by Hart, Rebel
Copyright © 2020 by Rebel Hart
Photo by Regina Wamba
Cover by Robin Harper of Wicked By Design
www.RebelHart.net
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
1. Max
2. Dani
3. Max
4. Dani
5. Max
6. Dani
7. Max
8. Dani
9. Max
10. Dani
11. Max
12. Dani
13. Max
14. Dani
15. Max
16. Dani
17. Max
18. Dani
19. Max
20. Dani
21. Max
22. Dani
23. Max
24. Dani
25. Max
26. Dani
27. Max
28. Dani
29. Max
30. Dani
31. Max
32. Dani
33. Max
34. Dani
35. Max
36. Dani
37. Max
38. Dani
39. Max
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Rebel Hart
Red Queen
Red Thorns Crew Book 3
Rebel Hart
1
Max
“I’m sorry it came to this, son.”
My eyes fell to the gun in his hand. The gun that didn’t shake. His pinky wasn’t flying around. It wasn’t moving, or twitching, or crooked. He held that gun with all the confidence his voice held, and I knew he’d do it.
I knew he’d gun me down.
What my father didn’t know was this: I loved her. The life I feared losing tonight wasn’t my own. It was hers. And if I didn’t do something, Dani would die right along with me. I was done tonight, either way. I had accepted that. I accepted it the second I crashed through that gate. I accepted it the second my father pulled his gun on me. I even accepted it when he apologized, lying straight through his fucking teeth.
What I refused to accept was her death.
Too much time has passed. You need to get her out.
The voice in my head tortured me with the truth. It screamed out exactly what I should do. And yet, there I stood. Facing off with my father. With Satan himself. It felt like my heart was being ripped out through my anus. It felt like a thousand tornadoes had descended upon my skull, wreaking as much havoc as possible. The physical pain was unbearable. A bullet would’ve been a great relief.
She’s going to die because I didn’t fight hard enough.
Dad sighed. “Whether or not you believe me, I do love you.”
I snickered. “Your gun has a funny way of showing it.”
He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
I watched his finger flex and I stepped to the side. I moved as quickly as I could, waiting for the sound of the gun to hit my ears.
CRACK!
The deafening sound made me squeeze my eyes shut. I waited for the pain. I waited to see where the bullet had landed before I determined whether or not I could get to Dani. Whether or not I had just enough time to scramble to the pool and get her out before I bled out on the back lawn. I paused in my tracks, drawing in deep breaths. Anything to keep myself steady. Anything to keep myself stable.
Two and a half minutes without oxygen.
The pain didn’t come, even though I heard grunting. I opened my eyes and looked down, ready to see blood spilling from my body. Ready for the pain that I knew would slap me across the face once I pulled out of shock.
There was no blood.
What the fuck?
I searched around my body. I slid my jacket off and ripped my shirt off. I pushed through the pain, trying to figure out where the hell the bullet had landed. Then I heard a piercing voice behind me.
“Max! Catch!”
I whipped around at the sound of Rupert’s voice. I saw him stumbling along the lawn with a gun held tightly in his hand. Something shiny soared through the air. I locked my eyes onto it as I heard scuffling along the concrete. The gurgling sound kicked up again as I caught the flying object. And as the sharp edge sliced at my finger, I whipped back around.
Only to see my father fall backwards into the pool.
“Get her out!” Rupert roared.
I gripped the knife in my hand and watched my father fall into the water. I saw the pool tinting with blood as it spilled from the wound in his gut. Was this real? Had Rupert killed my father?
Dani.
“Dani!”
The bellowing exclamation left my lips as I ran for the pool. I dove into the waters, piercing through the growing red as my father’s body floated on the surface. I opened my eyes as I dove deeper, kicking my way towards the chair. I saw Dani lying there, bound to that fucking metal frame. The pain swirling around my body teased my lungs, forcing me to try and gasp. To try and drink a cup or two of the chlorinated water around me. I refused to give in, though. I refused to go out like that.
Panic gripped my heart when I saw how pale Dani’s face looked.
Cut her free. Do it. She’s dying.
The voice in my head spurred me forward. It gave me the strength to saw through the leather bonds on her ankles and wrists. I cut her free, watching as her body drifted in the middle of the water. Her black hair swirled around her face and her skin grew paler in front of my eyes.
Up! Now!
My lungs burned. My joints ached. My eyes watered as I wrapped my arm around her lifeless body. I looked upward at the rooftop of red. I kicked off the floor of the pool and soared up toward the top. I longed for fresh air. I longed for a hot shower. I longed for a good night’s sleep with Dani cradled next to me.
Soon.
