Kill For You

by Michele Mills

  “Yeah, my mom got her out. But she ran away and came back. She’d been too young when she left to remember how bad it was. All she knew were the scary stories Mom told her. She went through a rebellious teenage phase and ran away from my mom, straight to my dad, thinking my mom had been lying to her, just trying to keep her from her brother and father, not realizing that Mom had instead been protecting her. By then, Dad was edging towards retirement, grooming me to take over. Jenny was only sixteen, beautiful and reckless. I’d almost had her talked into going back with Mom. Was about to buy her a plane ticket. I took her into my house so I could keep an eye on her, but Dad came over with his “friends” when I was out working. He brought some of the worst guys in our gang, the type of men I wouldn’t have wanted Jenny in the same room with. Smith was there. They were all drinking, got Jenny drunk too. Dad passed out and the other guys, including Smith, they gang raped her. Beat Jenny up and left her unconscious. I came home and found that shit. Found out my dad hadn’t protected her, had let his friends fucking gang rape his own daughter. My own men had the nerve to rape my sister in my own damn house! I fucking lost it. It was a blood bath. I…I shot my dad. Killed him in my front yard.” He paused. “Sorry, is this too much?”

  “No. No. I understand. Really I do. I just…Smith raped your sister? He deserved everything that happened today and more.”

  He grunted. “Exactly.”

  “So, what happened after you killed your dad?”

  “Well, I wasn’t exactly in a state of mind to cover that shit up, so of course the cops were called and I was arrested. The cops were only too happy to get me behind bars. They’d been trying to take down my dad’s organization for years. So yeah, when the outbreak started, I was locked up in Avenal State Prison, for murder. I’d been in Pelican Bay for two years and Avenal for one year when the end happened and I was able to walk free.”

  “What changed, Trevor? What made you want to be different? Because, just the fact you were let loose didn’t mean you needed to be different. It could have been more of the same. The guys up here certainly proved that.”

  “Having your own men beat and rape your sister in your own home, with your father right there, sleeping through the whole thing can change a person’s outlook. After that, I didn’t trust anyone. In prison I renewed my membership with the Aryan Brotherhood, I killed for them once to prove I belonged, because if you’re not in a gang in prison, you’re dead. No exceptions. Besides, the guy I killed was dead in the eyes, a pedophile who’d murdered one of ours behind bars, so I figured I did the state of California a solid that day, greasing a lifer they didn’t have the balls to put down themselves.”

  “So basically I was a badass with a reputation that meant other assholes left me alone. I studied in prison, worked on a college degree, learned a lot. And while I was in there I was thinking. Thinking more than I’d ever had a chance to in my life. Thinking about how if I had it to do over again, I’d do it all different. I would try for a decent life. A life where no one got hurt. Where I was around people who I knew I could leave my goddamn sister alone with, come back and find her unhurt and laughing. I’d lead a life where I wasn’t shitting on other people who were different than me, thinking I was a badass. And then one day people started dying. There was panic and chaos in the yard and then finally after a few weeks of being worried they’d leave me locked in there, starving to death, a few of the last sick guards opened the cells. They knew I was still healthy and they needed help. So I helped. And when they died too, I left.”

  Rebel held his hand and rubbed her thumb along the pulse point at his wrist. “What was that like for you, honey, walking out of there, free?”

  “Amazing and terrible at the same time. I searched for my mom and sister, but couldn’t find them anywhere and finally had to assume they were gone like everyone else. Then I went crazy with the freedom, the fact that no one owned anything anymore and everything was up for grabs, so I went materialistic for a while, walking in wherever I wanted to take what I wanted was heady for a few days, then it got old. Being alone got old. Then a week into it I met Christian, so at least there was someone else.”

  “I felt that way too at first. Maybe not as materialistic as you because to be truthful, being a movie star came with some pretty amazing perks, so I was used to living like that anyway, but even for me it was pretty heady being able to grab the keys to any car I wanted. You know I was driving a Maserati for a while there? I’d always meant to get a Maserati one day…”

  He held her tighter. “Jesus, a woman after my own heart. These do-gooders around here have no freaking concept of luxury.”

