Prologue – Johnnie #5
“Then you’re not only a fucking idiot, but blind, too,” Bash responded. “I’ve heard Nyx isn’t a fucking club girl yet because Meggie won’t let her be. She hates Rebel and she sucks good cock. Especially Diesel’s.”
“Diesel’s betraying the club? That motherfucker!”
“No, asshole.” Bash released a growl. “Two plus two equals five to you, huh, Johnnie?”
“Any idiot knows that’s four!”
“You’re the exception,” Bash retorted.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“That you can’t see the fucking obvious,” Bash snapped. “Diesel would cut out that cunt’s tongue through her cheek, then slit her fucking throat.”
“I can’t think of anyone,” Johnnie confessed, drawing a blank outside of Nyx. “What color is her hair?”
“Hair.”
“What? Her hair color is hair?”
“In other words, any shade you want it to be until you figure out who it is.”
“When I do?”
Bash smiled and scratched his jaw. “Kill them.”
“What reason would I give?”
“What the fuck do you mean? They’re betraying the club. That’s reason enough.”
“But…what? I’m not following you. How could I say she’s betraying the club if I don’t know who’s betraying the club?”
Bash scrubbed a hand over his face. “Christopher failed you as his protégé. He should’ve just been honest and said a motherfucker with shit for brains can’t follow in his footsteps. It’s not a good look for him.”
“You’re just yanking my cock!” Johnnie fumed. “Why are you giving me hints about the bitch?”
“To get my rocks off,” Bash said with sarcasm, and rolled his eyes. “Why the fuck do you think?”
“To play with me!”
“You’re finally getting a fucking clue, though that’s not the reason.”
“You’re fucking confusing me.”
“Shocking.”
“Motherfucker—”
“I want you to expose the plant, the bitch I put in the club to fucking spy, and divert attention from Easton’s mission, fuckhead. Is that clear enough for you?”
“No, because you’re not telling me who the bitch is. There may not even be a bitch. It’s probably a motherfucker.”
“Perhaps, but I guarantee it’s also a cunt.
Or two. Or three,” Bash swore. “She hates Meggie. She has orders to fuck with Meggie in every way possible. She has orders to get Meggie to a place where I can have my wicked way with her. Come in her pussy, her face, her ass, her mouth, on her tits. Choke her with my cock. Drown her,” he said thickly.
“Plunge her in freezing water, yank her up, and douse her again.”
“It’s Tabitha.” She was the only one who wanted Megan to go to a secluded cabin.
Confusion knit Bash’s brows, and Johnnie saw that he’d never heard of Diesel’s wife, even before he said, “who?”
Bash couldn’t fake that level of perplexity.
“Never mind,” Johnnie said.
“It’s not whoever that is.”
“I’ll find her,” Johnnie swore, his heart hurting, wondering again how Bash had wrested control of the situation from him, when he’d had it at some point today. “Don’t hurt Megan.”
Bash’s smile was chillingly serene. “Not in my current plans, little brother. Don’t disappoint me.”
Swallowing, Johnnie glanced at Easton. “I’ll introduce you this week. Give me your phone number.”
“I have all your information, so I’ll give it to him,” Bash said calmly. “Meet with him tomorrow to finalize the plans.”
“Tomorrow is Sunday. How the fuck can I explain my absence to my wife? Fuck you.”
“The same way you explained it to that bitch today.”
“You’re a fucking asshole!”
“You don’t fucking learn, do you?”
“I learn very well, so what’s that supposed to mean?”
“A new mission for you.”
There was absolutely no fucking way Bash was roping Johnnie into fucking with Christopher any more than he was forcing him to do. But he was curious, so he lifted a brow.
Bash took the bait. “Someone wants to meet Cousin Mortician’s wife.”
It still blew Johnnie’s mind that Mortician and Digger were his and Christopher’s second cousins.
Over the years, Johnnie and Mortician grew apart.
Johnnie didn’t like how close Kendall was to the enforcer.
Mortician had also replaced Johnnie as Christopher’s best friend.
Sometimes it also felt as if Mort had more power than Johnnie, and the position of enforcer shouldn’t have given anyone officer status.
Yet Mort had it because of how much Christopher admired, respected, and trusted him.
“When I give the word, bring Bailey to my clubhouse.”
“Are you fucking insane? Absolutely not! No. Fuck no.”
Bash smirked at Johnnie. “Methinks you’re afraid of Mort.”
“I fear no man!”
