Rebel Fighter: A Rockport Security Romance, page 1
REBEL FIGHTER
EMBRY FOX
Copyright © 2023 Embry Fox
All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used to reproduce, scan, or be distributed in any printed or electronic form in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations for articles or reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials.
Cover Design: Dazed Designs
Editing: Owlsome Author Services
Formating: Owlsome Author Services
We all have the fight inside of us.
Even when circumstances try to drag you down, remember to be a Little Vixen and get back up to fight again.
Thank you to those of you who helped remind me how to fight. This is for you.
CONTENTS
Rebel Fighter
Trigger Warning
Playlist
Prologue
1. Emma ~ Now
2. Trevor
3. Emma
4. Trevor
5. Emma
6. Emma ~ 13 years ago
7. Trevor
8. Emma
9. Trevor ~ 13 years ago
10. Trevor
11. Emma
12. Emma
13. Trevor
14. Emma ~ 12 Years Ago
15. Trevor
16. Emma
17. Trevor
18. Emma ~ 11 years ago
19. Emma
20. Trevor
21. Emma
22. Trevor ~ Eleven Years Ago
23. Trevor
24. Trevor
25. Emma
26. Steel
27. Emma
28. Trevor ~ Ten Years Ago
29. Trevor
30. Emma
31. Trevor ~ Ten Years Ago
32. Trevor
33. Emma ~ July Ten Years Ago
34. Emma
35. Trevor
Epilogue
Afterword
Untitled
Damned Embers: Rockport Security Book 2
Prologue
About Embry Fox
Books By Embry Fox
REBEL FIGHTER
Trevor:
They told me I would amount to nothing.
They told me she would never be mine.
It took me 10 years, but I finally did it.
I’m finally back in my hometown.
The place where she resides.
Her family are still controlling assholes, but they’ve never come up against someone like me.
I’ll fight to own her; body and soul. Whatever it takes.
Emma:
Ten years ago, he was just a young teenager fighting for his place in this world.
He grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.
My family told me to keep my distance, he was good for nothing.
If only my heart would have listened.
The day he left is the day I felt my world ending, but now he’s back…
And he’s here for me.
I hope he knows he is going to have to fight to own me.
That’s right.
Most families let their children find love on their own… not mine.
To marry me… they must fight in an underground fight club and come out the winner.
What a fucked-up world we live in.
Especially because there’s one secret I’ve kept all these years.
My daughter… She belongs to Trevor.
TRIGGER WARNING
Please note that this book does have references to parental physical abuse. There is also violence and sexual content. It is meant for readers 18+.
PLAYLIST
Burn - Papa Roach
Faint - Linkin Park
Frontline - Pillar
Remember the Name - Fort Minor
Remember Everything - Five Finger Death Punch
Jekyll and Hyde - Five Finger Death Punch
Freak Like Me - Halestorm
I Miss The Misery - Halestorm
Mz. Hyde - Halestorm
Miss Me More - Kelsea Ballerini
Gasoline - Halsey
Awake & Alive - Skillet
PROLOGUE
Emma
13 Years Ago
Walking down the halls of Evercrest High School was just like being in a zoo. Every clique kept to its own areas, except a few stragglers who would make their way around talking to everyone. My older sister warned me and told me to stay clear of certain cliques to not embarrass our family. I rolled my eyes this morning when she said it, knowing I would still behave, considering I didn’t want to earn our father's ire at the start of the school year.
Walking these halls for the first time as a freshman should have been scary. Instead, I am elated to finally see my friends again and, more importantly, get out of my house.
Here’s the thing though; I’m not your typical freshman. My family owns this town. They have for generations. Everyone stepping foot in Evercrest High School today would be considered fresh blood. I, however, have been tight friends with the most popular girls for years. Our families are close, and my older sister is the leader of their clique. It was expected that I would fit right in, so Nora has spent all summer preparing me for what to expect—all the ins and outs of each clique and who to avoid, and who to talk to. It was already assumed that I would be welcome with the cheerleaders, especially since we had done summer workouts and tryouts for the past two months.
Because of who we are, certain things are expected of us. I never was, and never will be, free of the responsibilities of my family. My sister has been in an arranged marriage since her sophomore year; she’s a senior now. She did that to protect me—or at least she thought she did. Last week, I overheard our parents talking. They are already trying to find an appropriate match for me. It seems the bargain Nora made to let me have my freedom meant nothing. She gave up her chance at happiness for nothing. I’m sure our parents wouldn’t have allowed her to choose who to marry either. My parents haven’t gotten along for a long time, except for this; money and status are the only things they agree upon. The only thing they care about. Anything that would risk that is a no-go.
