Renegade Hearts (Rebels of Sandland Book 1)

by Nikki J Summers

  The gym where Brandon worked could’ve done with a Finn-style overhaul. The walls were stark white with inspirational quotes painted onto them in a black uninspiring font. There was nothing motivating about them at all other than the fact they told you to do better, reach your goals, push yourself to your limits. We did that every day. We didn’t need some shitty quote to tell us. I figured a bit of self-reflective art from Finn’s warped and sometimes depraved mind would’ve worked better. But what did I know? I dealt with cars and numbers for a living.

  The buzz and whir of the equipment in the main workout area drowned Kanye out beautifully from the speakers around the room. I walked through and headed towards the back where the lads were waiting in the room with the boxing ring. I think Brandon would’ve preferred to have the ring in the middle of the gym. Give him a chance to showcase what he could do to all the girls working out. Instead, he had to come back to a private room to punch the shit out of the punch bag, or any fucker that was stupid enough to get into the ring with him. We weren’t complaining. It made for a better, more private meeting place.

  I opened the door to find Zak and Kian already there, leaning against the wall and gritting their teeth. When I glanced at the ring I could see why. Brandon was in there with Finn, giving him another boxing lesson. I could already tell Finn was over it, but Brandon wouldn’t give up. Finn wasn’t a fighter. He wasn’t weak, but he didn’t lose his shit like the rest of us. Brandon saw him as his pet project though. In Brandon’s mind, he was going to train Finn, so he could defend himself from any motherfucker that didn’t look at him the right way. Thing was, I don’t think Finn even noticed the way people looked at him. The problem seemed to weigh heavier on Brandon than it did on Finn. I guess that’s the sign of a good friend. They’ve got your back even when you don’t think you need it.

  “We need to work on your upper cut.” Brandon raised his pads up, but Finn shook his head and lowered his arms, letting them fall limply at his sides. “Come on, man. Give me five more jabs. Only five. You can do it.”

  “Screw this,” Finn said, wandering over to the edge of the ring and motioning for Zak to help him get his gloves off.

  “You’ll never get better if you don’t practise.” Brandon rolled his neck and did a few jumps like he was limbering up for his next fight.

  Finn held his bare hands up in front of him. “I appreciate the sentiment, but these are my tools. They create my art. I don’t want to damage them.”

  “It’ll be your face that gets damaged if you don’t learn how to protect yourself,” Brandon shot back. “How will you make art then, if you can’t see through two swollen black eyes?”

  “Why does he need to protect himself? He has us,” I piped in, earning myself a scowl from Brandon for my troubles.

  “We might not always be around,” Brandon said in a low voice, giving me a pointed stare that told me to back the fuck off. Then he threw his pads down and sat in the middle of the ring, staring at each of us like he was picking his next opponent.

  “Is there something I’m missing here?” I asked, turning to Zak.

  Kian was grinning like an idiot. He wasn’t usually in on our meetings. It must’ve gone to his head. Fucker looked like a ball-boy at Wimbledon, he was so desperate to do something useful. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to get the coffees, but Zak caught me off guard.

  “I think we’re good to go.”

  “What do you mean, we’re good to go?” I looked between the guys to see if they knew more than me. I didn’t like being left out of the loop.

  “I mean, we have all the evidence we need to bury that fucker, Winters. He’s gonna go down for a long time with the shit we’ve got on him and don’t get me started on Morgan fucking Rotherham.” He grinned, rubbing his hands together. “I broke through, Ry. I got names, addresses, account details, everything. He’s been scamming for years. Made millions. He’ll be paying it all back at Her Majesty’s Pleasure once we’ve set our plans in motion.”

  “Shit. This is gonna be fucking epic, man,” Brandon said smirking.

  “What have you got?” Kian asked with a puzzled look on his face.

  “Nothing for you to worry about, mate,” Zak replied and then gave me a look that told me the less Kian knew the better. He wasn’t the best at keeping his mouth shut.