“Really? You didn’t put up this much resistance about Christopher and Megan.”
“One marriage is enough—”
“Says you. I don’t. I’m fucking bored. Either do it or I’m killing Bailey. Maybe, I’ll throw Harley into the mix just for kicks. After all, Easton will have spare time in between his advising.”
“Bash,” Johnnie started, his heart sinking. “Bailey and Harley are innocent.”
“According to you so is Megan, and your bitches. Interesting how you never mentioned Rebel.”
He’d keep his opinions to himself on that creature. “My daughter and Harley are little girls, Bash.”
“Isn’t Harley older than Rebel?”
“By a few months,” Johnnie said politely.
Bash studied Johnnie, then grinned again. “You don’t like our niece, do you?”
“Did I say that? Stop putting words in my fucking mouth!”
“It’s written all over your fucking face. You don’t like her.”
“She’s my niece, so watch your fucking tone.”
“She’s my niece, too,” Bash reminded Johnnie.
“More’s the pity.”
“Back to my order.”
Johnnie gritted his teeth. “Bailey closed her office in Portland. She’s back in Hortensia, so you won’t be able to get to her so easily.”
“Thank fuck you aren’t a member of my club, motherfucker,” Bash said, glaring at Johnnie. “I’d fucking kill you and put you out of your TSTL misery.”
“You’d kill me because I think the sky’s the limit?”
“You’re fucking with me.”
“TSTL. The sky’s the limit. How is that fucking with you?”
“Do none of the bitches read romance novels?”
“My woman loves romanticism. ‘Rob Roy’ is one of her favorite novels. My daughter loves William Wordsworth and Sir Walter Scott.”
“I didn’t say romantic literature. I said romance novels. There’s a fucking difference, idiot.”
“Do you mean ‘Jane Eyre’, ‘Sense and Sensibility’, and ‘Gone With the Wind’?”
“You’re making my fucking head hurt. Let’s drop the subject. For future reference, when someone says you’re TSTL, they mean too stupid to live.”
“I resent that.”
“Still don’t give a fuck and come up with something new. You’re not helping my boredom, although your ignorance entertains the fuck out of me. You’re so fucking easy to run circles around.”
“You’re right. Let’s drop this before I lose my fucking temper. You can’t kill Bailey or Harley. They are as innocent as my wife and daughter.”
“I can kill anyone I fucking please, asshole.”
“Not if you don’t want Christopher on your scent.”
“Those cunts would already be dead.”
“They’re innocent!”
Bash yawned. “I’m even more bored. Do you really want to test what happens when I need additional amusement?”
No, he didn’t. He should never have met with Bash, but the motherfucker always made it seem as if there’d be an awful price to pay if Johnnie didn’t comply.
Besides, he’d thought meeting with Bash would aid in finding Molly.
“I’ll bring Bailey to you when you request her,” he promised tiredly.
“But she stays alive as does Harley, and my wife and daughter.”
“But not Meggie and Rebel?”
“Don’t fuck with Rebel!” Johnnie snapped. “You can’t fuck with Megan if you want to send Easton to her, so shut the fuck up.”
“I can do anything I fucking please!” Bash studied Johnnie then smiled. “But you’re right, little brother. Forget about Bailey. I shouldn’t fuck with everyone just to see what I can get you to do.”
“Get off that train, motherfucker,” Johnnie ordered. “The only reason I’m agreeing to any of your bullshit is because you convinced me to meet you yet again behind Christopher’s back after he warned me not to do it.”
“If that helps you to sleep at night—”
“I sleep like a baby every night,” Johnnie lied. He’d been so eaten up with jealousy over Kendall and Christopher, he could barely close his fucking eyes. “I’m doing what I have to do to save everyone until I can drive you away or kill you,” he finished.
Bash and Easton exchanged smirks.
“You want me dead, Johnnie?” Bash asked.
“Or gone. Whatever it takes to save my family.”
“Whatever it takes to save you. If you really wanted to save them, you’d tell Outlaw. Christopher.”
Johnnie stiffened.
“Save it.” Bash raised his hand to shut Johnnie up. “I’ve told you, in fucking detail, my intentions for Meggie. My ultimate goal. I want to fuck her. I want to hurt her. She’s small. She’s gorgeous. She’s vulnerable. You know exactly what I intend to do—”
“You really think I’m a dumb fuck. You wouldn’t fucking tell me that bullshit if you really intended to do it.”
Bash ignored him. “You gave up a club location to save your own ass.”
