Prologue – Johnnie #4
“She thought Meggie would be a pushover like Dinah, even though Rack warned her that little cunt was a hellion. Maybe, because she was Big Joe’s girl.
Or, maybe, because she was a fighter…but Patricia ended up liking Meggie and regretted talking to Christopher.
That bitch had more plans than a weekly scheduler.
She fucking knew both Snake and Rack wanted Meggie for different reasons, hoped Christopher would return, but thought you were the next best option if her son didn’t come back.
She felt as if she owed it to Big Joe to protect Meggie. ”
“I still don’t understand.” Nor did Johnnie know how they’d gotten so far off the fucking topic. “Your convoluted explanation doesn’t explain your theory that Rack killed her and not Snake.”
“It isn’t a fucking theory, dumb ass. It’s fact.
Patricia didn’t believe her son killed Big Joe in cold blood, so she started searching, but stumbled on the proof by accident.
Rack hid that fucking video with Tex and Sinner feeding Big Joe drugs and riling him up in her house in Hortensia.
She returned for the holidays or some shit.
She was cleaning up and found the footage.
Rack told Sharper and Logan, and they ordered her killed. ”
His grandfather ordered Aunt Patricia’s death? Her own father? Fuck! “Logan knew what was planned for Boss?”
“Yeah, Johnnie. In case it went the fuck over your head when I said it the first time: Boss wanted to get clean. He called Logan and Sharper, and begged for help for the umpteenth time, even more frantic to turn his life around. For Meggie and Christopher. He loved those two. For my aunt Kimber, who he never stopped loving. And for Joey. Boss was flawed and fucked-up and stupidly loyal, but he wanted to do better. Meggie had just turned sixteen. He said he had two years to sober up so he could convince her to live in Hortensia. If she wanted her mama with her, he’d kill Thomas Nicholls.
Boss adored his daughter. Sharper and Logan spent the next year putting plans into motion.
They didn’t tell anyone, afraid Daddy would get wind of their intentions. ”
Christopher, Johnnie, Mortician, Val, and Digger had long suffered the consequences of that night.
Despite moving on and accepting the way Big Joe died, that violence was a lasting legacy.
It shaped each of them in different ways, leading to division, bitterness, rivalry, pain, and anguish.
Knowing not only Sharper, but Logan, and their machinations orchestrated such a turning point crushed Johnnie.
“If Boss sobered up, Sharper and Logan knew they’d lose control over him,” Bash continued.
“They figured he’d made enough money for the club.
Besides, Sharper had tons of dough thanks to his wife and the misappropriation of his sons’ trust funds.
By then, Big Joe was expendable, but everything fell apart when he was killed.
Daddy was never the same and K-P mourned his brother. It created a domino effect.”
After so many years of being just as vile as her father, Aunt Patricia had been left defenseless. Had she been honest, she wouldn’t have died. She’d berated Christopher to his face, then sought to protect him behind his back. “Where’s the video?”
“Rack took it the night he killed Patricia.”
Johnnie’s eyes widened, a fact that escaped him suddenly dawning on him. “He was in on it…?”
“Wally Bart was a small fry. Make no mistake. Big Joe’s death devastated him.
But he and Daddy had a falling out, K-P hated him, and now Boss was gone.
He had no choice but to do as he was told.
Not to mention, Logan awed him. If the motherfucker wanted Rack to suck his cock as his king, he would’ve complied. ”
Rack as opposed to Sharper.
“Stop smearing my grandfather with those allegations. Logan was fucked up to the nth degree. He hated homosexuals, however. He wouldn’t have had such relations. I know there are letters… ‘love letters’—” he used air quotations— “but I know they’re false. I knew my grandfather better than anyone.”
“I’m not here to defend that motherfucker or listen to you uphold his character. Such as it is. I’m not even here to ride down memory lane. Or clue you the fuck in. An impossible task, if I may say so, since you’re so fucking brainless.”
Easton snickered.
“I resent that!” Johnnie flared.
“Don’t give a fuck. I’m here, telling you why I’m fucking with Christopher, telling you what I intend to do to Meggie, and you’re still entertaining me. At the very least, you could throw me the fuck out.”
Johnnie laughed. “You think I’m a dumb fuckhead?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
“That was a rhetorical question. My point is, you’re feeding me bullshit because you want me to throw you out to instigate your retaliation. Christopher would listen to you to get all the facts. Don’t try and play me for a bitch, motherfucker.”
Bash folded his arms. “You’re making bitch moves, so you’re a motherfucking bitch.”
“Fuck you. Christopher—”
“Neither you nor I are him,” Bash interrupted.
