Page 44 of Rebel

Driven by fury, I stormed across the yard to Rebel’s front door. Not caring about being polite, I banged on the door and rang the bell. His sister opened the door, took one look at me, and shouted for Rebel. I wasn’t sure how she knew I was there for him. Maybe she assumed, or perhaps she knew more about her big brother than he realized.

A moment later Rebel appeared, looking annoyed. His expression changed to one of curiosity when he saw me standing there.

“How fucking could you?” I spat. “Why Chase? I know you love to fuck with me but how could you do this?”

Alarm lit up Rebel’s face. Taking me by the arm, he steered me out of the house, closing the door. “Let’s take a drive.”

“Why? So you can take me to some shady location and harvest my organs too?” I did my best to shake him off, but he held tight to my arm.

Rebel shoved me over to his car and opened the passenger door. “Get in the car, Storm. I’m not asking nicely. If you can come to my door with accusations, then you can damn well get in the car so we can talk about this privately.”

He didn’t wait for me to get in, shoving me onto the passenger seat. Something in his eyes told me not to argue. I sat there with my arms crossed over my chest and let him close the door before rounding the car to his side.

The moment the door closed, locking the two of us in the car together, I rounded on him with absolute malice. “You let me cry and tell you how worried Mom and I were, and the whole time you knew Chase was dead because you killed him.”

Rebel’s brows shot up. “Have you lost your fucking mind? Why would you think I killed your brother?”

He started the car and hastily backed out of the driveway, like he was in a rush to get us both out of there. I was ready to fight him. To claw his eyes out and choke the life out of him.

“The police were just at my house. They found Chase. He’s dead, and his organs are missing. It really doesn’t take a genius to put that together, does it?” My voice cracked, but I fought back the tears that now welled up.

Rebel did a double take. “Are you serious? I swear to you, Storm, I didn’t hurt your brother. None of us did. This wasn’t us. I would’ve loved to punch him out a few times, but I didn’t kill him.”

“Why should I believe you? This is what you do. How much money did you make off him, Rebel? You know all that cash won’t keep you safe when you’re in prison.” Even though there was a quiver in my voice, I made sure he saw the absolute hatred burning hot in my eyes.

He drove us out of our neighborhood and down the street. Shoving a hand through his hair, Rebel fisted it tightly and swore. “Did you say anything to the cops about me?”

Staring straight ahead out the windshield, I muttered, “No. But I should. They need to know where to start looking.”

“Then they should probably start with River Harris and his crew. We didn’t do this, Storm. I know I can’t make you believe me, but it’s true. I warned you about him. He’s not what he seems. Venom is doing this to frame us. You can’t fall for their shit.” Rebel continued driving until we reached a park that backed onto a pond filled with ducks and geese.

Parking the car so it faced the pond, he turned off the engine and twisted in his seat to face me. I kept staring straight ahead at the pond, unable to bring myself to look into his eyes.

“River Harris, huh? Seems like a convenient scapegoat. Especially after the way you beat his ass the other night. Do you think I’m dumb enough to believe this?” I twisted the hem of my shirt between my fingers, willing my pounding heart to slow down.

Rebel’s head fell back against his seat. He closed his eyes, a long sigh escaping him. “I know you’re pissed at me. I know part of you wants it to be me. It isn’t. I did not do this. I would never do this to you, Storm.”

The defeat in the way his shoulders slumped made me wonder if he was telling the truth. Deep down, I didn’t want it to be Rebel. He was the last person I wanted to be responsible for my brother’s death.

“I want to believe that. Trust me, I do. The evidence is pretty clear though.” I watched a mother duck swimming with a line of ducklings trailing behind her. Such simple beauty. It only made my reality hit that much harder.

Rebel shocked me by slamming a palm against the steering wheel. “What will it take to prove to you that I didn’t do this? Do you want me to grab River and torture the truth out of him? Because I’ll do it.”

That was enough to tear my gaze from the pond. I turned to look at him, our eyes locking. Pain shone in the depths of his intense stare. Seeing it cut right through me. I’d expected my accusations to piss him off. Possibly even to coax a confession from him. I hadn’t anticipated that it would hurt him.

I swallowed hard before asking, “Do you really think Venom is behind this? How would we even prove something like that? Especially if they set it up to look like the Kings killed Chase. God, I can’t even believe I’m saying those words. I can’t believe he’s really gone.”

That’s when it hit me full force. That’s when the floodgates opened and poured out. My entire body heaved as I struggled to breathe through the massive sobs that shook me. Tears poured down my face, and my nose began to run. I didn’t want this to happen in front of Rebel.

Instead of making me feel bad or ashamed in any way from my emotional onslaught, he reached over to the glove box and pulled out some tissue. Pressing it into my hand, he slid an arm around my shoulders and kissed the tears that rolled down my face.

“I’ll get to the bottom of this, Storm. I promise you. I won’t let those Venom fucks get away with what they did. River will be sorry for the rest of his short life that he hurt you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

STORM

When Rebel and I returned home, I went inside and found Mom sitting at the kitchen table, sobbing into a cup of tea. Pulling up a chair beside her, I wrapped my arms around her, and together we cried. There was nothing either of us could say or do to make the other feel better. There was no bringing back my brother.

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