A Very Christopher Christmas (A Death Dwellers MC Novella) (33 page)

Rory stared in wide-eyed bewilderment at the scene between Christopher and CJ as it played out. Right on cue, Megan came in.
 

“He told on himself, didn’t he?” she asked on a groan.
 

“Yeah, baby.”
 

Rory tipped to Megan’s side and tugged on her shirt. “MegAnn?”
 

“That’s Aunt Megan,” Kendall said sharply. “Not MegAnn.”
 

“He started calling her that while we stayed here because that’s what CJ called her,” Johnnie explained.
 

“Hi, Rory,” Megan greeted with a smile.
 

He waved at her, then went back and stood between Kendall and Johnnie.
 

“Okay, three fuckin’ minutes up,” Christopher announced, knowing about a fucking minute tops had passed. “Go, boy.”
 

CJ didn’t need to be told twice. “Come on, Har-Lay,” he instructed, waiting for her to slide to her feet. He allowed her time to greet Mortician, then took off running once she finished. All the other kids followed suit.
 

Rory gazed behind them.
 

“Kendall, do you want to taste some of Roxy’s oyster dressing?”
 

“Thanks, Meggie.” She shifted her weight and looked at her shoes. “We have to get going, though, so maybe another time.”
 

Johnnie gave Christopher another plaintive look. “Yeah, some other time.”
 

“E-fuckin-nuff.” Christopher went to the table and grabbed his bottle of tequila. “You ain’t gotta go no-fuckin-where, Johnnie. We family, motherfucker. The shit over and done with. We made it the fuck through and that matter the fuckin’ most.”
 

“That means I can return to my position at the firm?” Kendall asked hopefully.
 

“Fuck you. Fuck no. My fuckin’ patience and generosity only go so fuckin’ far. You two motherfuckers welcome back in the club. Johnnie ain’t suspended no more. But, if Brooks give you your job back, I’m fuckin’ you
and
him up. Lemme tell you if you two was rank and file motherfuckers, you woulda been so fuckin’ fucked. Even now, you shoulda been put to fuckin’ ground.”
 

“Can she get a job at another law firm?” Megan asked him.
 

He wanted to be a motherfucker so bad and say fuck no, but he wouldn’t. Megan was looking at him as if she fucking expected him to relent at least this much. “Kendall, if you so much as
think
‘bout club fuckin’ business, I’m chokin’ the fuck outta you. Hear me?”
 

She nodded, but for once kept the fuck quiet.
 

“Practice law, but the motherfuckers better fuckin’ not have no MC affiliation. Under-fuckin-stand?”
 

“Yes.”
 

Megan stood on tiptoes and he leaned in for her kiss. “Thank you.”
 

“You’re welcome, now go sit the fuck down and take Johnnie’ bitch with you.”
 

Doing as he asked, Megan held out her hand to Rory while Kendall kept Matilda close to her. Together, they walked out. Just to be certain, Christopher got his phone and followed Megan’s progression back to the kitchen, where she sat on a stool and indicated Kendall do the same. Roxy turned from the stove, long enough to kiss Kendall, while Bailey made a beeline for Matilda.
 

“Thank you, Christopher,” Johnnie said quietly, hands in pocket. He still looked sad and out-of-place.
 

“Whiskey in the usual spot, John Boy,” he said, hoping to put him at ease. “Get your shit and join us. We rollin’ in fifteen. Goin’ fuck up the motherfuckers responsible for this latest bullshit. You in?” He held out his hand as a peace offering.
 

Johnnie stared at it a moment, before grabbing it and yanking Christopher into a man hug.
 

“You ever a-fuckin-gain do what you did, motherfucker…” Christopher let his voice trail off, although he fisted Johnnie’s back as he returned his hug.
 

“Shit finally feel right again,” Mort said, holding out his hand. “We missed you.”
 

Johnnie grinned. “Show me how much. Tell me who I can kill?”
 

 

Because they didn’t have a lot of time, Christopher decided not to make it long and drawn out. As he sat, facing his brothers, he saw traces of Cee Cee in each of them. Charles, the eldest, turned forty-two a few weeks ago while Bradley the youngest would celebrate his twenty-fourth birthday in January.
 

“There a fuckin’ reason you tellin’ my ass this?” he asked Tobias, the motherfucker who’d been the ringleader the night he took Christopher. He was thirty-two.
 

“The attorney said you’d have a deal we couldn’t refuse. As brothers, I thought you’d be interested to know about us,” Tobias answered coolly.
 

“Ain’t known all these fuckin’ years. Don’t care to know now.”
 

Charles leaned forward. “If you’ve gotten us here to waste our fucking time, I’m not going to be happy,” he said. “We’re here to collect our money.”
 

“What fucking money?” Johnnie asked, folding his arms. Before they’d left, he’d gotten his cut and his Glock. “We haven’t made a deal yet to exchange money.”
 

Bradley laughed like a maniacal fucking hyena. “The money to keep your bitches safe. Didn’t the attorney explain our terms?”
 

“Unless you know something my ass don’t, kinda hard to fuckin’ muscle us with ten fuckin’ members.”
 

“Says you,” Tobias told him. “We’ve regrouped. Taken over some of the Torps’ old territory. Honestly, if we were charged with their downfall, it had to be worthwhile. They were without leadership. We were without members.”
 

