REBEL, a New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series) (39 page)

His face goes slack and then furious again. “Are you serious?”
 
His voice is so calm, I can’t tell if he’s angry, scared, or just curious.

“Yes.
 
Maybe.
 
Seriously.
 
Please?
 
Take me to the hospital?”
 
I don’t plan it this way, but my vision suddenly going gray works really well to my advantage.
 
I sense the darkness closing in again and can only think how grateful I am that I’m lying on a couch this time when I pass out.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

WHEN I COME-TO AGAIN, I’m wearing a really lame hospital gown and have an IV stuck in my hand.
 
I frown when I look down and see a ring on my left ring finger.
 
I don’t usually wear rings and this one isn’t mine.
 
When I turn my hand over, I smile, noticing right away whose ring this is.
 
Quin must have slipped it on for good luck or something.

Rebel is sitting in a chair next to me.
 
He’s staring at me saying nothing.

“You know, that’s really freaking me out,” I say.

“What?”

“The staring and not talking thing.”

“You were unconscious.”

I roll my eyes.
 
“You know what I mean.”

He scoots his chair closer to my bed never breaking eye contact with me.
 
“You feel okay?”

“All things considered, I guess.”
 
I reach up with my non-IV hand and feel the spot on the back of my head where the hair is missing.
 
It’s too tender to explore very well, but I know for sure I’m going to have to start wearing my hair differently to cover it up.
 
Bring on the eighties hair clips.

“What do you want me to do with them?” he asks.

“With who?”

“The guys who took you.”

“What do you mean what do I want you to do with them?
With
them?
 
What does that even mean?”

“Colin has them at the garage.
 
What do you want me to do with them?”

“Rub ‘em out.” I say, trying to stay poker-faced.

He lifts an eyebrow.
 
“Bury them in the backyard?”

“Yeah.
 
Plant flowers over them too, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, no problem.”
 
He stands to go.

I wait until he gets to the door.
 
“Wait!”
 
When he turns around I smile.
 
“You didn’t think I was serious, did you?” There’s a sick little piece of me who is happy about the fact that he might actually bury someone who kidnapped me, just because I asked him to do it.
 
That’s true love right there.

“I’ve decided never to make assumptions about you.”

“Well, I wasn’t serious.
 
Come back here and talk to me.”

Rebel returns to his seat and picks up my hand, sandwiching it between his larger ones.
 
“The doctor says my wife is going to be fine but that she has a concussion.”

“Your wife?”
 
My face goes white and my heart skips a beat.
 
I’m completely and totally freaked out.

He looks at the ring on my hand.
 
“Quin said they wouldn’t tell us anything if we weren’t related.
 
And I didn’t want to pretend I was your brother and then have them catch me kissing you.”

I smile as my face heats up.
 
“You planned on kissing me?”

“Maybe.”

“That’s pretty presumptuous of you.”

He shrugs.
 
“I’m a presumptuous guy, I guess.”

I pull on his hand.
 
“I like that about you.”

He leans in and kisses me slowly, being very gentle but setting me on fire nonetheless.

“You are too much,” I whisper against his mouth.

“I think you can handle it,” he says in my ear as he moves his lips to kiss my neck.

I close my eyes and the room spins.
 
It’s not from his sexy moves, though.
 
I push him away weakly.
 
“Don’t come to close.
 
I’m liable to vomit on you.”

He backs away and sits down.
 
“Tell me what you want me to do with those guys and it’ll be done.
 
Colin’s waiting for my call.”

I sigh heavily.
 
“I was going to have you bury them in the backyard, but how about we just call the cops instead?”

“You want to know where he was sending that drive?”

“I already know.
 
It’s my father’s company, right?”

“No.
 
It was a private address.”

“In Sunol?”

“No.
 
San Jose.”

I shrug and look out the window.
 
I can’t see anything but light coming in through sheer curtains.
 
“It doesn’t matter.
 
The police will figure it out.”

“You don’t want to talk about it,” he says simply.

“No, not really.”

He squeezes my hand, forcing me to look at him.

“What?” I say.

“Sometimes when you don’t want to talk about something, that’s when you should do it.
 
Talk about it.
 
Just get it out.”

“That’s pretty rich coming from you.”

“Trust me.
 
I know about these things.”

“Tell me about that girl,” I say on impulse.
 
It’s the best I can do to avoid what he wants to discuss.
 
Maybe I can put him off talking altogether and we can go back to that kissing stuff.

“What girl?”

“The blonde.
 
The one from the club who had coffee with you last week.”

He sighs and stares at me, saying nothing for a little while.

I shrug.
 
“Or we could just not talk and sit here instead.
 
That’d work too.”

“She was someone I spent some time with, but I realized she wasn’t the right girl for me early on.”

“Was she too pretty?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“No, she’s pretty enough.”

“Too sexy?
 
She was too sexy, huh?
 
All that long leg action she has going on.
 
The long hair, boobs, buns of steel.
 
That was probably too much.”
 
I nod and give him my least sincere smile.

“No, it’s fine if you’re into that stuff.”

I snort.
 
“And you’re not.”
 
I wave around at his face and chest.
 
“You’re not into the whole boobs, legs, ass thing.
 
You’re into … what … fatties?”
 
I slap my hand down on the bed.

He doesn’t react at all to my obvious anger or sarcasm.
 
“No, I’m not into fatties.
 
I’m into you.”

