the beatdown of a lifetime. I was keen on getting him to admit that he’d broken into Lacey’s office.

Okay, I didn’t know for sure that it was him, but I’d eliminated everyone else. That meant it was either him or it was like the police said, some random break-in by the same gang who had broken into other establishments on the same street. One way or another I was going to get to the bottom of this mystery and see that Lacey and her family got justice.

In the meantime, I had Storm bring over the jeweler who custom-designed many of the engagement rings for my club brothers to give to their old ladies. I’d decided it was about time I made an honest woman of her. Lacey was recovering from her ordeal, but she still felt tired. I’d left her in bed, and Storm, his jeweler friend, and I, were on my porch where she couldn’t overhear what we were talking about.

His friend seemed straightforward enough as he set out a multitude of clear containers, each with about twenty compartments containing a single ring each. Next, he pulled out a tray of sample gemstones.

“Alright, I’m intrigued,” I told him. “How does this work?”

Resting his hand on top of the boxes of rings, he explained, “These are samples of the rings I’ve designed. If you find something you like, great. If not, you tell me what you want, and I’ll create a custom design.”

“I suppose your rings are pretty expensive, right?” I asked. Truth be told I had no idea how much a custom-designed ring was supposed to be.

He dipped his head. “There are lots of nice rings out there. You can buy a mass produced ring from a jewelry store, but if you want your woman to wear a totally unique one-of-a-kind design, then you’ll need to buy from a custom designer like myself. It’s not cheap, but how does price compare to a lifetime of happiness?”

I grinned at him, “That might just be the best sales pitch I ever heard.”

Storm snorted a laugh but didn’t say anything.

His friend pointed out, “Practice makes perfect, and I’ve been doing this for a long time.”

“Well, I want only the best for my woman. Let’s have a look at what you’ve got.”

After looking over his entire selection of bands, I found one that was elegant and the setting for the stone was good and strong. I held it out to him, “Okay, here’s what I want you to do, I want a round three-carat diamond, but I want you to make this mount look like the bottom of a light bulb.”

The jeweler’s face lit up. “You must be an electrician.”

“I’m a master electrician but my woman’s family owns Livingstone Electrical. She loves running her family business and since that’s what we plan to do with the rest of our lives I think she’d really love to have a ring that reflects her professional passion.”

Storm spoke up, “Are you sure about this, Rebel? Don’t you think leaving your profession out of it might be more romantic.”

Shooting my club president a quick glance, I shook my head. “Trust me on this. It may seem crazy, but this represents us as a couple more fully than any other symbol I can think of.”

“I could design matching wedding bands that look like a cord,” the jeweler offered.

“Hold that thought,” I said. I went to my kitchen and pawed through my junk drawer, coming back with a three-inch section of broken extension cord to show to him. “See how this is flat with a line running down the middle? Can you just make basic bands that look like this in yellow gold. All her jewelry is yellow gold, so I’m pretty sure she’d want her rings to match.”

“Yeah, of course I can do that. If you don’t mind me saying so, I think it will be amazing, and you have the satisfaction of knowing no other woman in the world will own anything similar.”

“Would anyone want anything similar?” Storm muttered.

I fixed my club president with a glare, “That’s what I want. Write me an estimate on the three piece set and tell me how long it will take for you to complete the work.”

“No problem, brother,” he responded happily. I watched with interest as he packed up his gear and pulled out a notepad. After scribbling for a few minutes, he tore off a sheet of paper and handed it to me.

After staring at it for probably longer than I should have, I glanced up at him, shocked. “Are you sure this is the right price?”

His expression blanked out. “Yes. I thought you understood it’s custom work.”

Still in disbelief, I asked, “So you’re gonna make me three custom rings for under twenty grand?”

He nodded. “This is my full time job. Trust me to get the work done on time.”

“So how long will it take?” I asked.

He gave a shrug, “I’ve got a few jobs on right now. For something like this I don’t wanna rush unless I have to. Would three months work for you?”

“Goddamn it yes! Let me grab my checkbook before you change your mind,”

Relief flooded his face, but he spoke up quickly. “Nobody uses checks anymore, Rebel. I’ve got a card reader.”

I reached for my wallet, trying to stop acting so surprised and held it out to him. This was the most important gift I would likely ever give Lacey. And this man was going to make it happen for just over fifteen grand. I signed off on the work order and we said our goodbyes.

The second he walked out the door, Storm asked, “Do you mind if I ask what the fuck that was about?”

I couldn’t keep the smile off my face for anything. “That was me getting the fucking deal of a lifetime on the ring my old lady is gonna wear for the rest of her natural life.”

Storm shook his head like I was a crazy person. “How much did you think a custom ring was gonna cost you?”

“I dunno, a hundred thousand dollars? I was half expecting to tell him I couldn’t afford it. I mean gold is expensive, right?”

“Yeah, gold’s expensive, but it’s the time and his level of skill that costs so much.”

I assured him, “I’ve seen the quality of work he does on the fingers of a lot of the club’s old ladies, so I’m sure it’s gonna be great.”

“I’m glad you’re happy. You might want to save the rest of your cash for a fancy wedding. Once that’s out of the way, you’ll both be set. You can settle down and live the American dream together.”

“Oh, I plan to, Prez.”

Glancing around my place, he added, “Don’t be surprised if she decides she wants a big house.”

“Not my ladybug. She loves my container home. Says it’s trendy, modern, and cool.”

Storm just smiled at me. “You are the luckiest fucker on planet earth, and you don’t even know it.”

“The hell I don’t,” I told him. “Right now there is only one thing standing between me and marrying the woman of my dreams.”

Storm teased, “Let me guess. It’s the three months you’ve got to wait on that ring to come back, right?”

