Page 44 of Rebel

“Yep.” For once in her life my little girl didn’t give a long-winded answer.

He turned to face Livvy. “You’re gonna be scared and that’s okay, but I’m not gonna let anything happen to you. Okay?”

She nodded. “I know,” she answered in a shaky voice that made my heart crack a little inside my chest.

My eyes were glued to the road, but I felt the oppressive presence of the bikers around us. They were too close, laughing and smiling as they terrified me. “Shit,” I shouted when one got too close to the car.

“Keep it steady,” he said in a gentle grunt. “If you hit them, oh well.”

“Yeah. Yep. Okay.” I nodded and kept nodding as the back window shattered and Livvy cried out.

The passenger window rolled down and I took my eyes off the road for just a second to see Logan grab the biker’s arm and slam his head against the car before releasing him. “Asshole,” he grunted.

“Shit!” In the rearview mirror I spotted the guy spinning out of control and several bikes, and cars, were unable to stop before they crashed.

“Mommy,” Livvy cried out.

“You’re okay, Livvy, just close your eyes sweetheart,” Logan grunted, trying like hell to keep his voice steady. He pulled a gun from his waistband and leaned half his body out the window.

I don’t know what he did, but several shots rang out and the guy beside me struggled to control his motorcycle before he went down, and that move was all that it took to get the others to back off. I applied more pressure to the gas pedal and white-knuckled the steering wheel.

Logan’s hand landed on my thigh, soothing strokes that slowly relaxed me. “Good job, Nikki.” He turned around and held a hand out to Livvy. “Okay? You can open your eyes now.”

She sniffled but I saw her nodding in the mirror. “I’m okay. Scared but okay.”

“That’s okay, I was scared too. Sometimes we have to do scary things.”

He couldn’t have said it any better than that, and my heart hitched in my chest, equal parts affection and guilt. He was a good man and he’d already shown he was capable of being a good father to Livvy.

And I was an asshole.

Something I planned to remedy as soon as we got home.

Chapter Twenty

Rebel

“You can’t stay here,” I roared at Nikki the minute I was sure Livvy was out of hearing range. The little girl had put on a brave face but when I picked up her trembling body, it illustrated the truth. “It’s not safe.” Those fucking assholes would pay when I found them. I planned to take my time with them and make them hurt.

Bad.

Nikki inhaled deeply and licked her lips. Her expression was oddly blank even though the pulse in her throat beat like a killer drum solo. “I get it Logan, you’re freaked out. Hell, I’m freaked out too, but I can’t just uproot Livvy’s life because of these fuckers. Changing her environment will be more harmful.”

I knew what she was saying, but seriously? “More harmful? Do you hear yourself Nikki? It might not be ideal, but today could’ve gone really fuckin’ bad, real fuckin’ quick. I know what these assholes are capable of—that’s way more harmful. Trust me.” I couldn’t believe we were even arguing about this shit right now. “They’re escalating.”

“Isn’t that what you’re here for?” Her question was sarcastic, and my hands balled into fists. “Sorry,” she sighed. “That wasn’t fair.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I had to be honest. “No, you’re right. I checked and we weren’t followed. That means they put a tracker on your car or something else. Either that or they just got lucky and nobody’s that damn lucky.” I was damngood at spotting a tail and we were all clear on the way to the store and as we headed home, they came out of nowhere. “Has to be a tracker.” I took off out the front door, marching to her car like a man on a mission. It didn’t matter that it was on an inclined driveway or that it was broad fucking daylight, I needed to satisfy my curiosity.

“Logan, what are you doing?”

“Looking for the tracker,” I grunted and checked all the usual spots. Under the car. The tire pit. The trunk. Front hood. Even inside the car, until I eventually found it inside the ashtray lid. “Son of a bitch.”

“What?”

“I found it.” It took a few grunts as I slid from the driver’s seat and held up the tiny black disk.

“I never leave the car unlocked.”

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