Renegade (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) (13 page)

“Now
I feel bad that you had to sleep sitting up.”

Ryder
shook his head and said, “Evie, don’t worry about it, I slept just fine. I had
you next to me. I’m good.”

“Thank
you for that, Ryder. You are going to need your rest too for what’s about to
come,” I said weakly. I felt tears burning my eyes again and I said, “I’m so
sorry about this.”

“Oh,
Everleigh, baby, you have to stop-”

Ryder
didn’t finish his sentence because just then Jude came back into the room
carrying a glass of water and a bottle of pain relievers. “Here you go, sis,”
he said, handing me the medicine. He set the water on the coffee table and
said, “Coffee’s on. It should be ready in a few.”

“Thank
you Jude,” I said, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.

Jude
immediately sat down and placed his large warm hand protectively on the small
of my back. “Everleigh, I’m so sorry about your friend. Listen, we’re going to
stop this cock sucker from hurting anyone else, okay?”

The
tears started to fall and I shook my head. “I wish I could believe that, Jude,
I really do, but this is Scott we are dealing with. He is so beyond mentally
unstable that I don’t think anyone can know what he will do next. This won’t
end without more people getting killed,” I cried.

I
could feel Ryder’s anger radiating off him as he said, “Baby, he is not going
to kill anyone else. We are going to find him and I will put an end to him once
and for all.”

I
tensed up. “Ryder, you aren’t going to kill him, are you?”

“Hell
yes I am! If he shows up here after what he’s already done and tries to even
breathe near you I’m going to blow his fucking head off.”

“Ryder,
you can’t do this. You can’t stoop to his level,” I begged, afraid that I would
lose him too. If he killed Scott he would end up in jail and I couldn’t bear to
be away from him for even one second.

“Don’t
try to talk me out of this, Evie. It’s a done deal. I’ve had a gun for a while
now. I’ve never felt the need to carry it because John was always with us but
now he’s not enough. I will do what I have to do to protect you and everyone we
love, no matter what that means.”

The
tears continued to fall as I said, “It scares me so much that you have a gun. I
don’t like them and I can’t help that I feel that way.”

“Well,
I’m sorry you feel that way, Evie, but what’s done is done. I am going to carry
it with me wherever I go and it’s staying on me until this is over. I also had
John buy one for you too,” Ryder said.

I
gasped and shook my head. “No, I am
not
carrying a gun, Ryder.”

His
jaw squared and he said, “Normally I wouldn’t force anything on you, but I am
standing my ground on this. You can hate me all you want but you are going to
have a way to protect yourself, Everleigh. End of story.” As I looked into his
eyes I almost cowered back. I’d never seen this side of Ryder before. He’d been
protective of me since day one, but it always came with patience and understanding
too. He was in full warrior mode and it was a little intimidating.

Deciding
that this issue wasn’t worth fighting over since he was only trying to cover
all the bases and make sure I had a way to protect myself if I needed to, I
sighed and said, “I have never held a gun before and I don’t know the first
thing about them!”

“I
already thought of that. John got you a G26 9 millimeter handgun. It’s really
small and can be easily concealed. It only holds ten rounds and it’s got a
pretty excellent firing accuracy,” Ryder said.

I
stared at him as if he had just lapsed into Chinese. “I have no idea what that
all means. All I understood was ‘really small and easily concealed’. Besides, I
wouldn’t even know how to shoot the damn thing!”

A
ghost of a smile quickly flashed across Ryder’s lips and he said, “We can go to
the gun range and I’ll teach you how to shoot it. We got you one of the easiest
handguns to handle, gorgeous.”

I
frowned. “Do I really have to carry it all the time?”

“Every
time you leave this apartment you will have it on you,” he said sternly.

I
groaned and said, “I still don’t like this.”

“Well,
believe it or not, I don’t like it either but that’s the way things are right
now. You can’t stay cooped up here until he’s caught and I’m not about to let
you leave here unprotected,” Ryder said. “Have I ever done anything that I
wasn’t sure would ultimately keep you safe?”

