Blood Of A Rebel (Black Rebel Riders' MC Book 9)

by Glenna Maynard

  There’s a party at the Roadhouse, Grim is holding it in honor of Cole coming home.

  Chapter 28

  Cole

  “So, this is it. What you really want? You want to stay here? Take your rightful place in the club?” My old man asks me.

  “It feels right,” I tell him.

  “Your mom isn’t happy, but she will get over it…eventually.”

  “Yeah.” I roll my eyes. “Maybe in ten years,” I joke.

  “I’m proud of you, Cole. You know what you want and you handle your own.”

  “Thanks, old man.”

  “I’m not that old.” He roughs up my hair. “Your grandpa is a hardass but he’s a damn good man. A fine leader. He’ll never steer you wrong.”

  I nod. “He’s a salty bastard.”

  “Where do you think your mother gets that attitude from?”

  We both laugh.

  “You guys won’t stay?”

  “Walked away from this life to give your mother what we have today. I won’t take that away from her. We’re happy where we are. She doesn’t want Sara mixed up in all this craziness. You see how quick things can go wrong.”

  “Yeah. I get it.”

  “I should beat your ass for not coming to me when you found that diary. Where is it, anyway? Your mom will be looking for it.”

  “I lost it,” I lie, hoping it brings my sister the same peace it brought me.

  “Stay out of trouble,” he warns.

  “I think Rebel will see to that.” I grin.

  My dad shakes his head. Those two didn’t exactly bury the hatchet but I think they found a common ground and can move on with their lives. Though had there been real hatchets involved they would have buried them in one another’s heads.

  My mom and my little sister walk out of Grim’s place and Sara wraps her arms around me. “Hey fart knocker,” I tease her.

  “Dipwad,” she fires back.”

  “Sara, don’t say that, it sounds like you are calling him something bad,” mom chastises her.

  “Behave,” I tell the brat and she grins at me.

  “I think you’re the one we all need to worry about.” She sticks her tongue out and gets in the rental car.

  My dad nicks me on the chin with his knuckles with a gruff, “Later.”

  He then steps aside, allowing my mother her goodbye.

  “I won’t ask you to change your mind, but if life here gets too hard…too rough, you come home. You’ll always have a place with us.”

  I nod as she brushes away her tears.

  “You said you wouldn’t cry, woman. You know I hate it when you do,” my dad tells her.

  “I know,” she says, sniffling. “I love you, son.”

  “I love you too, Mom.”

  She hugs my neck and I kiss her cheek. As crazy as she makes me, I will miss her.

  “I’ll come visit. Soon,” I tell my folks as they file into the car to go back to the hotel to rest before their flight in the morning.

  I watch as they drive off into the distance. Once they are out of sight, I take a look around; this is home now. Grim is standing on his porch watching me. I wave and he flips me the bird with a chuckle and fires up a joint.

  Romeo comes out the back door of the Roadhouse, I guess he’s my grandpa too.

  He joins Grim on the porch and they take a seat on the steps, sharing a round of puff puff pass, before asking me to join them.

  “I think I’ll head in and have a drink.”

  “Only a drink,” Romeo says with a cough. “There’s a few girls who were asking about you.” He winks. “The ladies can’t resist us. It’s in your blood.”

  “They aren’t for me,” I tell him with a shrug and go through the door he just came through.

  Inside the Roadhouse, Foxie is behind the bar talking to Rebel.

  Some guys named JT and Mute invite me to play the winner of their game of pool, and I take them up on it.

  Taking a seat at a nearby table, I breathe it all in. I look around the room at everyone as they laugh, drink, and just have a damn good time. I know things won’t stay like this forever. There is still the matter of Marek to take care of. Rhyner said the Born Sinners got a tip he went to Mexico. Grim nor Porter would give either of us permission to chase after him.

  One day though, I will make him pay. I will make that motherfucker bleed.

  “Hey, sugar. Can I get you anything?” Some busty blonde offers.