  I patted Kian on the back and decided the coffee idea was the way to go. “We could do with some drinks in here, Ki. You know our orders, don’t you?” I ushered him towards the door and stuffed the cash to pay into his hand.

  “I... Er… Okay, Ry. Whatever you say, man.” He kept the grin on his face, but I could tell he was disappointed at being side-lined. It wouldn’t be for long. I just needed to hear the full story and then we’d pull him back in, like we always did.

  Once he was gone I turned to face the others. “Hit me with it.”

  Zak took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the ring. “Winters is in bed with some pretty nasty dudes. He’s using businesses he’s taken over, local businesses, to clean their dirty money. Drug money. He’s giving them a legitimate source to run their funds through. I have it all in black and white. He tends to float around the companies, using different ones to avoid detection. He made a massive mistake using the Rotherham account though. He gave us a link. I tell you, this guy is going down for life once we hand this over.”

  I grabbed the back of my neck and took a deep breath. I knew my dad had been approached by Winters a few years ago. Promised him a cash injection to support his business, all in the name of Sandland. Supporting his local area like the hero he wanted everyone to think he was. Luckily, Dad told him where to stick his cash. Good job too. This guy had fucked half the town in the ass without lube and none more so than his own family. What the hell was I supposed to tell Emily?

  “That guy, Troy Barker, he’s a mechanic. Works for Winters,” I said absent-mindedly. All I could focus on was what I was gonna say to Em. Her whole life was about to be blown wide open, and even though I knew this was gonna happen when we started all this, I hadn’t really thought what the impact of the fallout would be. She’d lose everything. Her house, her family, her goddamn mind. After what’d happened to Danny, I wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

  “He’s no mechanic.” Zak looked over at Brandon then back to me. “He’s a fixer.”

  “Fixing what?” I was losing patience fast. I had to think of a plan for after. A plan for her. I couldn’t lose her. Not now.

  “That’s where my online breaking and entering falls short. I was kinda hoping that Brandon might be able to help me with another way,” Zak said cryptically.

  “What? To pay this guy a visit?” I asked

  “Sort of. But not really.” Zak looked guilty as hell. He might’ve been a whizz at computers, but he couldn’t make a poker face to save his life.

  “Do you think he’ll talk to you?” Finn added.

  “We won’t give him a fucking choice,” Brandon said clenching his jaw in irritation.

  “What you gonna do, beat the truth out of him?” I knew Brandon had a mean right hook, but we had no idea who this guy was. And from what Emily had told me, he could turn out to be a big fucking problem for us.

  “Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.” Sometimes Brandon’s bravado packed more of a punch than his actual fists. He was a loose cannon. Which might’ve served us well in the fights we staged for money, but in real life, I was worried it could all blow up in our faces.

  “I don’t need to ask any fucking questions, I can already guess what you’re gonna do. Just make sure you don’t leave any evidence behind. You don’t want to get stuck sharing a cell with Winters for the next five to ten years.” Brandon rolled his eyes at me.

  “I’ve got a question.” Finn spoke and we all stopped in our tracks. “How do we shop him without incriminating ourselves? ‘Cos I’m pretty sure there’s a law against the hacking we’ve been doing. Not to mention the parties and-”

 
“You let us worry about that,” Brandon said sharply. “Tom might help us. Anyway, I’m pretty sure they’d overlook our scams if it meant they could catch some bigger fish like Winters. That’s the gift that keeps on giving. All those links to the cartel? Nobody’s gonna turn that shit away for the sake of a few dudes throwing illegal parties like we do.”

  “I hope you’re right.” Finn nodded, but the way he bit his lip, I could tell he had more on his mind.

  “Spit it out, Finn,” I said, folding my arms over my chest.

  “Do you think we can pull this off? The plan, I mean?”

  We all looked at one another.

  “We’ve been planning this for years. This is going to be fucking epic, my man,” Brandon said, jumping up from his seated position in the ring. “I’ve been living for this moment.” He laughed and started to jab his fists into the air like he was fighting an invisible opponent.

