Chapter 16 – Kendall #2
Axel begged for him and his men to go with Diesel. Once the three boys and five men cleared out, Mattie turned to Kendall and buried her face in the crook of Kendall’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Mama,” she whispered, trembling. “I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble.”
Kendall hugged her, wanting to go home and hide. She rubbed her daughter’s back. “You didn’t, darling. Too much testosterone swirling in the air for real peace.”
“Matt, Rebel really wants to see you,” Ryan inserted. “She texted me, asking where we are.”
“I don’t believe you,” Johnnie sneered.
Sighing, Ryan walked to Johnnie and held out his phone, just as Cleaner helped Tio to his feet.
Bash whispered something to Outlaw and they both snickered.
“What?” Johnnie asked, his puppy dog look at his brothers reminiscent of Rory’s expression toward CJ. He handed Ryan his phone back, puffed out his chest, and swaggered to Outlaw and Bash. “What’s funny? Let me in on the joke.”
“If I wanted you to know, I would’ve called you over, asshole,” Bash told him, shaking his head. “Have some fucking pride.”
“Go ahead, darling,” Kendall told Mattie with a final hug. With Johnnie out of the way, it was easy to convince her to walk to Ryan.
“Come on, JJ,” CJ encouraged.
Her third child had stood quietly at her side, but perked up and hurried to where CJ, Ryan, Mattie, and Grant stood.
“I want to see Reb, too,” Rory said quietly.
CJ slammed his hand against the buzzer and Kendall tensed.
“Come on, motherfucker,” CJ bit out, spared Rory a glance and nodded at him as the locks disengaged and the doors swung open.
Kendall would allow the kids to see Rebel, then visit her niece afterwards. “Is Meggie in the nursery with Jo?”
Outlaw cocked his head to the side. “You okay, baby?”
“Yeah, gorgeous. You look as miserable today as you did at Celia’s.”
“That’s Kendall’s usual state, Bash,” Johnnie said, laughing at his own joke, only joined by Cleaner and the few sycophants who still courted his favor. “She either feels sorry for herself or she is into everything.”
“I’d feel sorry for myself if I had you for a motherfucker, Johnnie,” Bash told him, frowning. “What are you talking about?”
“That I love the woman in spite of her flaws. In spite of her…” He looked at her, his smile not reaching his glacial eyes. “Everything.”
Kendall wouldn’t stand by and engage Johnnie, so she turned on her heel. “Excuse me,” she threw over her shoulder, rushing down the hall toward the nursery, hoping to find Meggie and Jo.
Instead, Mortician sitting in the rocker in front of Jo’s bed and feeding the tiny girl surprised her. At her approach, he glanced up.
“I didn’t know you were here,” she said, hurrying to him and giving him a quick hug before grabbing Jo’s little hand and smiling when she curled her fingers around one of Kendall’s. “Hello, darling.”
“Want to hold her, Red?”
Kendall studied her friend’s tired eyes and sad expression. She placed her free hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay, honey?”
“It’s Bailey.” He met her gaze briefly then looked at the baby again. “I came in here looking for Meggie. Knox downstairs with my wife in the ER and I just need…Prez with Bash. Cleaner here, and he the last motherfucker I want to see.”
“I guess they’re here because Tabitha is dead.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Is Bailey all right? Why is she here?”
“She hurt her hand and her thigh,” Mortician explained. “She fell. Luckily, she didn’t break anything.”
Kendall wished she gave a fuck, but that bitch was putting Mortician and Harley through hell. He deserved so much better than a woman who’d stopped appreciating him for the good man he was. “Is there anything I can do?”
“I was going to come in tomorrow and file for a legal separation but…it’s bad, Kendall. I can’t leave my wife while she suffering so much.”
“You’re taking in sickness and in health to the extreme. Men have separated from their wives with worse injuries than what you’re describing.”
“It isn’t only that.” Sitting the almost empty baby bottle aside, he lifted Jo onto his shoulder, where a burp cloth lay.
He began rocking her, offering gentle little taps to her back.
“I’m not filing for the legal separation, but I need you to create backup medical proxies for me.
” He gave her the names of everyone he wanted and in what order.
After closing her notes app, the missed call notification surprised her. She opened the list of recents. Anne Phillips had returned her call.
She scrolled, gasping when she saw Anne’s second call, this one accepted. Anne or her secretary must’ve called when she’d left her phone and ran to the bathroom after this morning’s conversation with Johnnie.
But…he hadn’t mentioned it. Was there no message to deliver? Or had Johnnie seen Anne’s name and researched her? If she asked about the call, it might all blow up in her face and—
Arms encircled her. She was so shook up, she hugged Mortician and laid her head on his shoulder.
