Rebel on the Run (3 page)

She seemed as though she might argue. Except when she parted those lush lips, a croak came out, followed by a wince.

Bryce leaned in to support her as she sat up, trying not to notice the elegant curve of her shoulder against his palm. “What hurts?” 

He ran his hands along her arms, noting the gooseflesh that broke out in the wake of his rough fingers on her porcelain skin.

“Nothing physical.” She glanced around the room, her gaze flitting to him, and his mouth, periodically. Though so many tough guys—tattoos and piercings galore showing beneath tanks or ripped jeans—hovering in a semi-circle had to be overwhelming for a sheltered, refined woman like her, she didn’t cower. Instead she spoke, in a tone filled with husk. “I’ll take the biggest glass of water you have, though. Please.”

“You got it.” Carver, closest to the kitchen, which sprawled open to the living area, trotted over and rummaged through a cabinet.

In the meantime, Kaelyn stared up at Bryce with enormous eyes. “I wasn’t looking for you. I thought you were long gone. I still can’t believe this is happening.”

He held absolutely still as she cupped his cheek, her thumb caressing the stubble there. Her awe he could handle better than her ire. Though if she didn’t stop eyeing him like she planned to lean in and kiss him hello, he might do the job for her.

“Okay, then what’s going on?” he asked. “What brought you to Middletown?”

“Sorry. I’ll tell you, I promise.” Her scratchy whisper had Carver hurrying at the sink. “But who are these people?”

“Oh, crap. Um.” Bryce pointed as he went around the room. “Guys, meet Kaelyn DuChamp. Kae, the bossman is Eli London. Hot Rods is his place, his and his father’s. Tom’s. Next to him are his husband and his wife. Alanso and Sally.”

“Excuse me? I think I heard you wrong.” Kaelyn shook her head as if to clear it.

“Nah,
chica
. You got it right. The three of us are a set.” The bald Cuban man spoke for himself and his partners. “Nice to meet you, by the way.”

Kaelyn blinked a few times but didn’t object. She bestowed a hint of her brilliant smile. “Same here. You make a cute trio.”

“Thanks.” Sally grinned, then waved her fingers, showing off pretty pink-and-silver nails. “I think they’re handsome fuckers myself.”

“She was talking about you, Mustang.” Eli kissed her on the forehead. The scorching gazes they exchanged might have led to something more, if the situation hadn’t been so unusual and so serious.

Bryce hurried so he could hear her story. “Next to them is Kaige—we call him Super Nova—and his girlfriend, Nola.” He pointed out the guy with dreads and the mocha-skinned woman who’d only formally agreed to join their enterprise earlier that morning. She sat in Kaige’s lap and rested her head on his shoulder. A subtle smile curved her full lips upward. It was nice to see her happy and at ease in their group.

“Kaelyn DuChamp, you look familiar.” Nova tilted his head and squinted a bit. “I think I’d remember a fancy name like that, though.”

Nola smacked her guy on the chest. “It’s a
lovely
name.”

“Yeah, sounds like something I can’t afford.” He obviously was trying to compliment Kae.

“Please, ignore him. He doesn’t mean anything bad by that.” Nola grimaced.

“Well, anyway, she must look like someone else. You’ve never met her,” Bryce jumped in, denying his friend’s instinct. Before the intuitive man could insist, Carver returned. They didn’t call him Meep for nothing. Not only did he drive a Roadrunner, but he was a fast fucker too. A trait that had come in handy when Roman had landed them in heaps of trouble as a teen.

“Thank you.” Kaelyn sipped from the enormous water bottle. 

“Go ahead and chug that. No need to be dainty with it. You must be dehydrated to have passed out like that.” Bryce lifted the bottom of the container, forcing her to swallow more, faster. A dribble escaped her lips and trailed along her chin.

He snuffed a groan and wiped the drop with the pad of his thumb.

“If you’re thirsty, drink up. Free refills.” Roman surprised Bryce with his reassurance. Usually quiet, he seemed curious about their impromptu visitor. 

“Yeah, we won’t take your eagerness the wrong way. I like ’em big too.” Carver grunted when the back of Bryce’s hand smacked him in the gut.

“Not appropriate, asshole,” Bryce growled.

“Since when do you expect us to have manners?” Holden chimed in. “We’re mutts, not purebreds, remember?”

“I thought that was the way you liked things.” Alanso raised a brow at Bryce. “Nothing refined, nothing classy… I think I get it now. You’re in denial. You grew up with her?”

