He took a step toward Rebel, but she raised her hands.
“Don’t, Diesel. If you get close to me, I will punch you.But,” she bit out and glared from Jana to Diesel, “pay attention to Jana. Tell her it’s okay to stand up to you and you won’t turn your back on her.”
“Your idea of standing up to me is fighting and calling me names. Barring me from your room. Not talking to me.”
“Uh, fuckhead, Jana’s right there. Respect her.”
Diesel laughed bitterly. “You’re not playing reverse psychology on me, Rebel.”
“Reverse…?” Rebel gasped, then looked at Jana. “Is this the motherfucker you want to marry?Him? Are you sure about that?”
“Five minutes ago, you were sure about wanting to marry me and having my fucking baby. If it was a girl, you wanted to name her Julia.”
Those annoyed words crushed Jana. Despite what she’d been feeling since he brought her there and forgot about her, she did know Diesel. He wasn’t aggravated because how Rebel had felt; he was aggravated because of how he thought sheno longerfelt.
“Tell him to leave, Jana,” Rebel said. “Throw something at his big, stupid head. Kick his nuts. Do something.Anything. He can’t talk to you like that.”
“He isn’t talking to me,” Jana croaked.
“He’s talking to me and disrespectingyou. You’re better than what he’s doing to you.”
She wasn’t. She was an addict, who was craving a hit. She had absolutely nothing going for her. Mama didn’t care for herthat much and Diesel seemed to have stopped loving her because she’d never measure up.
Shaking her head, Rebel threw an accusatory look at Diesel. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“I’m not responsible for how Jana behaves. Unlikeyou, she knows how to back down.”
“She needs to stand the fuck up, in order to back the fuck down,” Rebel yelled.
“Jana’s perfect just the way she is.”
Jana smiled at Diesel, melting at his heartfelt words. She didn’t even care about Rebel’s horrified look.
“You believe him?” she asked, appalled.
“He’s many things, Reb, but he isn’t a liar.”
He winked at Jana and then smirked at Rebel. His arrogance was one of the things Jana loved about him. He knew he was beautiful and smart; he knew he owned the world. That he thought her perfect and defended her so fiercely dazed and amazed her.
“I love you so much, Diesel.”
“I know, babe.”
He drew her into his arms and slanted his mouth over hers. If she’d closed her eyes immediately, she wouldn’t have seen him looking over her shoulder. At Rebel.
“I hate you so fucking much,” Rebel said quietly.
Pulling away from Jana, he went to Rebel and tipped her chin up. She glared at him, her eyes cold and unyielding. “In your fucking dreams, Rebel,” he said, released her, then strolled out, not looking at Jana again.
Sitting at the table reserved for him, CJ acknowledged everyone except Ryan. He understood why his cousin showed his face. With Ryan’s supposedly new attitude came new family acceptance, so Aunt Zoann would expect him to attend. He wondered why Devon was so fucking subdued but couldn’t get into another bit of family drama. He had enough of his own.
“Where’s Rebel, Kaia?” Grant asked.
“I was waiting for her, but she told me to go ahead. She would walk over with Jana.”
“I’m glad Mom and Mattie aren’t coming,” Rory said.
Aunt Kendall still didn’t know that Jana might be her husband’s daughter. Uncle Johnnie was just a motherfucker like that.
