Chapter 2: Rebel
God, it was good to be home. The last two months had been exhausting. I’d spent it in Michigan with my cousin, Ariel, helping her care for her terminally ill dad at the end, as well as dealing with his funeral and estate. She had been a mess, so I stayed and helped her straighten it all out. I was glad I got to see him one last time before he passed away. He was the one family member, along with his daughter, I liked and would claim. I had told her she could move closer to me, but she wanted to stay there where she had friends.
Bull and the guys had kept me updated on how things were going in Hunters Creek, but it wasn’t the same as being here. I’d missed the renovation and opening of the bakery, which sucked, since I was technically one of the managers. I hadn’t even had the chance to meet my co-manager, Madisen. I knew Devyn and Jocelyn spoke highly of her and I’d tasted some of her yummy creations, but that was it. I wanted to see how we would work together.
I’d gotten in late last night, so I hadn’t had time to talk to my brothers or stop in the bakery. I planned to take care of both of those things today. Since I got in so late, most everyone was already gone for the day when I came out to the common room this morning. I grabbed some coffee and waved at the prospects before going out to get on my bike.
I headed into town. I planned to stop at the garage and then pop across the street to meet Madisen and check out the bakery. As I pulled into the garage, Maverick, Outlaw, Ace, and Slash came out to greet me. After back slaps and fist bumps, I settled in to see how they were doing. Looking around, the place looked busy. They had cars waiting to be serviced. While we bullshitted and caught up, Joker and Ajax pulled into the lot. They welcomed me back. After catching up on what was new with all of them, I asked them for an update.
“How’s it going over at the bakery? The last I heard. Bull told me it was going well.”
Joker laughed. “Man, it has been doing great. They’re run off their feet most days. Usually, it dies down at this time of day, then it picks back up around lunch, straight through the afternoon until closing. Madisen, Serena, and Trudie are working their asses off.”
Ajax nodded. “Yeah, if they keep it up, they’ll need to hire another person.”
That was good to hear. I’d check it out myself and see if we needed an additional person. While I wasn’t the one doing the hiring, I wanted to be involved in decisions like adding more staff or making major purchases. I was, after all, responsible to the club for its fiscal success.
Slash laughed. “Well, now that Rebel is back, we should see the profits skyrocket. You know him and his sweet tooth.” I flipped him the bird. Yes, I liked my sweets, but not enough to fund a whole damn additional employee.
“Screw you, assholes. You’re just jealous I can eat them and not lose this fabulous body.” This caused them all to laugh. We were bashing each other when yelling caught our attention. It was coming from across the street. When we looked over, we saw a man come storming out of the bakery door with a woman chasing after him. It wasn’t the angry guy who caught my attention, it was the woman. She was drop-dead gorgeous. I felt my mouth go dry and my heart started to beat faster.
She was short, but built like a damn pinup girl. From this distance, I guessed her to be around five foot three or four. She had shoulder-length, dark brown hair with golden highlights that were shining in the sun. I couldn’t tell what color her eyes were. Her body looked toned, but with sexy curves in all the right places. Her waist was tiny, and she had hips, ass, and breasts that a man could grab a hold of all day long.
I liked my women to have some meat on their bones. Not be a bone. I hated to be with a woman I was afraid I’d hurt if I fucked her hard. She was dressed in tight leggings and a sexy, floaty-looking blouse. She looked pissed and yelled at the man. The man looked to be in his mid to late twenties. He had a dark scowl on his face and was stomping away when she chased out after him. He turned around when she yelled at him. I listened to see what was going on. All my brothers were alert as well.
“You stay the hell away from her! I mean it. She told you she wants nothing to do with you. Stop calling her, stop sitting outside her house and stop stalking her. She’s through with you and your bullshit. I’m warning you, if you don’t stop or if you lay a hand on her again, you won’t like what happens.”
He stopped, whipped around, and yelled back at her, “Shut your fucking mouth! It isn’t any of your business, bitch. She’s my girlfriend. I’ll do whatever I want whenever I want, and there is nothing you can do about it. Tell her I’ll be seeing her.” He turned and got into a car parked in front of the bakery. The woman stood watching as he pulled away. She had an angry expression on her face. Once he was gone, she turned around and stomped back inside. I looked at the guys.