Kaelyn choked when Alanso pointed first at Bryce and then at her. She kept drinking through their banter until the entire bottle had been drained dry. Despite the blush creeping over her cheeks and across her décolletage, she held the vessel out to Meep. “Please?”

“Sure. Nothing to get embarrassed about. We appreciate a woman who can suck it down around here,” Carver assured her, Hot Rods-style.

“Meep!” This time it was Nola who objected. “Next thing you’ll be making ‘that’s what
he
said’ jokes like the Powertools crew. Stop that!”

Good thing since Bryce had clenched his jaw and fisted his hands.

Sally came to the rescue. “It’s habit, Kaelyn. Ignore them or feel free to rip them right back. That one is Carver, his roommate Roman and this guy here is Holden. Or Meep, Barracuda and Swinger, depending on who’s talking. Sorry, we have these nicknames. It’s a pain in the ass to get to know us. There are about a million of us and we each have at least two names… I don’t know who thought that was a good idea.”

Kaelyn laughed along with Sally. “As long as you give me a bit to remember them, it sounds fun to me.”

“Maybe you need one too then. I have a few ideas.” Swinger flashed his charming grin while Bryce gnashed his teeth. “Ours are based on our favorite cars. The ones we drive. And that was one hell of a ride I saw you two pull in with. Sexy. If you let us under your hood we could do a lot with that.”

“So
anyway
, now that introductions have been made. Stupid formalities.” Bryce grumbled. “Why the hell were you stranded on the side of the road in
my
town?”

“What are you, the mayor or something?” Kaelyn made him feel a hell of a lot better when she revealed some of her true inner core. He’d started to think maybe it had withered in their old stodgy environment. “Forget you. I had a flat tire. It’s just bad luck that I also discovered your hiding place.”

She glared at him, anger replacing the wounded, lost looks—not to mention the endless glances at his mouth—that had been crushing his heart.

Bryce wanted to set her straight, but he couldn’t. She had the gist of it right. “You were running. Scared. I know myself that this town is on the path from Windsor. Especially if you’re trying to keep off the interstates, avoiding being seen. For me it was a single tank of gas from home. And that’s as far as you can go when you’re broke. Lost. So who are you trying to escape, Kaelyn? Why?”

Tears filled her eyes. When he reached out, she shook her head. “Don’t touch me. I’m tired of liars thinking they can rule my life. You’re just as bad as him.”

“Who?” Rebel asked again.

“My father.” She bit her trembling lower lip.

“Hey, whoever’s got you frightened, don’t worry. We won’t let anyone bother you.” Carver returned with more water and did what Bryce was banned from doing. He leaned down and hugged Kaelyn, offered her his strength and reassurance. That she accepted the gesture from a stranger over Bryce tore his guts out.

And earned his friend his undying appreciation.

He knew he could count on the Hot Rods. At least until Kaelyn blew his cover.

Revealed to them what a fake he really was.

“What did that jackoff do?” Bryce focused on what was most important—Kae.

“He tried to arrange a marriage for me. To sell me, essentially, to Montgomery Price, in exchange for the guy’s support in the election and the boost to their images a grand wedding would provide.” She sniffled. “I’m so stupid. I believed it was this whirlwind affair. That I’d finally found someone to replace…
you
. When I overheard my dad and Montgomery laughing at me, and my stupidity for not realizing the whole thing was fake, I called off the wedding. Daddy threatened to disown me.”

Bryce cursed. He knew the weight a fortune could have when wielded against you. The finer things in life had always been more important to Kaelyn.

“So you took your platinum cards and ran,” he finished for her. “He’s probably already canceled them, lady.”

“He did. And shut off service to my phone. It doesn’t matter, though. I don’t give a crap. I told him I don’t want anything to do with him or his disgusting inheritance.” She trailed off as tears spilled down her cheeks.

What?
Though he’d unfettered himself from the same golden cuffs, he never would have imagined Kaelyn could make the same decision. Maybe the younger version of her wouldn’t have. But this woman…

Bryce felt his respect for her burgeoning along with the bulge in his pants.

Chains disappearing into Holden’s back pocket rattled as he took a clean handkerchief from his jeans and passed it to her. “Here, sweetheart.”

She looked adorable and so out of place as she blew her nose into the skull-and-crossbones-dotted material. “Thanks.”

