Page 40 of Rebel
“Are you kidding, these guys might be assholes, but they don’t tolerate anyone hurting women.”
I snort, remembering the first time I met him. Raven’s mouth drops open as she remembers too, although she didn’t see the lead-up to where he had a gun pointed at me.
I’m hoping she is the kind of woman who would find that unacceptable, even if it is her brother.
“Hm,” she tilts her head and studies me.
“What’s that look?” I ask, alarmed by how she is scrutinizing my face.
“Rebel might be my brother, but ugh, I can admit he’s semi-decent looking.”
“Okay,” I grab the shot glass and pretend I didn’t fuck her brother a few nights ago.
“The thing with my brother, he doesn’t do long term. He never has and he’s left a trail of broken hearts behind himover the years.”
“Good for him. Bad for the women with broken hearts,” I add belatedly, thinking of Katrina.
This wasn’t how I planned our conversation going. Raven downs her shot and sets the empty glass on the bar.
“I don’t need anyone to fight my battles for me,” I say, trying to divert whatever Raven thinks she is seeing. “I spent years living in LA, in the sleazy underbelly where I had to keep my guard up.”
“Is that why you carry mace with you?”
“Every woman should carry mace with her. And be able to throat punch a guy.”
After a beat, she throws her head back and laughs. “I would kill to see you do that to Rebel.”
“You want me to beat up your brother?”
“Bring him down a peg or two. We’re too old to have physical sibling fights anymore,” she adds wistfully, making me laugh. She leans her elbows on the bar, it’s quiet for a mid-week evening. “I’ve asked before, but are you going to go back after you’ve finished the painting?”
“I’m not sure,” I say out loud for the first time. This visit is a hiatus, a chance to regroup and get back to what I love most. “I’m enjoying spending time with Colt,” I add.
“It’s strange to hear you call him that,” she put her palm on the side of her face and rests her elbow on the bar. “He’s Father Eastwood to me.”
“That is strange tome. Could I get another?”
“Sure,” she grabs another glass and fills both up, clinking them together before downing it. “That’s my last for the night. He’s young to be a priest,” she muses.
“He’s wanted to do it for a long time,” I say. Raven listens as I explain his Catholic upbringing. I don’t elaborate on why I didn’t share their love of the God Almighty above. “I never thought he’d go through with it.”
“He’s good at it.”
“Do you go to church?”
“Sometimes,” she says, looking over my shoulder.
This conversation is veering off track. Raven is called away to serve someone as the only one behind the bar. When she comes back, I decide to get to the point.
“Things were strange here last night.”
“How so?” She moves the tray with the empty glasses into the dishwasher behind her.
“The man I saw.”
Raven starts the dishwasher and looks around. “Not a good idea to raise that in here.”
“How can I not be curious?” I ask. “The entire atmosphere changed. Rebel practically frog-marched me to the church and told Colton to lock up and not let me out. I didn’t think telling them about the man I saw would cause that much of a reaction.”
