The Rebel's Return (Red River) by Victoria James Read Free Book Online Page B

saw a cover over the car he and his brother had purchased for their father a year ago. He yanked it off and shoved it in an empty corner, unlocked the car, and got inside. He frowned as a growing suspicion formed. He started the engine and cursed as he looked at the odometer. His father had never driven it.
    He pulled out of the garage and scowled as he parked next to his father who was waiting in the driveway. Once he was inside and the door was shut, Aiden turned out of the driveway and drove down Main Street. He didn’t even glance in the direction of Nat’s bakery, because chances were she’d be standing in the window and would give him the finger as he drove by. That almost brought a smile to his face. Except then he remembered how much she hated him. That knowledge gutted him every time he thought about it, about the look on her face when she walked into his dad’s house. He had hoped she’d moved on, found a great guy, got married, had kids…was happy. Hell no, he didn’t really want that. He was lying. He wanted her for himself, always had. And now that he saw her again, he wanted her even more. He wanted to be the one to give her all those things. But she thought he was a cheating loser, and he’d go on letting her think that. He couldn’t come back to Red River and start a life here. He couldn’t be that close to his father. He’d promised her older brother and his once best friend, Dom, that he’d stay away from her.
    He also wasn’t going to let himself find out what had happened to her while he’d been gone. He still knew her on another level, completely able to read her. Some jerk had hurt her, even though she’d vehemently denied it. He needed to remember this wasn’t his business anymore. None of them were.
    He was here for the disgruntled senior sitting beside him.
    “Care to tell me why you never took this car out for even a drive?”
    His father didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed. He just gave a grunt and stared out the window. Aiden tried to control his temper, but it was pretty damn difficult.
    “Seriously? Dylan and I buy you a car, and you don’t even bother to drive it? You kept on driving that P.O.S.?”
    His father shifted in his seat and turned to look out the passenger window. “Don’t need my sons providing for me. Just trying to rub it in my face that I was a part-time mechanic while the two of you went on to build an empire.”
    His father could have been more, if he’d been sober during regular business hours. Now wasn’t the time to get into that crap. “It’s not like that. We weren’t thinking of trying to make you feel bad. Besides, if we wanted to make you feel bad, we would’ve come up with a cheaper way. It was a gift, plain and simple.”
    “Well, I only drive domestic.”
    Aiden clenched his hands around the steering wheel and increased his speed once they were out of town and on the country roads. This…nothing ever would bring their father closer to them. They couldn’t figure the man out. Fine.
    “So, do you like your oncologist?” He was going to try and make pleasant conversation. He was also going to silently curse his brother until he could make a phone call to him. At the very least, Dylan needed to suffer through him recounting the irritating details of the day.
    His dad shrugged. “I wouldn’t go out for drinks with him, but he seems to know what he’s doing.”
    “Okay, that’s good. We looked him up, and he has a great reputation. Evan also highly recommended him.” He kept his eyes on the road. “Any side effects?”
    His father made a scoffing sound. “Who cares? My choices are basically radiation or death, as you pointed out the other day. So I don’t know why the hell they go on about side effects.”
    “Uh, maybe so you know what to look out for? What’s normal?”
    “Yeah. Go ahead and ask if you really want to know. Oh, I think they gave me some binder or something with a bunch of papers in it.”
    He gritted