Page 133 of Rebellious

Rebel reddened, allowing Kaia’s angry words to catch up to his brain. She was so fucking livid that her breath came in short pants, like an angry little pony. It shouldn’t have surprised him that she began kicking his fucking chair. He tried to grab her ankle or her leg, but she moved like lightning and clamped her fingers around his wrists, digging her short nails in while still kicking the chair.

“You motherfucker,” she snarled, low, not breaking his skin, but hurting the fuck out of him. “I had that fucking jewelry on but Diesel told me it wasn’t real. They’d turn my ears and wrist green.”

Kaia stopped trying to free himself. “That motherfucker said what?” he demanded, just as she finally toppled the chair and he fell on his ass.

She got to her feet and began to walk away, her limp reminding him of her ordeal. Crawling in front of her to block her escape, he raised up on his knees and hugged her, laying his head against her stomach.

She sucked in a breath.

“I’m sorry, babe. I’m so sorry. Forget what I said.”

“Let go of me,” she said in a thin voice.

“No, please—”

“You’re hurting my stomach. I’m home but I’m not healed.”

He released her as if burned and jumped to his feet, horrified at her teary eyes. He cupped her face between his hands, her soft hair against his palms like a shot of adrenaline.

“Sit for a minute, Chi. Please. Let me explain.”

She sniffled and nodded. Relieved, he helped to the seat, then righted his own chair and sat next to her.

“I can show you the receipt for the jewelry, Rebel. It is 14k gold.”

“He said you wouldn’t be able to afford five-thousand-dollar jewelry.” She cocked her head to the side, unconcerned with the random tears sliding down her cheeks and wetting strands of her hair.

He hated that motherfucker so much. Diesel was forever in the background, undermining everything. He had a fiancée. He needed to focus on her and leave Rebel the fuck alone.

Slipping her hair behind her ears, he thumbed her tears away. “I got an advance on my pay from your mom,” he told her, not entirely the truth. “I bought the set and a few more gifts. I wouldn’t do that for any other girl, babe. And, yeah, I know how you feel about Diesel.”

“Good, because I don’t.”

“Fair enough. Do you know how you feel about me?”

“Not anymore. I did. I thought I…no, I knew. I wouldn’t be so hurt if I didn’t have feelings for you. I would just be humiliated and furious.”

“Rebel—”

“No, don’t you understand? For months, we had this Bash cloud over our heads. It affected everyone. Me. Daddy. You. Momma. CJ…everyone in my family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins. No, everyone in our orbit.”

“I don’t think so, sweetheart. I don’t even know Bash.”

“You don’t have to know him.”

“I’m not in the club, so how can I understand?”

Rebel shrugged. “I suppose you can’t, but I lived it. It was a domino effect. Bash began circling. He was, and, to me, still is, the architect of all our misery. Somehow, it all ties back to my immediate family. Every problem of every person that Bash has affected ties back to us. The Caldwells. Either personally or because of the club.”

How was he supposed to know any of this? She seemed convinced all their problems originated with Bash, so he wouldn’t try to change her mind. He hugged her, tucking her head underneath his chin. “What’s the point, babe?”

“For better or worse, that peace agreement was signed. I thought life would be good again.” She started to cry. “Then that volleyball game happened. I shouldn’t have gone. I wasn’t going to, but Jana convinced me she needed my support. If I wouldn’t have gone, Heidi never would’ve told me about you and Fia. My heart wouldn’t have been broken.”

He could apologize for the next fifty years and it wouldn’t ease her pain.

“If Diesel hadn’t moved Jana in, I wouldn’t have gone shopping with her and…and…”

Kaia tightened his hold on her. “Hey, babe, you survived.”