Page 130 of 12 Months of Mayhem

She flinches at my words but takes a step closer. “I know I made mistakes. Terrible ones. But I want to make things right. For Birdie.”

The mention of my daughter’s name ignites a fire in my gut. “Don’t you dare say her name,” I bellow, my fists clenching at my sides. “You lost that right when you walked out on her.”

Meredith’s eyes fill with tears, but I can’t tell if they’re genuine or just another act. “Please, Rex. I’m her mother. I deserve a chance to-”

“You deserve nothing,” I cut her off. “Birdie has a mother. Remington is her mother. So cut the shit and tell me what you really want.”

At the mention of Rem’s name, something flashes in Meredith’s eyes, anger, jealousy, I can’t quite tell. But it’s gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a look of desperation.

“I need help, Rex,” she pleads, reaching out to touch my arm.

I jerk away from her touch, my skin crawling. “Don’t,” I warn.

Meredith’s hand falls to her side, but she doesn’t back down. “You don’t understand. I’m in trouble, Rex. Real trouble. I wouldn’t have come back if I had any other choice.”

I study her face, hoping for any sign of the girl I once knew. But all I see is a stranger wearing her skin. “What kind of trouble?”

She glances nervously over her shoulder as if expecting someone to materialize from the shadows. “I...I got mixed up with some bad people. They’re after me. I thought if I came back, if I could just talk to you...”

“You thought what?” I snarl, taking a step closer. “That I’d drop everything and ride to your rescue? That I’d risk everything I’ve built, everything I love, for you?”

Meredith’s eyes flash with anger. “I’m the mother of your child, Rex. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“You walked out on us, remember? You left me to raise my daughter all on my own,” I spit out. “Any loyalty to protect you left when you did.” She opens her mouth to argue, but I cut her off. “I’ve got a family to protect, and you are no longer my fucking problem.”

“Your family with her,” she spits back at me. “Your precious little Remington. She left you too, but maybe my memory of that event is a bit clearer than yours.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and for a moment, I see red. I take a deep breath, tasting sawdust and the metallic tang of my own anger on my tongue.

“Don’t you dare compare yourself to Remington,” I snap. The boards beneath my feet creak as I take a step closer, looming over her. “She didn’t have a choice. You did.”

Meredith’s eyes narrow, a sneer twisting her once-pretty features. “Oh, please. She left you high and dry, just like I did. What makes her so special?”

I clench my fists at my sides, fighting the urge to put them through the nearest wall. “The difference is, Rem came back. She fought for us, for our family.”

“Family? Birdie and I are your family.”

“We were never a family, Meredith. You were just a club whore who I pity fucked. She is everything to me. My fiancée and the mother of my son.”

The color drains from Meredith’s face, her eyes widening in shock. “Your...son?”

I nod, a smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth despite the tension crackling in the air. “That’s right. And Rem’s pregnant again.”

Meredith’s face contorts with rage and jealousy. “You bastard,” she hisses. “You replaced me with that...that whore?”

My vision goes red. In an instant, I’m across the room, my hand wrapped around Meredith’s throat, pinning her against an exposed beam. “Don’t you ever speak about my future wife like that again,” I snarl, my face inches from hers. “Let’s not pretend who was the true whore of the Zulu Kings. Who bed hopped her way through the members in a pathetic attempt to get a property patch.”

Meredith claws at my hand, her eyes wide with fear. I can feel her pulse racing beneath my fingers. For a moment, I’m tempted to squeeze harder, to end this threat to my family once and for all. But then Birdie’s face flashes in my mind, and I release my grip, disgusted with myself. Killing Meredith here and now solves nothing.

Meredith crumples to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. I take a step back, my hands shaking with barely contained rage.

“You’re pathetic,” I spit out. “You come here thinking you can manipulate me like you did five years ago? I’m not that man anymore, Meredith. I’ve got everything I need, everything I want. And you’re not part of that.”

She looks up at me, tears streaming down her face. “Please, Rex,” she croaks. “I have nowhere else to go. They’ll kill me if they find me.”

For a split second, I feel a flicker of pity. But I crush it ruthlessly, remembering all the pain she’s caused. “That’s not my problem,” I say coldly. “You made your choices, now you have to live with them.”

Meredith struggles to her feet, her hand rubbing her throat where I grabbed her. “What about Birdie?” she asks. “Don’t you think she deserves to know her real mother?”

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