I
shook my head and sighed. “No.”

“There
you go, then,” he said, pulling me closer into him and kissing me.

Jude
moved his hand from my back and gave my shoulder a slight shake. “I’m with
Ryder on this one, sis. Take your aspirin and I’ll go check on the coffee.” He
stood up and walked back into the kitchen.

Beau
came walking back into the room while putting his cell phone back into his
pocket. “Well, Sadie’s pissed, but she’s on the next flight out here,” he said.
Guilt burned through me again as his eyes landed on my face. “Oh, hey,
Everleigh. I didn’t know you were up yet. How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

“Guilty,”
I answered honestly.

He
drew his eyebrows together. “Why are you feeling guilty? You know that none of
this is your fault, right?”

Ryder
sighed, clearly frustrated, and shook his head. Before he could say anything, I
replied, “Of course it’s my fault. Scott won’t get over me and just let me go
and now because of it I was almost raped, Trisha is dead, and your sister has
to leave college for who knows how long.”

“You
know about Sadie coming here?”

“I
was waking up and I heard you all talking. She’s your sister, Beau, and she’s
having her life turned upside down because of my psycho ex. She’s going to hate
me for this,” I said.

Beau
came walking to the couch and took Jude’s place on my other side. “Sweetheart,
she’s not going to hate you. She’s worried about you too.”

I
looked at him puzzled. “How can you say she won’t hate me? You just said she’s
pissed off.”

“Aw,
Everleigh,” he said, taking my hand, “she’s not pissed because of you. She’s
pissed off because of Scott. Sadie is very opinionated when it comes to
violence against women in any way.

“Our
mother didn’t set a very good example for us growing up. She was the kind of
woman that always needed a man in her life to make her happy, even if that
meant getting the shit beat out of her and then in turn taking it out on me and
Sadie. We both tend to get a little hot headed when it comes to things like
this, but it affects Sadie a little bit more. Believe me, from what we’ve all
told her about you she loves you already.”

I
breathed a sigh of relief…my first one since last night. “Good. I couldn’t bear
it if she hated me. I love you guys too much.”

“We
all love you too, sweetheart,” Beau said, and he looked sad. “Look, I know
Danni’s your best friend and this might be bad timing, but I am really, really
sorry about what happened last night at the bar.”

“Forget
about it, Beau. You both have been so stubborn and I knew something like this
might happen. I hoped it wouldn’t, but it did. Nothing can change it now,” I
answered. “Don’t worry, I still love you.”

He
gave me a weak smile. We sat quietly for a few seconds before he squeezed my
hand and said softly, “I’m in love with her, Everleigh. I know I’ve fucked this
up beyond repair but I hope she knows that I’m not giving up on her. I’ll make
this right.”

“I
hope you can,” I said.

“Listen,
I’m going to leave you two alone and try to catch some sleep before Sadie’s
plane gets here.”

“Use
one of the extra guest rooms here, man,” Ryder said.

“Thanks,
bro,” he said, and they bumped fists. “I’m here if you need me, okay,
sweetheart?”

I
nodded and said, “Thanks Beau.” As he walked away, I felt a sudden surge of
emotions and I called out, “I love you!” with fresh tears in my eyes.

He
turned around and his eyes were tired as he answered, “I love you too,
Everleigh.” He continued to walk down the hallway and into the spare room to
catch some sleep.

With
John on the phone, Danni and Beau sleeping in separate rooms, Jessie still in
the shower, and Kris and Jude in the kitchen, Ryder and I were left alone on
the couch. The quiet in that moment was almost deafening and the reality of
everything slammed into me at once. In the past month I’d lost my father, my
friend, and now all of our lives were in danger. Everyone was doing what they
had to do to protect me but despite all of their efforts and the fact that I
was now being forced to carry a gun I still couldn’t shake the feeling that
Trish’s death was only the beginning.