I gasped for air as my head breached the top. I smelled the iron of my father’s blood as his body drifted away from me. I shoved the knife into my pocket, hoping and praying it didn’t stab me in the fucking thigh. Because that’s what I needed. Another damn wound to attend to.
“Take my hand!” Rupert yelled.
I watched him stumble to the edge of the pool as his hand thrust out toward me. I didn’t need help, though. Dani did. I kicked to the edge and rested my hand against the concrete. I heaved Dani’s body up and Rupert helped me get her out of the pool. I didn’t like the way her head bobbed around, water trickling down her cheeks from her mouth. Her eyes were closed, her ankles and wrists swollen and blue.
I didn’t like any of this.
“Do you know CPR? She’s not breathing.”
I hoisted myself out of the pool before I crawled over to her.
“Move,” I growled.
Rupert shuffled out of the way as I threaded my fingers together.
“Come on, gorgeous. You’ve got this.”
I pressed my palm against her chest and murmured the song out loud. It was a song John that had taught me would keep perfect time during something like this. Recalling the steps, I stopped pumping and pointed to Rupert.
“Breathe into her mouth,” I said.
He paused. “What?”
I reached for the back of his neck. “Tilt her head back to open up her airway and breathe into her goddamn mouth, Rupert.”
I shoved his head down to her face and he did as I asked. I kept a close eye on him, watching the way he breathed. And when I saw her throat expand, I patted his back.
�
�Let me do this, then you go again. Okay?”
He nodded. “Got it.”
Stayin’ alive. Stayin’ alive. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.
“Now,” I said.
Rupert bent forward and breathed before I started my pumps again.
Stayin’ alive. Stayin’ alive. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.
“Now.”
He did as I commanded before I started the pattern over again.
Stayin’ alive. Stayin’ alive. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.
“Now!”
He sighed. “Max, we need--”
I glared at him. “Now, Rupert.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
Stayin’ alive. Stayin’ alive. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.
“Now.”
“Max, I really think--”
“Shut up and do it!”
Stayin’ alive. Stayin’ alive. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.
“Now.”
He put his hand on my shoulder. “She’s gone, Max.”
I gripped his wrist. “You’ll be the next one in that pool if you don’t fucking do as I ask. Now, breathe!”
Stayin’ alive. Stayin’ alive. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah.
With every pump of my hands, I saw my life slipping away. I felt my future falling to the wayside. Everything I’d ever held dear was right in front of me, and I couldn't save her. I couldn’t get her to breathe. Panic gripped my voice. Rupert and I fell into a rhythm that seemed to grow less and less useful as time ticked by.
Three minutes without air.
Four minutes without air.
“Max, we need to--”
I growled. “Breathe.”
“Max, you have to stop.”
“Damn it, Dani. Breathe!”
Rupert wrapped his arm around my neck. “Max, get back.”
“Dani, breathe! Breathe, please!”
“Come here. Max. You have to--”
I struggled to get away from his grasp. I raked my nails down his forearm and heard him hiss. But he didn’t relinquish me. I watched Dani slip further away from me, growing smaller as Rupert pulled me back.
“We have to call the guys,” he whispered.
I shook my head. “No.”
“We have to make sure she--”
“No!” I shrieked. Never in my life had I ever heard that sound come out of my face. A desperate, wanton plea for him to shut the absolute fuck up. I ripped away from his grasp and rushed back to Dani’s side. I slid her hair off to the side, gazing into her doll-like face.
Then I dipped my lips to her ear.
“I know you can hear me. I know you’re a fighter. And I’m begging you, on my knees--with everything I am--I need you to wake up.”
I threaded my fingers back together and pressed my palms back into the same place. I heard Rupert coming back for me as I started pressing harder. Faster. As quickly as my body could work. I fought with Rupert. I kept knocking his hands away from me. And as I bent down to breathe life into her body once more, I felt him fist my shirt.
“Max, don’t make me do this.”
I drew in a deep breath. “Wake the fuck up!”
I slammed my open palms against her chest in frustration. I wanted to cry out to the earth and curse its existence. Why? Why in the world did things have to go like this tonight? Why was I born to such a fucking maniac? Why did I have to lead this kind of a life? Why did Dani have to pay this price for--
“Max!”
I growled. “What?”
“Look.”
The first thing I felt was water splashing against my face. And the second thing that happened were my ears twitching. I heard coughing and sputtering. I felt the body beneath me writhing in pain. Broken moans combined with guttural coughs sounded against my eardrums as my eyes looked up to Dani’s face.
A face with its eyes open.
“Dani?” I asked breathlessly.
She continued coughing up lungfuls of water as her hands reached out for me.
“Dani! Holy shit!”