When I graduate is the exact moment I get married, no matter my wishes.
Walking down the halls to join my sister and her clique, I barely notice all the stares from other students. They aren’t worth my time. They never have been. Half the people in this school mean nothing to my family. It’s the mantra I was forced to listen to day in and day out. I hate ignoring them and playing the role I am supposed to. Half the students don’t do anything to my family or me that would cause me to ignore them this way.
I see Nora and a few of the other girls up ahead. Before I can reach them, my eyes catch a male I haven’t seen in over a year. He’s my friend or had been before he disappeared. We were never supposed to meet as we were two opposites in every way.
Trevor.
He’s a year older than me and lives on the wrong side of town. I shouldn’t even know who he is, except he saved my ass when I was kidnapped at thirteen.
I had just been leaving the movies with friends and was walking towards my family’s car. Out of nowhere, two males grabbed me, dragging me towards their van, waiting in the alleyway.
Most of those ten minutes were a blur. To this day I can still remember trying to scream around the hand covering my mouth while they dragged me and tossed me into the van. Before they closed the door, they put a bag over my head and told me to sit still or my little brother would pay. After the door closed, I heard a commotion outside but was too afraid to disobey. My little brother meant the world to me. There was no way I would risk him even though I knew he should have been at home safely in bed.
The one thing I did do… was I took the bag off my head. I’ve always been terrified of the dark, and that bag was only causing me to go into a panic attack. In less than thirty seconds of removing the bag, the van door opened. I shoved my body back as far away from the door as I could, terrified that it was one of the men. The person who opened the door turned on a flashlight using their phone so I could see, which helped me start calming down.
With the added light, I could see that a young boy around my age had saved me. His bright blue eyes pulled me in. I could see droplets of blood on his face that should have made him look scary, but all I felt was safe. He told me his name was Trevor as he held out his hand to help me out of the van. We waited on the street corner for the cops and medics. The whole time we waited, I never let go of his hand. He was my safe spot, keeping me grounded and the panic attack at bay. His grip on mine was like a rock I needed to hold onto so the world didn’t swallow me whole. When the cops and medics arrived, they pulled me from him and rushed me into an ambulance to be checked over. The cops that arrived put Trevor in handcuffs in front of me and laid him on the hood of the cop car. I tried to fight against the medics’ hold, but they were unrelenting. Trevor’s eyes never left mine through the whole ordeal; he didn’t care what the cops did to him as long as I was okay. After enough of my hysterics and screaming, the cops released Trevor and let him tell them every detail of what happened. He gave me a soft
That was the first night I met him, but it sure wasn’t the last. It was also the first night I really saw how sheltered I had lived and that my family had more enemies than I could ever have known.
Since he saved me, we secretly hung out when I could safely get away, until this last year when he disappeared. I tried reaching out through all our usual methods and even took to stalking some areas where I knew he would hang out. It was like he had dropped off the face of the earth until I saw him now.
Standing there in front of me as if no time had passed. It took everything in me to not run right into his arms. When he turned his gaze upon me, though. Those bright blue eyes were cold and emotionless like he didn’t even see me, only saw through me. He was no longer the boy I knew. Now he was a man who looked like the world had torn him to pieces before spitting him back out to face everyone. I forced myself to move past him and join my sister. Now wasn’t the time to confront him.
I just hoped I had time to save him from himself.
ONE
EMMA ~ NOW
“Sweetie, I know you don't want to go to school, but you have to,” I sigh, frustrated at this whole situation.
Who would have thought raising a nine-year-old alone was this difficult? Growing up, Alexis was always the perfect angel. She never fought with me and always did as she was told. The older she has gotten, though, the more her temper and stubbornness shine through. I would love to say she got that from me, but we all know that is a lie. It's all her father.
Trevor.
Our brown-haired, blue-eyed little girl has grown up so fast, and he has missed it all. Though that isn't his fault. The night I got pregnant was the last time I saw or heard from Trevor. I have no clue why he left. That last night together, he had been cryptic about what was going on, and his words didn’t make much sense. I could tell something was off, but I choked it up to us graduating and not knowing what our life would look like after that. We both knew I was supposed to have an arranged marriage, but Trevor said he was trying to get me out of it.