  “Yeah, I noticed. Did you get a load of that late model Toyota Camry of Sebastian’s?”

  Trevor laughed. “It’s a piece of crap.”

  Rebel climbed onto him, straddled his lap and shoved her breasts against his chest. He helped her to balance, careful not to bump her arm. “Oh honey,” she said. “I can’t tell you how much I love your classic Mustangs. And your Harley.” She ran the fingers of her good arm down his sleeved tats. “And your tats,” she sighed. “These colored tats on your arms are hot.”

  Trevor grinned because shit yeah, he knew they were badass. He might have crap on his neck but the tats on his arms had been done by one the best artists in LA. They’d cost a fuck load of money and they were worth every penny.

  He pulled her forward and licked her chest, like the possessive bastard he was. He needed to feel her, taste her. She was his. Only his. “I feel possessive of you. From now on only I get to fuck you.” He looked up and met her eyes. “I own your orgasms.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Have you always been like this with women?”

  “No, only with you. You bring something out in me I can’t explain.”

  “Really?” She smiled.

  “Really.

  I’m putting a ring on your finger so any fuckers we meet know you’re mine and to keep their fucking hands off you.” And he reached over and tugged open the nightstand drawer and fished out that black ring box.

  Rebel giggled. “There’s no need for marriage, Trevor. I know Rachel and Adam did it, which is sweet. But if you’re just asking me because you think that’s what I want since they did it, don’t worry. I’m a big girl. I’ll be okay without it. I know I’ve got you and you love me. That’s all I really need.”

  He opened the box. She gasped, tears in her eyes. It was the biggest diamond ring he could find. Square cut and platinum. He slid it on her finger, loving that stamp of his possession.

  “This isn’t about that,” he said. “This is me staking a claim. I fucking need my ring on your finger. You like it?”

  “I love it,” she breathed.

  “And here’s another idea. How about you change your name to Rebel Mason?”

  “What? Change my name? Why?”

  “You’ve been telling me this whole time that you’re not Rebel Case anymore, that the world had ended, so that part of you ended with it. How about you make it official by changing your name?”

  “How do I do that? I mean, there isn’t even an office to go that anymore. It seems weird…”

  “You just decide to, that’s how. That’s the beauty of living in this day and age. There’s no government. No bureaucracy. We don’t have to ask anyone’s fucking permission. We do what we want. Right now you say you want to change your name and it happens. No going downtown and standing in line A and then line B and filling out three different forms and paying a fee. That shit is gone. Good riddance.”

  “Rebel Mason,” she said tentatively.

  “Sounds good on you, baby.”

  “It does. I’ll do it.”

  “You want to get married?”

  “It isn’t something I’d ever felt I needed to be complete. I didn’t need to marry in order to be financially secure. I could take care of myself, but…”

  Trevor watched her, wondering what thoughts were running in that gorgeous head of hers. Did she want to ma
rry him, or did she think it was crazy talk?

  “There’s…There’s something I’ve got to say first… One more thing I need to apologize for. I’m really sorry about what I said when we first met, Trevor. About not wanting to be around anyone who was in prison. I thought about that a lot later and… I think that was very judgmental of me. Also, it pushed you away, it started that chain of events in your mind where you felt you needed to lie to me, present yourself as something other than you were in order to gain my trust.”

  What the hell did this have to do with getting married? Did she want to marry him or not? “It’s not a bad rule,” he answered. “Staying away from people who used to be lifers in prison is usually a good plan.”

  “Yeah, but sometimes those people deserve a second chance. Sometimes they were wrongfully accused and misjudged, or maybe they redeemed themselves and need someone to believe in them.”

  “Or maybe they’re lying assholes trying to gain your trust before knifing you in the back.”

  “Um, I’m trying to apologize here and you’re not helping much. I’m telling you I was being a judgmental ass. Help me out here and accept my apology.”

