Chapter 40 – Christopher
After everyone greeted each other, Christopher and Cleaner glared at each other, while Tio and Diesel did the same, the women retreated to the kitchen to help Celia finish the dinner and the motherfuckers followed Bash to the den.
The kids were left to decide but almost all of them followed Christopher and the men.
Those who hadn’t been swabbed in advance were swabbed and then the tech, Abel, disappeared into a small office, promising to call Kendall when all the results were in.
Christopher had been in the house twice before since Bash purchased it, but only in the hallway and the kitchen.
Unlike the dark, depressive décor the last time Christopher saw it, it was bright, airy, and modern.
He almost wished he hadn’t put it up for sale.
In a car, it wasn’t that far from the club.
It would’ve been perfect for Diesel. Unfortunately, he couldn’t go back in time and undo that shit. Besides, it was the beginning of Megan’s investments.
The décor was a nice change, but the strange behavior of several motherfuckers wasn’t. And why the fuck not? Family dinners meant family drama. For now, he’d observe the situation before he decided on a course of action.
First there was Mattie, who paled the minute she walked in and saw Cleaner, Bash, and Tio. It was either because she knew of their connection to Wally, Jr., they reminded her of what happened, or they’d fucked with her at some point.
He was glad when Tio hopped his fucking ass out of the room, although he did return a few minutes ago.
Second: Diesel, because of Tabitha. Christopher wasn’t sure what the fuck that stupid motherfucker expected.
He was the stupid motherfucker who married her and then fucked over her instead of divorcing her.
Very soon, Diesel needed to make some tough decisions.
Christopher knew that motherfucker would try to play Bash and get out of bringing his fucking ass back to the condo to make nice with that cunt.
If Diesel fucked up the peace agreement and put Megan at risk, Christopher would kill that fuckhead.
No one outlined the consequences of Diesel breaking the peace agreement, so Bash could’ve thought of any retaliation.
Since Christopher was supposed to keep assfucks in line, especially one of his sons, and that same assfuck thumbed his fucking nuts at Bash, it was logical to think he’d target Megan.
It was what Christopher would do if Bash fucked over him.
Take away what the fuck he cherished the most.
Bash operated on Cee Cee time, so normal fucking rules didn’t apply.
Christopher would worry about that if and when the time came. Right now, he went back to observing.
For instance, Rebel. She’d come in and greeted Celia, then walked out of the house, ignoring the fuck out of Jana, who’d been following Rebel like a lost fucking puppy.
Rebel pretended she didn’t exist, which was a huge fucking change.
She’d called Megan earlier, so Christopher suspected it had something to do with that.
Megan promised to explain everything later.
Not long after they arrived, Rebel walked out.
Then there was Jana, sitting on a folding chair near a table with a cheese and vegetable tray, all alone.
Chatter rose around him, interrupting his thoughts, so he tipped his bottle of beer back.
Mortician, Val, Knox, and Digger talked amongst themselves, at a table across the room. Cash and Stretch were on the sofa, there because Ophelia insisted.
Johnnie sat alone on another chair, directly across from Easton.
Pockets of lil motherfuckers stood around the living room—CJ, Ryan, and Grant; Axel, his “men”, Lou, Kaleb, and a bunch of little motherfuckers.
Too many for Christopher to fucking remember.
Rory and Devon sat side-by-side on the loveseat, not talking to each other and being ignored by everyone else.
In case those motherfuckers didn’t realize it, their mas would wonder why the fuck they were fucking outcasts. Christopher shook his head, meeting CJ’s eye. He was just about to nod his fucking head when Diesel stormed back in, a wild-eyed motherfucker who wanted to fucking kill someone.
Christopher wasn’t even sure the motherfucker realized he was in a house with fucking people cuz he belonged in a goddamn zoo right now. CJ looked at Diesel at the same time as Axel. He broke away from his men and ran to Diesel’s side, grabbing his hand.
Diesel glanced down at Axel, who smiled at him. Christopher knew how much Diesel loved Axel, but the way he touched the lil motherfucker’s shoulder and returned his smiled, proved it.
When Diesel lifted his head, his gaze fell on Tio. That fuckhead smirked at Diesel. Easton gritted his teeth and got to his feet. He’d disappeared for a few minutes as well.
Whatever the fuck had Diesel so murderous also involved Tio and Easton.
“Reb!” Winnie screamed, jumping off the recliner and running to where his girl froze in the doorway. Winnie had been so fucking quiet, Christopher forgot she was there. “Look? We got the same jeans.”
Rebel didn’t answer. She looked…devastated.
“Little Miss Rebel,” Bash called, then nodded to Tio. “Don’t think you’ve formally met your cousin.” He snickered and looked at Easton. “Cousins.”