“You must be watching from afar to think you know so much about him.”
“I told you what the fuck I’m doing, Johnnie. Get your head out of Meggie’s cunt and you might find your fucking brain.”
“I love my wife. My head isn’t in Megan’s cunt. It’s in Kendall’s. She’s a gorgeous, strong woman whom I admire and respect. That’s why Christopher has always been attracted to her. She’s never fucking killed anyone either.”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t play dumb. If you know I killed Logan, you know Megan shot and killed a Dweller to save Christopher’s life.”
Comprehension and admiration slowly dawned on Bash’s face. Johnnie gulped, oddly alarmed that he might’ve let slip a secret that had the potential to devastate Megan and infuriate Christopher if he ever discovered it was revealed, especially to their half-brother.
“Well, well, well. I don’t know why I’m shocked,” Bash admitted. “Boss wouldn’t have been so proud of a namby-pamby cunt. Fuck, just makes me envy Christopher a little more.”
“She doesn’t know!” Johnnie flared, realizing too late he’d just revealed yet another secret.
“You know what, little brother?” Bash rocked on his heels. “Don’t need to employ no other tactics but talking to you. You’re happy to tell me everything I need to arm my arsenal.”
“Don’t—”
Shaking his hand, Bash raised a hand. “Nope. Don’t want to hear it. You’re doing exactly what I say or that cunt suffers sooner rather than later.”
“Fuck you. I’m going to Christopher—”
“You’re doing fuck-all except what the fuck I tell you.
Ryan and Willard are still friends. I could order him to Salt Lake City for any number of reasons and hack that motherfucker to pieces with my machete.
I could yank Zoann during one of her errands, fuck her, and throw her from the top of a fucking building.
I could send a sniper to pick off Rebel or Matilda.
” He walked a little closer, the jingling in the spurs breeching Johnnie’s horror.
Their noses touched. “I could pick off Meggie while she’s sitting on the back of Christopher’s bike and have her brains spattered on his cut.
You want to try me, motherfucker? Go ahead. ”
“Bash, listen to me—”
A maniacal light darkened his pale eyes. “Wouldn’t hurt Ryan. But those bitches? Cunts aren’t worth nothing but the pussy between their miserable legs. Make some money off their backs then bury those sluts.”
“Is that what you’ve done with Molly?”
“That cunt’s still alive,” Bash growled, glaring at Johnnie.
“Let her come back to the club. Ryan—”
“I’ve kept her alive for him. I happen to like the kid, but it isn’t up to me to send her back.”
It was up to Tom Harris. “Bash—”
“She’s alive, now drop the fucking subject before you piss me off and make me chop her fucking head off.”
“Give me a chance to buy her back.”
“I’ll let her handler know. Are you in with the Megan and Easton scheme or do I expose Christopher?”
“Because you’re jealous of him, you’ll sign his death warrant?”
“Because I’m sick of you.”
“You’re confusing me. You said—”
“A lot. I’ve said a lot.”
“So, you’re lying to me.”
“How the fuck did you become Veep? You sure are a stupid motherfucker. I haven’t lied to you one fucking bit. My boredom is the only thing you should focus on in the here and now and the saga of Easton Love and Megan Caldwell to amuse me, all orchestrated by you.”
Johnnie looked at Easton. “Is that your real name?”
“His name’s Easton DeLuca,” Bash answered. “Boring as a motherfucker. Definitely not as awe-inspiring as Easton Love.”
“So, you chose a porn name? Brilliant,” Johnnie said dryly.
“I think so. Bitches who went to his shows were much more enthralled by Easton Love.” A thoughtful expression crossed Bash’s face. “We’ve recently gotten into videos.” He snickered. “Maybe you should record Megan and you fucking, Pounder.”
“I can’t say that name with a straight face,” Johnnie pushed out.
Bash shrugged. “Lucky you, you don’t have to say that fucking name. If you did, you’d say it with a straight face or piss me the fuck off.”
“If a motherfucker looks at Megan wrong, Christopher fucks them up,” Johnnie pointed out.
“Do you really think she’ll go for that right now, considering the bitch train she’s been riding lately?” Bash demanded.
Johnnie stiffened. “Your reports are very comprehensive, I see. I demand to know who it is.”
“The answer’s right in front of your fucking face, idiot,” Bash said.
“Are you implying it’s me?”
“Are you really a motherfucking bitch? Did I not say it was a cunt?”
“Fair enough,” Johnnie said with a sigh.
“Are you gullible enough to believe everything I say, little brother?”
Glaring at Bash, Johnnie huffed. “Nyx is the only fucking person I can think of who dislikes Megan.”