Chapter Nine #2
Christopher’s head was starting to hurt as much as his heart.
In private, they’d settled this very argument.
Or, at least, he thought they had. Obviously, he’d been wrong, since he hadn’t addressed the club.
Rumors abounded about him and Torie. He was so busy trying to fix Megan that he couldn’t bother himself with denying shit that hadn’t happened.
But the damage was already done.
“You’re not shooting Digger, Outlaw,” Bishop called from the other side of the bar. “That just means—”
“Fuck all,” Christopher snarled. “It mean fuck all except I’m a stupid motherfucker.
Torie dead cuz she fucked with my woman.
Case fuckin’ closed. It was a personal fuckin’ matter that spread into the fuckin’ club cuz of rumors.
We not a club that kill bitches as a general rule, but that bitch just would not fuckin’ listen.
She wasn’t willin’ to behave even for her kid. ”
Digger gave him a sly look. “Meggie been called for Torie’s head. You ignored her.”
Was the motherfucker trying to get all the rumors on the floor or was he fucking hoping to die? Christopher couldn’t tell, so he’d give him the benefit of the doubt for now .
“Cuz I ain’t wantin’ Megan to become a bloodthirsty lil’ bitch. That ain’t hard to fuckin’ understand. The minute she stop remindin’ me I’m more than a fuckin’ killer and point motherfuckers out to fuckin’ kill, what then?”
“A fucking bloodbath,” Val grumbled. “Instead of punching me for stupid shit, you might shoot me.”
“You safe,” Christopher said with a shake of his head. “I mean I ain’t that fuckin’ heartless to kill a stupid motherfucker for sayin’ harmless shit. Give me some fuckin’ credit, Val.”
“So if I asked you why we don’t have square or triangle pots and pans and Meggie didn’t give a fuck if you killed ten motherfuckers a day, you wouldn’t shoot me?”
They all laughed.
Christopher shook his head. “No, assfuck.”
“Round pots cook food faster, Uncle Val,” CJ said. “They distribute the heat more evenly. Also, most stoves have round burners.”
“For real, boy?”
“CJ knows, Uncle Val,” Axel said. “He’s smart like Dad.”
Johnnie cleared his throat. “I’m recognized as the brains of the club.”
“Uncle Mort has the double major, uncle,” CJ said politely. “Math and music.”
“Mortician isn’t exactly known for his literacy.” Johnnie chuckled. “Just by looking at, uh, listening to , him, you certainly wouldn’t know he even went to college.”
“Your bitch ass not insulting Mort in my presence,” Digger said, always ready to defend his brother.
Calm, Mortician lit a cigarette, glanced at Christopher, and shrugged. Christopher couldn’t help but wonder if he really was unaffected by Johnnie’s words or if it was just pretense.
“You don’t like Uncle Mort cuz he’s black, Uncle Johnnie?” Axel picked up on what Johnnie hadn’t said and blurted his thoughts with the innocence of a kid. “Lolly’s black. Do you like her?”
“You’re a fucking child. I don’t answer to you, especially with the bullshit you’re spewing.” Johnnie threw a cold look to Christopher. “Chastise your son before I do it for you.”
“You touch my little brother and not only will we set a bear trap, wrap you in fucking netting, pour cinnamon, honey, and butter on you and release our bees, we’ll use you for fucking target practice,” Ransom snarled.
“Yeah, nobody can abuse Ax but me and Ran,” Ryder warned.
Johnnie blinked at the boys. Without a doubt, those little motherfuckers were serious. Christopher might need to watch them a little closer to keep them out of trouble. They had excellent ideas. However, they needed to learn impulse control to effectively use their skills.
“Your ma ain’t goin’ to be happy when I tell her your plans,” Christopher said.
“It’s club business, Dad,” Ransom said.
“Nope. I ain’t cuttin’ her out on her right to decide what the fuck goin’ on with her own children.
She your ma and I expect you to honor her every fuckin’ day of her life.
Don’t just wait for her fuckin’ birthday or Mother’s Day or special occasions.
She protected you in her belly and she spent her fuckin’ life lovin’ all us and makin’ a home for us.