My guess is my father got to him. He always does. The day my family found out Trevor and I had been hanging out was the first time my father ever beat me. The second time they caught me, I missed school for a week just to hide the bruises left on my body since my father left a couple on my face.
Needless to say, yeah, I can see how Trevor would leave to protect me. I just wish he would have left me a way to contact him in an emergency. Because my getting pregnant with our child equated to an emergency. My father had wanted me to get an abortion the second they discovered I was pregnant. It took me begging, pleading, and some mischievousness to save my daughter's life. I had to agree to be the perfect daughter they asked for, never once fighting against any decision they would make for me, just to bring her into this world. I had to hold onto the last piece of Trevor in the darkest of times. That’s not to say my father didn’t try to get rid of her the second she was born, he did, but thankfully the worker flat out told him he couldn’t make that decision for me.
“Momma?” my little girl questions as she comes over, standing in front of me. She only breaks out the momma when she’s scared or concerned about something.
Shit, I had zoned out back to the past.
“I'm sorry, sweetheart. Momma is fine. Just got wrapped up in my head for a minute. Are you finally ready for school?” We have been walking on eggshells around the house for the past few days just sensing that something feels different. I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the past just waiting for whatever my father will drop on us. I kneel to be at eye level with her as I wait for her answer. I have always tried to treat her with respect and give her the freedom to be herself while making sure she stays within the lines my parents drew for us.
“Yeah, I'll go to school. I still don't understand why I can't be homeschooled anymore. I liked having you be my teacher.” She pouts, and it’s absolutely adorable. We did have a good time together while I homeschooled her.
“I know, I liked teaching you as well, but this wasn't my decision you know that. Grandpa said that you were going to Evercrest Elementary starting this year. He wants you to get out and socialize with other kids your age.” I smile at her and kiss her forehead. This was exactly why I had been on edge the last few weeks. Alexis being in school meant I would be home alone with my father. I have a feeling he was doing it so he could have his business associates over once again without a little kid running around, meaning he wanted to show me off and see if he could get any of his friends interested.
“I promise you'll like it and make plenty of friends. You look beautiful. Now let's head downstairs, get some food, and get your little butt to school.” I stand up and start heading toward her bedroom door. I hope to make the best out of her first day of school.
“Race you, Momma!” Alexis calls out as she starts to run out the door. Long forgotten is her worry, replaced with excitement once again.
“No running in the house!” I shout behind her, hoping she will listen but knowing she probably won’t.
I make my way down the long hallway to the back stairs knowing they will take me closer to the dining room. Hard to believe I'm still living in my father's house at twenty-eight, but I had nowhere else to go. Or more like my father wouldn’t let me go anywhere else. The arranged marriage my father set up for me was thrown out the window the second he found out I was pregnant, and my father wouldn't hear of me moving out. I wanted him to trust me, I wanted to take Alexis far, far away from here, away from my father, but instead, he used her to control me. I gave up every aspect of my life to care for and protect her. I was determined to make sure she didn’t grow up as I did.
See, here's the thing, my father is a control freak. He has controlled every aspect of my life since I was born. The second he found out I was pregnant, well let's just say I'm happy that my unborn child and I survived. I’m almost positive he would have thrown me down the stairs to terminate my pregnancy if he thought he could get away with it. Instead, he just beat me in areas that wouldn’t harm my stomach as punishment. My pregnancy ruined his plans so he decided to use my own daughter against me to control me once more. As long as she was safe I would accept everything he threw at me. He hates that I still have signed legal documents that would protect Alexis should anything ever happen to me. He would never get his hands on my daughter.
“How many times do we have to tell you not to run in this house!” I hear my father roar from the dining room.
Shit.
I knew Alexis wasn’t going to listen this morning. Rushing into the room, I see my daughter trying to make herself look small and hide behind her chair. If you asked anyone in this house, they would tell you she is a happy and outgoing child. If you looked at her now, though, you would never know. She is terrified and tries to stay hidden and out of sight. I think she forgot that her grandfather would be home this morning. She is as quiet as a mouse when he’s home and stays hidden in her room. I taught her from a young age to not be heard or seen unless I was around. She should be able to be a child in her own home but my father refuses to allow it. When he isn’t home, she gets free reign of the house, and all of our workers absolutely love hearing her little laugh as she's running around.
