Page 155 of Relentles
“Don’t fuck up your marriage overmymistakes.”
“I really fucking hate you sometimes, asshole,” she said crossly.
“I really hate me sometimes, too.”
“Don’t be such a sniveling manbaby. It’s unbecoming. You’re the fearsome fuckhead. Remember?”
“Not so fearsome right now. I want my wife to forgive me.”
“What? Nothing about Jo? After all this bullshit to reward Toriefor doing her fucking job, you aren’t mentioning your baby girl?”
“Are you tryin’ to make me feel worse?”
“I’m sure the fuck not trying to make you feel better,” she retorted.
“I ain’t cut out for this shit no more, Kendall. You fuckin’ win. Johnnie can become Prez. I quit. All my fuckups goin’ on because I’m fuckin’ distracted. Ain’t none of it matter. Only Megan. And our kids.”
Shock marched across Rebel’s face, her eyes widening and her mouth falling open.
A beat of silence passed, then Kendall cleared her throat. “Listen, fuckhead. I’m not coddling you. You fucked up. Take your punishment like a fucking man and stand tall. You’ve weathered many, many storms over your years as president and husband.”
“This is different,” he said simply.
“No, not really. Women are always after you.”
“I responded differently.”
“My god, motherfucker,” she groaned. “Are you really going to make me comfort you?”
“You ain’t gotta do a motherfuckin’ thing,” he snapped.
Kendall’s dragon huff floated through the line, and he scowled.
“Put on your big boy briefs, find the motherfucker who’s fucking with Meggie, then sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up. I know you love your kids.Jo. And I know why. Watching you take care of her was tummy warming.”
Kendall always brought next-level sarcasm.
“It was admirable,” she said, sounding slightly less snarky. “Butyou aren’t their father. You’re Meggie’s husband. The end. Period. It doesn’t mean you don’t love your kids. It doesn’t mean you won’t take care of them. It means when you try to be anything other than the psychopathic jealous killer over her, you fuck up royally.”
“You make it sound like I’m susceptible to fuckin’ over her—”
“Did I say that?” she asked sweetly. “You’ve long said you can’t function without her. Look back over the past week or two. Were you fucking wrong?”
The alarm system announcing the opening of the front door caught his attention.
“As long as you been wantin’ Johnnie to take top spot in the club, you sure doin’ everything to talk me into stayin’. I would’ve thought, you’d be kickin’ my fuckin’ ass out the fuckin’ door. You was always itchin’ for this day,” he added, his heart sinking.
It was Megan. He didn’t hear Gunner or any of the boys greeting her.
She sighed. “At one time, I would have. I did.”
“You not no more?”
“Does it matter?Thisis our reality now, Outlaw. Nothing else matters.”
“Christopher?”
Megan’s voice rose behind him, his own private symphony.