It hurt me to my fuckin’ soul, thinkin’ motherfuckers might decide to disrespect her cuz I been a stupid motherfucker. ”
“What do you mean by disrespect, Outlaw?” Chains called, so named because he was deep into BDSM, kept all kinds of shackles in his room, and knew how to fuck a motherfucker up with chains.
“Fuck, I ain’t too sure,” Christopher admitted. “I mean she want me to let her resolve her own shit before I step in.” He thought for a moment. “Fuck, I guess if you say more than three sentences to her in a tone she don’t like, that’ll qualify.”
“Excuse me?” Torrin called. “What…three?”
“Hey, Megan.” Christopher ticked off the sentence on his index finger.
“How are you? And I’m fine when she asks you the same.
You might’ve had a bad day and it take a minute for all that annoyance to leave you so you can realize pieces of your tongue might get fuckin’ hacked off.
” Thinking deeper, he sipped his beer. “Anybody know a motherfucker alive who don’t have lips?
That’s probably a good punishment, too. Oh, yeah, if you ignore her when she talks to you, one or both ears gotta get hacked off, dependin’ on the severity of that infraction. ”
“Whoooooaaaaaa!” Axel’s eyes rounded. “I didn’t know you was so cool, Dad.” He beamed at Ryder and Ransom. “We might gotta take notes from him, men. Or compare our torture procedures.”
“Ain’t got fuckin’ time for torture, boy,” Christopher said.
“That’s just punishments. Unless I missed my fuckin’ guess, Megan gettin’ back to normal and she ain’t gonna want me to shoot a motherfucker head off if he snap at her or ignore her when she talk.
I’m just namin’ punishments. Torture would be if I did that shit first. Ripped off finger and toenails.
Burned a cock tip or a nut. Sliced open nostrils.
They had to be strapped down and you do that with the intent to inflict pain until you fuck them up. That’ s torture.”
“ This psychological abuse,” Digger said faintly.
“No, these are lessons, Uncle Digger,” Axel said with enthusiasm.
“How the fuck my words psychological abuse unfuckinless you been fuckin’ with my woman?”
Digger laughed nervously. “I like the proper talking you better. The minute you start talkin’ like Outlaw, motherfuckers got to watch out.”
“Take your own fucking advice, son,” Mortician ordered, glaring at Digger.
Christopher studied Digger, then looked from Narci to Bishop to Potter and Torrin. He turned to members sitting at the tables, most of them looking fucking sick .
“I’m starving, Dad,” Axel whined around a yawn. “Do you think Mom’s still pouting?”
“Meggie not cooking?” Val sounded so fucking disappointed. “That’s why I walked through that cold, damp forest. Call her, Outlaw. Apologize. Anything. Beg her to come back.”
“Let her pout.” Johnnie shrugged. “She’ll cool off and have a delicious meal awaiting you and the boys at home.”
“Mom’s pouting for a reason,” CJ said, just this side of respectful. He eyed Johnnie with dislike. “Know your facts before you disparage her, uncle.”
“What are the facts, nephew ?” Johnnie demanded coldly.
The boys looked at each other, piquing Christopher’s curiosity despite CJ’s shrug.
“Nothing to concern you, uncle .”
Diesel lifted a brow. “Should it concern us?”
The boys shifted, glanced at Christopher, and looked away.
“If something happened at the club, it’s club business,” Johnnie sniped. “As an officer, I have every fucking right to demand an answer. ”
“Nuh uh, Uncle Johnnie,” Axel said. “If it’s club business and family business, we don’t got to tell you.”
“That only works with the women,” Johnnie said flatly. “We can take any matter we choose, classify it as club business, and they can’t interfere.”
Motherfucking Johnnie bringing this same bullshit up again. Purposely stirring the fucking pot.
What the fuck was going on?
Christopher scrubbed a hand over his face. His stomach growled again, but he didn’t care about his hunger anymore.
Nyx stumbled into the room, her jaw swollen and an angry bruise marring her milk white cheek.
Who the fuck worked her over? He didn’t like that bitch, but that didn’t matter. Since Megan overlooked her bitchery, he could too, because the brothers loved her. He didn’t allow abuse of the club girls. He thought motherfuckers understood that. Her gaze fell on him, and he beckoned her over.