I’ve already opened my mouth to respond, but now words are failing me.
 
The best I can do is make noisy air.
 
“Pfffft.
 
Faaaaa.
 
Yeaaahhhh…”

He waits for me to collect myself, but says nothing.

I can’t take the silence.
 
“Rebel, come on.
 
Stop messing around.”

“No one’s messing around.”
 
He touches my fingers.

I push his hand away.
 
“Stop.
 
I have a concussion in case you haven’t heard.
 
I need my rest.”
 
I close my eyes and fake-sleep.
 
I can’t stand looking at him anymore.
 
He’s too pretty, he’s too serious, and he’s too …
good
. There.
 
I said it.
 
He’s too good for me.
 
He’s an adult, he’s responsible, he’s smart, and he’s fucking getting into my head and it’s freaking me out.
 
I’m jealous over a girl he insists means nothing, and he’s never done anything with her that I’ve seen to make me believe he’s lying.
 
I hate how I’m feeling right now.

“Quin wants to see you,” he says, no emotion in his voice.
 
“I’ll send her in.”

He stands to leave, and I have to use every ounce of control I have not to beg him to stay.
 
I wait until I know he’s gone before I open my eyes again.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

I KEEP MY EYES CLOSED, hoping everyone will just go away and leave me to marinate in my tantrum sauce. The sound of a chair scraping over the floor and then a huff of breath tells me Quin is here.

“Stop fake-sleeping.”

Saying nothing and keeping my eyelids closed seems like my best plan of action right now.
 
I focus on not letting my eyeballs jitter around under my lids.

“Fine, you want to fake it? Go ahead.
 
I’ll just talk without you.
 
First, I’m going to apologize again.
 
My mouth was having a fight with my brain and my mouth won.
 
I suck, okay?
 
You forgive me, right?
 
Of course you do.”
 
She pauses, maybe to wait for my response, but then gives up pretty quickly.

“Second, you need to woman-up.
 
You can’t sit here and pretend like nothing’s going on and ignore all the stuff going down around you.” She must be leaning closer now because her voice is right by my face.
 
“I’m talking about your dad’s company and that gorgeous hunk of confused man-flesh out there … oh,
and
your rescuer Colin who frankly scares the ever loving shit out of me while at the same time making me feel like taking all my clothes off and throwing myself at him.
 
It’s an interesting dilemma I could really use your counsel on, you know, whenever you’re done feeling sorry for yourself.”

My eyelids are flickering, despite my best efforts at keeping them still.
 
She’s saying things designed to piss me off while couching them in apologies.
 
I hate that she knows how to push my buttons so well.

She continues her onslaught. “That IPO business is about to happen and you need to get your ass cheeks off your head and make some phone calls, at least.
 
I don’t know who you’d call but at least the police.
 
You were kidnapped for shit’s sake.
 
And then we’re going to call your step-mother and tell her she’s going down to ass-kicking town, courtesy of your right foot.”

My eyelids fly open.
 
“No!”

“Ahhh, so it’s the step-mother that finally does it.
 
Note to self.”

“Shut up.”
 
I glare at her.
 
“Can’t you see I’m sick?”

Quin rolls her eyes.
 
“Please.
 
You’re not sick.
 
Injured, maybe.
 
But not too injured to make a couple phone calls.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do.
 
Doctor told me.”

“What?”
 
My hand clenches into a fist.
 
“I guess privacy laws don’t exist anymore.”

She shrugs unapologetically.
 
“I told them I’m your sister.
 
Oh, and I also told them Rebel is your husband, so that’s why you have that gorgeous wedding ring on.
 
Don’t lose it.”

I grab it off my finger and hold it out for her.
 
“Take it.
 
I don’t want it.”

She removes the ring from my hand while staring me down.
 
“All right.
 
Tell me what’s going on in your little pea brain right now.”

“Nothing.
 
I just don’t want the ring.”

“Maybe you don’t want the boyfriend either.”
 
She’s staring me down as she says it.

“Whatever.”
 
I can’t look at her, so I stare at the ceiling, then the wall, and finally the window.

“Listen … I get that you’re scared of commitment.
 
Who wouldn’t be, especially after your track record?”

I forget the window and glare at her.
 
“Are you serious?
 
You’re coming in here giving me shit about my love life after I was nearly
killed
?”

She frowns for a few seconds before answering.
 
“Maybe.
 
Is that bad?”

I close my eyes and speak as calmly as I can.
 
“Quin, I just need to rest, okay?”
 
My voice goes a little trembly at the end, foiling my plan to get her to exit from the room.
 
She sees any weakness and she knows she’s almost won.
 
Now I’m doomed.

She takes my hand in hers and pats it.
 
“Babe, I’m here for you.
 
Talk to me.
 
I can see you’re freaking out and trying to keep it all in.
 
You don’t have to do that, you know.
 
I’m your friend.
 
I’ll never hurt you.
 
Not on purpose, I mean.
 
What I said today was a total dick move, I know that.
 
I’m really, really sorry I said it.
 
He was your dad and I know you cared about him even though he was not dad-of-the-year material.”

I can’t respond.
 
I’m working too hard at holding back tears.

“Rebel is a seriously good guy.
 
He really likes you, you know.
 
And his brothers do too.”

A tear escapes and runs down my cheek.
 
I can’t talk or I know I’ll crumble into a mess of emotions I’m not ready to deal with right now.
 
It’s too much.