AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Ten
Charlotte
We’re just pulling up to the house after a lovely afternoon out when Rebel lets hiss a “fuck” from his lips. In the backseat, Phoenix giggles and calls “naughty word”, making me smile. I turn to Reb and ask him what’s wrong. He doesn’t answer me though, he just points to the car across the road. My gaze flicks to where he’s pointing and my body is instantly ice. I can clearly see Jax and Thorn sitting in the front seat, and I can only assume Ace is sitting in the back.
I turn to Rebel in a blind panic.
“Fuck, Reb, what am I going to do? Drive away! Go, go, go!”
“Rae, calm down.” He tries to console me but I feel like he’s far away. I can hardly hear him over the pounding rush of panic in my ears. My chest constricts and squeezes me, my breaths coming in shaky short gasps. Fuck, I’m having a panic attack. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Rae…Raven...breath!” he’s shouting at me but I can’t; I can’t breathe. All I can think about is Phoenix in the back seat and how I don’t want them to see her. They can’t. I’m not ready. My eyes fill with tears and I beg Rebel to take us away. Anywhere.
“Princess, I would,” he tells me gently, taking my hand. “But they've already seen us. They’re getting out of the car.”
My hand’s already on the door handle, blindly fumbling. I have no idea what I’m going to do. Run? Ridiculous.
“Mummy?” Phoenix’s tiny scared voice comes from the back seat. “Are you okay?”
Shit. I instantly feel awful as guilt consumes me. I shouldn’t have let myself get worked up like that in front of Phoenix.
“I’m okay baby, I’m fine. Sorry for scaring you, mummy just had a shock is all,” I placate her.
“Are we going home?” she asks.
“Yes,” I tell her resignedly, undoing my seatbelt and climbing out of the car. “I’ll let you out in just a moment.”
Jax and Thorn are already striding towards me, Ace trailing a little behind. Thorn is grinning, like he’s happy to see me, but Jax is scowling.
“Where have you been?” he demands. I don’t reply. Is he talking to me? What’s he doing here? How is it any of his business?
I feel anger - white hot - begin to rise up within me. That’s better. I’d rather be angry then fearful. The heat of my annoyance is better than the ice-cold dread I felt a moment ago.
“Why are you checking up on me?” Rebel replies to Jax’s question.
Ah, so not talking to me then.
“Where have you been? Is this why you keep disappearing on us? You’re, what, seeing her?” If I hate the way Jax fires questions at Rebel, it’s nothing compared to how I feel when he won’t even use my name.
“Excuse me,” my voice is ice as I push past him to get to the back seat. I wrench open the door, then unclip Phoenix from her seat. Keeping her in my arms, I slam the door shut behind me and carry her across the road towards my front door.
The arguing behind me dwindles off to complete silence as I open my front door and take Phoenix inside. I quickly pull out my phone and text the lady upstairs, asking if she can watch Phoenix for an hour for me. She immediately replies that it’s no problem and that she’ll be down in a minute to collect her. Phoenix runs off to grab some toys to take with her and I sigh and fill the kettle. Thanks to Rebel’s delivery, I can at least offer them more than tap water.
I’m surprised when there’s a knock at the door and it’s not them. I call Phoenix over and say goodbye to her, sending her off upstairs to play. I stick my head out the door, confused as to why they hadn’t followed me in, only to see them arguing by the car still. I can’t hear what’s being said, but I know that they’re fighting from the body language, pissed off expressions, and energetic arm waving. Only Ace is quiet. He catches my eye and I wave him over. This is going to be painful enough as it is, without airing our dirty laundry in public.
Ace wordlessly enters my flat and I quickly make drinks for everyone, guessing that hot chocolate will be fine. I can’t be bothered to mess around with heating a pan of milk, so boiling water from the kettle will just have to do. Wordlessly, the other guys trail behind us and enter. The quiet click of the door closing makes me jump and the panic returns. There’s no way out, my brain screams at me. Run! It takes immense effort, but I manage to keep my feet firmly planted where I am.
“Drinks,” I say, pointing to the table with the mugs on. No one moves. I sigh.
“Explain,” comes Jax’s one word reply.
As if I even know where to start. I say nothing.
“Where were you today?” Thorn asks softly.
Ok. That’s an easy one I can answer.
“Out with Rebel.”
