Chapter 14 – CJ
“You fucked with Mom’s birth control, didn’t you, Dad?” CJ waited until Axel left the table before he hit his father with that question. Dad’s calmness at her announcement sounded the alarm. It wasn’t what he said as much as it had been what he didn’t say. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Shut the fuck up, boy,” Dad barked. “This between your ma and me.”
“Keep it up and it’ll be between a lawyer and you,” CJ clapped back. “Mom will leave. What the fuck is wrong with you? Have you learned nothing from when she walked the fuck away a few fucking days ago?”
A muscle ticking in his jaw, Dad glanced away. Ryder, Ransom, Kaia, and Bishop shifted uncomfortably while Diesel sighed and laid his fork down. CJ had been too upset to resume eating. Now, his cold food no longer appealed to him.
“I know you’re afraid, Uncle Christopher,” Diesel started, “but this isn’t the way to keep her. This is the way to lose her.”
Dad glowered at Diesel. “Shut the fuck up before I blow you the fuck away. Whatever the fuck you did to Rebel makin’ Megan leave me, boy. Stay the fuck outta my goddamn business. It just fuckin’ remind me I need to fuckin’ castrate you.”
CJ glanced at Jana, sitting in silent misery as she finished the last of her sausage, laid her fork down, and shoved her plate aside.
He was beginning to understand why Rebel wanted her to stand up for herself.
He was also realizing why he couldn’t get with the idea of Jana as his sister-in-law.
If she married Diesel, her life would be ruined unless she developed a backbone.
Outside of Mom, Rebel was ickily the only girl who stood toe-to-toe with Diesel and proved victorious. Sometimes, if not all the time. At least Tabitha had tried, which Jana refused to do.
“What did you do to Rebel, D?” Ryder asked into the silence.
In CJ’s mind, he hadn’t reasoned with Dad or got the entire truth from him. Listening to his mother discuss her fear about another pregnancy so soon and watching how his father brushed her off sent outrage and guilt through CJ. They’d all tried to take away her agency.
“Yeah, tell me, Diesel,” Dad ordered. “How the fuck you set up Reb?”
Diesel’s nostrils flared and he glared at Kaia before shrugging. “Rebel is very sheltered, Uncle Christopher. She doesn’t realize how dirty men are and how they’ll use her innocence to their advantage. To kiss her, for instance.”
If Kaia hadn’t flushed, CJ might have considered Diesel’s speech as he held Kaia’s gaze, a figment of pervy jealousy.
“I can explain,” he blurted, raising his hands and solidifying Diesel’s assertion without being asked.
“You kissed my sister?” CJ asked, so appalled his fucking eyes bulged, unimpressed that Kaia folded under zero goddamn pressure. “You kissed Rebel?”
Disgust crossed Ryder’s face and he spoke before Kaia responded. “You kissed the Blonde Viper?”
“Gross,” Ransom complained. “She’s our sister. I can’t imagine any guy species wanting to put their lips to hers, let alone a human dude.”
Jana giggled. Diesel glared at her and she clapped her hands over her mouth.
“You saw Kaia kiss Reb, Diesel?” Dad demanded.
“No, sir. I walked in on them and she told me I was ruining her first kiss. I couldn’t make him disappear so soon afterwards because Rebel would suspect me.”
Kaia choked. CJ didn’t give a fuck. Diesel was right.
“So you did fuckin’ what to teach Rebel a fuckin’ lesson, boy?” Dad asked in an unreadable tone.
“Told her to come to the natatorium so I could get in the pool with her. I planned to have her walk in on Jana sucking my cock. Things progressed. Jana is so irresistible. I ended up fucking her and Rebel came in.”
“Bro, what fucking lesson were you trying to teach Rebel?” Bishop asked, stealing the words bouncing in CJ’s brain.
“That she is too na?ve to trust men,” Diesel responded calmly, the lying motherfucker.
He’d set her up because he was pissed she’d allowed Kaia to kiss her. CJ hadn’t known why Rebel was done with Diesel until then. Now, it made perfect sense. Diesel was a cutthroat, territorial dickhead and probably didn’t even realize why Rebel was so angry.
“I didn’t think she’d hate me,” Diesel continued quietly. “But someone needed to teach her a lesson. Show her that blindly trusting any man, except her father, isn’t good.”
Before CJ answered, Torrin, Narci, Ryan, Devon, Grant, and Rory walked in. They were planning to play a game of tag football, arranged last night at Diesel’s birthday party. Devon must’ve invited Ryan, but so much other fuckery was going on that CJ remained silent at his presence.
“Aunt Bunny let us in as she was leaving,” Rory said, beelining to the buffet, grabbing a plate, and piling it with cold eggs, pancakes, and biscuits. The bacon and pork sausages were gone.
“Did we come at a bad time?” Narci asked, picking up on the tension.
Yes, fuck, they did. CJ still wanted to circle back to his mother’s birth control and try to convince Dad to return it to wherever she kept it.
“No,” Dad grunted. “Sit the fuck down.”
