Chapter One

“Dude!”

Instead of controlling himself at the annoyance in Rory Donovan’s tone, Potter cried harder.

Frowning, Rory glanced at Diesel Caldwell, who shrugged.

Outlaw gave Diesel express instructions—see that Potter dismembered at least one of the motherfuckers who’d fucked with Rebel and Mattie. Watch for any signs that he might want revenge since the dead fuckheads were his friends.

By the time Diesel and Rory arrived with Eric, Potter was in the meatshack and had laid Billy on the autopsy table. Potter’s sobs reached Diesel long before he saw him, sitting in the restraint chair, bent over, bald head cradled in his hands and his shoulders shaking from the force of his sobs.

Ten minutes later, and the motherfucker still hadn’t shut the fuck up.

Sighing in annoyance, Diesel stalked to the door and opened it, walking out into the frozen gray morning. As if the universe conspired against him, the moment fresh air blasted around him, Rebel came into view. She was holding onto Mattie, Rory’s sister. They staggered and sobbed. Behind them, CJ, Diesel’s and Rebel’s brother, walked, hands in his pockets, his jaw clenched.

“Do you hear them, Potter?” Rory yelled behind him. “That’s Mattie. You’re blubbering worse than her! Control yourself.”

Rory’s blare captured the girls’ attention. They halted.

Diesel forced himself to look at Mattie just as he’d forced himself to ignore Rebel’s shock and horror earlier when Outlaw shot the fuck out of Billy and Eric without warning.

She’d been so distressed. As her big brother, it was his job to comfort her. Mattie’s scream drew CJ to her side, while Zoann’s cry sent Val rushing to her. Rebel had been alone.

Diesel didn’t want to take her in his arms to comfort her as his little sister. Something he would’ve done without hesitation a few short weeks ago. Until she’d ruined his fucking life and showed him her nude body.

She stumbled toward him. The moment she reached him, she fell against his chest, wrapped her arms around his neck, and sobbed. She wore jeans and a cashmere sweater, but her curves still pressed against him. A delicate, sweet fragrance wafted from her hair. He held himself still, not wanting to touch her, regretting his stupidity for challenging her. If he hadn’t lost his temper, she never would have undressed in his presence.

“I never thought Daddy would kill anyone,” she sobbed. “I never meant to put your life in danger, Diesel. I love you! I didn’t even mean to put Eric’s and Billy’s lives in danger.”

“What did you mean to do, Rebel?” CJ demanded as he diverted his footsteps and walked up to them where they stood in front of the meatshack.

Rebel straightened and swiped at her tears.

Potter’s wail disturbed two birds perched in a tree and sent them flying away.

Stalking outside, Rory slammed the door and stomped to their little group. “Either I’m killing Potter or you’re shutting him up, Diesel.”

“How about I break your fucking fingers?” Diesel snapped. “You don’t have the fucking authority to kill anyone, Rory.”

“He’s ruining my enjoyment in the meatshack, Diesel,” Rory argued. “I should’ve been knee deep in blood and guts now. But he won’t shut the fuck up.”

“Maybe he’s too traumatized.” Mattie swiped at her cheeks, too. “They were his friends.”

Rebel and Mattie looked at each other and burst into tears again.

“Potter’s going to hate us,” Rebel wailed.

“Then he dies, too,” Diesel said flatly.

“No!” Mattie screeched. “It wouldn’t be fair.”

“It would be, little sister,” Rory said. He tugged Mattie into his arms. “Billy and Eric were jackasses, Mattie. They deserved to die. You did the world a favor, so don’t stress yourself out.”

“B-but they were p-p-people.”

“They were your drugs suppliers,” CJ said with disgust. “For that alone, those motherfuckers got what they deserved.” He studied Rebel. “Were they yours?”

Sniffling, Rebel wiped her eyes again. She shook her head. “I always get my weed from Mattie.”