  “I’m good,” I tell her, noticing Rebel watching me. Yeah fucker, I’m not touching her. I am not giving up on Morgan.

  Morgan

  Lying in bed, I can’t stop looking at this stupid picture. I keep thinking about Cole. I can’t believe he was here and didn’t even try to see me. What kind of shit is that? Telling me not to give up on him and then he just stays away! Damn him.

  I can’t sleep. What if that was my last chance to see him? Not that I should want to see him that is. Boys are so damn stupid. I hate them all, except for my brothers.

  Unable to lay here any longer, I go to the living room to see if my mom is still awake, but I find my dad instead.

  “Hey, you, what are you doing up so late?”

  I shrug, taking a seat on the couch, tucking my feet under my butt. “Can’t sleep. Anxious to get back to school, I guess.”

  “You sure that’s it?”

  “Yeah,” I lie. I am not ready to discuss Cole with him.

  He shakes his head. “You’ve never been one for lying to me, princess. Don’t start now.”

  “Dad, please.”

  “Don’t dad me. He’s still here, ye know?”

  My pulse spikes. “Who?”

  “Ye know damn good and well who. Do you love him?”

  “It’s not that simple,” I tell him.

  “Love never is.”

  “I guess not.”

  “So, you do love him,” he states.

  “He lied to me.”

  He smiles. His eyes crinkle with amusement. “And you just tried to lie to me.”

  “Okay, that is so not the same and you know it.”

  “A lie is a lie. What matters is the intent behind it. Think about it.” He stands up and bends down to kiss my forehead. “He’s at the Roadhouse.”

  “What if he’s with someone? I know the things that go on there.” I know way too much about it to never be allowed to go there.

  “He’s not.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I watched him turn down every woman who looked his way. He wasn’t interested in them. There’s only one person he cares to see. I left him thirty minutes ago, drowning his broken heart in a jar of moonshine. If you go now, you might catch him before one of those club girls tries to help him upstairs.”

  “Dad!”

  “Morgan, you’re eighteen now, and I may not like it, but I know a man hurtin’ over a woman when I see him. Go. Keys are by the door.”

  “I love you, dad.”

  “I know, princess, I love you too. Now go, before I change my mind.”

  He doesn’t have to tell me again. I slip on a pair of shoes that are by the front door not knowing who they belong to, I don’t care. I take the keys and get in the car with a million thoughts racing through my mind the whole drive over. I don’t know what I will say to him or what I will do. I guess that all depends on him when I get there.

  I swear, I am hitting every red light in town. It’s as though the universe is working against me. I get to the last light before the turn off for the highway the Roadhouse is on and decide to run it. No one is traveling out here this late.

  I’m getting ready to make the turn when a motorcycle comes rolling by. I recognize his red hair instantly and lay on my horn. His brake lights flash in my mirror, and I start to jump out of the car to run to him when something slams into the back of my car.

  My body jerks as my head hits the windshield and then my world goes dark.

  Cole

  After sitting around an
d feeling sorry for myself I decide fuck waiting. I need Morgan to understand why I made the choices I did. I need her to forgive me. I need her to take me back. I love her. She’s it for me. I know what my old man meant when he told me that when I met my match I’d be wrapped, because I would do anything to take everything back if it meant I’d still have her.

  She told me to leave her alone, and I have been. It’s been three days, three days too many.

  Fuck it. I’m going after her. She’s mine and nothing will stand between us. I’ll make her see that she was meant for me. Getting on my bike, I know that I shouldn't be driving after drinking fuckin’ moonshine, but this can’t wait. I need to see her tonight. I need Morgan in my arms.

  Turning off the highway, I am nearly blinded by the headlights of a car about to make an illegal turn. The driver has the nerve to blow their horn at me! I pull off to the side, to see what in the hell their problem is. Asshole; don’t they realize I have somewhere to be?

  The driver's door is about to open when some other dipshit that shouldn't be on the road comes flying down the road and slams into the back of the first car.

