Page 124 of Rebel (Renegades 2)
“Rubi. ” His voice shocked her. He’d never answered one of her calls immediately. Ever. In her entire freaking life. Not even when she’d been in the emergency room getting a cast and stitches after falling down some backstage stairs. When she remained stunned silent, he added an impatient, “What do you want now?”
“I want to know why you sold the house for less than what I offered. ”
“Business,” he said, curt and cold. “They offered cash. ”
“What difference does that make?”
“It’s quick. Clean. And it was my decision. ”
Rubi’s stomach iced over around a fiery ball of hurt. “What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?”
“Don’t be so dramatic. I’d have to care to hate you. ”
The words hit her like a wall, pain tingling through her skin, sinking into muscle, balling in her gut. “Excuse me?”
“It’s all about the sweetness of the deal, Rubi. The cash was simply sweeter. ”
“And you’re giving me a week?”
&n
bsp; “That was the buyer’s decision. If you’d like to sweeten your offer, I’d be willing to reconsider. ”
She stood and walked to the window, one arm crossed over her chest. Her mind spun, trying to uncover his angle, but she couldn’t figure it out. Not unusual; she could rarely figure him out. “In what way?”
“Wes has ignored my associate’s phone calls,” Dolph said. “Persuade him to contract with us to sell that device he’s invented, and I’ll choose your offer for the house. ”
Rubi’s mouth dropped open. The colors outside blurred. “You’re not serious. ” She barely whispered the words, knowing he was, but unable to fathom his callousness. “Tell me you have just one shred of decency in you, Dolph. Just one. Tell me you did not mean that. ”
“This isn’t about decency. This is about business. Those are my terms. If I don’t hear back from you by the end of business, I’m going forward with the deal I’ve agreed to. ”
“Don’t bother waiting. Take it. ” She meant to lower the phone, to end the call. But one of those questions she’d always harbored but had never been able to bring herself to ask tumbled out. “Just tell me this. Why did you take me in? If you care so little about me, why take me and raise me?”
“Paternity test,” he said without hesitation. “California has laws. I was going to get stuck with you regardless. And it earned me points over the years. A lot of my clients and partners value family. ”
Rubi’s throat swelled closed. Despite the ripping inside, no tears came. She felt cold and hard and hollow. Without a sound, she lowered her phone and ended the call. Then turned the phone off completely. And stared out the window.
“I was thinking. ” Wes’s voice made her start, and a sizzle of discomfort slid down her spine. “Why don’t you and Rodie move in with me? I mean, I’ll have to clear it with Jax first, but he and Lexi are going to move into a new house soon and want me to stay at the Malibu house so someone’s there. I don’t think they’d mind. If it’s a problem, we can find something else together, but that would at least give us more time. ”
A steel strap wrapped around her chest and cinched. Rubi clenched her teeth to keep from jumping down Wes’s throat—knowing it wasn’t a rational reaction. The rational reaction was Thank you, but no. But his oversimplistic solution not only trapped her right back into that damned straitjacket, it trivialized the significance of this catastrophe in Rubi’s life.
She turned toward him. Assessed his emotionless expression. “What?”
He sat forward. “There’s plenty of room, I love Rodie, you love living on the beach, and…it’s the direction I want us to take. ”
Somehow, that didn’t sit right with her. “What do you mean, the direction?”
“I mean…permanent. ”
Permanent.
Rubi had to resist the urge to laugh hysterically at the absurdity. Rubi didn’t know the meaning of the word permanent. Never had. Never would. There was nothing permanent about her universe. She’d thought they might be able to work out a relationship, but her mind hadn’t jumped anywhere beyond that.
She turned back to the window and tightened her arms on a whispered “Fuck. ”
“I know it’s not what you had planned,” he said, his voice irritated. “But you could at least think about it a minute before you dismiss the idea. ”
She turned her head to look at him, and the anger in his expression scraped exposed nerves. “Wait—you’re angry? With me? What the fuck did I do?”
