Prologue – Johnnie #3
Clenching his jaw, Easton averted his gaze.
Bash chuckled, pleased over something unknown to Johnnie, though Easton seemed in on the mystery. “My oldest will be twenty-six and my youngest are both two.”
Twins ran in the family. Of course, Christopher and Bash made them when Johnnie hadn’t. “Identical or fraternal?”
“I don’t have fucking twins. That’s Christopher’s forte.”
“But—”
“Two different bitches, Johnnie,” Bash said in frustration. “Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I resent that!”
“I don’t give a fuck, you stupid motherfucker.
Resent my words, me, Christopher, CJ, or whoever.
That’s your fucking problem. So busy fucking resenting motherfuckers, you can’t see what the fuck’s in front of you.
Your fucking hard feelings blind you to everything and it makes you an easy fucking mark. ”
“Not you suffering from self-reflection and offering me advice that I neither asked for nor need? I had a good childhood thanks to my grandfather—”
Bash snorted. “You make shit too fucking easy,” he grumbled.
“You’re talking in riddles.”
“I could straight shoot with you and you wouldn’t fucking know what I mean.”
Johnnie opened his mouth to blast Bash.
“Yeah, I know, little brother,” he inserted.
“You take offense. Know this, motherfucker. Your grandfather was a fucking psychopath. The worst of the fucking worst, an evil fuckhead pretending morality. I know what the fuck I am. Daddy knew what the fuck he was. Christopher knows what the fuck he is. We’re fucking killers.
Psychos. Not good men. Christopher has decency and even some respectability thanks to K-P, Big Joe, and Meggie. ”
“You aren’t disparaging my grandfather,” Johnnie fumed.
“Why? You killed that motherfucker!”
Of all the knowledge Bash had, Johnnie never expected him to know how Logan died.
He’d never regretted pulling the trigger and ending his grandfather’s life.
But then, he never regretted any of his kills.
The blood, watching life drain from a body, the power of life and death, always sent him into a frenzy.
It wasn’t just the scent of blood. When he dismembered dead asses, it didn’t send him over the edge.
Fresh blood and ending someone’s existence gave him a head trip.
“Your silence tells me you can’t see what a favor you did the world. Christopher, especially.”
“You mistake my quietness,” Johnnie croaked, refusing to go into details. He cocked his head to the side. “I don’t understand your feelings toward Christopher. You claim to fear him, yet you see no problem ordering me to fuck with his marriage.”
“I am afraid of him. Most of the time. Sugar does wonders for my confidence.” Bash’s eyes twinkled. “Makes me feel invincible. You should try some.”
“I used coke recreationally,” Johnnie said. “It was never my thing, so I gave it up years ago.”
“Your loss.” Judging by his expression, Bash didn’t give a fuck one way or the other. “I’m not afraid of you, since you’re so easy to get one over on. That’s why I fuck with him. To fuck with you. To see how far I can push you.”
“Please, motherfucker. You back me into a corner and leave me no choice. Accepting your bullshit has nothing to do with allowing you to fuck with me, which isn’t as easy as you believe. It’s about saving lives. Megan’s, my wife’s, my daughter’s and now Christopher’s.”
“If that helps you to sleep at night, you’re more than welcome to believe that,” Bash said politely. “As for Christopher, he wasn’t meant to be an enemy. The Dwellers weren’t supposed to be an enemy club. Daddy just got beside himself and he underestimated how much Meggie meant to Christopher.”
“Whether Megan had been in the picture or not, Aunt Patricia framed herself as Cee Cee’s victim.
She never revealed their marriage. We never knew her deep investment in the club.
Christopher loved his mother. Cee Cee never had a chance.
Let’s set aside that shit. Even if Christopher had known the truth or Megan wasn’t in his life or Cee Cee kept control of his cock, there was still the business of Zoann.
Our father raped her. Cee Cee still would’ve bit it. ”
Bash glanced away. “I can understand if Christopher killed Daddy to revenge his little sister’s rape. But vengeance for Patricia and Meggie? That I hold against him, although his mama had been iced by then, so I hold his cunt responsible.”
“You’re making no goddamn sense. How can any mother or wife garner less protection than a sister? Aunt Patricia gave birth to him. Megan married him.”
“And what the fuck does that mean to me, fuckhead? About the only woman, girl, female who ever showed me kindness or love is my little sister, so I can’t fucking understand the goddamn logic behind protecting any other bitch.
Mother, daughter, or wife. Besides, what the fuck good does it do? Those cunts die anyway.”
“You’ve lost me. Are you saying little sisters are immortal?”
Bash glared at him. “No, dumb fuck…fuck, forget it.”
“Gladly,” Johnnie sneered, “since I cannot reason with a man who has no fucking empathy.”
