Page 39 of Vengeance

“I told you to get the fuck out of my house,” Lenetta says and holds a gun up, but her hands shake. She shakes so badly, she wouldn’t hit her intended target if she tried.

Lex catches sight of Lily leaning in further to get a better look, and she almost laughs when Lily says, “Oh, this is gonna be good.”

Just as the crazy bat looks like she might actually gather up enough strength to pull the trigger, Lex reaches, grabs the barrel, and yanks it out of her hands. Looking at it, she releases the magazine and pushes the slide to release the bullet in the chamber. “Next time, just so you know, you might want to turn off the safety.”

The woman stares with wide eyes. “You...”

“Took your gun? Yeah. Don’t point a gun at a Drifter woman if you don’t know how to use it. You gave me so much time to take it from you, and you’re just lucky I didn’t knock you on your fucking ass with it. Now, here’s what’s gonna happen. Lily, the lawyer you think looks like a stripper, is gonna get papers drawn up to transfer guardianship of Matty to Tara. You’ll sign them without any hesitation. And you won’t see Matty again.”

“If you wanted the little bastard, you should’ve just said so. I never wanted him in the first place. He’s just a result of his father not knowing the basics of birth control or utilizing modern medicine to take care of the problem when he found out Matty’s mother got herself knocked up.”

“Oh, shit,” Lily says and finally steps inside. “Lex, we’ve got an agreement, okay? Let’s go.”

Lex knows she should turn around and walk away. She really does. But instead, she turns and winds up, using the butt of the gun to hit Lenetta in the temple. The old woman collapses to the ground, and Lex walks into her room to grab a blanket from her bed before tossing it to Matty.

“Here, Matty, you can wrap yourself with that in the car.”

“That’s... that’s her favorite quilt,” he says.

She smirks and bends down to collect the magazine and rogue bullet from the ground. “Don’t worry, I’ll return it to her. Looks like I got myself a new gun.”

Lily groans. “You know she’s going to press charges now.”

“That’s her right. But when you come back to get her to sign the papers, remind her I’ll have her sitting right next to me. If she thinks waking up with the headache she has from this is bad, ask her how she thinks she’ll feel every day for months on end in prison with me.”

Tara stares stunned as Matty wraps himself in the guilt. The two will finally be reunited, and Lex thinks it’s one of the best things she’s done in a really long time. Plus, kicking someone’s ass feels so damn normal.

“She’s a badass,” Matty whispers.

“She is,” Tara nods.

Lily scoffs. “Most people have that initial reaction to her, but it wears off eventually.”

“Is that right?” she asks and walks up to the fellow daughter of the club. “And here I thought I still amazed you.”

“Oh, you do. But that’s just because you can do everything I can’t. You know... because I’m the club lawyer.”

“Don’t you mean stripper?” she laughs and pushes her slightly. “You do have a great rack. I’d put money in your G-string.”

Rolling her eyes, she leads them out to their cars. “Shut up.”

“Did you mean what you said?” Matty asks, his eyes looking up at Lex.

“I usually mean what I say, but I’m not sure what we’re talking about,” she says and bends down to meet him at eye level.

Swallowing, he straightens up. “That I can live with Tara and never come back here?”

“Oh, baby, you don’t have to come back here. This, how you’ve been living, isn’t how you’re supposed to live. She’s a terrible, wretched woman, and you never have to see her again.”

“I want to hug you right now,” he says, tears falling down his cheeks. “I really didn’t mean to have an accident...”

She pulls Matty into a hug and lifts him off the ground. “I have two kids, one of which is potty training. I’m not scared of pee.”

He laughs as she sets him down and looks up to Tara. “Ready... Mom?”

Tara tears up, and she hugs him. “More than you know. We need to get you cleaned up, and then we’ll go shopping. We need to get you clothes and bedding for the pullout couch until I can figure out somewhere else to live so you can have your own room. And we need to get school supplies and toys...”

“I don’t need a lot, Tara. I know how expensive everything is,” he says. “I don’t want to burden you.”

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