“The fuck I did. This lab is a public facility.”
“Tell me who the fuck knows it’s owned by Outlaw?”
Fuck. He’d mentioned that once during a meeting with Bash.
“Exactly, motherfucker. I heard once upon a time you were fucking smart, but you’re so fucking bitter and obsessed.”
“I’m not obsessed with Megan,” Johnnie growled.
“I agree,” Bash said, shocking him. “You’re obsessed with Outlaw. You’re not him. You’re you. That isn’t a fucking insult. It used to be a fucking compliment. I’m trying to clue you the fuck in, because my amusement will wane. I want a worthy opp. Christopher killed Cee Cee. Cee Cee.”
“He had help. We were all there. I doubt he would’ve been able to take Cee Cee down had he been alone.”
“You’re still not fucking getting it, are you?
He had help that day, but no motherfucker alive was willing to challenge Daddy the way our brother did.
For a little while, they ran circles around each other.
Even after Daddy died, Outlaw still couldn’t be defeated.
He got so many Scorpions arrested for a fucking bombing in Portland that it fucking decimated the club.
He killed five of Cee Cee’s sons. He ordered the fucking mother chapter blown up.
No motherfucker could do what he did. Not Sharper.
Not Logan. Not any other rivals. Outlaw, Christopher, almost singlehandedly destroyed the American Scorpions. ”
Johnnie glanced away, unable to refute a word of what Bash said. “You sound as if you admire him.”
Bash sighed. “I have lucid moments. It’s those times where I ask myself what the fuck am I doing by poking the beast.”
“Why are you?” Johnnie asked curiously. “Obviously, you were just bullshitting about Megan owning part of the club. You turned up because you want to avenge all you’ve lost.”
“Listen to me, motherfucker. Listen for once in your fucking life. Daddy paid bounties on motherfucker after motherfucker for years. When he was killed, the American Scorpions didn’t cease to exist. When some of our brothers died, I was still alive.
Daddy had a massive fortune. The club rivalled the Dwellers.
I was Cee Cee’s heir. Outlaw wreaked havoc in every area of my club. ”
“You’re wealthy,” Johnnie said flatly. “So, I’m right.”
“I’m lucid now. I’m sober now.”
Johnnie shook his head.
“I’m a motherfucking addict, dumb fuck. How the fuck do addicts get their fixes?”
“With hits from the drug of their choice.”
“How, Johnnie? How? What the fuck’s needed to get a fucking hit?”
“Suppliers.”
“Do those motherfuckers give you their merchandise?”
“Of course not. You have to pay.”
“What do you use to pay?”
“Credit cards?”
Bash slapped his face.
“OW!” Johnnie said, grabbing his jaw, too stunned to retaliate.
“You’re fucking lucky I’m in a good fucking mood, otherwise I’d shoot you for being a dumb motherfucker. Do the Dwellers take motherfucking credit cards for drug deals?”
“Are you insane?” Dropping his hand and ignoring his stinging cheek, Johnnie glared at the stupid motherfucker. “It’s mainly cash transactions. We can’t leave a paper trail.”
Folding his arms, Bash lifted a brow and looked at Johnnie with meaning.
“Not credit cards then,” Johnnie said resentfully. “On credit? Is that why you’re so desperate for money?”
“Ding-ding-ding. I need money.”
“For what?” Johnnie asked, truly perplexed. “If you need money to get a fix and you don’t have any, you get drugs on credit. If not, you go without. Which, in my wisdom, is the way to stop being an addict.”
“Johnnie, I am an addict,” Bash said slowly as if Johnnie didn’t have a fucking brain. “I need an infusion of cash. Megan is standing in my fucking way. I want to fuck her, kill her, and get what’s owed to me. Is that fucking clear enough for you?”
“Refer to my previous statement about Megan. And I don’t fucking understand how you get hits now if you claim you need money.”
Bash shoved him. “I’m not getting motherfucking hits,” he roared. “I don’t have fucking money!”
“You don’t need money for drugs, asshole, especially if you have an established relationship with the supplier.”
“I’m fucking done. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. When I get my fucking hands on Meggie, you better fucking run because you’ll never be able to explain why you knew and didn’t open your stupid mouth.”
“I don’t believe—”
Bash swept him with a cold look, turned, and stalked away with Easton trailing behind him. A few minutes later, the roar of motorcycles filled the silence.
Johnnie realized they’d conducted the entire meeting in the hallway and had never closed the door.