“What it means, little brother,” Charles began, knocking on the table to make the point, “is, unless you’re willing to pay a monthly safety fee, your women and children are in danger.”
 

“Lemme get this real fuckin’ clear,” he started. “You threatenin’ my wife?”
 

Charles lifted a brow, wordlessly calling Christopher a dumb motherfucker.
 

Christopher gave the barest nods. If they wanted to get to the mall and pick something up to keep their cover story, they had to move now. Besides, he was completely out of patience. He sat directly in front of Charles. He wanted to fuck up Tobias just as badly as he wanted to take out Charles, the ringleader. Pretty fucking sure they were packing heat just like him and his boys, Christopher knew he couldn’t risk giving them the chance to draw.
 

Because as he listened to them, he got the feeling they’d come to the meeting with the same intention as Christopher. They wanted to fuck him up as much as he wanted to fuck them up.
 

Pretending to consider Charles’s offer, Christopher grabbed his nine from his waistband and shot the motherfucker in the center of his head. He didn’t wait for any of the others to shoot Tobias and Bradley, he kept firing.
 

“Fuck, I’m full of fuckin’ blood,” he snarled, once the shooting stopped and the three motherfuckers lay riddled with bullets. “I have to waste fuckin’ time cleanin’ the fuck up.”
 

“I put an extra T-shirt in my saddlebag,” Johnnie said as Mort and Digger opened their bags and pulled out plastic.
 

“We shoulda put this shit down first,” Digger grumbled.
 

“That would’ve given us away, fool,” Mort returned.
 

“Just shut the fuck up and clean the fuck up, so we can get the fuck,” Christopher ordered, snatching the T-shirt from Johnnie and hoping like a motherfucker they got back to the house before the party started.
 

 

“If you need me, call me on my cell phone and I’ll come right up,” Kendall instructed her new nanny, Ella. They were in Ryder’s nursery, where additional bassinets had been set up for Matilda and Bailey’s son, Lou. At the moment, all three infants were asleep. The other kids were downstairs, allowed the run of the party.
 

Except Rory, who didn’t seem to know if he should play with the others or sit silently on a chair. Even now, he clung to Kendall’s winter white pants.
 

“Mrs. Caldwell left her and Mrs. Banks’s phone numbers as well, Mrs. Donovan.”
 

Kendall nodded to acknowledge Ella’s statement. She was an older woman, fifty-nine to be exact, a little rotund grandmother type. In the five days since she’d started working, Kendall found her to be both professional and nurturing. Ella had even suggested to Johnnie that Kendall needed a housekeeper, immediately warming Kendall to her.
 

“Rory can stay with me,” she offered kindly. “That does seem like a rowdy bunch down there. Too much for such a sweet, gentle child.”
 

Kendall beamed at her. “I appreciate the offer, but they’re his cousins. He has to learn to interact with them.”
 

“Yes, ma’am. If it gets to be too much, I’ll be happy to look after him.”
 

“Thank you,” she said and held out her hand to Rory. “Come, son.”
 

Without hesitation, her precious little boy took her hand and followed her meekly out into the hallway. Black and white photos of Meggie still hung from the pillars that stood six feet apart and separated the floor-to-ceiling glass panels. Outside, darkness had already descended. Johnnie had been gone several hours already.
 

She couldn’t imagine what destination was so important that they’d leave before the big party. He claimed they were going to the mall for gifts and he wanted to tag along.
 

Kendall supposed she was happy. It felt good to be back in with the other women, but she really wanted her job back with Brooks. She’d made a mistake and had paid dearly for it. She’d almost lost her husband. It didn’t escape her that he’d decided to be mean to her after staying under Meggie’s roof.
 

She frowned and paused right near the staircase. “Rory, show me the room you slept in when I went on my vacation.”
 

“‘Kay.” He pointed down. “We stay on second floor.”
 

“I know, my love. Who stayed with you?”
 

He frowned. “Jo-nee.”
 

“Not CJ?” she pressed.
 

“No, Kennaw.”
 

Johnnie wanted Rory to call them Mom and Dad. Now that she thought about it, she liked the idea too. She was afraid of confusing Rory, but she knew if Johnnie heard their
son call him by his name, he’d be furious and he was just now forgiving her for all she’d done.
 

“Take me to your room.”
 

They carefully made their way to the second floor. Although her kids’ rooms were one floor up, Meggie allowed them to scatter their toys in the hallway on this level. If it made her happy, Kendall was ecstatic.
 

There was no outer glass wall on this level, nor were there only photos of Meggie. She’d made this some type of family gallery with pictures of her and Outlaw and their kids. Her mother and father. His mother. And…Kendall halted, surprised to see a photo of her, Johnnie, and Rory near one of Val, Zoann, Devon, and Rory. There was Mort, Bailey, Harley, and Roxy. A photo with Outlaw’s dead sisters and nieces. Zoann, her sons, and Ophelia were also in that shot. Then there were photos of the guys.
 

Kendall stared at the first photo. In it, Johnnie, Outlaw, Mort, Val, and Digger stood between Meggie’s and Bailey’s fathers. Johnnie must’ve been twenty-two or twenty-three. He looked happy, arms folded, muscles bulging, in his cut, his pose and expression similar to those of the other guys. The second photo was more recent and didn’t include Big Joe, K-P, or Digger.