“There’s two things, one is waiting for the ring to be made, but the other is beating information out of the asshole who abducted her.”

Storm looked almost guilty when spoke, “Celt had a go at him and got new intel.”

“Don’t leave me hanging, Prez. What did that cousin of yours find out?”

“It didn’t take much to get the asshole to admit that he was the one who broke into Livingstone Electrical.”

I shot him a disgusted look. “I figured as much. What I really wanted to know was why. What did he hope to gain by breaking into the family business?”

“Edwards admitted to wanting to find something incriminating to blackmail her with.”

My mouth fell open. “He thought my Lacey was cookin’ the books? That’s crazy talk. He doesn’t know Lacey at all to think she’d be stealing from her own parents.”

Storm explained, “He wasn’t focused on any particular kind of wrongdoing, he just wanted to find something embarrassing to manipulate her with.”

“Of course, my Lacey was squeaky clean. That’s why it took him time to work up the nerve to abduct her, right?”

“It looks that way, Hacker managed to check his van’s GPS, and it looks like he made quite a few trips from LA to here over the past few weeks.”

“So he was stalking her? I am going to beat the fuckin’ stuffing out of that dipshit.”

“That’s the thing. I think my cousin messed him up already. All he does it stare at nothing for hours now.”

“The fuck? It sounds like he might have some kind of head trauma.”

“We could drop him off at the ER or give him a dirt nap. Your choice,” Storm said with a shrug.

I ran one hand through my hair. “I’d like to say dirt nap, but my Lacey would say take him to the ER.”

Storm grumbled, “Yeah, women are softhearted that way. What we need to ask ourselves is how likely it’ll be for him to talk to the cops, or even come after her again.”

A soft feminine voice drifted from behind us, “Just drop him off at the ER. You know I don’t approve of killing.” Storm and I both whirled around to see Lacey standing at the door. I wondered how long she’d been there for, and I hoped she hadn’t heard me talking with the jeweler.

I tried to cover my surprise by walking over and putting my arm around her. “That’s just what I was gonna say. We’ll drop him at the hospital and let the doctors there figure out what’s wrong with him.”

Lacey looked thoughtful for a moment, “What about the police, would he tell them you’ve been holding him?”

“He might, but if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll shut the fuck up. We have the tapes of him abducting you from the office, Hacker’s also got a bunch of sick shit from his laptop. If we hand that over then he’s going behind bars for a long time,” I said.

If I had my way, he’d be locked up and the key thrown away. Letting him off didn’t sit right with me, but maybe after Celt’s workover he’d see the error of his ways.

Storm added, “Whatever. We can always give him a dirt nap another day if we decide to go in that direction.”

I gave him the shut up look, because Lacey didn’t need to know that.

“Or we could just forget about him,” she shot back. Gesturing with one hand, her expression turned hopeful. “No one dislikes Edward more than me, and I kind of feel like he ended up with enough physical punishment for us to consider it even.”

“Fine,” Storm said. His voice was disgruntled enough to make it clear he didn’t approve of calling it even.

I tightened my hold around Lacey and told him, “You know this is our own fault for hooking up with decent women. They’re gonna keep us on the right side of the law and make moral upstanding men of us.”

Storm’s eyes narrowed on me. “Speak for your damn self. I’m so fucking filled with morality I can hardly walk.”

Lacey’s light amused voice spoke up. “Why don’t you two make yourself comfortable on the porch and I’ll make you a nice Irish coffee to take the chill off.”

Suddenly, Storm was over his bloodlust. “A shot of Irish whiskey would be nice about now. Celt’s gonna be sorry he missed it.”

“You should call him to come over. I’ll make enough for everyone.”

I glanced at her. “Are you sure you’re up to it, ladybug?”

She nodded, “Heck yeah, I can’t lay around in bed all the time. It’s been days and I feel like I need to do something productive.”

“There’s no need to rush back to work. Harvey’s wife is holding down the office for us and Richie is proving to be a quick learner.”

“I’m glad. It’s nice to have a few days to ourselves after what happened.” She pulled out from under my arm and said, “Stay outside with Storm and I’ll get started on those drinks.”

“If you’re sure,” I said reluctantly.

She headed for the kitchen, “I’m fine. Go, socialize with Storm and whoever else you two can dig up.”

It was the perfect day to be outside. There was a slight chill in the air and a cool breeze moving around the fall leaves. I grabbed the rocking chair beside Storm before glancing over at him. “You’re right. I am the luckiest bastard in the whole world. And so are you.”

Seeing the happiness in his expression was enough for me to let go of any ideas I was harboring about circling back around to Edward. I had a good life, as did the brothers in my club. I’d kill a man if I had to, but putting Storm and my club brothers in jeopardy just to get revenge didn’t sit right with me. I’d rather be vigilant, stand guard over my woman and make damn sure he never got another chance to grab her. Truth be told, I think after my club is finished dealing with him, he’ll lose interest in getting his hands on Lacey. Knowing he’d get beaten senseless for trying was huge disincentive. However, in the interest of doing what Lacey asked and keeping my club brother out of trouble, I was willing to let sleeping dogs lie.

I’d spent my life overthinking things, trying to find problems and solutions, worrying about what people thought of me, or whether I was good enough. The weeks I’d spent with Lacey had taught me to cherish the moment—seeing what her parents were going through had brought that home. You never knew what the future would bring, and you needed to enjoy every second of life. So right now, instead of fretting about that asshole Edwards, I was gonna enjoy looking forward to the life I was building with my woman, and nothing and no one was gonna get in the way. I thought that love was something that happened to others, but finding myself hook, line, and sinker, head over heels in love with Lacey, it was like a hole I didn’t know I had inside me had been filled. I was finally complete.