Amusement flickered across Bash’s face. “And you do?”
“Fuck, yeah! Not that any of that matters. Whatever Aunt Patricia’s crimes and lies, she was gunned down in cold blood. Snake shot her to avenge Big Joe.”
“Rack killed Patricia, Johnnie.”
“No—”
“Yes,” Bash snapped. “Patricia was as involved in that fucking club as ever. She pitched pussy to Rack, Big Joe, Sharper, and a few other motherfuckers.”
Of everything he’d learned over the months since Bash contacted him, Johnnie found nothing indicating Rack’s involvement with Aunt Patricia’s death.
“Let me give you the annotated version of that clusterfuck,” Bash said sharply.
“A cunt named Ellen contacted Sharper. She wanted Meggie iced to return to the status quo. Sharper sent Snake to handle the situation. Meggie was eighteen and Daddy stopped his bounty just as planned. Snake didn’t have time for bitches like Ellen who betrayed the club. ”
“He was betraying the fucking club!”
“He was trying to take what he saw as his rightful place as Big Joe’s son. It was an attempted coup not a fucking betrayal, asshole. There’s a difference.”
“No, you’re wrong. A betrayal is a betrayal, motherfucker. I don’t understand what the fuck you mean.”
Bash stepped back and studied Johnnie from head to toe, then met his eyes and shook his head. “Suppose you wanted to head the club because you’re Logan’s grandson and Christopher was still a shoo-in to win? What would you do? How would you feel?”
The explanation made sense. “Oh,” he conceded. “Right.”
“Unfortunately, the bitch with Ellen got fucked up, too. Snake intended to ice Christopher and send Meggie’s head to Sharper for his trophy room.”
“I beg your fucking pardon?” Johnnie asked faintly.
“Sharper had a trophy room. A collection of heads. Patricia added some.” A pained expression crossed his face.
“One of my nieces as well as Daddy’s favorite bitch.
She killed them to avenge Zoann. After Big Joe’s death, Patricia was alone, so it was only a matter of time before her sins caught up to her. ”
“There was K-P,” Johnnie croaked. “Me. Christopher. Sharper.”
“Sharper had one true love,” Bash said with a smirk.
Johnnie stiffened, understanding the motherfucker’s insinuation.
“Patricia discovered information. Shit she was threatening to expose to Snake and Outlaw.”
That meant one thing. “About Big Joe.”
“Yeah. Sharper…he wanted Meggie and Big Joe was intent on getting clean. Sharper worked hard to stop that.” Bash scowled and brushed a hand over his head.
“Fuck, Big Joe had eighteen or twenty fucking bumps the day he died. Hear tell, he’d gone to take a downer to sleep.
Then…Did you have members named Tax and Sinner? ”
“Tex. And, yes, there was also Sinner.”
“They found a young throwaway on Sharper’s orders and brought her to Big Joe. They were in his room, fueling his paranoia about Christopher’s intent to kill him, and egging Boss on to fuck that slut.”
“She was a fucking child!”
Bash ignored him. “Just working the motherfucker up, then they left, with Boss swearing to go to Christopher’s room and kill him once he fucked the bitch. Fifteen minutes later, Christopher heard the screams. You know how the fucking story ends.”
“How do you know this? How did Aunt Patricia find out? Val wiped the cameras.”
“Rack told her a version of the story where Christopher killed Big Joe in cold blood.”
“It was to save his fucking life,” Johnnie barked.
Sighing, Bash nodded. “Patricia was fucking furious, so Rack showed her part of the video.”
“We wiped—”
“Sinner and Tex planted a fucking camera. Snake knew Outlaw killed Boss because he was shown the same clip as Patricia.”
“Why film something and risk discovery?”
“Why the fuck did Sharper do anything? Not that it matters. Know what the kicker is? Christopher taking Meggie to Long Beach. That set off the rest of that shit.”
“You’re a fucking liar. Christopher didn’t stay long enough to set off anything.”
Bash scowled. Johnnie didn’t care. The bucket of lies were thrown out by a madman looking to toss their lives into even more chaos.
“If Patricia was nothing else, she was Christopher’s mother first. She saw how upset he was over Big Joe’s death. She knew he hadn’t killed Boss in cold blood. Know what the fuck else I know?”
“What?” Aunt Patricia might not have been the paragon everyone believed her to be, but knowing she lost her life trying to protect Christopher was devastating. “Something about Megan or Christopher?”
“Megan and Patricia got into it, didn’t they?”
Back then, Johnnie didn’t know the full story about why Christopher left Megan. Years later, he revealed his argument with his mother. Even then, with the woman dead a decade, Johnnie had felt Christopher’s pain.
Swallowing, Johnnie nodded.