TROUBLE, A New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series) (35 page)

My face is trembling all over.
 
My chin, my lips, my cheeks even.
 
Tears are streaming down my face and I quickly move to wipe them away.
 
He thinks worse things about himself than I do of myself.
 
We are quite a pair. “Do you really mean all that?”

“Yes.
 
I really mean all that.”
 
He stares at the sky again.
 
“Just don’t ask me to explain it, because I can’t.
 
You’re in my veins right now.
 
I’m addicted.
 
I want to be with you and only you.
 
I haven’t had sex in a month.”

I laugh through my sadness.
 
“I take it that’s a bad thing?”

He shifts onto his side again and stares at me.
 
“I would wait for you forever if you wanted me to. I don’t give a shit about that. I told you before … I don’t force myself on women.
 
I would wait for you until you were ready.
 
That is … if you wanted me at all.”
 
He grins with a sad tinge to it.
 
“I’m not feeling all that confident right now to tell you the truth.”

I shake my head.
 
“You’re crazy.
 
You are the most adorable guy I’ve ever known.”

“Yeah, but do you want to get naked with me or just pat me on the head like that wiener dog you’ve been dreaming of all your life?
 
That’s the question.”

I can’t stop giggling.
 
“You know I’m waiting until I’m married for sex.”

“It’s just an expression.” He rolls his eyes a second and mumbles to himself.
 
“Low maintenance, my ass.”
 
Then he’s looking at me again and getting on his knees. “You want to do this your way, fine.
 
We’ll do it your way.”

“What’s my way?” Panic sets up camp in my heart.

Colin settles back onto his heels and puts his hand on his chest like he’s about to pledge allegiance to the flag.
 
“Alissa, I like you.
 
I want to be your boyfriend.
 
I won’t pressure you to have sex with me, but I wouldn’t mind some fooling around if you can handle it.
 
If not, I’ll just wait.”
 
He huffs out a breath and drops his pledging hand to his side.
 
“Okay?
 
There.
 
I said it.
 
Please don’t ever tell anyone I did this.”
 
He looks around to check and see if anyone’s nearby.

My huge grin is giving me face cramps.
 
“I can’t believe you want to be my boyfriend.”

“I know.
 
So gay, right?”

Gay?
 
No.
 
How about romantic … adorable … risky … perfect.
 
I hold out my arms, throwing all caution to the wind and ignoring my inner demons decrying this as a mistake of the worst kind.
 
“Okay, you’ve convinced me.
 
Come here and be my boyfriend.”

He sticks the tip of his tongue out and bites it as he’s coming closer, his eyebrows wiggling up and down.
 
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about.”

And then we’re kissing again.
 
I lose track of time and just let myself drown in the sensations.
 
Later we can face reality and all the barriers that are in the way of our relationship actually working out; for now, I’m just going to keep on dreaming of happiness and being buried in the bosom of my new family.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

I’M ON CLOUD NINE AS we go through the motions of confirming everything at the gallery with Geraldine.
 
Colin held my hand for almost the entire trip over here, there are no more surprise paintings of me in the mix, and Geraldine has agreed not to display the one that ended up on the postcard.
 
Life is about as good as it can get for me right now.

Geraldine shakes her head, not happy that the painting of me isn’t for sale. “We’ll just tell anyone who asks about it that it’s already been sold.
 
But they’ll want to see it anyway.
 
I really think you should let me hang it.
 
It shows a depth to your work that really speaks to people, even those uninitiated in the arts.”

“Nope.”
 
Colin shakes his head.
 
“Not negotiable.”

I put my hand on his arm, loving the fact that I’m allowed to be possessive of him since I’m now his girlfriend.
 
I suppress the urge to giggle over it.
 
“We’ll see, okay?
 
Maybe we can talk about it some more.”
 
I’m feeling very magnanimous for some reason.

He looks at me, confused. “You said …”
 
He shakes his head and shifts his gaze to the gallery owner.
 
“Never mind.
 
We’ll let you know, Geraldine.”

“Good.
 
You two talk about it and let me know.”

Colin’s phone rings and he takes the call, leaving me to chat with Geraldine on my own.

“So, what’s the story with you two, hmmm?”
 
She looks down at my belly and over at Colin.

My happy fog lifts and the fear comes back.
 
I don’t want my situation affecting his work reputation.
 
I suddenly feel dirty.
 
“No story.
 
I work for him.
 
That’s it.”

“Mmmm-hmmmm…”

She obviously doesn’t believe me, but I’m not about to tell her that Colin just recently asked me to be his girlfriend.
 
It’s none of her business.
 
I try not to feel guilty over it.

“Well, good for you, sweetie.
 
He needs some help.
 
He’s going to have a great career if he can stay out of trouble long enough to do the work.”

“He’s not always in trouble.” In fact, since I’ve known him, he’s only been in one fight as far as I know, and that was because he was protecting me.
 
The one with Mick doesn’t count, since they’re brothers.
 
I’d hardly call that
trouble
.
 
I guess he used to be in fights all the time, but that was before I came along.
 
A thought niggles at the back of my mind.
 
Did I have anything to do with his life’s change of pace?
 
I dismiss it as schoolgirl fantasy.

“Don’t get me wrong, him getting into trouble is a good thing for his reputation.
 
Bad boys sell more paintings, believe me.
 
But if he’s in jail, he can’t do the work, you know what I mean?
 
