Rebel (Renegades 2)

Wes passed through the decadently appointed main salon where ornate wedding dresses lined racks on the walls and dressed mannequins. Everything in the studio was shiny marble and plush carpeting, upscale carpentry and thickly padded seating arrangements. This was, after all, a millionaire’s mecca for the most elite, haute couture, and couture wedding fashions.

A full-length mirror caught his image, and Wes stopped. “Ah, shit. ”

He brushed at the blood on the front of his white shirt and cursed the producer of the film. Again. Wes had often played unofficial bodyguard to a star he was doubling. Personal protection was one of the professional hazards of a stuntman. Men who defied death and dismemberment daily were typically smooth mediators and confident fighters, which kept unruly fans away. Or, in Bolton’s case, kept the actor reined in. But Wes had never doubled a star this messed up. Bolton seemed bent on beating every man he came into contact with and talking dirty to every woman within earshot—all after just three drinks.

“I’m adding a new shirt to the bodyguard bill. MacKenzie now owes me over three grand in payoffs, and this is a fifty-dollar shirt. Oh, and by the way,” Wes added as he eased to the corner of a desk chair and laid his forehead on folded arms, grimacing against the pain, “I quit. ”

“You’re not quitting. ”

Wes lifted his head as Jax returned with ice in a plastic bag. “Why the hell not? You’re not the only game in town, Chamberlin. ”

“Sit up and stop whining. ” Jax laid the ice pack over his swelling eye, and Wes swore. “Hold it there, and I’ll get some meds. ”

Jax turned toward the main salon and the stairs to the loft, but Lexi appeared with a bottle of Advil in one hand, a bottle of water in the other. “Here. ”

The sight of her brought back Wes’s other biggest frustration. “What did you tell Rubi, Lex? She’s trying to put the brakes on us again. ”

“Hey,” Jax barked at Wes. “Watch your tone. ”

“Stop,” Lexi said. “Both of you. ” She looked at Wes. “I didn’t say anything negative to Rubi. I said just the opposite. She has a tendency to turn things upside down when she’s stressed. ”

He swallowed the Advil and drank half the bottle of water, now even more pissed he had no direction for his anger. Setting down the bottle, he muttered, “Thanks. ”

“Where’s Bolton?” Jax asked. “And what the hell happened?”

“Bolton’s in jail. ”

“What?” Jax planted his hands on his hips. “You were supposed to prevent that. ”

Wes already felt bad enough. He slammed the ice on the desk and glared at Jax through his right eye. Lexi gasped in horror at the sight of his face. “I could have if he hadn’t had a fucking dime of coke in his pocket. Or if the woman he groped would have taken my money instead of pressing charges. Some things are out of my control. Besides, the fucker deserves to spend the night with lowlifes for starting the goddamned brawl that landed me this eye. And I’m warning you now, if he tries to take credit for giving it to me, I’m going to leave him looking twice as bad. ”

Lexi stepped between them. She wore white sweatpants that hit her midcalf with the word PINK curved over the ass in—of course—pink, and a matching pink tank. Her hair was up in a messy bun, her face pristinely clean of makeup. She looked every bit the sun-kissed Kentucky farm girl of her roots.

“Relax, both of you,” she said. “Jax, why don’t you make whatever calls you need to make and I’ll clean Wes up. ”

Jax ran both hands through his hair. “This is insane. I’ll find a way to shoot every one of his scenes without his face in it if I have to. That’s why you’re not quitting, Lawson. Once Craig and MacKenzie get wind of Bolton’s shit, they’re gonna want to make you into the next fucking Hollywood star. ”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and stalked into a quieter area of Lexi’s studio.

Wes yelled after him, “I don’t want to be the next fucking Hollywood star. I just want to do my goddamned stunts without an asshole causing trouble. ” He fisted the ice bag and gestured toward Jax’s back. “Coke, dude. He was carrying a bag of fucking cocaine. Do you realize the mess that could have gotten us all into if he had it on the set? Or if he used before a fucking stunt?” His blood boiled with the ramifications. “Someone could die. ”

As soon as he stopped yelling, the pressure in his head subsided, leaving a residual throb he felt all the way to his teeth. He groaned, closed his eyes, and let his head fall into his hands.

“Shh, Wes. ” Lexi’s hushed voice instantly cut his tension. She put a hand on his shoulder and tilted his face up toward hers with two fingers. “He understands

. He’ll take care of it. ”

Wes let his anger ebb, closed his eyes, and blew out a breath through his teeth. “Sorry I got mad at you. ” He opened his eyes and winced. “You’re not going to pin my mouth closed, are you? I don’t think I could take it. ”

Lexi burst into laughter, her blue eyes sparkling. “Shut up. ”

“Does that translate into forgiveness?”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I’m going to get the tackle box. ”

“Oh no,” Wes groaned as she disappeared into the break room. “Not the tackle box. ”

“Yeah, Ted,” Jax’s voice, heavy with turmoil, came distantly from the other room, “we’ve got a problem. ”