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So I made her hard with constant rejection.
She should fucking thank me. Soft people like her and Vaughn Weston were what was wrong with the world.
I wasn’t going to be like them. I wasn’t going to be a pussy like Harold Coker either, running away to fucking Bermuda or something with his tail tucked between his legs.
I couldn’t believe I’d ever sought that coward’s approval.
Luca Guerra and his family were where it was at all along. Young. Attractive. Ruthless.
That was where my focus needed to be. They would open doors for me that Harold Coker and his old boys’ club could never even dream of.
While Harold ran away, I’d be Luca’s right-hand man, sticking it out, making sure he got what he needed.
Which was those fucking women who Vaughn apparently had.
I pulled out Harold’s throne-like chair and lowered myself into it.
It was right where I belonged.
24
REBEL
“It’s so weird to be putting make up on again.” Kara swiped a pale-pink gloss over her lips. “It’s only been a month or two since I last did this, but it feels like a whole different lifetime ago.”
I rubbed my sister’s arm gently. “After everything you’ve been through in the last few weeks, that’s understandable.”
In the reflection of the mirror beside us, Nova, Winnie, Georgia, and Vivienne all crowded around the bathroom vanity, plucking from the large makeup bag I’d brought over to the clubhouse.
They were all roughly Kara’s age, and the big sister inside me who had emerged in Kara’s presence, also extended to the women she’d been held captive with.
They’d been through so much. After what Caleb had done to me, and to Bliss, it had bonded the seven of us enough the women had agreed to stay for the concert before they headed back to their hometowns.
It was odd. Though they’d all eagerly called their families, letting them know they were safe, none of them had seemed in a rush to get home. They were sleeping together, the four of them all in a spare room at the clubhouse, even though they’d been offered separate spaces. If they came out of their room, they were always huddled in a group. I’d never once seen any of them alone.
It would be hard to say goodbye. I was glad to have a reason for them to stay a little longer, in a place where they were safe and fed and free to come and go as they wanted. Even if they chose not to.
I brushed a mascara wand over my eyelashes and touched up the thick liner I was fond of.
Bliss nudged me. “Scale of one to ten, how excited are you about tonight?”
I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face. “About eleven billionty. I’ve loved this band since I was like, fourteen. I know their songs so well I could beinthe damn band.” Something occurred to me, and I widened my eyes at Bliss, grabbing her arm, digging my fingertips in. “What if I’m picked from the crowd to sing with them?”
She winced. “Then the entire stadium will go deaf because your singing is like nails down a chalkboard. But hey! At least you can say you got up on stage.”
I hugged her anyway, because I needed somewhere for the pent-up energy to go. Her belly prodded mine, and I patted the top of her baby bump.
“You need to be careful in that crowd tonight,” I warned her. “No one can squish Mini-Disney but me.”
She pulled away and smiled down at the bump between us. “Don’t worry, the guys have already decided they’re covering me in bubble wrap. I’m surprised you can’t hear Scythe popping it from back here.”
I sniggered. “People are going to think you’re rich and famous, with a group of us surrounding you, making sure no one bumps you.” I held up my old, trusty knuckle-dusters, the ones I usually kept at Psychos for when people got too drunk and mouthy. “The dusters are making a comeback for the concert.” I slipped them into my back pocket, liking the way they felt.
Though with all my guys, as well as Bliss’s in tow, the dusters would get about as much of a workout as I did when Kian tried to drag me out for 5:00 a.m. runs.
In other words, none.
But I liked having them there anyway. They’d always made me feel like a badass. As did the music we’d hear tonight. I walked out of the bathroom, proud as hell I’d found my way back to the woman I’d been before.