  I shake my head wondering if I have had more to drink than I thought. I could swear the driver of the second car is pulling a girl who looks like Morgan out of the car they hit.

  My instincts take over and I run for them, shoving the piece of shit that hit her out of the way. Her forehead is bleeding and her eyes are closed. I pull her into my lap, cradling her head.

  “Morgan, baby, please. Don't do this to me!”

  “You know her?” The young guy who hit her stumbles toward us.

  “Call an ambulance you piece of shit, because I swear to God you are gonna need it, or better yet call a fuckin’ hearse.”

  He steps back as I caress Morgan’s face. Fuck, she’s losing a lot of blood. I pull my shirt over my head and hold it to her wound. I glance at her car seeing the hole her head made in the glass. If I wasn’t holding her in my arms trying to stop the bleeding, I’d kill him right now.

  A cop is the first to arrive. He questions the kid first. Turns out he only has a learner’s permit and had snuck out of the house to go to a party. He’s only sixteen.

  The cop wants to ask me some questions, but I can’t talk to him right now. I’m so fuckin’ angry at the universe right now.

  What was she doing? Was she coming to see me? What if I never get to tell her how much she means to me?

  Her chest stops moving and I panic, yelling at the cop, “She’s not breathing!”

  He pushes me aside to administer CPR.

  “Stay with me, Morgan. Stay with me, kitten.” I squeeze her hand as the police officer gives her mouth to mouth until the ambulance arrives.

  **

  Two weeks. Two motehrfuckin’ Goddamned weeks with no change.

  I’ve been sitting next to her hospital bed, praying...waiting for my girl to come back to me.

  She’s in a coma. The force of the impact from the accident knocked her out. The doctor says that there is no damage, no swelling on her brain, it’s all up to her to wake up. I don’t know what to do. I keep talking to her, hoping she will snap out of it.

  She needed staples in her forehead, the damn windshield nearly scalped her. I feel like she’s doing this shit on purpose to punish me, even though I know that isn’t true.

  Her mom and Rebel gave up trying to kick me out and the security guard is afraid of me. He should be. I told him I would cut his dick off, fry it up, and feed it to his wife if he put his hands on me again.

  The staff ignores me. They have all realized that I’m not walking out of this hospital without her.

  Brushing my thumb over her knuckles, I beg her, “Wake up, Morgan. Wake up and tell me you hate me. I don't care. I just need you to open your eyes for me. Open them, Goddamnit.”

  I could swear she just squeezed my hand. “That’s it, kitten, you can do it. Squeeze on my hand again.” I kiss her scar on her forehead and nothing happens. Closing my eyes, I sigh and press my lips to hers. As I am opening my eyes and pulling away, a fist flies up and punches me in the nose.

  “Fuck!”

  I glance down and Morgan is staring at me.

  I lean down to kiss her, not caring she busted my Goddamned nose and she screams at me. “What are you doing you big dumbheaded jerkface!” Her voice is hoarse and raspy, but she’s awake.

  I hit the nurse’s button.

  “Yes,” a timid voice calls over the intercom.

  “She’s awake,” I growl, taking a tissue from the side table. I plug my nose and Morgan glares at me.

  Two nurses come rushing into the room to check her out. I step into the bathroom to tend to my bloody nose. I can’t believe she fucking hit me.

  “I feel fine, I swear,” I overhear Morgan arguing with the Doctor who has now made an appearance.

  I step back in the room to make sure she really is okay.

  “That may be, but we still need to monitor you and clear you before you can go home,” he tries to reason with her.

  “Do you want to go home?” I ask her.

  Her arms are folded across her chest and it doesn’t escape my notice that she is rubbing her knuckles that she punched me with.

  She glares at me and doesn’t say anything.

  “Morgan, I said do you want to go home?”

  “Yeah,” she whispers, looking away from me.

  “You promise me that you feel fine?”

  “Sir, we need to run more test,” a nurse intervenes.

  “Fuck you and your test.” I step past her, making my way to Morgan. I take her hand in mine and carefully pull the tape holding her IV in back.

