He bends down and grabs my things, ticking his head toward the door. “Come on. You can stay with me for a few days until we figure something out.”

  “We?” I whisper. “This is my problem.”

  “It’s our problem now,” he corrects me, his eyes slicing to me as he stalks by with my bags in his hands. “You don’t know if this guy will come after you, and if he does, what he’ll do.”

  I follow him outside and stop on the porch, gawking at him as he throws my bags in his trunk. “What are you doing?” I ask, my mouth hanging open, Adaline still stuck on my hip.

  “You can’t take your car. Leave it here.”

  I’d laugh at his bossiness if the situation weren’t so dire.

  No phone. No car. Nothing except me and my little girl, along with a jerk who’s trying to protect me but making things harder.

  “I’m not leaving my car here,” I argue. “First, you break my phone, something I can’t easily replace. And now, you want me to ditch the only form of transportation I have. Are you freaking bananas?”

  He slams the lid of the trunk and crosses his arms over his chest, giving me a super pissed-off and scary glare. “Did you check your car for a tracker?”

  I blink again, gaping at him. A look I’ve had more than once in the last ten minutes. “A tracker?”

  “Yeah, Reb. A tracker. You can buy one online and stick that shit under anyone’s car and know where they are at all times.”

  Shit.

  I hadn’t even thought about that. My mind doesn’t work that way. I thought I planned for everything, but I never thought about Beau tracking my phone or putting something under my car to keep tabs on me.

  “People do that?” I whisper.

  He tilts his head, staring me down, resting against the side of his car. “All. The. Fucking. Time.”

  “Bad word,” Adaline pipes up, wagging her finger at the big guy who looks like he’s about to blow a gasket.

  “That’s insane. Beau wouldn’t…” I start, but the words die in my throat.

  Would he?

  He’s texted me a few times, begging me to come back and promising he made a mistake.

  It will never happen again.

  I knew it was complete and utter bullshit.

  Once a hitter, always a hitter.

  Carmello stalks to my car, pulling the car seat out like it’s something he’s done a million times before. “Again, if he knew where you were, would he come for you?”

  I swallow, feeling the knot in my stomach growing and festering. “I don’t know…maybe.” My voice rises on the last word.

  “Then let’s roll.”

  “But…” I don’t move.

  He shakes his head again. “In my car, Rebel. No arguments.”

  “Bossy asshole,” I mutter as my feet touch the dirt path at the bottom of the steps.

  And just as I open the door to his sleek red sports car, a truck pulls in and I freeze, catching sight of the familiar eyes I’ve never forgotten and have wanted to see for so long, staring right back at me.

  6

  Rocco

  My eyes lock on Rebel.

  She stares back, her blue eyes wide, looking more beautiful than the last time I saw her.

  I’m out of my truck before she has a chance to even think, stalking toward her. “What’s happening?” My gaze moves from Rebel to my brother and then back to her. “Where are you going?”

  I promised myself I wouldn’t show up here, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep myself from coming. Too many things were left unsaid, and this is my only chance at changing that shit.

  She hasn’t moved and is barely breathing, and the dark-haired little girl in Rebel’s arms is staring at me with the same wide eyes as the woman holding her.

  Carmello lifts his hands, knowing I’m pissed. “Hold up,” he says quickly, heading my way. “What are you doing here?”

  I run my fingers through my hair, trying to calm down—and failing. “You told me she was going to be here.”

  “You said you were busy,” he reminds me.

  “I got unbusy. Now, what the fuck is going on?”

  He rolls his eyes and grunts. “Rebel’s in trouble. She can’t stay here, so I was going to take her home with me.”

  He’s taking her home with him?

  “Wanna say that again?” I ask, cocking my head.

  I couldn’t have heard him right.

  Carm doesn’t get involved in drama, and there isn’t a woman outside our family he gives any shits about.

  “She’s in a bind, Roc. I figured I’d give her and the baby a safe place to stay.”

