Page 111 of Restless
“Mystic took you and left CJ all alone cuz of fuckin’ Kendall. I still believe Val fucked over you but I ain’t even thinkin’ about that. All of it because of the club. The only fuckin’ time you half safe is when you filled with my kid cuz you don’t go out and about but I risk losin’ you another way.”
“I’ve survived each—”
“One day you ain’t,” he interrupted. “So I’m fuckin’ askin’ again: who the fuck riskin’ me losin’ you by bringin’ club business to you? Mort or Johnnie?”
“I love you, Christopher,” she said quietly.
He sighed. “Tell me. Don’t tell me. The only thing I’m gonna do is kill. I can’t solve problems or pardon nobody right now.”
“You should pardon, if it isn’t a club offense. The only reason I’m telling you not to kill Digger, Mortician, Derby, and Dez. And, er, Johnnie, is because they are part of our family and it has to do with me, not the club.”
“You don’t even know motherfuckin’ Dez,” Outlaw snapped. “He’ll treat you the way Derby will. Which, come to fuckin’ think about it, is always kind of…”
Shifting in his seat, Derby swallowed. Dez turned redder than normal.
“You promised to let me fight my own battles,” Meggie said.
“These are special cases.”
“Mortician, are you still there?” Meggie called.
He wished the fuck he wasn’t. Over the years of Meggie’s various injuries and traumas, he hadn’t kept a running tab. He’d just been there to help solve her dilemmas, provide coverups, and do whatever else was needed. After hearing Prez, the fucking list read like bullet points in Mort’s head. “Yeah, Meggie.”
“Who else?”
“The same as before,” Digger answered, not outing the other motherfuckers since it was unclear if Prez realized the number in his captive audience.
“Here, baby, get back in bed. If you don’t listen this time, I’m carryin’ you there and raisin’ the fuckin’ rails again.”
“Promise me, you won’t kill anyone, Christopher,” she said a moment later after a flurry of movement resounded. “Your club needs Outlaw the leader, not Outlaw the killer.”
“I ain’t killin’ Mort,” he grumbled.
“No one,” she insisted. “No one onourside who I bring up or have already mentioned.”
“That still leave several motherfuckers since theynoton our side. Your fuckin’ way of sayin’ family and my friends thatyousocialize with.”
“I have no defense against Nardo and his father. Dez, however, just thought he was showing you hospitality.”
Prez growled, but Mortician couldn’t stop his grin. Meggie had talked Outlaw down with patience and solid arguments. Every motherfucker at the table had reason to be grateful to her. Even Boy, though he hadn’t been on Prez’s hit list.Yet.
“Fine, you little pain-in-the-ass-motherfucker,” Outlaw said, confirming Mortician’s guess. “Nofuckinbody on our fuckin’ side.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise…fuck! I promise I ain’t killin’ no motherfucker on our fuckin’ side, you lil’ pain-in-the-fuckin-ass motherfucker.”
“Brooks called me,” she said without preamble. “When you went downstairs to eat with the guys.”
Dead fucking silence filled with tension and rising anger. Even though Mort couldn’t see Outlaw, his outrage wafted over the phone lines like a Medieval miasma.
“You fuckin’ with me, baby,” he barked.
“Unfortunately, I’m not.”
“The club attorney called you while you in the fuckin’ hospital, recoverin’ from havin’ Jo too early, hemorrhagin’, and pre-eclampsia?”
“Um—”
