“I’ll deal with you later,” he told her.
She flipped him off and he swore.
“On to the reason why I’m here–”
“None,” Rebel yelled. “You have no good reason to be here, so please remedy that and leave.”
Diesel ignored her. “Where’s my fucking champagne, Rebel?”
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law, brother. If you don’t have it, it’s no longer yours.”
“Theft isagainstthe law,sister. Punishable by death.”
Kayce angled his body in front of the table, so Diesel wouldn’t see the bottle and the glasses. He’d kill Kaia. Praying his brother’s ploy worked, Kaia shivered.
Lumbering to her feet, Rebel limped to Diesel, dug in her pocket and pulled out crumpled money. She slammed it against his chest. Instead of claiming it, Diesel glared at her, allowing the money, a Benji, to flutter to the floor.
“Take the money, asshole, and fuck off.”
“You went into my goddamn room and stole.”
“Waa-waa, get over it.” Lifting her chin, she made it to the bed and plopped down. “I asked you to buy Mattie and me a bottle and you said no.”
Diesel bent and picked up the money. “Your fucking criminal behavior had fuck all to do with my deciding against nurturing your alcoholism and everything to do with that bottle being for my fiancée.” He pocketed the hondo. “Listen to me, Rebel, and listen well. If you fuck with her, I will shake the fuck out of you.”
“You can try, fuckhead,” she said darkly, her eyes bright with more unshed tears. She was quite emotional this evening, but maybe it wasn’t about Diesel. She’d gone through a lot recently. “I will stomp you.”
Glowering, Diesel stalked to her. That she was almost eye-level with his crotch ratcheted up Kaia’s ick factor. She flushed, but Diesel’s chilling look left him uneasy. He buried his fingers in her hair and tipped her head back.
“You can try, sweetheart,” he whispered, “but I’m the one who taught you to fight. I know your tricks and ten more. Stop fucking with me.” He shoved her away, turned to Kaia, and held out his hand.
Pretending ignorance, Kaia remained still.
“Give me the fucking bottle, motherfucker,” Diesel ordered.
Kaia didn’t know what Diesel would do to any of them if he confessed that they drank that bottle of champagne. Although he was no match for him, Kaia wouldn’t allow Diesel to turn his anger against Rebel.
“I-I told her to steal it. K-Kayce and m-me…we’re…we’re not old enough to b-buy alcohol either. We drank it. D-don’t take it out on R-Rebel.”
Diesel glared at Kaia, his nostrils flaring.
“I have a bottle in your room, Rebel. Go with Mattie and drink the champagne,” Diesel ordered.
“No.”
Smiling, he dug in his pocket and took out his cell phone.
“Don’t,” Rebel cried, jumping to her feet.
“Exactly.” He sent a text and tucked his phone away again, then studied her mouth again. “We both know Uncle Christopher doesn’t appreciate the fact that you’re even in Kaia’s private quarters. With alcohol to boot, little sister? Tsk, tsk.”
“It was my idea,” Mattie said quickly, inching closer to Kayce. “I wanted to hang out with Kayce and Reb hasn’t spent much time with Kaia recently.”
“Is it not enough that trouble finds the two of you, Mattie?” Diesel asked, shaking his head. “Do you have to look for it as well?”
Unease flickered across Mattie’s face. “I’m sorry.”
“Leave Mattie alone, fuckhead,” Rebel ordered. “She didn’t fucking do anything. And you especially can’t talk about trouble when you’re the walking, talking epitome of it.”