“What do you mean, Kae? What did you do?” He couldn’t believe she might be telling him what it sounded like. He wanted to hear her say it straight.

“I disowned
him
before he could do it to me. And that’s when he grabbed me.” She shivered and stared at her arm. “Like the snake he is. He struck fast, before I saw it coming. My own dad.”

Only now did Bryce notice the ligature marks around her fine-boned wrists. That fucker. He’d laid his hands on her? He’d pay for that.

“They weren’t going to let me leave.” She trembled so hard her teeth chattered. Carver held on to her, encouraging her to finish in a low murmur. Promising her they would protect her. Rubbing circles on her narrow back.

Bryce had never loved the man as much as he did right then.

Because he sure as hell couldn’t speak. And the fury in his eyes would terrify Kaelyn if she saw it unveiled.

“I bit him. When Montgomery tried to stop me next, I kneed him in the crotch like you showed me after Porsche Silverton told us her date had forced her into sex after the Valentine’s Day dance.” She sniffled but finished her story, patting Buster between his slumped ears when he whimpered, sensing her distress. “I ran and kept going until I got to your car. I’ve worn the key around my neck since you…left it behind. Like me. I drove it a lot, figuring it would tick you off if you knew. You never did let anyone touch your baby.”

“Sounds like the Rebel I know,” Swinger muttered.

Kaelyn shook her head as though she couldn’t sort out the unfathomable realties that had shaped her new world. “I left with just what I had on me and in my purse. I drove as fast and far as I could until I hit a pothole in the road and blew out a tire.”

She sobbed a few times before getting herself together.

“I couldn’t even make it one day on my own.” Then she did something that had him grinning despite their completely screwed-up situation—she cursed. “Motherfucker.”

It sounded awkward…unused…as it flew from her mouth.

Eli chuckled, though the sound held as much tension as amusement. “Attagirl.”

“Don’t feel bad.” Bryce sighed heavily, knowing he couldn’t procrastinate another instant. “That’s about what happened to me too. Except it wasn’t only your dad. It was both of our fathers ganged up against me. They threatened to disinherit me—”

“Why?” She grew still as she looked up at him with those glittering eyes, diamond teardrops hanging off her lashes. Despite the pain, she licked her lips as she peered into his face. Subconsciously, he was sure.

He cleared his throat and glanced away.

“Don’t worry about that. I told them they could shove their money. There was only one thing I needed to buy.”

Kaige muttered a curse at Bryce’s vagueness. He must have figured out where this was going.

“Don’t give me that bull.” Kaelyn climbed to her knees, getting in his face. “I was straightforward with you. Is it too much to ask for one jerk to do the same for me?”

She pounded on his collarbones, taking out her loss and desperation on him. He didn’t mind.

And when she collapsed against his chest, crying, he didn’t hesitate. His arms banded around her, cocooning her as best he could from the cruel world. Even though he knew his words would hurt her worse than the clutches that had left those stains on her wrist.

“Okay, lady. I swear I’ll be honest with you from here on out. Always.” He didn’t give the oath lightly. “I’m sorry.”

Whether he apologized to her or to the gang rallied around him, he wasn’t sure. Both, he supposed.

“Just say it fast. Like a Band-Aid,” Roman recommended.

“I didn’t give a shit when they threatened me. With pictures of you and me camping out in your tree house. We always knew our families wouldn’t approve of our…
friendship
since your dad and mine are political opponents. Anyway, you were fourteen, I was seventeen. They said I’d go to jail. They told me I’d molested you when I kissed you. And with us sharing that sleeping bag, snuggling, it looked pretty damning when your dad accused me of groping you—and other stuff—beneath the covers. They had evidence. And they were right. I did it. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t help myself. You were too young and I made out with you anyway. Worse, I wished for more. Staying and keeping my hands off after that would have been impossible. I couldn’t have denied that. No way would they stand for us crossing the lines they’d crafted between their parties, ruining the polarizing they’d done, pitting voters against each other over how different they were. We went against all that, bridged the gap. Still, I didn’t give a shit when they held the pictures over my head. I checked it out on the Internet, figured I’d get in some trouble though maybe not as bad as they made it seem. But when I came back and told them to do their worst, they said they’d disown you…cut you off. Humiliate you so that no one we knew would accept you. Torture you with embarrassing proceedings and intrusive, public trials… I couldn’t do it. Broke and cast out, I knew you would resent me. I couldn’t do that to you.