  He grinned. “You were right to doubt. Don’t ever think just because I changed, most of the men I once worked with will change too. Not happenin’. They’re basically wild animals.”

  “You’re an anomaly?”

  “Yes.”

  “A sexy beast of an anomaly? A man who wanted to change?”

  He grinned. “Yes.”

  “Double-checking,” she said.

  He cupped her face and kissed her hard. He swept his tongue into her mouth, his lips devouring hers. She held on to his biceps with all her might.

  Finally, he pulled back and stared at her with burning intensity. “I’m not proud of things I’ve said or done in the past. People I pounded into the ground, shit I said, everyone I hurt. All I can say is that all that bullshit stopped the moment I chose to take the fall and went down for it. I’m not that man anymore. I’m the Trevor you see now. You know me, you’ve watched me, seen how I treat people now, how I speak to them. You make the call. Do you want to be with a man like me? Do you want to marry a man like me?”

  She nodded, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

  “I don’t know how to make a woman happy,” he said to her. “But I’m willing to learn.”

  “Don’t worry, you appear to be a fast learner.”

  He had her on top, her legs spread out wide over his hips. He reached down and felt how wet she was for him.

  “You’re gorgeous,” he said.

  “I need your cock,” she announced.

  This was no problem, he’d been hard as rock the whole time they’d been talking. He’d been rubbing it along her wet slit this whole time, making sure it was nudged against her clit, priming her, making her ready and on edge.

  Trevor gently turned her over onto her back, careful of her arm in the sling. Her eyes darkened and her breath quickened. He rested his hips between her spread thighs and immediately moved his shaft, notching it at her entrance.

  “Trevor,” she whispered.

  He thrust into her in one smooth motion, balls deep.

  She threw her head back and moaned. He reached up for those perfect teardrop breasts and pinched her nipples. Christ, she was perfect.

  “Baby, look at me, keep your eyes on me.”

  He lifted her legs up and over his shoulders, pushing deep, pounding his shaft as far as it could go, making sure he hit that spot she loved again and again.

  “Oh,” she gasped. “I need…”

  “I know, baby, I’m giving it to you.”

  “Oh God.”

  She screamed as the orgasm rushed through her, engulfing her and pulling her in. Trevor spasmed, in the throes of his own release, his hot cum shooting inside of her pussy.

  “I love you,” he groaned. “I love you so much, Rebel. I’m never letting you go.” He thrust in again, harder. “Never. Letting. You. Go.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Two weeks later

  Sebastian turned toward Phoebe. They were standing together, on the front lawn, for yet another wedding. Last month Adam and Rachel had married, and now it was Trevor and Rebel.

  Weddings. Weddings. Weddings.

  Didn’t people realize it was the end of the world?

  It was pretty crazy.

  “Phoebe?”

  “Hmm?”

  He looked with longing at the profile of the exquisite woman who stood next to him, dressed in a silky blue dress with a sash at the waist, emphasizing her petite, willowy form.

  His jaw clenched. It was physically painful to keep his hands at his side and not touch her. “Now that Trevor and Rebel are moving into the small house,” he said, “I’m going to go ahead and start sleeping in the apartment.”

  He wasn’t sure if she’d care. Maybe she’d be secretly happy to have him out of her hair, out of the main house? But, he’d miss living with her so near. Miss seeing her first thing every morning. Having her so close. Hearing her laughter.

  “Okay.” She nodded.

  “When I leave you and Josie won’t have to share a room anymore. You two can spread out and each have your own room.”

  “Yeah, it would probably be a good idea for Josie to start getting used to sleeping by herself.”

  Sebastian imagined for a moment she meant Josie should have her own room because she wanted the bed vacated in order to invite him to sleep with her instead, but he knew that was crazy talk. He adored Phoebe. He worshiped the ground she walked on.

  She did not feel the same about him. That had already been established.

  “You can organize and store your stuff in the garage too if you’d like,” he told her. “You can take it out of the back of the truck and give it a home.”

