Page 16

Rebel

“Y ou like this woman.” Diesel never danced around a subject, he just wasn’t built that way, so I wasn’t surprised that he brought up Nikki while we waited for Sheriff Cross to show up.

I looked at my Prez and my friend. We’d been through hell together several times and had each other’s backs more times than I could count, but we didn’t do touchy-feely shit. “Who, Nikki? Sure I like her. She’s a likeable woman.” I more than liked her, but I didn’t know what the fuck that meant yet. More importantly, I wasn’t ready to even think about it.

Diesel laughed. “Going through a lot of trouble for a likeable woman.”

I shrugged off his digging. “She doesn’t deserve this. The Blood Fangs are assholes.”

“So are we.”

“Maybe so, but they’ve gone too far.” My hands bunched into fists the moment her tear-stained face popped into my head. “I’m doing exactly what any of you would do.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “And even if we skip over how much shit you gave us for that, look at how it ended up for each of us.”

“That’s not gonna happen.” No matter what happened with us last night, I wasn’t sure Nikki could get past our initial misunderstanding.

“You sure about that?” Diesel asked with a raised eyebrow.

I nodded. “I met her before, years ago. We had a great night together, talking and drinking at Black Jack’s until we shut the place down. An incredible time in the sack. And then everything got fucked up.”

“You didn’t call?”

“I didn’t and neither did she.” I told him about the note mix-up. “She was pretty upset about it.”

“Why? It was just a one night stand, right?”

That was my first question too, but Nikki seemed legitimately upset and I didn’t want to take that away from her. “We had a connection. I felt it too, we just clicked. Probably just felt rejected.” It was what I’d felt too. Hell, I hung onto that feeling for years. She must’ve too.

“But if she has forgiven you, then what?”

Then I would do it right this time. I wouldn’t fuck it up. “I’m not sure.” I answered non-committedly, not wanting to get into emotional shit with my Prez. But if there was a chance that we could make it work, I had to try, didn’t I? The truth was that I hadn’t given much thought to jumping into another relationship with a woman. Call it trauma or mommy issues or just plain fucking mistrust but it wasn’t something on my mind for the past few years. And then Nikki came back into my life and it’s all I can fucking think about.

“Time to consider it, don’t you think?” Diesel wore a knowing smirk as if he knew something I didn’t.

“Maybe. First, I have to keep her safe.” Which meant talking to the goddam Sheriff. Don’t get me wrong, he was all right for a cop, but he was still a cop and therefore couldn’t be trusted. “And hope that Cross isn’t on Cameron’s payroll.”

Diesel’s brows shot up. “Is that a serious concern or your cynical ass not trusting anybody?”

“Why can’t it be both? I know you and Cross have always had a friendly relationship and he was somewhat helpful when dealing with the Carter fucks, but we haven’t dealt with anything like Cameron before.” That shit kept me up at night. If the Sheriff chose a side that wasn’t ours, that meant big trouble for Nikki and for the Steel Demons.

“What are you talking about, assholes like Cameron are a dime a dozen especially in a city like Vegas.”

“Maybe so, but he’s elected just like Cross. He could be on the take, even if it’s just looking the other way when the Blood Fangs do bad shit. Or he could be actively protecting him to keep his own job safe.”

Diesel nodded, a sign he was listening to my concerns. “Cross is a straight arrow. Has no patience for any kind of corruption. Trust me, I tried to pay him off back in the day and he basically told me to go fuck myself. He only deals with us because we don’t make Steel City worse.”

I knew there was no arguing with my Prez when his mind was made up, and his mind decided Sheriff Hudson Cross was trustworthy. “No offense but that was thousands of years ago.”

“Asshole,” Diesel murmured. “I trust him, but I hear you, Rebel and I’ll feel him out before sharing anything. Deal?”

That was as good as I would get, and I knew it. “Yep.” I nodded towards the road where Cross’s vehicle turned into the parking lot about ten miles outside of Steel City. “I’m just here to listen and to watch.”

Diesel smiled. “Remember that.”

I watched the Sheriff park far enough away so that it looked like he was doing his job, before he ambled over to us. He had that way about him, like an Old West cowboy with a long, steady gait, his gaze always on a swivel. “Diesel. Rebel.” He nodded but kept his eyes shielded by his mirrored aviator glasses. “What’s going on?”

“What do you know about Councilman Cameron?” That was Diesel, straight to the point. He rarely wasted time on bullshit like small talk.

“Not much. Very conservative and pro-business, staunchly anti-regulation. Typical politician, I suppose. Why do you ask?”

“Curiosity,” Diesel answered vaguely. “Got anything on the Blood Fangs?”

His jaw clenched almost imperceptibly, but the flare of his nostrils was more noticeable. He was familiar with them and his opinion wasn’t favorable. “Looking for something specific?”

“Yeah. They’re after someone who’s asked for our help and I’m trying to figure out what’s got their panties in a twist.” Diesel shifted his stance, folding his arms over his chest, expression blank.

“Do I know this friend?” Cross looked between me and Diesel, probably trying to figure out why we weren’t divulging much.

He grinned and shook his head. “Not that kind of friend, more of someone we happened upon who needed help, and now they continue to need help.”

“I can’t help you if you don’t give me anything to work with.”