While everyone grabbed plates of food and greeted Jana, Ryan hovered awkwardly in the background. Like everyone else, CJ ignored his misery.
“Can I explain?” Kaia asked, once everyone—except Ryan—found a seat.
Dad pounded his fist on the table. “Ain’t no motherfuckin’ explainin’ in the goddamn world why the fuck you kissed my motherfuckin’ daughter, especially after last fuckin’ night.”
“Bro,” Bishop said with disapproval, tinged with a little bit of fucking jealousy.
Had these motherfuckers lost their minds? And what the fuck happened last night?
“Rebel suggested we play spin the bottle,” Kaia explained anyway.
“It…” He drew in a breath and turned his miserable gaze to CJ.
“She’s so strong-willed and I’ve never…I don’t want to lose her…
she’s like a dream…I’ve been trying to behave.
Rebel and I are going steady.” He covered his face.
“But…” Swallowing, he lowered his hands and threw a dark look at Diesel.
“Can I talk to you after breakfast, CJ?”
“Fuck no,” Dad said. “You kissed Rebel again?”
Instead of answering, Kaia flushed, unable to meet Dad’s gaze.
Fuck, that was a yes. CJ’s growl matched Dad’s and Diesel’s.
“She was quite upset when she saw you and Jana.” Kaia’s tone skirted disdain. “And you’re a motherfucker for luring her into that natatorium knowing what happened to her in there. I’d hate you too.”
Torrin whistled. “You’re getting beside yourself, Riggs. We might have to cut your tongue out for disrespecting Diesel.”
“And his lips off for kissing Rebel,” Diesel added blandly.
Lowering his gaze, Kaia stiffened. “Do it. I’ll lose my fucking tongue for defending Rebel.”
“You not losin’ nothin’ but your motherfuckin’ job,” Dad spat. “You fuckin’ fired. If I ever see you afuckingain, then you lose your tongue, your lips, your fingers, and your cock.” Each time he named a body part, he ticked it off on his fingers. “You got ten minutes to clear the fuck out.”
“What am I supposed to tell Meggie, Outlaw?” Kaia asked, his voice trembling.
“I’m thinkin’ she probably know,” Dad said sourly, picking up his phone and firing off a text.
“It might be a good idea to confront her in private, Dad,” Ryder said.
“She was takin’ that motherfucker with them in public. I’m askin’ her if she lost her fuckin’ mind the same way.”
“She didn’t,” Ransom said in disgust, “but you did. This isn’t going to end well for you, man.”
“Maybe neither one of us lost our fuckin’ minds. Maybe it’s Rebel and Kaia,” Dad decided. He looked at Kaia. “You the fuckin’ dumb ass who asked a fuckin’ lil’ kid to go steady with you.”
CJ would give Dad that point. “Yeah, Kaia. And I told you to come to me if you needed to fuck. I’d set you up with a club girl.”
“He did just fine without you, CJ,” Narci said, his eyes crinkling in amusement.
“What the fuck does that mean?” CJ asked, then realized what Dad meant. “This motherfucker slept with a club girl Saturday?”
“Not a club girl, bro,” Bishop said. “That club girl.”
CJ’s mouth fell open. “You slept with Fia?”
“Yeah, little brother,” Diesel said.
Jana’s lips turned down in displeasure and CJ squinted, drawn by the sudden tension in her shoulders.
Unaware of Jana’s jealousy over Fia and Kaia, Diesel continued. “Apparently, Kaia is the only one who doesn’t see a problem with that. It just proves that he isn’t good enough for her.”
“According to you,” Kaia retorted. “Rebel feels differently.”
“Motherfucker, you want to say that about my little sister after you fucked Fia again?” CJ demanded.
“I can’t fuck Rebel,” Kaia declared.
Dad purpled.
“Not if you want to fucking live,” Diesel growled like a demon from hell. “Mentioning fucking and Rebel in the same sentence should get you castrated.”
“Thanks, hypocrite,” Kaia sneered.
“Motherfucker, I don’t think you know who you’re fucking with,” Diesel told him.
And he was right. CJ had to warn Kaia to stand down. Diesel wouldn’t forget this.
“I’m just defending myself. You all order me around. Tell me to do this, do that, don’t do this, don’t do that. I’m not a fucking Poodle.”
“No,” Diesel said viciously. “You’re a fucking mutt.”
Torrin and Narci snickered. Humiliation flickered across Kaia’s face.
Not a mutt or a dog of any type, but he was a motherfucking idiot. How the fuck could he sleep with Fia a second time? Unfortunately, they had another problem that would arise if Kaia left. CJ looked at his father.
“Dad, if you make Kaia leave, Rebel is going to want to join another dating site.” He transferred his gaze to Grant, who was busily eating in between sips of orange juice. “Remind Dad about the site she wanted to join, Grant.”
“Ain’t no fuckin’ need. I remember,” Dad grumbled, scowling. “Your sister so fuckin’ hard to handle. You stay, Kaia, but you ain’t goin’ to LA.”
“While Rebel’s gone, it’ll be a good time for another hookup,” Devon said, finished with his food and ready to join the conversation.