  “Not a baby,” mini-Rebel says.

  Rebel’s blue eyes flicker to me for only the briefest of moments before they move back to my brother. “I’m fine here,” she argues. “I don’t want to go anywhere else. We aren’t your problem or cross to bear. You two can go. Please…just go.”

  I’ve heard those words before and the last time I listened, but this time, that shit isn’t going to fly.

  If she is in trouble, I won’t walk away like I did ten years ago, having regretted that decision ever since.

  “Stay here,” Carmello tells her, pointing to the ground where she’s standing.

  Rebel’s face goes from pale to bright red at the way Carmello spoke. She opens her mouth to say something, but she quickly snaps it shut when the little girl in her arms pulls Rebel’s face down to her level and whispers in her ear.

  “What’s going on?” I ask him, turning my back to Rebel and taking a few steps away from them with him.

  He grabs my arm, moving me farther away and drops his voice. “She’s running from an ex. She had her phone on and didn’t turn off the GPS.”

  “Fucking dumb,” I mutter.

  “Yep. She has nowhere else to turn, so like I said before…I’m taking them home.”

  I stare at him, letting his words sink in. There is so much to unpack in that long-winded sentence. “Someone’s after them?”

  “She hasn’t given me many details, but she’s not in the mood to be found. I think that’s why she wanted to stay at the cabin. We can’t leave her out here alone, though, man. It’s freaking desolate up here.”

  Anger bubbles in my veins, not only because Rebel’s in trouble, but because Carmello didn’t even think of me and how I’d feel about him bringing her home with him. “So, you were just going to take her home without calling me first?”

  A small smile creeps across his lips. “Why would I call you about Rebel?”

  My throat tightens, but I shake off the unfamiliar feeling climbing up my insides. “You know why.”

  “No,” he says, shaking his head, smile still firmly planted on his lips. “Explain it to me.”

  I lift my chin, glaring at him. “Do we have time for this shit?”

  “Not really, but I find it fascinating that you don’t care about any chick, but you’re territorial about this one.”

  “We have history,” I remind him.

  “You had a night.”

  While Carmello is technically right, we had way more than that. The words spoken and the soft touches we exchanged in those hours before and after the accident are things I can’t shake. Hell, I’ve tried every day to get her out from under my skin and have failed miserably.

  “We had more than that, and you know it,” I growl, curling my fingers into fists at my sides.

  “So, you want me to leave her here?”

  “No,” I snap, my fingers clenching tighter. “I’ll take her.”

  He lifts an eyebrow. “And the kid?”

  “Her too. They’re not going with you. I’ll take them with me. She and I need to talk, and I’ll find out exactly what’s going on.”

  “One night of being in her pussy ten years ago doesn’t mean she’s about to open up to you about her entire life, Rocco. It’s been ten fucking years since she laid eyes on you.”

  I lean forward, getting into his space. “I know that, asshole, but she was mine and not yours.”

  He jerks back like I coldcocked him, but there’s a smirk hanging from his lips. “She’s yours?”

  I close my eyes and sigh. “You know what I mean. Carrie was yours, and Rebel was mine.”

  “Was,” he reiterates, dipping his chin.

  “Whatever. I’m taking them,” I tell my brother, pushing past him, and stalk toward her.

  Her eyes widen for a moment as I move her way, and then her face softens. “Rocco,” she whispers, backing up like I’m going to do something bad to her.

  “Rebel,” I say softly, trying to rid myself of the agitation my brother and the entire situation have stirred up inside me. “You’re coming with me, sugar.”

  “Sugar?” she repeats on a whisper, wrinkling her nose. Her eyes move over my shoulder to Carmello, and I ready myself for what I know is going to come out of her mouth next. “I think it’s best if I…”

  “No,” I tell her. “It’s not best. You’re getting in my truck and not his. We need to talk, and it can’t wait any longer.”

