Page 7 of Rebel

“I don’t give a fuck who you think you are. Give me that phone.”

“No.” I took another step back while I shoved the phone in my back pocket and came across a wide, warm obstacle. Hands gripped my shoulders and before I could scream, the voice that belonged to the hands spoke.

“You okay, Nikki?” It was Logan.

I nodded but remained silent as I leaned my weight against him.

“This doesn’t concern you, Rebel. Or the Steel Demons, so mind your fucking business.”

Logan, or rather Rebel, pulled me against his chest. “If it concerns her, it is my fucking business. Back off. Now.”

He took a step forward. “Or what?”

Logan handled me roughly as he moved to put himself between me and the biker. Theotherbiker. Because earlier I’d been too emotional seeing him for the first time in years that I hadn’t noticed, but now I saw that he also wore a vest that bore the name Steel Demons MC on the back. “Or you’ll regret that you ever laid a fucking finger on her.”

“Don’t make him say it again.” A deep voice sounded behind me, startling me. When I looked up the man was a giant and he wore a serious expression along with a vest similar to Logan’s.

“Diesel,” he laughed and shook his head. “Is this really a fight you want right now?”

“Don’t want it but won’t back down from it either. Leave the woman alone.”

The man glared at me. “Delete the video and we won’t have no problems.”

“What problems?” I asked, feigning ignorance. “It was just a video for all the listeners who couldn’t be here.”

More men showed up and stood behind the man he called Diesel, and the man nodded as he backed away. “Fine.” He held his hands up and looked at me with a smirk. “Don’t post that video. These assholes won’t always be around.”

Shit. Fuck. My eyes were as wide as saucers, watching the man walk away like he didn’t have a care in the world. His words, his threat, left me ice cold. “Thanks for the assist,” I said and shimmied sideways between the large men.

“I don’t think so,” Logan said and grabbed my wrist just before I made my escape. “What the hell was that about?”

“Oh shit, it’s the chick who looked like she wanted to tear him a new asshole earlier.”

Logan rolled his eyes and stood in front of me with an expectant look on his face. “Nikki.”

“Fine,” I rolled my eyes in return. “One of my listeners called in this week and said he used to work for Councilman Cameron and accused him of being corrupt.” I stared at Logan as the pieces of the puzzle clicked. “He was the caller right before you,Rebel. And then I just saw the Blood Fangs guy handing him what looked like a stack of cash.”

“And you took video of it?”

I nodded. “And photos. I look into corruption, in addition to stories from the road.” I lifted my chin in the air, daring him to discount what I do as journalism, the way so many others have.

“Shit, Nikki.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “We’re meeting tonight. No more excuses. We need to talk about this and everything else.” Theeverything elsein that statement carried a lot of weight, but his tone left no room to argue so I simply nodded. “Black Jack Bar. Ten thirty.”

The Black Jack Bar was the same place we’d gone to after the festival six years ago, except back then it was a freezing winter night in the desert instead of the heatwave we’ve had this year. It was a hole-in-the-wall bar with a jukebox and strong drinks. It was a place where everyone minded their business and hadn’t been at all concerned about the way we kissed and mauled each other in one of the booths. “Ten thirty.”

Logan nodded and then took off with his biker friends. I watched him walk with those men while my heart pounded in my chest, uncertain what in the hell had just happened.

I knew I would show up tonight, but I wasn’t sure why.

Chapter Four

Rebel

She was late. Only ten minutes, but still. My gaze stayed fixed on my phone screen as each minute ticked away revealing the truth that I feared, she wasn’t going to show up. Anger warred with the brutal sting of rejection, and I wondered why the fuck I was putting myself through this. If Nikki didn’t want a conversation, and didn’t want my help, then why was I pushing it so hard?

She was a grown-ass woman, and she managed to stay alive in all the years we’ve been apart, so what did I give a shit?

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” She stood beside my table wearing an unsure smile as she waited for me to say something. “It took longer than I expected to get out of the festival parking lot. They didn’t give me any special parking spot, not that I expected it, but you know I kind of did, since it was a madhouse getting out of there.”

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