Taking her hands within mine, I moved her onto her side and pressed my forehead into the crook of her neck. I rubbed her stomach, breathing in deeply the smell of her awakening body. I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I cried. That my eyes welled with tears of happiness and dripped silently against her skin. It seemed like an eternity. Like forever had passed before I heard the sound of her voice again.
“Max?” she rasped.
I nuzzled against her. “I’m here. I’m right here. It’s okay. You’re okay. Holy fuck, you’re alive.”
She coughed. “Your--dad--”
I smoothed her hair away. “I know. I know he was behind this. I know--”
“No. Look.”
I watched her trembling finger point at the pool. And when I looked over at the red water, I saw his body slowly sinking beneath the surface. I blinked a few times, watching him go under. Watching as the water accepted its second supposed victim of the night.
“Rupert?” I asked.
“Yeah?”
“Stay with Dani.”
“Max, no,” she whispered.
I looked down at her. “I can’t just leave his body like that. I can’t.”
I stood up and dove back into the pool. I pierced through the thick blood and kicked my legs toward my father, watching small cascades of red swirl and intertwine beneath the surface. Like a delicate ballet of good and evil as I swam closer to his lifeless body.
My father was the biggest piece of shit to ever walk this planet, but no one deserved to be found in a literal pool of their own blood.
Gotcha.
I wrapped my arms around his body and kicked back up to the surface. Time moved in a haze as I pulled him out of the water and settled him onto the concrete. I stood over his body, clenching my fists as I gazed down into the lifeless face of the man that had made my life a living nightmare.
Rupert’s voice pierced the dead of night.
“Max! Move your ass!”
The sound of sirens caught my ear and I turned on my heel. I dipped down, scooping Dani into my arms as she continued to cough up the last little bit of water. She was wheezing. Her hands clung to me, even though her grip was weak. And as I cradled her against my naked torso, I saw Rupert scooping up my clothes.
“I’ve got my truck. It’s in front. We need to get in it and get out of here.”
I nodded. “Lead the way, Rupert.”
The three of us raced across the grounds as sirens screamed closer. I felt Dani curling deeper into me. My legs bellowed out the need for rest as my knees began buckling. I paused, leaning against the brick side of the house and took one last look at my father’s body beside the red pool.
Is he dead?
“Come on!”
Rupert’s broken voice pierced through my thoughts and I pushed off the house, piling us into the backseat of his truck as he started backing down the driveway. The sirens grew closer and I heard tires squealing in the distance. I cradled Dani between my legs as Rupert took off, leaving the hellscape of my father’s mansion behind. Dani started whimpering. My beautiful, sweet, innocent Bambi whimpered and shuddered in my grasp. I wrapped her up tightly in my arms and pressed my lips to her ear.
“You’re okay. You're safe. I’ve got you, and we’re headed out of here. Okay?”
And when I felt her nod, I could have broken down in tears all over again.
2
Dani
His arms were the only thing I knew. Their warmth. Their comfort. Their strength. It was the only thing I registered as I curled deeper into his body. A body I thought I’d never feel again. Tears streaked my cheeks, mingling with the droplets of water I still coughed up. I nuzzled against Max’s bare torso and wondered why in the world he’d had to shed his clothes in the first place. We were both soaked. Was he the one that came in after me?
Of course he was.
I felt the seats beneath me soaking through and through. Water dripped from the edges of my clothes onto the floorboard. I heard Rupert and Max murmuring back and forth. I
didn’t catch what they were talking about, but I also didn’t care.
I was alive.
And I wasn’t sure how Max had pulled that off.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Max pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “What was that?”
I coughed, feeling a little more water lunge up the back of my throat. I turned my head off to the side and coughed it onto the back of Rupert’s seat before I felt my cheeks flush.
“I’m sorry for ruining--your--your truck, Rupe.”
He snickered. “Don’t be silly. I’m just glad you're still alive, Bambi. You scared the hell out of me.”
Max pulled me back against him. “Me, too.”
I started coughing again as Max gripped my chin softly. He pulled my head toward his, and I watched as his eyes danced over my face. His hand fell from my chin and slid slowly down my body, but not in a sensual or a sexual way. His fingers were on a mission. I saw him nodding his head every time his fingertips pressed down into a part of me.
My ribs.
My thighs.
My kneecaps.
My chest.
“Are you sure you’re all right, gorgeous? My father didn’t hurt you at all, did he?”
I snickered, which caused me to start coughing again. How the hell did I even answer that question? ‘Yeah, I’m okay, I just almost drowned. No biggie.’ I managed to shake my head before I started coughing again.
“That cough sounds bad, Max. She needs a doctor.”
“We need to get back to my place first. I’ll call a doctor once we get there.”
