Page 198 of Restless
Christopher’s phone beeped. If he could have, he’d go back in time and tape this disastrous meeting to save his boy’s words for posterity.
Pride and love didn’t begin to cover his feelings.
Puffing out his chest, he read Megan’s text.
“Dinner ready.”
“No, Dad. I want the Davises to go. Mom worked hard to help me, and I won’t have them ruin it. We can enjoy ourselves without them.”
Grinning, Christopher barreled to Jeremiah Davis and snatched him by the collar. He wished they were on the second floor. “You heard my boy,” he said, dragging him toward the door.
“Wait!” Jeremiah yelled. “Wait, please! Jaleena will be in tears if it ends this way. Can we start over? Please?”
At CJ’s indecision and glimmer of hope, Christopher knew his boy still wanted to see the evening through. Maybe, he was searching for a way to forget Harley or to distract himself from his worry over Molly. Whatever the case, Christopher was stuck with these motherfuckers for another couple hours.
“Fuck.” He shoved Jeremiah away. “Fine.”
“I’ll go find Diesel, Grant, and Rory,” CJ said, and loped away, leaving Christopher to entertain a motherfucker he truly wanted to kill.
Before Diesel reached the mancave, he received a phone call from Tabitha, so he excused himself and returned to the main hall containing the staircase. After twenty minutes of arguing, he hung up and sat on one of the stairs, thrusting his fingers through his hair.
Tabitha was pressuring Diesel to meet with her uncle. However, she refused to reveal the man’s identity. Just as she refused to tell him the location of the cabin she kept insisting Aunt Meggie needed to use as a retreat to rest and recuperate.
On the surface, it seemed legitimate. But the very thing that led him to marry her—besides her good pussy—nagged him now. She was suspicious. Her endless questions about the Death Dwellers, especially Uncle Christopher, went beyond mere curiosity.
Yet, she’d passed her background check. She had no club affiliations outside of him. All paperwork was authentic. Her previous addresses checked out.Everythingexcept her tits and lips were genuine.
All the same, something was amiss. He knew it; he just couldn’t prove it.
The clopping of heels drew his attention and he got to his feet just as Rebel walked into the cavernous space and halted at seeing him.
Clenching his jaw, he sat down again. It wasn’t until Uncle Chris asked him what he was staring at had Diesel realized he’d been gawking. Rory was right, though. Rebel looked hot.
Wincing, he shoved the thought aside, hoping she continued on her way, but knowing she wouldn’t.
As expected, she glided to him and climbed up two stairs, stopping in front of him. He wouldn’t inventory her curves nor would he remark upon the scent of her perfume and hair.
“Hey, Dee,” she said, her casual tone easing some of his tension. “What are you doing out here? Uncle Johnnie piss you off so much you had to escape or kill him?”
Diesel chuckled. “No, brat. Tabitha called.”
Her nose wrinkled, calling attention to her pink lipstick and kohl-lined smoky eye. “I prefer my scenario.”
“I’m sure you do.” He nodded to the space next to him, and she sat. He met her gaze. “But she’s my wife and you are a child. You should respect her and any other adult, including Uncle Johnnie.”
“Perhaps, if I felt like a child, I’d act like one, Diesel. I don’t. It’s hard to explain, especially after Thanksgiving evening. I don’t know if I will ever be the same again. Rule isn’t,” she said quietly. “Something snapped inside of him. If Daddy wasn’t so consumed with fear for Momma, he might’ve noticed Rule’s change. You, Lolly, and our aunts and uncles took up the slack as much as possible, but they were worried about Momma and Jo, too.”
“Now that Aunt Meggie is home, Rule will settle,” Diesel told her, wishing he wasn’t so wrapped up in his own personal problems and demons.
Maybe, he would’ve noticed Rule’s behavior.
“I’m afraid to have babies now, Diesel. What’s the draw of sex is if you know you’re at risk for dangerous pregnancies?”
“Not all pregnancies are dangerous,” Diesel told her. “Eventually, you’ll experience sex and decide for yourself if pleasure is worth the risk.”
She gazed at him through her lashes. “Do you think it is?”
“I’m not fucking answering that, Rebel.”
