by Jess Bryant
When their eyes met, she nodded and she hoped and prayed that he understood what she wanted. She didn’t want him to walk out of Remy’s life. She wanted them to fix whatever it was they’d broken. All of the trust and love that they’d shared as kids, Remy had told her about how close they’d been. She didn’t know if they could ever get it back but seeing how much Lincoln still cared about her cousin, feeling his anger for her when he’d seen her face, knowing he hated that he hadn’t been able to protect her and wanted to do something to make up for it, all of that told her that there had to be a chance.
She’d lost her brother. She’d lost him a long time before Remy had pulled that trigger. Lost him even before the first time he raised his hand to her. The boy that had helped hide her from their drunk father. The boy that had threatened those girls on the playground. The boy that had stopped her from being raped. He’d been long gone before he lost his life and she’d known there was no getting him back.
Remy and Lincoln, they still had a chance to come back from all of the hurt. If they could set aside their pride, they could start to repair their relationship. Not as the leader and the follower, the crime lord and the fighter, but as cousins, as family. She’d never questioned that they both loved Cash and Colt. They shared them as brothers even if nobody had ever bothered with a DNA test. Because blood was blood to the Bomars. They were all family. These two that were so different and yet so much alike, just needed to remember that.
“Clean slate.” Lincoln gave a tight nod.
“I’m out.” Remy shuddered out a breath, as if he’d never expected to say the words. “No more fights for the family?”
“You’re out. No more fighting.”
“What about Abel? He can’t be happy about that?”
“Abel is my problem. Not yours.”
“Who will you get to replace me? I don’t want someone else forced into it like I was just because you’re letting me out of my deal.”
“Again, not your problem, Remington.”
“Link…”
“Maybe I’ll take the fight next week, work out some of my aggression since I didn’t get to kill that fucker.” Lincoln flashed his teeth and Remy snorted.
“And risk your pretty face? Not a chance.”
That earned him an actual chuckle and the tension in the room finally began to deescalate, “Take care of your girl. That’s your only worry now. You’re out, for good.”
“I’m not out of the family, though.” Remy tipped his chin up, “I’m still a Bomar. That shit about changing my last name? You know I’d never do that. We’re still family.”
“Family.” Lincoln gave a brief nod and then looked at her again, “Welcome to the most dysfunctional family on the face of the planet, sweetheart.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. The Manson’s probably have you beat there.” She smiled and he laughed.
“Well, we can’t have that. I’ll have to see about knocking them off their pedestal.” Lincoln sobered as he turned for the door, “Oh, Rachel, the cops are going to be by to talk to you about last night. You don’t have much to worry about since it’ll be the Treblys but you should tell them you were home with Remy all night.”
“Okay.” She nodded but Remy’s hands tightened on her.
“Sherriff Trebly won’t ask questions but Lawson…”
“Deputy Trebly is being handled. He’s not a problem anymore.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that Lawson isn’t a problem anymore and that’s as much as you need to know, Remington. You’re out. Remember?” Lincoln pinned him with a steady gaze.
“Yeah. Out.” Remy ground out.
“Good. I’ll check in on ya later. Take care of each other.”
He turned to leave but Rachel darted towards him and wrapped him in a hug. It took a moment but the big man finally sighed and wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t try to pull her close. There was nothing taunting or flirtatious in his touch this time. It was just a calm and reassuring hug and when she stepped back, he smiled at her softly.
“Thank you, Rachel.”
She nodded and watched him go. She had a feeling he hadn’t been thanking her for the hug. He’d been thanking her for standing up for him to Remy, for trying to help them repair their relationship. And it made her want to hug him all over again. Because Lincoln Bomar might be a cold-blooded, son-of-a-bitch, but he wasn’t the devil he’d been made out to be. Maybe Remy was right, maybe she did always try to see the good in people, because she did see good in Lincoln, even if he’d claim it wasn’t there.
“Baby?”
“Mmm?” She leaned back into Remy when he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I’m sorry for all the drama. I wanted a quiet day at home with you to recover and it turned into a fight with Lincoln just like it always does when the two of us are in a room together.” He kissed the top of her head, “He just… He annoys the shit out of me with that condescending attitude and he’s never…”
“Hey.” She turned in his arms and covered his mouth with her hand, “Clean slate, remember?”
Remy rolled his eyes but kissed her hand before pulling it away, “I know. I’ll try to give him a chance. For you. Even if he doesn’t deserve it.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for smacking some sense into me.”
She smiled up at him, “Anytime.”
“I can’t believe he really let me out of that deal.”
“I can.” She snuggled close to his chest, “He’s not as bad as he seems.”
“No. He’s much, much worse.”
She snorted and pulled out of Remy’s arms, “How long do you think we have until everyone else shows up to check on us?”
“Mmm, a couple of hours maybe?”
“Then I’m going back to bed…” She headed down the hallway and then paused and looked over her shoulder, “Join me?”
Remy’s smile was the biggest she’d seen on him in days, “Always.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“My God, woman… you’ve got skills.”