  “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry so much.” Zak patted Finn on the back and smiled as Kian walked back through the door with four Starbucks coffee cups in a holder.

  “This is gonna break her,” Finn said in a low voice so only I could hear. “Are you really ready for that?”

  I closed my eyes and let my head fall forward.

  “I’ll have to be.”

  My phone buzzed for the hundredth time that afternoon. I glanced down at the screen and smiled when I saw Ryan’s message staring back at me.

  Can I see you later?

  I thought about making him wait, letting the message stew for a little longer on my phone, but I was never the most patient person, so I fired off my response.

  You can see me whenever you want. x

  I hadn’t even put my phone down again when it buzzed with an answer.

  That’ll be a lot then.

  I couldn’t believe how things had changed. Months ago, Ryan Hardy was the bad boy in town that I couldn’t even look at directly. He was too intimidating. Now, he was all I thought about. He consumed me in every way possible.

  I heard the doorbell go, and knowing my mum was out for the day, I reluctantly stood up and dragged myself to answer it. I laughed when I saw Ryan standing there with a beautiful bunch of pink peonies.

  “I thought you wanted to see me later?” I laughed, taking the flowers. They smelt heavenly, as did he.

  “This is later.” He shrugged and stepped past me into the hallway, giving me a peck on the cheek as he did.

  I closed the door, struggling to keep the grin off my face. “I need to put these in some water. Do you want something to drink?”

  He smirked and started walking down the hallway, not waiting for me to lead him.

  “Are your parents here?” he asked, craning his neck to look through each doorway he passed. I’m pretty sure he already knew the answer to that question, seeing as I’d let him in. After his last encounter with my dad, I’d figured it was best to keep those two parts of my world separate if I wanted an easy life.

  “No. Dad’s working and Mum’s getting her Botox topped up. Is Coke okay? Or do you want something else?”

  “I’ll take the Coke for now,” he said in a raspy voice. “And then the something else… As long as it isn’t a plate of fucking cookies.”

  Fireworks. That’s what I felt. Pure fireworks going off inside me at the way he was looking at me. I had an overwhelming urge to drop the peonies on the floor and jump on him. Ryan Hardy was in my house and he wanted something else. Knowing that did something to me. I was a little nervous, maybe scared, but definitely turned on. I shuffled around in the doorway, not knowing what to do with myself.

  “There’s a card in the flowers.” He nodded to the bouquet in my hands as he sat down on the sofa and grabbed the remote to turn on the T.V.

  I balanced them in the crook of my arm and took the little white envelope out from the top. My hands were shaking so much, I must’ve looked like such loser. Inside was a little card with an address on and a smiley face. I frowned, having absolutely no clue what this was about. I’d expected poetry or at least a cheeky comment, not a random address with an emoji drawn at the bottom.

  “It’s the next party,” he said as he flicked through the channels. “I didn’t want you getting some generic message this time. You get the V.I.P. treatment.”

  “Wow. I’m honoured. This isn’t the chapel though. Where is it this time?” I’d have died a little inside if they’d have gone ahead and used that stunning little sanctuary to get crapped all over by half the town.

  “Old furniture factory. Finn’s there now making a start on his latest masterpiece. It’s gonna be a bitch to clean it up and get it ready, but we’ll do it. We always do.” He settled back into the sofa as the theme tune for Top Gear played out.

  “I can’t wait to see it.” I sighed and went to head to the kitchen but stopped and turned back round. I was all over the damn place today.

  “What’s up?” he asked, muting the T.V.

  “I tried to find a toxicology report, but there’s nothing. Mum said Dad shredded everything linked to the accident after the inquest. She said he was too heartbroken, he needed it all gone. I’m sorry.” I felt the shift in atmosphere. Ryan had pinned his hopes on me and I’d come up short. Would he change his mind about us if he didn’t think I was useful anymore? Was that what this was? A way to get to my father? I felt a sharp pain in my chest and I winced. I didn’t want to be the pawn in any of his games.