Suddenly,
there was a knock at the front door. I immediately tensed up and Ryder stood up
from the couch. “Stay there, gorgeous,” he said, and he pulled out a gun from
behind his back. He followed John to the front door and I sat in fear as Jude
and Kris came out of the kitchen.

John
peeked through the peephole and looked at Ryder, nodding. “It’s the doorman,”
he said. “Keep your weapon drawn.”

Ryder
kept his gun locked and loaded behind his back as he opened the front door.
“Can I help you?” he asked.

“I’m
sorry to bother you, Mr. Matthews, but someone just dropped off a letter for
Miss Stone in the lobby. He said it was urgent.”

Taking
a large yellow envelope from the doorman, Ryder said, “What did he look like?”

The
doorman shrugged and said, “Oh, I don’t know, he was wearing one of those
winter hats that made it hard to see his face. Is there a problem?”

“Maybe,
we’ll let you know,” Ryder answered, and he bid the doorman goodbye. After he
shut the door he turned to me. “Do you want me to open this?” he asked.

Shaking,
I stood and said, “No, let me see it. Whatever it is I need to face it head
on.”

Ryder
reluctantly handed me the envelope and with shaking fingers I tore open the
end. It looked like a picture but it was turned over. The back of the picture
had a handwritten note on it…in Scott’s handwriting. It read,

See what happens when you try to
run from me, baby girl?

I
felt nauseated as I held the picture in my hands and when I turned it over, I
screamed. It was Trish’s beaten and bloodied body lying lifeless on my kitchen
floor. My knees gave out and I collapsed to the floor.

“Evie,
baby?” Ryder yelled, barely making it over to me before my head hit the
hardwood floor. The picture was lying face up on the floor and I followed his eyes
as he saw it. “Shit!”

Kris
got his cell phone out and said, “Fuck this, I’m calling the police.”

“I’m
going to go down to the lobby and have them pull up surveillance, see if we can
get his face,” Jude said.

Ryder
said, “You got your gun on you?”

“Always,”
he said, and he took off out the front door.

As
I fought to try and keep from dry heaving, I clung to Ryder for dear life and I
naively prayed to anyone who would listen that this would be over soon.

I
could almost hear Everleigh screaming at the picture I’d dropped off at that
rich fucker’s swanky penthouse for her. I would have given anything to see her
shaking with fear, knowing that there was nothing she could do to keep me from
getting to her. I took a drink of my coffee and fought back a laugh at the
thought of everyone running around in his apartment and making feeble promises
to get rid of me.

I
had just paid my check and was about to head to my hotel when I saw the idiot
bodyguard’s black SUV pull up in front of the building. I saw Beau, the guitar
player, get out of the car followed by a smoking hot ass blonde. She looked
young…she couldn’t have been more than nineteen or twenty. Once I got Everleigh
back, I might just have to go back and have some fun with that one. The one thing
I had to give to these trashy rockers was that they pulled in some pretty hot
pussy.

I
tossed a few bills on the table for a tip and pulled my hood up, covering most
of my face so no one would recognize me. I’m sure by now someone had alerted
the police that I was here…they had to be looking for me after I beat that
nurse bitch to death. I wasn’t intending to kill her, but she had it coming.
She thought she could pull a fucking gun on me and then not suffer for it?

I
had broken in again to try to gather some things I would need when I made my
way to New York to take Everleigh back. I was sure that she would want some of
her things that would remind her of home so I grabbed a bottle of her perfume,
some modest clothes, and a picture of her and her asshole father. I was never
happier than when that old bastard finally croaked. That fucker had way too
much influence over her and when he made it clear he didn’t like me that’s when
she pulled that “I just want to be sure that I love you before we sleep together
again” shit. However, I was a nice guy and willing to overlook that all now
because he was dead and she was free to be with me again. Well, almost free,
anyway.