  She lifts her chin, defiance in her deep-blue eyes. “Then maybe you should’ve answered the phone the numerous times I’ve called you in the last ten years.”

  Guilt floods me.

  She’s right.

  I should’ve answered her calls, but I couldn’t bring myself to hear her voice again…no matter how much I wanted to.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You should be,” she throws back at me.

  “Mommy,” the little girl whispers.

  Rebel glances down, shifting the little girl in her arms. “What, baby?”

  “Be nice.” The little girl smiles up at Rebel, blinking her big blue eyes, looking all innocent and sweet.

  “I am, Adaline.”

  “No.” Adaline places her tiny palms on Rebel’s cheeks, moving her face closer. “You are not.”

  “I’ll be nicer to the bossy man, sweetheart. I promise.” Rebel peers up at me, cutting me with her blue eyes.

  “We need to leave,” Carmello says as he makes his way to his car. “I’ll switch the car seat, and I’ll drop your things off at Rocco’s when we get back to town.”

  “No. Don’t. We’ll go with you,” she tells him, completely going against my wishes, and starts to move in his direction. “I’d rather we go with you.”

  My arm shoots out, capturing her by the wrist and stopping her from taking another step. “Rebel, please,” I beg, knowing we have words that need to be said, and if anyone can get her to open up, it’s me.

  Not him.

  They have nothing together.

  No shared history.

  No connection other than Carrie.

  Ours may have been short, but we still had something, and nothing or no one can change that. Not even the ten years we spent apart, not speaking to each other.

  “Please just come with me.”

  Adaline makes a little kicking motion before pushing her way down her mother’s body.

  Rebel’s eyes are fixed on mine before Adaline’s feet touch the ground. “Fine,” Rebel says, but her tone is full of attitude. “We’ll go with you.”

  Adaline moves toward Carmello and reaches for his hand, gazing up at him in that way kids do to steal your freaking heart. “I’m going in the pink car.”

  Carmello looks down at her in horror. “It’s red, kid.”

  “Pink,” she insists, pointing with her other hand to his souped-up red Challenger and holding his hand with the other.

  “Red,” he argues back, even though the fight is unwinnable.

  He knows this, but my brother has never been one to back down from a fight, not even with a child.

  “Adaline, you stay with Mommy,” Rebel tells her, immediately turning away from me and striding toward her daughter and my brother.

  “No,” Adaline says. “Pink car, Mommy.”

  “Again, it’s a red car.” Carmello rolls his eyes with a huff before bringing his gaze back to Rebel. “Why don’t you go with him, and I’ll take her. We’ll follow behind you two.”

  Rebel gawks at Carmello, betrayal in her eyes. “You’re going to drive hours in a car with a five-year-old?”

  Mello shrugs. “I do have younger cousins. I’m not allergic to kids, Rebel. Been around them my whole life. We’ll be fine.”

  “She talks a lot. I mean a lot, a lot.”

  “So do most of the women I know,” Carmello says, smiling down at the little girl. “She can keep me company while you two…” His voice drifts for a second as he looks across the yard at me. “…while you two get reacquainted.”

  Rebel peers over her shoulder at me, no smile on her face and only contempt in her eyes. “It’s not a good idea.”

  “Go, Mommy,” Adaline insists, pushing on Rebel’s leg. “You go with the big man.”

  The little girl makes me smile. That’s the thing about kids. Zero filter. It’s refreshing to hear their type of honesty when they give exactly no shits about what they’re saying.

  Rebel kneels in front of her daughter and peers up at Carmello as he twirls his keys in his hand, standing near the hood of his car, before taking her daughter’s tiny hands in hers. “You sure you’re going to be okay without me?”

  “Yes,” the girl whispers, twisting her body like she’s about to jump out of her own skin. “I’ll be good.”

  Rebel sighs, giving her daughter a hug but looking only at Carmello. “She likes music. Just play it and play it loud, and she won’t be an issue.”

  “Noted.” He nods.