Rory tightened his hold on his sister, a pained expression crossing his face. “I’ve dealt with them before, Mattie,” he said. “They were fucking expensive. You didn’t get enough allowance…” His voice trailed off and his nostrils flared. Understanding dawned on his face. Swallowing, he glanced at Rebel. “CJ’s right, Reb. What did you mean to do?”

“We had money, Ro,” Mattie confessed. “I wouldn’t have let them touch Reb, but they wouldn’t listen. I was trying to protect her. They could be so brutal.”

Rory flinched.

“Uncle Christopher is telling on me. Daddy’s going to kill me.”

“That motherfucker can try,” CJ growled. He glared at Rebel, ignoring Rory’s dark look. “Instead of trying to talk Mattie out of meeting those two fuckheads or telling Dad, you saw this as an adventure? You both could’ve gotten killed, raped, or badly hurt.”

“Fuck off, CJ,” Diesel barked. “Rebel’s been through enough without your blaming our little sister—” he remembered to add— “for the actions of those two assholes.”

“Fuck you, Diesel,” CJ clapped back. “In case you haven’t realized, our little sister is notorious for playing with the lives of grown men, including yours and Bishop’s.”

Oh, he was well aware of that. His ass was on the line, too. If Outlaw ever discovered that Diesel saw Rebel without clothes, he was dead. All because Rebel wanted to test her feminine wiles.

“I didn’t think it mattered if we were with Billy and Eric,” Rebel said quietly. “I’m not better than Mattie and no one cared if she was with them.”

“No one knew!” Rory snarled.

CJ scowled. “Yeah, are you out of your fucking mind, Rebel? We would’ve dealt with them long ago if we had known.”

“We all knew she wasn’t a virgin,” Rebel said.

Ignoring the horror on Rory and CJ’s faces, Diesel glanced from Rebel to Mattie and back again. He knew the direction the conversation was about to take. It pissed him the fuck off for a variety of reasons, but his wretched jealousy infuriated him.

“Who cared if I gave up my virginity to one of them?” Rebel continued, landing right where Diesel expected the conversation to go.

CJ swung his gaze to Diesel and glared at him. “I wonder what gave you that fucking idea, Rebel,” he said sarcastically.

“Not Diesel!” Rebel said.

“No, not him. Not having your fucking way with him.” CJ turned his look to Rebel. “If Diesel doesn’t want you, why hold on to my virginity, right, Reb?”

Rebel glowered at him. “You just make me want to beat that bitch to the ground.”

“How the fuck did Harley get into this?” CJ demanded.

“That you know what bitch I’m calling a bitch makes me want to fucking kill her.”

“She got into it because you’ve been so different in the past few weeks,” Mattie said timidly, almost as if she were afraid of rejection.

When CJ lifted a brow at her, she said, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Mattie,” CJ said gently. “We’re cousins. Family. You have every right to speak your mind and say exactly what you feel.”

Before Mattie responded, Ryan opened the locked gate that separated the pathway between the houses and the club grounds. At the sight of him, they fell silent. A couple of minutes later, he reached them.

Since none of the kids seemed interested in greeting him, Diesel spoke.

“What’s up, Ryan?”

“Uncle Christopher w-wants me to clean up the bl-bl-blood.”

“I have a tip for you, Ry,” Rory said with a grin. “If you don’t faint, you’ll get the job done quicker.”

Instead of a comeback, Ryan paled.

“Do you know who else needs to die?” Rebel asked, sounding fully in control again.

Only Diesel knew her. Pain and sadness filled her gorgeous eyes. Billy’s and Eric’s deaths would haunt her. However, she considered Ryan an enemy. She’d show no weaknesses in front of him.

“Wallace Byrd,” she announced. “Billy and Eric are…were assholes, but throughout our meeting, I never saw Mattie tremble and try to disappear as much as she did the moment those two fuckheads materialized out of the forest like creatures from the fucking Louisiana swamps.”

“Diesel!” Potter screamed. “Diesel, help me! I think Eric just breathed.”

Ryan stumbled back. “I-I-I…” Unable to finish, he took off running back toward the houses instead of the clubhouse.

