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“Okay, well, I’ll call you,” Dizzy shouts as he closes the door.
She pretends her hand is a phone and holds it to her ear while Rogue jogs around the car to climb in behind the wheel.
I tug on the bottom of my dress as I get comfortable in the seat. I almost sigh in relief when I realize she doesn’t have my number, but then it occurs to me she could easily get it from Ben. I decide to text him to ask him not to give my number out. Not that I think he would without asking me, but if he really likes her he might want us to spend time together.
I guess I should probably agree to a girls’ night then. If it comes up again.
“This your new car?” Riot shifts forward in the back seat to appraise the interior. “Nice.”
“Thanks. I haven’t gotten to drive it yet.” I put on my seat belt.
“Good job, bro.” He claps Rogue on the shoulder before he adds, “You thought she was going to kick your ass.”
Dizzy starts waving as Rogue drives away from the curb.
I lift a hand and wiggle my fingers for the couple of seconds it takes for us to move out of view. I side-eye the man beside me, the one with the wicked curve to his mouth that says he knew exactly how I would react but he did it anyway. “Is that true?”
“Can we not rehash old arguments now?”
“You bought me a car. You didn’t even ask me. And you trashed Jaffa. Even though you knew it would upset me.”
“I knew you would fight me on it,” he amends. “I didn’t expect that you would get that upset. You know I had your best interests at heart.”
I cross my arms over my chest and stare out the window. Will he come to realize I have his best interests at heart when I finally tell him about Alec?
“Baby? You do realize that, don’t you?”
He’s right, we’ve already had this argument. I’m just frustrated that no matter which way I turn there seems to be someone trying to dictate my life to me when I’ve worked so damn hard to claim my autonomy. “Thank you for my car. I love it.”
I love you.
“How’d Rebel take the news?” Riot asks after we’ve travelled a few minutes in silence.
“About as well as to be expected,” Rogue mutters.
“Do you think he’ll do something stupid?” Riot slumps back in his seat.
“I hope not.” Rogue stares into the rearview mirror, probably making eye contact with his brother. “Hawthorne threatened Summer though, so…”
He leaves his thoughts unsaid, but it doesn’t matter. Both twins have a hot streak when it comes to the people they care about. Rogue won’t think twice about going after him.
It’s why I have to be so careful. If Rogue works out that I’m trying to get my brother to admit that he’s a monster, he’ll lose it. He’s already twitchy every time my phone blows up. I almost gave myself away tonight when I talked about my brother, told Ro that Alec wants her to be scared. If anyone puts two and two together…
“I’m not going to back down,” Rochelle says quietly. “The world needs to know what he did to me. People need to know what kind of person he is.”
“We’re right here with you,” Riot tells her as we enter Rebel’s property and make our way up the long driveway. “We’ve got you. And the police are going to go after him for what he did tonight.”
“I hope so,” she says. “I need my life back.”
That’s a sentiment I can totally appreciate.
Rogue picks up my hand and kisses it. “You’re not still mad at me, are you?”
“No.” How can I be when he’s being sweet and thoughtful and protective. And when I’m going to turn around and tell Alec what is said between the Maddoxes and Ro tonight. Or at least a version of it. “Of course not.”
“Maybe we can go for a drive tomorrow?” He parks in the gravel driveway. Turns off the engine. “Just you and me. Out to Malibu.”
“Neil has a place out there. You can totally crash if you want. Spend a couple nights.” Riot opens his door and exits the vehicle. “I’ll tee it up.”