Rachel blushed furiously as Bentley shot that mega-watt, playboy smile at her through the mirror in the salon. She’d just finished giving him a haircut. Her first time giving anyone a haircut and Bentley had been brave enough to trust her with the clippers even after the last debacle.
As it turned out, he was right. He could totally pull off any hairstyle. He’d been growing it long the past few months, always winking and smiling when Skylar asked about it and telling her he was waiting for his favorite stylist to cut it. Finally, Rachel had given in to his request and taken matters into her own hand, cutting his hair and earning a friend and a client in the process.
It helped that he was family.
“Stop it, you’re making her blush again.” Skylar teased.
“That’s kind of my thing.” Bentley blew the blonde a kiss in the mirror as he fluffed the front of his new haircut, “All seriousness though? You did a damn good job, Rach. I knew you would.”
“Thank you for trusting me.” She tried not to duck her chin.
“It’s just hair.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I know what you mean.” He winked.
“Bentley!” A loud, gruff voice yelled from the doorway, making them all jump.
“Jesus Christ!” Bentley yelled right back, grabbing his chest and feigning terror, “Give a man a heart attack.”
“Keep flirting with my girlfriend and I’ll give you a black eye too.” Remy smirked as he strolled into the salon, “Breaks over. Get your ass back to the studio. Colt needs you.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m going.” Bentley sighed, “Thanks again Rach.”
“You’re welcome.”
Bentley muttered something about Colt being the worst boss ever as he stalked out of the salon. He’d been picking up shifts next door at Fine Lines for weeks and complained about his new boss every chance he had. But despite what Colt said
about his cousin being a royal, pain-in-the-ass who would probably quit as soon as he realized he actually had to work and not goof around all day, Bentley kept going back.
Remy said he was really talented too. Far more talented than Remy was. Bentley actually had a shot at becoming an artist whereas Remy mostly ran errands, ordered supplies and balanced the books for Colt. He liked the office work, the numbers and figures, making it all add up, almost as much as he liked spending the day with his brother.
“Keep muttering and I’ll tell Colt to make you do the boring as hell bank and post office runs.” He teased his cousin as Bentley flipped him off and left.
Rachel couldn’t help but smile as her boyfriend headed towards her. He was so sexy. She’d always thought so. But in the past few months, as their lives had settled in and they’d found a natural rhythm to their days, he’d begun to smile more and the sight of it still managed to make her heart race. She thought it probably always would.
Things had been tense in the weeks after Remy killed Craig. There was no denying it. Those had been dark days for her, despite what she’d told him about being okay with what he’d done. Even knowing that he’d had to shoot Craig to save her life, she’d been in a bad place.
She’d felt sad. She’d felt guilty. She’d felt angry. She’d cried and then screamed and then cried some more.
When the cops had come by to talk to her, she’d done her best to sound surprised to learn her trailer was a pile of smoldering ash. When they’d asked her about the last time she saw her brother, she’d told them she couldn’t remember. She wasn’t his keeper. Sheriff Trebly had frowned at her bruises and told her that if she heard from her brother to call. His son, Lawson, the deputy, had all but accused Remy of hurting her, even going so far as to pull her aside and tell her if she needed help that he could get her away from him. She’d told him to mind his own damn business and she supposed Remy had been right. Since they thought he did it, they hadn’t gone looking for Craig. She hadn’t heard from any of the law enforcement officers since.
She’d dug through the rubble of her trailer but hadn’t found anything salvageable. It had all been gone, just like Remy said, but she’d been surprisingly okay with that considering Ford had saved her that bag of stuff. A few pictures and books, her diaries and some jewelry that she’d managed to hide from Craig to keep him from pawning. She would be eternally grateful to Ford for that bag but she also would have been okay with losing everything. She’d said she wanted to start over, with a clean slate, and she’d meant it.
Had it been easy replacing her entire wardrobe? No. But she’d had Skylar and Jemma to help with that. And, amazingly enough, Skylar’s other best friend, Billie, was about the same size as her so she’d given her a ton of second-hand stuff she never would have bought for herself. The outgoing bartender preferred her clothes short, tight and black so Rachel’s shy, awkward, hiding behind her oversized shirts persona had died right along with her wardrobe.
These days, she was much more comfortable with herself. Whether that was thanks to her new clothes, to the fact that she was finally happy and that Remy told her daily how sexy and beautiful she was, or just the knowledge that her brother wasn’t lurking over her shoulder, waiting to hurt her or insult her, she didn’t know.
It was probably a little bit of all of those things.
Mostly though, she knew it was because of Remy. He made her happy. He made her feel sexy. He made her feel safe. She’d never known that she could be so content with her life and it showed in everything she did these days.
“Hey baby.” Remy smirked as he pulled her into his arms.
Rachel smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, “Hey yourself.”
That made his smile wider and she couldn’t help but grin up at him. He loved it when she didn’t shy away from him in public. It was still a little strange for her, the public displays of affection. She was so used to hiding but she didn’t want to hide what she felt for Remy… so she didn’t.