  “Yippee!” the little squirt cheers before planting a big sloppy kiss on her mother’s cheek. “Pink car!”

  “It’s red.”

  Adaline turns, lifting her arms and shaking them at Carmello. “Upsies,” she says, instantly getting the reaction she wants out of him.

  He plops her in the back seat, making quick work of the car seat restraints. “Let’s roll, people.”

  “Let’s roll,” Adaline repeats, kicking her little feet, which are covered in hot-pink tennis shoes. “Bye, Mommy.” Adaline waves with a big toothy grin.

  Rebel stands there, not moving, and watches as Carmello closes the door. “You better drive safe and not like a race car driver with my kid in there.”

  “I have precious cargo.” She stares at him until he ticks his chin in my direction. “Go,” he tells her. “We’re losing daylight.”

  “I didn’t think things could get any worse, but clearly, I was wrong,” she mutters as she stalks toward the passenger side of my SUV. “I’m not happy about this.”

  Those words are pointed at me as she climbs in, slamming the door as hard as she can to prove her point.

  She’s pissed.

  Do I care? Fuck no.

  We are going to talk.

  She is going to tell me what we need to know to keep her safe. If she hates me for it, so be it, as long as she is safe.

  I exchange a look with my brother. “This should be a great ride,” I tell him while Rebel gives me the evil eye as she sits inside my SUV.

  “Learn everything you can while the kid isn’t around. Rebel didn’t want to say much in front of her earlier, but she has no excuse now.”

  “Got it.”

  “And, Rocco,” he says before I can grab the door handle and hit the road.

  “Yeah?”

  “Be nice to her and take it slow. Don’t force her to talk.”

  My jaw ticks at his comment, and I grind my teeth, pissed. “I know, brother. I’m not an idiot.”

  “Debatable,” he whispers as he opens the door and climbs inside to a squealing little girl.

  I’m in the SUV a second later, and Rebel stares out the passenger side window, ignoring my presence.

  I’ll give her a few minutes to stew in her anger. She deserves the time to get herself situated after I forced her to come with me against her will. I wasn’t trying to be an asshole, but she and I need to talk.

  I let the silence fill the space as we pull out onto the road, with Carmello and Adaline right behind us.

  We have three hours of road in front of us, and there is no way she’ll stay silent the entire time.

  Eventually she’ll have something to say, even if it is only to tell me to fuck off, but that’s when I’ll have my opening, and I’ll take it.

  7

  Rocco

  Over two hours and not a single sound from Rebel.

  I was wrong when I thought she couldn’t stay silent for the entire ride.

  She could, and fuckin’ A, she did.

  Not even a sigh has come from her lips.

  Nothing but complete silence and I am done waiting for her to make the first move.

  “Rebel, we need to talk.”

  “About what?” she asks, not turning in my direction. “There’s nothing to say.”

  “There’s plenty to say.”

  “You didn’t have enough to say to me when I called you before.”

  I grimace.

  She’s got me.

  I did that. I’ll own it.

  My muscles tighten as she throws my past sins in my face. “I said I was sorry. I should’ve picked up the phone. I wanted to, Rebel. I really did, but I just…” I grip the steering wheel tighter as I glance over, getting the back of her head. “I just couldn’t.”

  “You weren’t the only one who was in that accident, Rocco.”

  “I know,” I mutter, feeling like an asshole.

  “I lost my best friend that day. I had to deal with my grief alone.”

  “You had your aunt,” I tell her, and I immediately regret my words.

  I know all about her aunt and what a bitch she was to Rebel.

  She lets out a disgusted laugh. “That woman never cared about me. She was more worried how much the hospital bill was than how I was doing or what I felt. I was alone. Totally and completely alone the moment you walked out of the emergency room.”

  “I…” I start to say, but I have nothing.

  There’s no excuse for the way I behaved. I did everything I could to try to forget the look in Carrie’s eyes as her life drifted away.