  She glanced at him quizzically. “Are you sure there’s room? You have a lot of stuff too.”

  “Yeah, some of my things I’ll leave around the house here and some in the garage. It will all fit.”

  “Well, okay.” Her smile blinded him with its beauty. “I’d love that. Thanks.”

  Sebastian grinned. He was always happy when Phoebe was happy. Unfortunately, he wasn’t good at making her happy.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  “Phoebe!” Krissy bellowed from across the lawn. “Come here, we’re doing the damn flower or whatever toss. We need you. Leave that man alone, you can jump on him later.”

  Phoebe cringed at the sound of Krissy’s strident voice.

  Jeez that girl was loud.

  Sebastian looked away, like he was trying to ignore the whole thing. Which was probably a good idea.

  She took a deep breath and grimly walked over to where the women were grouping, keeping her head focused on what was ahead because walking over to Krissy meant passing by Spike, who was still hanging out at the farm and hadn’t left yet (although everyone was secretly wising he would). Why he would stay somewhere where no one really wanted him, she’d never understand. He sat in a chair, a beer in his hand and a frown on his face. Which was fine with Phoebe, because what would that jerk have to be happy about anyway?

  She heard laughter and glanced over at Rebel. Trevor whispered in her ear and the two of them dissolved into belly laughs. Phoebe smiled. They were a beautiful couple. Rebel was in a long, silky sheath and Trevor wore a Tom Ford black suit. They reminded Phoebe of an edgier version of Carolyn Bissett and JFK Jr. In the old days their wedding pictures would’ve ended up on the cover of People magazine. Despite the lack of paparazzi, they were still dazzling.

  Wedding planned and executed? Check. Happy couple? Check. Check.

  Phoebe glanced across the lawn at Krissy and Tiana, her eyes automatically searching for Kati, then reminding herself that Kati wasn’t there.

  And her eyes landed on the quiet, sixteen-year-old girl sitting by herself, dressed in baggy sweats and a hood over her head.

  Phoebe stood still, her heart breaking o
ff into tiny pieces.

  “Phoebe! Phoebe!” Josie ran up, panting with excitement. “Come on, come on,” she grabbed her hand. “Krissy said we’re playing a game and throwing flowers!”

  Phoebe followed where Josie led.

  Everyone crowded around. Rachel was serving as the DJ, so she started some music and prepared to MC the bouquet toss. The women had all met ahead of time and it had been already agreed that this was for Josie. Only Josie would catch the bouquet, but they’d make it look good, like she’d won it fair and square.

  Josie’s cheeks were rosy, her eyes bright. She was bouncing with joy, a whirlwind of energy, her pink dress swirling around her. Phoebe was so happy for the little girl; her eyes were getting wet.

  Rebel walked over. “I’ll toss it easy over my shoulder, you nudge Josie in the right direction and make sure she gets it,” she whispered.

  Phoebe nodded. Tiana took a position behind Josie and lifted her chin at Phoebe. Phoebe met Krissy’s gaze. She was ready too.

  “You ready, big girl?” Krissy asked Josie. “You know I’m going to win, right? Don’t cry or anything when I shove you aside and catch the flowers myself. Cause I’m gonna.”

  “I’m going to catch it. Me. I’m going to catch it,” Josie exclaimed.

  “I don’t know,” Phoebe said, joining in, “I’m pretty good at this. Remember, I used to plan weddings. I went to weddings all the time and watched people play this game. You two had better watch out.”

  “I’m fast,” Josie shot back. “I’ll get it.”

  “Oh, I’m going to leave all of you in the dust. I used to run marathons. I’ve got this.” Tiana started doing exaggerated stretches like she was readying for an Olympic sprint. It was pretty funny. They all laughed.

  “Hey, you guys ready?” Rebel shouted.

  She was standing in front of all of them, farthest across the lawn and towards the front road. The women were all grouped behind her. The men stood to the side, next to Rachel, who was monitoring the music.

  Phoebe couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped her when she saw all the men were holding big signs that read, “Team Josie.” Too cute.