  He stood from the sofa, but I held my hand up. “I’m okay. Really.”

  He didn’t look convinced and came to stand in front of me, putting both of his hands either side of my face so I’d have no choice but to look him in the eyes.

  “You don’t have to be strong with me, Em. I’m here for you.”

  I sighed, feeling myself get lost in those sympathetic green eyes of his. The depth of emotion I could see there made me soften and I felt myself leaning into him.

  “Honestly, it’s fine. Bringing up Danny, asking about the accident, it helped. Me and Mum spoke about him, I mean really talked about him for the first time in months. I think it helped us both. We argued, got mad, cried. Everything we should’ve done months ago. I’m not saying we’re running for mother and daughter of the year, there’s still a long way to go, but last night was a start.” He smiled and placed a soft, gentle kiss on my forehead. “Bet you didn’t know your snooping around would bring me and my mum closer together.”

  “Nice to know I’m good for something.” The look he gave me made my stomach twist with expectation at what else he was good at. This boy was turning me into a hormonal mess. If I didn’t move soon I’d be a pool of desire melted at his feet.

  “I’m sure you’re good for other things too.” I tried to sound sexy in a nonchalant way, but my breathy voice gave me away.

  “Yeah? Like what?” He leaned closer to me now and the tension that was building up inside me reached fever pitch.

  “I don’t know. But when I find out, I’ll let you know.” I really needed to up my seduction game. The words coming out of my mouth sounded more like a brush-off than a come-on. My heart screamed at me to get on my damn tiptoes and kiss the hell out of him, while my head told me to play it cool, be more guarded. I chose me, right? Jesus, that felt like a lifetime ago, when Nurse Constance played cupid on acid. And I’d thought I was so strong, making it all about me. But now, standing in front of Ryan, I realised that strong was taking a chance on something that scared you half to death. Taking the leap into the unknown to see where it could lead. I might be heading for a whole lot of heartbreak where Ryan was concerned, but on the other hand, it could be the best thing to ever happen to me. He could be the best thing to happen to me. If I didn’t take a chance I’d never know.

  I remembered my mum once telling me, all those years ago before things turned sour, that it’s the little things in life we should treasure. “Don’t sweat the big stuff,” she’d said. “It’s the little things in life that count. Those moments in time that are as fleeting as a but
terfly. Beautiful, but gone so soon.” I knew what she meant now.

  A memory was worth more than any possession and I wanted to create memories with Ryan. No matter how long this lasted. I wanted to be strong and let myself see where this could go.

  I backed away slowly, holding up the flowers to indicate that I was taking them to put them in some water. Ryan didn’t move, just pierced me with his seductive stare, making it harder for me to turn away from him, but I did, and I floated down the hallway, ready to dump the flowers into the first vase of water I could lay my hands on, grab the drinks and get back to him.

  When I walked back into the living room a minute later, Ryan was gone. My heart dropped, thinking he’d given up on me and bailed, then I tried to recall hearing the door shut. I hadn’t. Where the hell was he?

  “Ryan?” I called out, leaving the cans of Coke on the coffee table and wandering back out into the hallway, feeling all kinds of mixed up.

  “Yeah?” I heard him answer from upstairs.

  What the hell was he up to?

  I climbed the stairs expecting to find him in Danny’s room, but he wasn’t there, and my bedroom door was wide open. When I reached the doorway I saw Ryan, lying on my bed with his trainers kicked off and his hands behind his head. He’d turned on my T.V. and looked pretty comfy settling down to watch something. He was so cocky and self-assured, all traits that I would’ve called him out on a few months ago, but not now. Now it was sexy as hell.

  “The T.V. in the living room is bigger than this one.” I folded my arms and leant against the doorframe trying to appear unaffected, but seeing Ryan lying on my bed was hot and very distracting.

  “Maybe I didn’t come up here for the T.V.” He pointed the remote forward and switched the T.V. off. “Maybe I came here to find out a little bit more about you. Be in your bubble. You did say you liked bubbles.” He gave me a playful smirk and I laughed.