  “What are you doing?” The Doctor shouts at me.

  “Back off,” I growl in his face and he stumbles back. After unhooking all the wires that were monitoring her blood pressure and heartrate, I scoop her into my arms. She cradles her arms around my neck and I lift her from the bed.

  “Cole, have you lost your damn mind?” Morgan asks me.

  “The moment I met you,” I tease.

  She buries her face in my neck as I walk past the staff, daring them to try and step in my way.

  I get her to the parking lot and remember that I have my motorcycle. I put Morgan down on the sidewalk and she hooks her thumb out as though she means to hitchhike.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” I ask, raking a hand through my hair.

  “Getting a ride home,” she sasses. Her hospital gown flaps revealing her bare ass, an ass I want to bend over my knee and spank right now.

  “The hell you are,” I warn her.

  “I appreciate you getting me out of the hospital, but I can take it from here, California.” She throws the name the Devil's Rejects called me in my face.

  “Morgan. I know you think you hate me, but please, just let me make sure you get home safe. When I saw that guy pull you from the car, I thought you were dead. I can’t go through that again. I thought I would never see you again. I thought you were going to die.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The wreck you were in,” I tell her.

  “What wreck, Cole? There was an explosion. You were there. That Harper woman you were with, she showed me who you really are.”

  “I promise you Morgan, whatever Harper showed you, whatever it was, meant nothing to me. I swear to you, you are the only girl for me.”

  “No.” she shakes her head, backing away from me.

  “I promise, I’m not lying, call your dad, he will tell you, you were on your way to the Roadhouse to see me. You wanted to forgive me.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I’ll prove it to you.”

  Pulling out my phone, I dial Morgan’s dad, if the hospital hasn’t called him already.

  “Hey,” he answers on the first ring. “What in the hell is going on? Is she really awake?”

  “Yup, I am putting you on speaker phone and you can talk to her.”

  “Morg
an, princess, it’s dad, can you hear me?”

  “Yeah,” she croaks sounding and appearing weak.

  “Come on, let's sit down over here in the shade.”

  I get her to follow me to a nearby tree and she sits down next to me.

  “Dad, was I in an accident?”

  “Yeah, your head went through the windshield.”

  I watch as she rubs her head, touching her scar confused. She winces and looks at me.

  “Dad, can I call you back?”

  “I am on my way there. I will see you shortly.”

  “Okay,” she whispers, and I end the call.

  “See, I promise you, I’m not lying, and I will never lie to you again. I swear it on my life, if God strikes me down right here under this tree, Morgan, you were coming to forgive me.”

  “I need a moment.”

  She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

  “I believe you,” she finally says. “I remember.”

  “You mean that. What you said just now?”

  “I had thought about it Cole, I thought long and hard, and I’d decided whatever you did before, I didn’t care. I realize now, all that matters to me is what you choose to do from this moment on. All I know is that I have had this ache in my chest. I thought it would go away when I found out who my dad was. But it didn’t. It didn’t go away until your mom gave me that stupid picture of us together as babies, and right then I knew the only thing that was ever gonna take that pain away was you. I want you Cole. I need you however I can have you.”

  “You forgive me?”

  “Yeah, I do. Cole, I love you.”

  “I am going to make you so damn happy, kitten. I swear, Morgan, I’ll be good to you.”

  “Cole,” I breathe out his name, interrupting his speech.

  “Yeah, Morgan?”

  I scoot closer to him. “Shut up and kiss me.” God, does he kiss me. His lips crash into mine. His tongue tasting of cherries and corn liquor. He kisses me like he’s taking his dying breath.

  Morgan

  3 months later

  “Are you sure you want to go through with this?” I ask my boyfriend.

  “Absolutely.” He kisses me with a quick peck and signs all the appropriate lines.

  We’re getting an apartment together. Though it isn’t like we don’t spend a good eighty percent of our time together. Cole goes on the road sometimes, but it’s usually only for a weekend. He isn’t allowed to miss his classes. Not even for the club.