“You don’t have to tell me what’s on your phone, Kendall,” he told her. “It probably got to do with that motherfucker you married to.”
Jo babbled.
“I’m coming, Squiggles,” he said, releasing Kendall and turning to the bed. “That’s CJ’s name for her,” he told Kendall as he lifted Jo into his arms again and returned her to his shoulder. “Your Aunt Kendall needed your Uncle Mort.”
“Cousin Mort,” Kendall said woodenly, according to the DNA tests. Big Joe’s newest letter came to mind and she wondered if she could wait almost two weeks to tell Outlaw. This coming Friday, he would be out of town.
“You right, baby. ‘Cause of that twisted fucking tree.”
Kendall nodded and glanced around the nursery.
Near Jo’s white bed was the Panda cart that she’d spent the first four months of her life in.
She wasn’t hooked up to IVs, but the blood pressure cuff and the electrodes for the heart monitor were draped over the side of the bed. “She’s come such a long way.”
“She has,” Mortician agreed. “When I walked in, the nurse was about to feed her. Meggie has me listed as her uncle with privileges, so they let me do it when I asked.”
“Excuse me, sir,” a pretty brunette nurse said, smiling between Kendall and Mortician. “I promised Mrs. Caldwell I’d take Baby Jo to her sister’s room. May I borrow her to check her vital signs?”
Mortician handed the baby over without comment. “I guess I should get back downstairs to see if Bailey got her discharge papers.”
“I’ll draw up the document with your backup proxies,” Kendall promised. “Do you want it to be indefinitely or should I include an expiration date?”
“Indefinitely, for now—”
“I should’ve fucking known you snuck off to be with another man.”
Johnnie’s hostile words interrupted Mortician, who stiffened.
Kendall placed herself between the two men and faced her husband. “I didn’t know he was in here, Johnnie.”
“You’re a goddamn liar.”
The loud words startled both Kendall and Jo. The baby released a wail.
“Sir—” the young nurse started.
“It’s cool, baby,” Mortician said, bypassing Kendall and stalking toward the door, purposely brushing against Johnnie.
“You, motherfucker,” Johnnie spat, turning, hot on Mortician’s heels.
“I’ll handle this,” Kendall assured the nurse, rushing behind Johnnie.
“Get back here, motherfucker,” he yelled. “I’m talking to you.”
At the end of the corridor, Mortician turned, hatred blazing in his eyes. “A mistake on your fucking part, Johnnie. I’d just as soon fuck you up than ever fucking say a motherfucking peep to you.”
Johnnie barreled to Mortician, and all Kendall imagined was a bullet to the head stopping him, killed in front of her eyes, not far from where Rory, Mattie, and JJ were. They might even come out and see his body.
“Johnnie, stop!” she cried.
“Fuck you, Kendall,” he screamed, rounding on her, his eyes wild.
At the end of the hall, Mortician walked away. Kendall realized he went in the direction of the waiting area instead of the elevators. Maybe she could convince Johnnie to go downstairs and calm down.
“You and your bullshit claims of abuse is just your excuse to leave me. Fuck you,” he told her again. “I love you.”
“If you loved me, you wouldn’t treat me like you do,” she told him, falling apart inside but rallying out of spite. “Fuck you right back, fuckhead.” She stalked around him, remembering she couldn’t leave Mattie and redirecting her steps to collect her daughter and Uber home.
The entire way, Johnnie breathed down her neck, huffing and puffing, his heavy footsteps matching each clip of her clogs.
“Keep your fucking hands off my wife and your cock to yourself, Mortician,” Johnnie shouted, back in the waiting room, behaving as if they weren’t in a public place.
No one outside of the club was allowed in the waiting area, but the elevators were just down the hall and NICU was open to everyone.
“Johnnie, I’m not playing a fucking game where I give you a warning shot, son,” Mortician warned.
“You really want to die over pussy?” Johnnie sneered. “You kill me, you die. I’m an officer, fuckhead.”
“Shut the fuck up, both of you,” Outlaw warned, stepping between them. “Mort, take a walk and cool the fuck off. Johnnie, I’m so fuckin’ sick of you and your fuckin’ bullshit—”
“I’m out of this motherfucker,” Mortician barked, once again purposely brushing into Johnnie.
If Outlaw hadn’t snatched Johnnie’s collar, he would’ve gone behind Mortician and—
“Hop!” Bash cried, his eyes lighting up as he glanced behind Kendall. “I thought Meggie had kidnapped you.”
“Missed me, babe…? Johnnie?” the voice Kendall recognized as Hopper said. “Is that you?”
Hopper was the last person Kendall wanted to see. She’d have to be present, not lost in her misery, to stay on guard, and not alert Bash that they were on friendly terms.
Hopefully, Hopper did the heavy lifting. Kendall was simply wrung out.