So he just needs to keep it to just a few events a year, nothing too serious, and that would be perfect.”

“Events?”
 
I’m almost afraid of what her explanation will be.

“Fights.
 
Losses of temper in public places.
 
He could trash a hotel room and that would be good, too.
 
People love hearing about that kind of thing.
 
Makes him seem very mysterious, don’t you think?”
 
She looks over at him and her eyes go all cougary.
 
She’s thinking about getting him naked, I’m sure of it.

I follow her gaze and all I can see is the man who put his hand on his heart and pledged himself on his knees to me less than an hour ago.
 
He’s not trouble.
 
He’s my guardian angel.
 
When I turn back to Geraldine, I’m pissed.

“Colin is not a trained monkey, okay?
 
He doesn’t do anything just for publicity.”

“Sure, darling.
 
Whatever you say.”
 
She moves away, and I’m torn between following her to give her a piece of my mind and just leaving in a huff.

Colin makes the decision for me when he walks up, sliding his phone into his front pocket.
 
“Feel like taking a drive?”

I lose sight of Geraldine.
 
“A drive?
 
Where?”

“Tegan asked that we come to her lawyer’s appointment.
 
I guess there’s been some developments and she wants her family with her.”

I try to not be too happy about being included in that description.
 
It’s not like she requested that I be there personally.
 
“Okay.
 
Let’s go.”
 
Going to an appointment where I just sit and listen is probably way better than getting into a war of words with Cougar McShruger anyway.

Thirty minutes later, we’re in the lawyer’s conference room.
 
The entire Rebel Wheels family is sitting there, and two lawyers are facing us, standing at the front of the room since there are no chairs remaining.
 
We get there just in time to sit down and nod at everyone before the lawyers begin.

The older lawyer speaks first.
 
“Thank you for coming on such short notice. Looks like you have your entire support network here.”

“That’s how I roll these days,” Teagan says.

“Musketeers.
 
All for one, one for all,” Quin adds, holding Teagan’s hand over the corner of the table.
 
Mick is between them.

“Why don’t we get started?” the lawyer says.
 
“Basically, we have an offer on the table.
 
We think it’s pretty attractive, and counsel you to take it with some caveats, but of course, it’s your decision.”

“Okay.”
 
Teagan nods.
 
“What is it? Lay it on me.”

“First some background,” the second lawyer says.
 
He opens up a file folder and scans its contents.
 
“The private investigator we hired, working on the information that you gathered for him, discovered some significant evidence.
 
This went way beyond what we originally considered when we took the case.
 
We’re now looking at criminal charges. We have not yet, however, turned over our discovery to the district attorney’s office.”

I look at Teagan.
 
She’s really stressed, I can tell by the way her forehead is all wrinkled up.
 
I wish there was something I could do or say to make her feel better.
 
When she looks over at me, I get my chance; I blow her a quick kiss and she smiles.
 
I’m proud of myself when I see some of her wrinkles smooth over.

“The conversation that … Mick … had with your father’s assistant was very revealing. Apparently your father worked out at a gym with his wife’s brother on a frequent basis.
 
He had a locker there that still had his lock on it.
 
Our investigator, following chain-of-evidence rules, gained access to the locker and its contents.
 
Inside was your father’s gym bag with some clothing and a half-empty bottle of sports drink.”

I’m looking around at the faces at the table, surmising that they’re all thinking the same thing I am:
 
What’s the big deal about a gym bag?

“We had the interior of that bottle tested at a lab and came up with some disturbing information.”

“Disturbing how?” Teagan asks.

“There were traces of ethylene glycol inside it.”

“What’s that?” Quin asks.

“Antifreeze,” Mick says.

When everyone turns to look at him, he shrugs.
 
“What?
 
We come across it in the garage all the time.
 
We have to dispose of it a special way and report that stuff to the EPA.
 
It’s a pain in the ass.”

“What does that mean?” Teagan asks.
 
“Why was it in his drink?”

“It’s unfortunately used as a poison, almost impossible to detect and sweet enough to be easily masked in a sports drink.
 
Also the same bright yellow that several brands use to dye the liquid.”

My ears are burning as I consider the ramifications.
 
Poor Teagan.

“So you’re saying someone poisoned her dad?” Quin says.
 
“Holy shit.”

“Would you like to hear the rest?” the older lawyer asks.
 
“Or would you prefer to take a break first?”

Teagan shakes her head, holding Rebel’s hand.
 
“No.
 
I want to hear it all now.”

He continues.
 
“We took this information along with some other facts that we learned of to the coroner who did the intake of your father’s remains when he died.
 
There, we found that they had actually taken some samples from his organs and kept them before the cremation was carried out.
 
There’s a period of time within which they keep and then destroy samples.
 
Luckily, we showed up before that destruction period came due.
 
They’ve agreed to hold onto the tissue indefinitely, so long as we pay for the storage, which we of course agreed to do.
 
This means they can test for the poison being present in his system at the time of death, even though your father’s remains have been otherwise destroyed.”

“Thank you for doing that,” Teagan says, a lot of her normal energy missing from her voice.

“Of course.
 
Following this development, we approached your father’s wife with the evidence we’ve gathered, along with some timeline information and some data we recovered from a hard drive that your father’s former assistant provided us.
 
Needless to say, we made a very convincing argument to her that she cooperate and do the right thing.”

Teagan snorts.
 
“Yeah, right.
 
Like she’s ever done the right thing in her entire life.”