Rogue (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) Read Free Page A

what
felt like an eternity as she grieved over the loss of the first man she ever
loved. I knew there were no words I could say to comfort her so I just held her
and let her cry. I don’t know how long we stayed like that because before I
knew it, Max’s bedroom door opened and Trish came in, her eyes bloodshot and
red. She gave me a pleading look and I nodded. I needed to get Everleigh out of
here so they could get him ready to move to the funeral home. I leaned in and
whispered in her ear, “Everleigh, we need to step out so Trish can take care of
him.”
    She shook her head. “No, I’m not leaving
him!”
    “They’re just going to get him ready, sweetie,”
I said, rubbing her back.
    She looked up at me with sad eyes and I
nearly broke down looking into them. “I can’t let go yet.”
    I wiped a tear from her cheek just as a
fresh one fell. “He already has, Everleigh. Now you need to,” I said, trying to
soothe her as much as possible.
    I looked into her brown eyes, pleading
with her silently. She looked from me to Max and started crying hard again.
Suddenly, she stood up and leaned over his still body. Bending down to his
face, she kissed his cheek one last time and said, “I’ll love you forever,
Daddy,” and she stood up and stepped away from his bed.
    She began to reluctantly move to the
door and as I followed her out, I looked back at him one last time and said, “I
won’t let you down, Max.”
     

Chapter 2
     
     
     
    Everleigh
     
     
     
    The next four days went by in a blur.
The day after Daddy passed away, we were at the funeral home and I did the best
I could to make his funeral arrangements. Ryder had been at my side the entire
time, involving himself in every last detail of the service. I should have been
offended that a virtual stranger had shown up and taken over my dad’s funeral,
but I wasn’t. Planning a funeral is a hard thing to do, but to try and do it all
alone was unbearable. When he saw how overwhelmed I was, Ryder stepped in and
helped with every single detail, right down to the music and what Daddy would
be buried in.
    He’d pretty much moved in temporarily at
home too, keeping a constant eye on me and attending to my every need. He made
sure I ate and showered (he jokingly offered to give me one himself to try and
make me smile). He also slept in my bed, holding me close, which was actually
very comforting. He tried to sleep on the couch the night that Daddy died, but
I felt scared and alone so when I begged him to come in and sleep in my room,
he didn’t hesitate.
    It was now Thursday…the day of the
funeral. Sadly enough, it was also New Year’s Eve. Everyone should have been
getting ready to celebrate and countdown to the New Year but instead we were all
gathering to say goodbye to my father. After I had dressed in my best black
dress and pinned my hair up, Ryder had made me choke down a small amount of
breakfast before taking me to the funeral home. As we left my house, just as
expected, there were cameras everywhere again. Even though they were annoying
and I really wish they would go away, they surprisingly kept their distance and
took long range shots of us so they weren’t too close. I guess sometimes the
press can have respect for the dead.
    We made it to the funeral home and Ryder
and I were quickly ushered inside a back entrance by John. Once we were inside,
he took my coat and hung it on a hanger. As he shrugged out of his jacket, I
noticed for the first time that he was wearing a suit. It was a sharp black
Armani suit and looked like it had been tailored to mold perfectly to his tall
muscular frame. He looked absolutely gorgeous. I looked at him and for the
first time in four days, I smiled. His eyes caught mine. “What is it?”
    “You look good in a suit, rock star,” I
said, and he grinned at me.
    “You don’t look so bad yourself,
gorgeous.”
    I smiled again. “Listen, before we go in
there I just want to say thank you.”
    “For what?” he