I let out a snort because I didn’t trust this fucker. Or maybe I did, and I just wasn’t thinking clearly when it came to Nikki and Livvy. “Your men showed up at the radio station when it was vandalized, you didn’t think it was odd that someone did that to a fucking radio station?”

His brows dipped. “I read the reports, and it was some overeager fan.”

I shifted my gaze to Diesel, my expression clearly said, ‘I don’t trust this motherfucker’. He remained carefully blank as he turned back to the Sheriff. “An overeager fan?”

He nodded. “Is it something more?”

“Someone on your payroll is working for the Blood Fangs,” I snarled at him. “Two of those assholes went inside and trashed the place. If it was goddamn fan, why did they go right past the show’s host and rifle around in her fucking office!” It wasn’t a question, goddammit. My anger was a white-hot fire that needed somewhere to go before it burned me to ashes.

“You know this how?”

“I was there, asshole!” I took a step forward, but Diesel was there, hand to my chest with a subtle nod. “That’s what happened, and you want to know how I know? Because Nikki fucking told me.” I walked away, pacing off some of this anger and frustration. It wasn’t the Sheriff’s fault, not yet anyway, but I was pissed off and worried about a woman who wasn’t even my woman.

Fuck, was this how my brothers felt when their women were in danger?

I hoped not, because I remembered the angry looks and the arguments that happened when I tried to convince them to hang the women out to dry. Not my finest fucking hours, without a doubt, but this shit was torture.

I watched my Prez talking with the Sheriff some more, then Cross got back into his vehicle and drove off.

“Cross is gonna look into the Blood Fangs and see what he can find out about Cameron,” Diesel said as he walked over to where I was standing. “He only knows what we all know about the Blood Fangs, but I think he’s interested now, apparently, he’s a fan of Highway Pulse. ”

“At least one of his men is working with them,” I insisted.

“I agree. Most cops are assholes, but if they lied so blatantly on the forms, it’s a good sign they’re getting paid off.” His jaw clenched. “Doesn’t mean Cross is on the payroll though.”

“I’ll give you that much. Fucker would probably break out in hives if he tried to do something illegal.” We shared a smile and got on our bikes to head back to the clubhouse.

***

Not even five miles later, we had company in the form of four bikers with familiar vests. The Blood Fangs were right behind us, toying with us by riding our ass and then pulling back, again and again. I motioned to my eyes and then the mirror as a warning to Diesel.

He looked and nodded, gesturing for me to go ahead of him and do it fast.

I hit the gas and pushed the limits, watching for my Prez in my mirror. He kept up with me until we were side by side and tilted his head so we made a last-minute exit.

The move worked on a few of the riders but there were still three on our asses and we didn’t have time to slow down or call for backup. Diesel slowed and so did I. We didn’t have a lot of options and even less good options. If we stayed on the road, they could easily outnumber us, but if we stopped and dealt with the three behind us, we stood a damn good chance of making it back to the clubhouse in one piece.

As we slowed, they slowed.

“You ready to do this shit,” Diesel asked.

“Fuck yeah.” I needed something to destroy, and the universe sent me a few Blood Fangs, the actual target of my anger. I wasn’t in the mood for a long drawn out fight, I needed to fuck some shit up and I jumped off my bike with that goal in mind.

“Tattlin’ on us to the cops?” These fuckers were always smirking as if life was one big fucking joke and today it just pissed me off even more. The young fucker with the long, straggly blond hair made a mistake he’d have to pay for today when he turned over his shoulder to get validation from his buddies.

“Real men don’t tattle, asshole.” I swung on him just as he turned to face me, connecting with his jaw in a satisfying crack. “Is this what you came for?” I hit him again with a left hook, connecting with the other side of his jaw. My hands understood my thirst for violence and took over, whaling on the motherfucker while a feral growl escaped with every blow.

I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to, which I didn’t. My body wasn’t exhausted, not yet, which meant this piece of shit had to pay the price until my body wore itself out.

“Rebel!”

Somewhere on the surface I heard Diesel call my name, but I couldn’t pull away, couldn’t look up at the warning I heard.

“Make another move asshole and you’re dead.” The voice was close. Too close. But the cold metal pressed against my head was more alarming. “Go on, give me a reason.”

My gaze settled on the man beneath me, bloody and grunting and barely moving. He was no threat, so I nodded to the asshole with the gun pressed to the back of my skull. “You need a reason after what I just did to your boy?”

“Hands up, motherfucker.”

“Yeah, sure.” I lifted my hands quickly and pushed against the gun knocking him off balance. Grabbing his wrist, I turned the barrel in his direction before he knew what was happening. “Don’t make threats you ain’t ready to see through.” With that last piece of advice, I pressed his finger to squeeze the trigger. As the shot rang out, I watched with twisted fascination as his eyes widened and he stumbled backwards until he hit the pavement. “Piece of shit.” I spat in his direction and turned to find Diesel with his foot on the chest of the third Blood Fangs member.

“You good?”

I nodded. “Never better. Ready to get the fuck outta here?”

He raised his foot and stomped down on the squirming shithead one final time. “Hell yeah. Let’s go.”

There was something about a ride after kicking some ass that just felt fucking amazing. The wind against my skin, the scenery as it whipped by, all of my senses were heightened by the rush of adrenaline. The rush of vengeance.

These fuckers wouldn’t get away with what they did—and were still doing—to Nikki. I would make sure of it.

As soon as we got back to the clubhouse, I cleaned up and went to see Nikki.

I had to.