Page 197 of Relentles
“It’s over, Christopher. We’ve both learned important lessons.”
“If we stupid motherfuckers. Otherfuckinwise, we shoulda learned these motherfuckers years ago.”
“True,” she said, giggling.
“Since I can’t kill Johnnie…?”
“He’s family, Christopher. Just let it go. Jo is on the mend again. She has one more surgery and we don’t want anything marring that. Then, the ball is coming up. It’s an important fundraising event.”
“I’ma let it go for now. For you. If Stretch find out, it was Johnnie that sent those hospital clips to you, I ain’t gonna kill him.”
“Okay,” she said, knowing he wasn’t finished.
“But that motherfucker reallydogot one more fuckin’ thing to do toyou. Either he fuckin’ go on the run and pray I never fuckin’ find him or he die.”
She wouldn’t try to talk Christopher out of his revenge. If Johnnie kept being an idiot, that was on him. He’d worn her out. She was completely over it.
“If it ever comes to that, leave Kendall alone.”
“I knew you were gonna fuckin’ say that,” he grouched. “Johnnie gotta die extra painful then.”
“You know you like Kendall just a teeny bit.”
“I ain’t hatin’ her no more.”
She lifted a brow.
He threw her a sour look. “She a part of our family and if I want cold, hard facts she the bitch to call. She ain’t winnin’ coddlin’ awards.” He drew in a breath. “If I kill Johnnie and don’t kill her, she turnin’ back into a psycho cunt again. You makin’ me delay the inevitable.”
Meggie wrapped her hand around his hardening cock. “Bad boys require rewards for good behavior.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven - Kendall
Distracted by the setback the judge delivered today, Kendall hurried out of the courthouse with her phone in hand. She needed to call Brooks and explain some of her evidentiary evidence was deemed inadmissible. More importantly, she needed to let Roxy know she wouldn’t make her ballgown fitting. She had a list of calls. Her kids. Today was their first day back at school after Winter Break. She needed to call Meggie.
Kendall was indebted to her for saving Johnnie’s life. Meggie had saved Kendall and Brooks, for that matter.
On Kendall’s to-do list was also a call to her husband. But, nowadays, he was last in the lineup, instead of first.His disappearance almost destroyed her. Though he’d returned beaten and bruised, she’d never been so happy to see him. If that didn’t convince her that Johnnie’s behavior was club related, his bullet wound and Brooks’s time in the meatshack did.
Fury was percolating inside Kendall, but fear, too. And if Johnnie didn’t answer her call immediately, her anger and concern would swallow her whole and bring her to her knees. Such a scenario in the privacy of her home was awful enough, but while she was out and about?
Yeah, no. Absolutely not.
When they arrived home from the birthday party, she hadn’t wanted to discuss anything with Johnnie. Yesterday, she’d awakened and thrown herself into work in her home office.
Today, her tasks at the courthouse distracted her.
She needed to be present. Her children needed their mother. She still had missteps. Every time she considered the Naked Incident, she cringed. At the time, she felt justified. Now, it was another chapter of her book of mischief.
It happened. There was fallout. And she moved on.
In the past, two things always triggered her: boredom and Meggie. Her sister-in-law was the sun and the moon, and Kendall was her shadow. Johnnie wanted her to be Meggie and Outlaw wanted her away from Meggie.
The behavior of those two hadn’t been Meggie’s fault. She’d gone out of her way to help and protect Kendall. Even when Kendall was at her worst, Meggie excused her actions.
Kendall had almost lost her friendship and support. In the intervening years, life had been so good. She’d told Johnnie how much she cherished the harmony, sense of belonging, and their family. She made sure he understood that she couldn’t handle club wars again, although she’d lied about her reasons.
Of course, she wanted her husband and children safe. No, their entire family. She couldn’t imagine her life without the women she saw as sisters and the men she considered brothers.