She tripped toward him. If he hadn’t raised his hand to halt her, she would’ve fallen into his arms.
“What happened, babe?”
“Outlaw,” she wailed, and covered her face, sobbing.
Diesel got to his feet and pulled her into his embrace. “Shhhh. It’s okay. Tell us what happened and we’ll take care of it.”
“Yeah,” Johnnie said. “We don’t allow any of the girls to be abused, Nyx.”
“It was so awful.”
Before she continued, Narci and Torrin hurried over.
“What’s wrong, Nyx?” Narci asked. “I…what happened?”
Christopher tuned them out to study the fucking scene. Something wasn’t fucking adding up. Axel, Ryder, and Ransom were squirming like doped up worms. CJ was staring at Nyx. Not with the lust of a teenage boy, but as someone he wasn’t happy with.
An image of Megan rose in Christopher’s head. He contemplated her state when he walked in. He’d been so fucking angry after running into Johnnie and Easton, he’d ignored everything else. Memories conjured her sitting down, near the wet gauze on the table.
Had he seen her hands? She’d lifted them at some point. Hadn’t she? Were her knuckles scraped or was his imagination playing fucking tricks on him?
No matter how angry he made Megan, that wouldn’t have stopped her from cooking the meal she’d promised the brothers. Unless…
Unfuckinless …
Growling, Christopher snatched Nyx from Diesel’s arms, swung her around, and grabbed her throat. “What the fuck you did my woman that made her punch the fuck outta you, cunt?”
“What?” Nyx gasped. “Nothing! I didn’t—”
“Lies, woman! Lies,” Axel said. “Mom wouldn’t have swung on you like a pro boxer and knocked you out for nothing.” He turned to Christopher. “You should’ve seen her, Dad. I don’t know why Nyx made Mom so mad, but she knocked the dog shit out of her. It was awesome.”
“That isn’t true!” Nyx managed, clawing at Christopher’s hands.
“The fuck it isn’t,” Ransom said with a snort. “I didn’t think Mom could fight. You did her something.”
Ryder nodded. “The way she put the brakes on you, I thought Rebel invaded her. We walked in just as Mom delivered the fucking punch of the century, knocking you the fuck out. Then, she started kicking you. I was waiting for her to use your fucking chest as a trampoline.”
Christopher started squeezing Nyx’s throat, but Diesel intervened.
“Uncle Christopher, the brothers love this cunt. She has good pussy and keeps them happy.”
“We can find another fuckin’ bitch.”
Christopher was so fucking livid that shit had just began to feel right and this cunt was fucking with Megan.
“Please! I swear if Nyx does something again, I’ll put her out of her misery. We’ve had a hellish few weeks. Things are just returning to normal, Uncle Christopher—”
He shoved Nyx to Diesel, not caring that she was coughing and sobbing.
“I fuckin’ swear if you don’t keep that cunt in line, whatever I do to that bitch, I’m doin’ to you and any other motherfucker encouragin’ her bitchiness to Megan.” Fury shook Christopher. “Hear me?”
Diesel nodded. “Loud and clear.”
Pale as a fucking ghost, Narci rushed over and claimed Nyx. More than just those two motherfuckers were trembling. It didn’t escape Christopher that Digger looked ready to cry.
Val and Mortician hadn’t even stood. They were drinking freshly opened bottles of beer.
“Listen up, motherfuckers. I ain’t too sure what the fuck goin’ on, but I’m fuckin’ beginnin’ to understand why my woman didn’t fuckin’ cook.
Fair fuckin’ warnin’. Fuck with Megan. Disrespect Megan.
Look at Megan wrong. Talk to her like you ain’t got fuckin’ sense, you dead.
That goes for the bitches, too. Old ladies outrank club ass any fuckin’ day of the week.
I ain’t too fuckin’ sure where the fuck you got this shit twisted, but my ass clearin’ it the fuck up.
Not only is Megan my old lady, she my wife .
My life . The day you fuckin’ forget that is the day you fuckin’ die. ”