Chapter 20b. Johnnie #2
Somebody made a fucking face at him. He was too livid to recognize all the newer members and he really didn’t give a fuck. He shot the fuck out of him, too. Meanwhile, Fia’s screams drew the other two out and they started screaming.
Missing Megan and so fucking over all the bullshit, he fired a round in the ceiling. “Shut the fuck up!” he yelled.
Tennysee and Tauriel listened. Fia didn’t. If Torrin hadn’t clapped his hand over her fucking mouth, Christopher might’ve shot her.
He aimed his gun at Johnnie’s head. “I fuckin’ hate you, Johnnie.
I want to rip off your fuckin’ head. You know what the fuck you did to Megan.
But since she ain’t sayin’ she divorcin’ me, you still on her No-Kill List. I want you fuckin’ dead.
Ain’t got a motherfuckin’ thing to do with what the fuck you did to our club.
You ran her away as much as me. You made her think shit that wouldna entered her mind.
Well, she fuckin’ gone. You did what you set out to do.
If she don’t come back, you fuckin’ dead.
If she do come back, you fuckin’ dead to me. ”
“I’m sorry, Christopher—”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Christopher hollered, kicking a chair against the bar. “You ain’t fuckin’ sorry. Everymotherfuckintime you fuckin apologize, you turn around and do more shit to her. For fuckin’ weeks, we been goin’ through this same fuckin’ song and dance.”
“I’m—”
Christopher kicked another chair. “Ain’t I told you to shut the fuck up? You no brother of mine and you no cousin of mine. I disown you as both.”
“Kendall’s gone too,” Johnnie whispered, not moving Christopher because he didn’t give a fuck.
“You fuckin’ betrayed me,” he said, glancing from Johnnie to Rory and then to Ryan, all three suddenly frozen to their spots.
“And because you such a motherfuckin’ Logan Jr., you think I wanna betray you with Kendall.
I ain’t you. Get that through your motherfuckin’ head.
You wanna fuck Megan. You wanted to when you first met her and you still fuckin’ want to.
That’s your whole fuckin’ problem. Your fuckin’ wife said she accepted bein’ second in your life.
What kind of motherfucker make his woman feel like she got to step behind another girl?
Another motherfucker’s wife at that? Cuz you can’t have Megan, you turnin’ as many motherfuckers as possible against her.
Listen up, motherfuckers. I’m puttin’ you on fuckin’ formal notice.
” He made a three-hundred sixty degree turn and met everyone’s gazes.
Some stunned. Others fearful. And others—Mort, Val, Diesel, and CJ—relieved.
“If I find out one fuckin’ thing you did to Megan, you fuckin’ dead.
If she come back and you fuckin’ look at her wrong, you fuckin’ dead. Back the fuck off my wife.”
Christopher indicated Jana with his gun. He wasn’t sure if her or Diesel was more alarmed. Hopefulness popped into Johnnie’s eyes.
“What the fuck you ma and old man name, Jana?”
“A-Amy and S-Sue Reynolds.”
Johnnie recoiled at the sound of her voice. For the first time, Christopher realized she sounded almost exactly like Hopper had way back when.
“For the Man in Black.” Diesel bumped her shoulder with his. “Right, sweetheart?”
She glanced from Johnnie to Christopher and then to Diesel and nodded.
Johnnie was on the verge of doing something stupid. To circumvent his fuckery, Christopher made a quick decision.
“Kaia, take Jana back to the house,” he said. Better to get Jana out of fuckhead’s reach for the time being.
“Absolutely not, Uncle Christopher.”
“Ain’t up for negotiation, Diesel.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Kaia’ll cook for you,” Christopher said, “Or you cook for you. Now, get the fuck out.”
Diesel didn’t look pleased. Christopher didn’t give a fuck.
The moment Kaia led Jana out, Christopher looked at Johnnie. “That’s your fuckin’ daughter.”
“I don’t fucking claim her!” Johnnie spat. “Hopper was a fucking slut.”
“Ain’t Jana fuckin’ fault. You are a fuckin’ assfuck. That sure the fuck ain’t her fault.”
“Do you have proof? A birth certificate…” Johnnie’s voice trailed off and his eyes widened. “The documents.” He plopped into a seat and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Is that one of the reasons Kendall wants to meet Bash?”
Christopher shrugged. “Ask her.”
“This can’t be fucking happening!” Johnnie said. “I’m not the one that’s supposed to have such a surprise.”
Christopher holstered his gun and looked at Diesel. “Is Jana some type of crime victim or a fucking addict?”
“What?” Diesel and Johnnie cried.
“Something about her ain’t right, Diesel. And girl addicts are notoriously abused.”
“She’s an assault victim,” Diesel responded.
“If she an addict, tell me now, Diesel. If Megan come back and they go somewhere together, I don’t want Jana riskin’ her. Either cuz she owe money or she want a hit.”
Diesel shook his head. “I’d never do that.”
“Do we have to tell Mom immediately?” Rory asked. “She might not take it well.”
“Aunt Kendall will have to know, Ro,” CJ said.
“If we find out she your sister, your ma do have to know, so Johnnie can start gettin’ to know her—”
“No, I’ll never accept her. I’d rather throw her on the streets, then acknowledge her.”
“Dad! You don’t mean that,” Rory said.
“The fuck I don’t."
Christopher wasn’t sure why everybody threatened Johnnie, instead of just fucking him up. Yeah, fuck, promising dire consequences to that fuckhead released tension, but it also wasted fucking breath and time.