Winnie tugged Rebel’s hair. “Reb, you’re not looking.” She wrapped her arms around Rebel’s waist and tipped her head back. “We got the same jeans.”
“Leave her alone, Winnie,” Axel said in exasperation, abandoning Diesel to run to Rebel. “Something’s wrong with her. Move.”
Bursting into tears, Winnie stumbled back. “You’re mean, Axel.”
“I don’t got time to be nice when you won’t shut up.”
Fuck, Winnie had a pair of lungs on her.
“I’m fine, Ax,” Rebel muttered, hugged him, and then pulled Winnie against her.
Christopher waited. Flying off the fucking handle didn’t get answers. Generally, when he shut the fuck up and observed, he either pieced the shit together himself or motherfuckers let shit slip and helped him along.
Winnie continued to fucking cry.
“You’re such a fucking crybaby,” Axel said, shoving a finger in each ear. “You’re giving me a fucking headache.”
“You aren’t helping her, Axel,” CJ said. “If you stop antagonizing her, she might shut up.”
“Nope,” Jasper, Ophelia’s oldest boy said. “Once Winnie starts, she can go for hours.”
“Yeah, because Uncle Cash is her dad,” Axel grumbled.
Cash stiffened. “I resent that.”
“Yeah, cuz I got to do everything around this motherfucker,” Axel responded. “Winnie’s your daughter, Uncle Cash, but who does she run to? Rebel. After sitting in that fucking chair all night like a dead statue.”
“Do you know a fucking live statue, Ax?” Ryder asked.
Axel nodded. “I saw this porn girl and she was going all around stuffs and standing still like a statue, then when dudes would come around, she’d take off her coat.” He sidled a glance at Rebel. “And do stuffs. A lot of stuffs.”
Ransom and Ryder snickered. Bash’s gaze was traveling back and forth between the Terrible Triplets as if he couldn’t fucking believe his ears.
“I don’t won’t you around my innocent daughter, Axel,” Cash said, on edge for some reason.
“Good, cuz I don’t want to be around her, Uncle Cash.”
The words must’ve sank into Winnie’s head because she turned to Axel and wailed louder. “But you’re my friend! I love you.”
Axel raised his hands to keep her from touching him. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t hurt my fucking ears.”
Johnnie got to his feet and headed to the bar. “Said with all the mercy of one of Christopher’s sons.”
“What do you know about mercy, Uncle Johnnie?” Ransom asked, standing among the younger boys in a group that included JJ. But unlike Rory, JJ wasn’t as enamored of Johnnie. “Especially for Dad’s sons?”
Johnnie poured himself a drink, took a swallow, then looked at Ransom. “I don’t answer to children.”
“Toddlers don’t have the proper vocabulary, so we understand, Uncle Johnnie,” Ryder said.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Axel said, dragging Winnie back to her seat and placing a finger over her mouth. “Shhh for a little while.”
“Don’t tell my daughter to shut up!” Cash said.
“I’ll tell you to fucking shut up, Uncle Cash,” Axel responded. “But since I’m worried about Reb, you’re safe.” Not giving Cash a chance to respond, he stomped back to Rebel, glaring at Cash the entire fucking way. “I saw you when you walked in, Reb.”
“Okay.”
“Your nose didn’t turn red until Uncle Bash wanted to introduce you to his son. His other son. Cuz Easton’s his son, too.”
Christopher noted Rebel’s non-reaction.
“Tio left,” Axel continued, and pointed to the door in the far corner. “He went out that way. Anytime he was stupid enough to listen to Tabitha, he was probably stupid enough to—”
“You don’t know me, Axel,” Tio said. “I remember insults.”
“Shut your fucking mouth, boy,” Bash snapped.
Axel frowned, then walked forward. “I got this, Uncle Bash.”
“We all know you’re a little psycho,” Bash responded. “But Tio’s my kid.”
“You only know I’m a psycho, ‘cause you are, Uncle Bash,” Axel said in exasperation.
Bash grinned. “That’s slander.”
“You called me a psycho first. I can sue you, too.”
“Dee Dee’s educating you on the law?”
“You call Diesel ‘Dee Dee?”
At Bash’s nod, Axel roared with laughter, then turned to Diesel. “I’m going to call you that forever.”
“Not if you want me to fucking answer you,” Diesel snapped.
“If you don’t, I’ll glue your fucking lips together,” Axel said. “If you can’t use them right, you don’t need them.”
“And I will glue you to a ceiling by the soles of your fucking feet,” Diesel said.
“Please, motherfucker. You’d have to fucking catch me and you just gave away your OM, so if I ever got to glue your lips together, I’ll know to chop off your fucking hands, too.”
“It’s MO, and I’d still find a way to fucking torture you. I don’t need fucking hands, Axel.”
Axel flipped him off, then turned back to Bash. “See the motherfuckers I got to put up with, Uncle Bash?”