“Diesel!” Potter’s wounded animal shriek was straight from a horror movie.

“Did you move that motherfucker?” Diesel snarled, looking over his shoulder. If he had, the corpse would expel gases. More than likely, though, it was Potter’s pussified fear. “Did you?”

“No!” Potter screamed.

Rory rolled his eyes, kissed Mattie, then turned and hurried back to the meatshack.

“C’mon, you two. I have to get you home,” CJ said. “Dad wants me to tell Mom he’ll be home soon. He has to shower first.”

“We can tell her, CJ,” Rebel said softly. “Potter might need the comfort.” She wrinkled her nose. “While Billy and Eric are seen to.”

“Are you sure?” CJ asked.

Rebel nodded.

Diesel had the oddest urge to pull her into his arms and hold her close. He was her brother and had hugged her many times over the years. To comfort her. To show affection. To dance with her because she loved dancing so much.

However, he didn’t have any real relation to her. Only by law, because her parents adopted him.

Tear filled blue eyes met his. “I’m so sorry, Dee,” she whispered. “I-I…” She sniffled.

Clenching his jaw, Diesel turned his head. Hating her. Loving her.

Wanting…

No, fuck. No, he wasn’t a child predator, and he wasn’t a fucking pervert. She was a little girl.

With the body of a woman and the mind of a fucking vixen.

“Come on, Reb,” Mattie told her.

“Okay,” Rebel said with a little sob.

She started past him, then abruptly halted and hugged him. He remained still.

“I would never risk your life,” she murmured. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Rebel,” CJ swore. “Your flirting was harmless.”

“It wasn’t.” She stepped back. “I undressed in front of him.”

Diesel shoved his hands in his pockets, cursing her to hell for bringing that visual back to him.

“Hey, asshole,” CJ snarled, “how the fuck you allowed Rebel to fucking undress in front of you instead of walking the fuck out?”

Stiffening, Diesel whipped his head around and glared at CJ, the fury in his eyes no match for Diesel’s. “Shut the fuck up, motherfucker. Ask her the fucking facts—”

“His back was to me, CJ,” Rebel interrupted quietly, the shame on her face curtailing their hostility. “He thought…I wanted…Daddy would’ve killed him.”

CJ opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, glanced at Diesel before looking at Rebel again. “It was wrong of you to do that, Rebel. You’re a minor. Fuck, you’re not even sixteen yet, and won’t be for over a year. But don’t beat yourself up, little sister. Most of all, don’t allow shame…you’re bold and daring, sweetheart. Just think about other people before you exercise that. Okay?”

She nodded and stepped into CJ’s embrace, returning his tight hug.

“As for you, Mattie,” he went on, “you’re elegant and high-spirited. Don’t…just behave. Sex is more than what we’ve all witnessed growing up. You’re worth more than what Uncle Johnnie has reduced you to. An emotionless, brainless doll.”

Mattie bowed her head.

“You’re lucky you haven’t turned up pregnant,” CJ said, releasing Rebel.

“Daddy would kill me.” Mattie lifted woeful brown eyes to CJ. “Can you talk to Uncle Christopher? I’m so scared of what my father is going to do to me. Rebel and Harley are older than me, and they’re still virgins. Daddy’s going to hate me.”

CJ scowled. Though it could’ve been a response to Mattie’s fear of her father’s reaction, Diesel noticed the hurt flickering in his little brother’s eyes.

Interesting.

Rebel swiped at her tears and studied CJ. Snorting, she folded her arms.

“Not one fucking word, Rebel,” CJ warned tightly.

“Fuck you, dummy. If Harley comes near you, I’m beating her fucking ass. Who knows? Maybe she even fucked Nardo in a fucked up plan of revenge. She’s fucked up like that.”

Mattie’s eyes rounded. “Harley would never. She’s a real good girl.”

“She’s a fucking bitch,” Rebel snarled, “and she’s tearing my brother apart.”