“This what the fuck you doin’,” Christopher said irritably. “Let Kendall talk to Bash first. He might fuckin’ tell her what she want to know and prepare her for meetin’ Jana.”
“Kendall’s going to be so disappointed in me,” Johnnie said bleakly.
“You underestimate her, Dad,” Rory said, shaking his head. “Jana was born before you even met Mom.”
Johnnie’s lips tightened into a flat line.
“If Bash ain’t tellin’ her, then you got to break it to her,” Christopher went on, “and then introduce her to your girl.”
“That isn’t my girl! Hopper’s a fucking liar.”
“Next,” Christopher continued, not interested in debating with Johnnie. “No matter the truth, if Jana ain’t wantin’ to get to know you, then back off.”
“No problem there,” Johnnie said bitterly, turned and stalked to the bar.
Ten minutes later, Johnnie sat at the bar, sipping a whisky, unable to believe this latest turn of events.
He’d seen himself in every inch of the girl. She had gray eyes and blonde hair with vestiges of Hopper here and there. He also saw Mattie, Rory, JJ, and Blade. Logan.
Even without a paternity test, he knew she was his.
He didn’t want her. He didn’t want to be the fuckhead with a long-lost child. A club girl especially couldn’t be her mother.
Without invitation, Diesel dropped into the seat next to him.
Johnnie glared at the motherfucker. “Is this your idea of a fucking joke?”
“Not at all,” Diesel replied. “I intend to marry Jana. Why would I joke about that? I wanted her to meet everyone. I didn’t mean to cause all this upheaval.”
Johnnie wanted to kill Diesel. And Jana. “Get her the fuck away from here.”
“She’s my fiancé,” Diesel said. “Where I am, she is.”
“How the fuck do you have a fiancé when you still have a wife?”
“I’m legally separated from my wife,” Diesel replied. “What the fuck is it to you?”
The surge of hot anger left Johnnie dizzy. “What the fuck is it to me? What do you mean, motherfucker?” He glowered. “She won’t get a red cent from me. Send her back to the slut who gave birth to her. I won’t claim her, and I refuse to do a paternity test.”
Diesel narrowed his eyes. “No one asked you for a motherfucking paternity test, Johnnie.”
“She’s here for some reason,” Johnnie fumed.
“I just fucking told you why she’s here. I’m marrying her.”
Over Johnnie’s dead body. Or Diesel’s.
If Jana didn’t leave on her own, Johnnie would physically throw her out. He couldn’t kill Diesel as much as he disliked that motherfucker. Christopher would take exception to that.
“This is Kendall’s fault.”
“I’ve known Jana for several years,” Diesel responded.
Johnnie shook his head. “Suppose this is a setup? By Bash. It’s all so convenient, Diesel. Humiliating. Grandda would be so ashamed of me.”
“That’s who you measure right and wrong by?” Diesel sounded incredulous.
“He would’ve seen Hopper as unworthy to have my child.”
“Does it matter? Who gives a fuck, Johnnie?”
“That’s my grandfather. Respect him!”
“Fuck him,” Diesel spat. “When did it start to matter what that motherfucker thought?”
“You didn’t even know him, you disrespectful asshole,” Johnnie shouted, drawing attention. He didn’t care. He was so furious at the situation.
“Thank fuck I didn’t know him,” Diesel retorted. “Again, I ask you when did you start living by Logan Donovan’s standards? When did we lose you? No, when did Uncle Christopher lose you?”
Shame poured into Johnnie, but he pretended it didn’t matter. He clenched his jaw.
Diesel signaled Potter to bring him a beer.
“I noticed the resemblance between you and her, but I thought it was a coincidence,” Diesel said once he got his beer and took a sip.
Johnnie gulped half his beer. “It might be.”
“She’s from Camas. Do you have a connection there?”
“Not that I know of.” Johnnie shrugged. “I’m not sure where Hopper was from.” He sidled a glare at Diesel. “How’d you meet her?”
“It’s a sordid story, filled with sex and drugs. I don’t love Tabitha. I don’t even like her, but I care about Jana. As my wife, she’ll have the protection of the club and Aunt Meggie will take her under her wing.”
Johnnie heaved in a breath. “Hopper didn’t have the decency to tell me.”
“From everything I’ve heard, your grandfather wouldn’t have been happy. He would’ve killed her and her baby.”
Paz came to Johnnie’s mind, along with Christopher’s insistence that Grandda ordered her death. If Hopper came to him with news of her pregnancy back then, Johnnie might’ve been happy. He’d fucked her once or twice bare, so deep in grief over Paz he’d just wanted a connection to someone.
Now? The very idea repulsed him.
“What the fuck am I supposed to do besides get a goddamn DNA test, Diesel? This is something that it seems Christopher would do. Not me. I’ve always been the responsible one.”
“I can argue that point, but it won’t do any good, so I’ll save my breath.”
“Fuck you.”
Diesel gave him a thin smile. “She looks like you,” he repeated.
“As if I give a fuck. A DNA test will tell the truth.”
“And then what?”
He’d send her away somehow. “We’ll see. Until it’s confirmed, don’t mention this to Kendall.” Before Diesel argued the point, Johnnie raised his hand. “Please.”
“Fine, Johnnie.”
“I want nothing to do with her for the time being, especially if I have to hide her from Kendall so I won’t cause her unnecessary stress.”
Draining his bottle in a few gulps, Diesel got to his feet. “Do whatever your conscience can handle. Whether it’s right or wrong. It’s what you do anyway,” he said, and walked away.