She tiptoed up and brushed her mouth against his. He kissed her back lightly and then scraped her bottom lip between his teeth. She hummed with pleasure as every nerve ending in her body lit up. She pressed closer to him because she always needed closer to him, always, but Skylar’s voice broke the moment before it could get too hot and heavy.
“If you’re gonna strip her naked, at least have the decency to take the girl home first, Remy.”
“Damn good idea, Sky.” He nipped her lips again and she could feel his grin as he pulled away, “Get your stuff, love. Time to head home for the night.”
“Give me just a minute to clean up.”
Skylar shook her head, “Don’t worry about it. I’m staying late because Colt is still doing those interviews. I’ll handle it.”
“You’re not really going to go over and keep an eye on him, are you?” Remy teased her.
“Of course not. I trust him. I’m going to go over and keep an eye on those skanky tattoo artists that want to get in his pants. He isn’t hiring some hot young thing that wants to get him naked unless I’m there to threaten her within an inch of her life.”
Rachel and Remy both laughed as Skylar smiled sweetly and made threats like that. She’d been railing about Colt hiring some hot young thing ever since he said he wanted to expand the shop. So far, he’d interviewed a sixty year old man that drove a Harley and smoked like a chimney and a pimply-faced teenager that had aspirations of being the next Kat Von D. There had been exactly zero hot young things vying for Colt’s affections and even if there were, he had eyes only for Skylar. Everyone knew that. But she was just as possessive of him as he was her and so they all laughed about it and let them roll with their particular brand of crazy.
“You’re not that threatening, just for the record.” Remy laughed.
“Tell that to Lincoln.” Skylar shot back.
“Touche.” He winked.
Skylar waved them off, “Rachel, go get your stuff. I’ll clean up.”
Normally, she might have argued with her boss. It wasn’t Skylar’s job to clean up at night. It was hers. Considering she’d been the one to cut Bentley’s hair, it was definitely her job to clean up the mess. But with Remy looking at her that way, she couldn’t wait to get home so she simply smiled and accepted the gift.
“Thanks Sky.”
She hurried to the back of the salon and opened her locker. She’d never replaced her emergency bag. She hadn’t needed to. There was one set of spare clothes, just in case, but otherwise, even her locker showed the turnaround in her life. There were photos pinned up there now. A couple of candid shots someone had caught of her and Skylar and Jemma at the wedding. Another that Skylar had snapped of Rachel and Remy. She touched her finger to that one and couldn’t help but smile.
They looked madly in love with each other in that picture and she adored it. Neither of them were looking at the camera. They hadn’t even known Skylar was there or that she’d taken it. They’d been having lunch and Remy had pulled her into his lap, as he so often did. Their heads were close together and they were smiling at each other, as if they shared a secret no one else knew.
“Mmm, baby.” A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and she giggled as he nuzzled her neck, “You need to hurry.”
“I was.”
“No. You weren’t.” He whispered as he slid his hands up and cupped her breasts, “But you should be.”
“Ahh, Remy…” She moaned when he nipped at her neck, “Not here.”
“I missed you today.”
She laughed, “You always miss me.”
“I do.”
“You saw me at lunch.”
“But I didn’t get to put my mouth on you at lunch…” He trailed his tongue up to her ear, “And you’re what I wanted to eat.”
She groaned as a shiver worked its way up her spine. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to this Remy either. So open and affectionate, so needy. He wanted her and he had no qualms about telling her, or about t
aking her.
She loved him so much.
They may have settled into a routine the past few weeks. Living together, eating together, working side by side, and riding to and from together. They were almost always together. But after a day of work, Remy always said he’d missed her, couldn’t wait to get her home, and made love her like a man denied for ages instead of hours.
“Home.” She whispered and then cleared her throat, “We need to get home.”
He chuckled near her ear and then nipped her with his teeth, “Move that cute little ass faster then.”
He released her with a smack on her ass and she giggled as she hurriedly stowed her apron and grabbed her coat. She shrugged into it and then let him take her hand. He kissed her again, a little bit longer than he had in the front room, and then he groaned and dragged her towards the door. Skylar laughed at them, as she always did, but simply waved goodbye as they flew out the door.
Remy’s Challenger was waiting at the curb, already running, which she was immensely grateful for. He was so thoughtful. The weather had turned from chilly to outright cold recently and Remy always started the car and turned the heater on before he picked her up from work. She slid into the passenger seat and smiled when he got in on his side and pointed the vents at her.
“I love you.”
He grinned, flashing dimples, “Love you too.”
“I missed you today too, you know.” She settled into her seat, turning to face him as he got them on the road.
“Did you?”
“Uh huh.”
“I love it when you tell me stuff like that.” He smiled and slid his hand from the shifter over to her thigh to squeeze her leg.
“I know.”
He slid his hand back to the shifter, “Tell me something else.”
“Like what?”
“Like… what’re you wearing under that pretty little dress you’ve got on today?”
She felt the blush color her cheeks and heat her up. Her first instinct was still to pull at the dress she was wearing, to attempt to cover herself up more. But that wasn’t what Remy wanted and it wasn’t what she wanted either.