“Rebel, shut up,” CJ snapped. “You don’t know—”

“I see it on your face,” she stormed. “Know this: that bitch has one more fucking thing to do to you and I’ll leave bloody pieces of her from one end of the fucking forest to the next.”

Turning, she stalked off.

“You’d have to fucking kill her first,” CJ yelled, halting her, “and judging by your reaction to Eric and Billy’s deaths, you couldn’t do it.”

She whirled around, her cheeks flushed, her eyes flashing. “I won’t get over seeing two men shot without warning for a long time. But the band-aid has been ripped away. I have been introduced to murder. If Harley has to be my first victim to finish my lesson, I’m fine with that.”

“Pity it won’t be Wally,” Mattie said morosely, then gasped. “Uh—”

“Mattie—”

“Come on, cousin,” Rebel interrupted. She smiled, but her eyes burned with anger. “Let’s go home and talk to Momma.”

Mattie swallowed but nodded.

Diesel watched the girls walk away. Rebel’s hair fluttered in the wintry breeze. At the gate that led to the walkway to the houses, she punched in a code. Once she and Mattie stepped on the other side and closed the gate behind them, CJ thumped Diesel’s shoulder.

“Rebel’s our sister, fuckface,” he snarled. “Don’t fucking touch her.”

Recoiling, Diesel shoved CJ. “Thanks, fuckhead. I thought you had more respect for me than that.”

“Fuck you. If Dad saw you looking at Rebel like you couldn’t wait to fuck her, he’d pluck your fucking eyes out and cut your dick off, so shut the fuck up. If I saw it, he sure the fuck will.”

Diesel glared at CJ. “I don’t want Rebel,” he snarled. “She’s my sister, asshole!”

“Who’s a stubborn, reckless wench. Rebel wants what she wants and doesn’t give a fuck about fucking consequences, Diesel.”

“What the fuck does that have to do with me?”

CJ looked him up and down, unintimidated and calling him a stupid motherfucker without saying a word. “You know exactly what the fuck it has to do with you, asshole. If she sent you to that fucking refrigerator to get drinks, then took her fucking clothes off—”

Diesel lifted a brow.

“She did it when I was in there. Thank fuck, her robe was on by the time I turned around.” CJ grimaced. “I was madder than a motherfucker at her, but she thought my fucking embarrassment was funny. But Rebel wants what she wants,” he repeated grimly. “I bet she did something similar to you but forgot to put her fucking robe on.”

Diesel glanced away.

“Be careful, Diesel. If she was eighteen and you weren’t married to Tabitha, I wouldn’t interfere.”

The words shocked him. “I thought I’d be the last person you would want for her…Uncle Christopher—”

“Dad’s our dad, Diesel. Yours, mine, and Rebel’s. He sees it differently. I just want my sister to find someone who loves and cherishes her the way he does Mom. But if she gets you in a compromising position, you won’t be alive to see her eighteenth birthday.”

“There’s nothing she could—”

“You’ve told me how you’ve drunk until you’ve blacked out. You don’t remember how the girl next to you got into your fucking bed.”

“I’ve always stayed at the club when that happens.”

“Don’t underestimate Rebel, asshole,” CJ grit out. “If she gets one whiff of that shit, she’s going to use it.”

Diesel shook his head, not believing Rebel would risk his life like that. “She won’t. She apologized for risking…she wouldn’t do that. You heard her.”

Suddenly, a man screamed again and flew between Diesel and CJ, almost knocking them off their feet. On his heels, Rory ran, gripping Billy’s severed head by the hair.

“Potter, I seeeeee you. WHOOOOO,” Rory said, in a trembly deep voice, doing a credible job of a ghost.

Stumbling, Potter screamed again and sprawled to the ground just as Rory caught up with him.

“Yo, motherfucker,” CJ yelled, heading for Rory while Diesel barreled to the sobbing, shrieking Potter.

CJ snatched Rory by the collar and dragged him away so fast he lost his hold on Billy’s head, and it fell on Potter’s back. He cried bloody murder, pounding on the pavement.