Page 208 of Relentles
While Eric and Billy glanced at each other, then at Mattie, Rebel used the opportunity to glare at her cousin. Shit like that wouldn’t go unnoticed.
Rebel huffed a breath and stalked to the bag, hoping to hide her annoyance.
“Here you are, boys,” she announced, holding a bottle out until everyone had one. Uncapping her own, she stood and sipped, ignoring how Mattie guzzled half the pint, while the two bikers polished theirs off without coming up for air.
“Let’s sit and talk,” Mattie suggested, her pupils dilating.
“Talk?” Billy asked. “We didn’t come here to talk, Matilda.”
Of course they hadn’t. They didn’t even come with the expectation of dropping off bud or beer. There was no fucking sign of the beer, first of all, and their creepy fucking leers revealed the want of a sexual favor.
Possibly a handy; maybe some head. For months, Rebel had insisted she wanted Diesel to be her first and only everything—kiss, lover, husband. Yet, the scene in her room exposed a lot. Diesel found her attractive but didn’t want to and it had nothing to do with her being his little sister.
Sixteen was the age of consent in Washington. Her sixteenth birthday was over a year away. Not that it made a huge difference, though Diesel begged to differ. She wasn’t sure ifit was her age or her virginity that most influenced him. She couldn’t do anything to make herself older, but she could get experience. Maybe, then, he’d indulge her.
The idea led her to a monumental choice. Rebel was willing to give Billy and Eric something more valuable than jerking them off or giving them a blowjob.
Pussy.
It didn’t matter one way or the other. Rule saw her as expendable. Daddy didn’t have time for her. Diesel viewed her as an annoyance. CJ had his own problems. Club life touched each of them. Her father and brothers lived and breathed the Death Dwellers, even the younger boys. And they were applauded.
Whether she ever became a special enforcer didn’t matter. The club threaded through her life with or without her permission. She wanted some control over herself.
Her decision made, she drank more tequila, wishing she’d known about the alcohol earlier. Mattie had been awaiting her when she arrived, so she hadn’t noticed the bag until her cousin indicated it.
“Talking is so fucking boring,” Rebel announced, the sounds of a motorcycle throttling reaching her from a distance. She sidled to Billy and pressed her body close, tipping her head back, just as she’d seen the club girls do. “Why don’t we pair off and enjoy each other’s company? Smoke a little bud.” If they brought it. “Who knows what it might lead to.”
Mattie snatched her out of Billy’s embrace. “No, Reb. We have money. It’ll be a straightforward transaction.”
The roar of the motorcycle grew louder.
Tension settled into the two bikers and they glanced over their shoulders. Seeing nothing, they looked at Rebel and Mattie again.
“Our transactions are always straightforward, Matilda,” Billy snapped, the underlying violence in his tone scaring Rebel. “We set a price. You choose to pay up.”
Straightening her shoulders, Mattie nodded. “We brought money today, Billy. If you don’t want to do a cash transaction, go—”
“No!” Rebel protested, not liking Mattie’s presumption. Rebel could put out just as much as Mattie. “I have a say so in how I want to pay.”
“She’s stillOutlaw’sdaughter,” Mattie warned, ignoring Rebel. “Uncle Chris will observe if she’s limping or not acting right.”
Rebel pursed her lips. Had there been a time Mattie hobbled around and not only hadn’t her parents noticed but no one else either? She didn’t know what to say. The insinuation that these two fuckheads hurt Mattie in the process of their abuse wasn’t lost on Rebel. Once again, she’d allowed her emotions to blindly lead her down the wrong path. She’d been so annoyed with Diesel, she hadn’t even questioned Mattie when her cousin invited her on today’s adventure. Her only instructions were to bring half the cost of a pound of marijuana.
“What the fuck are you two doing out here with these dickheads?” Ryan demanded.
Rebel jumped almost ten feet in the air and jerked her head in Ryan’s direction, surprised to see the Byrd brothers flanking him.
Wallace Byrd, not as much a big bovine buffoon as his brother, narrowed his beady eyes at Mattie. In the entire interaction with Billy and Eric, Mattie hadn’t shrank back as she did now.
“You putting out to them?” Wally demanded, even with his nose bandaged and his brother’s arm in a sling.
Willard ignored his brother’s question, craning his neck and searching for something. “None of them are hiding to take me down, so let’s go. Let’s leave them to their love nest, Taylor.”
“Fuck off,” Ryan snapped, glaring at the Dwellers, then crooking his finger at Mattie. “C’mere.” He looked at Rebel. “You, too.”
Neither she nor Mattie moved.
“If it was CJ, those bitches would jump to his orders,” Willard taunted. “Guess you don’t have as much clout as you think.”