“I think it’s time we go check on the bakery.” Ajax, Joker, and Slash all said they’d come with me. I hurried across the road. As we walked in the door, I heard the bell chime. The beauty I saw outside looked up from behind the counter, where she was holding a younger woman in her arms. I headed straight for her. Before I got a chance to say anything, Joker beat me to it.
“What’s going on, sexy? What in the hell was up with that guy you just chewed out?” He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to him. She seemed to melt into him. I found that it pissed me off. The bastard had already claimed her. Fuck! Just my damn luck. The first woman to intrigue me in forever and she was taken. I couldn’t and wouldn’t go after another brother’s woman.
“You saw that, did you, stud? It was Serena’s now ex-boyfriend. Except he doesn’t want to be her ex. He’s been stalking and harassing her for days. Today, he came in here looking for her, and I had to keep him from dragging her out of here. She’s been staying with me. I told him to stay away or else. Not sure he’ll listen. He’s an abusive prick with asshole tendencies.”
Joker laughed. I stepped closer. She looked up at me. Her unusual eyes stunned me. They were a light, almost crystalline blue, framed by thick, long lashes. Her face was model perfect with creamy skin that I wanted to touch. She blinked.
“Who is this?”
Ajax answered, “This is Rebel. He’s your partner in the bakery.” I saw his answer took her by surprise. She came around the counter and held out her hand.
“Hello, Rebel. Nice to meet you. I’m Madisen. Good to finally meet you. Sorry for the rude welcome. Hopefully, you won’t see anything like that again. Why don’t you guys have a seat and I’ll grab you some coffee and some treats out of the cases?” She went to pull away. I held onto her hand. She gave me a confused look.
“Nice to meet you too, Madisen. Though I’m not happy with the way this all went down. You should have told us you were having issues with someone. A guy stalking or harassing one of our employees is a must know for us.”
She frowned at me and got a funny look on her face. “Well, Rebel, I didn’t think it was something I needed to bother anyone with. She’s been staying with me and until today, he hadn’t come around or caused more problems. I don’t need a man to take care of things for me, but thanks for the offer.” She dismissed me. I found it both pissed me off and made me hard. Some guys seemed to like submissive women. I only liked a woman to be that way in bed, sometimes. Her fiery nature turned me the hell on. Too bad there was nothing I could do about it.
Joker jumped in before I could say anything else. “Now, darlin’, we know you can handle yourself, but we need to know this kind of shit. Next time, let us know, please.” She gave him a tiny smile and nodded, then she went behind the counter. We sat down as she and Serena prepped coffees and a selection of pastries for us. I watched her every move.
The bell chimed, announcing another customer. We sat back and enjoyed the coffee and pastries that Serena brought us and watched the place get busy. They were both running their asses off to keep up. Several people asked Serena if she was alright and what had happened to her face. She played it off like she’d fallen. I saw that some of them didn’t believe it.
After a short break, the others got up to go, but I stayed seated. It seemed like an excellent time to find out when Madisen could go through the business with me and get me up to speed. I told the guys I was staying.
Joker gave her a hug and asked, “You’re coming Saturday to the bar, right? Devyn and Jocelyn are excited.” She nodded.
“Of course, I wouldn't miss it. Tell them I’ll be there.” He kissed her on the cheek and left. I guess he didn’t want to get too cozy in front of the customers. Personally, if I had a woman like her, I wouldn’t give a shit who saw me kissing her. I’d want everyone to know she was mine and off-limits.
I hadn’t missed the lustful looks she’d gotten from more than one male customer. They ate her up with their eyes. She acted like she didn’t even notice. But I fucking noticed, and it pissed me off. Jesus, I needed to stop. She wasn’t mine, nor would she ever be. Joker needed to be the one to put assholes like them in their places. I sat back to wait for the crowd to die down again. It was another forty-five minutes before the place got calm enough for her to break away. She came over to me and sat down at the table I was occupying at the back of the bakery.