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“I—”

“Your dad had a fucking heart attack, Dante!” She hissed at him. “A fucking heart attack! And where were you? I’ll tell you where you were! You were too busy chasing around that whore of yours to care!”

“I guess we’re over our little bonding session from earlier. I only hugged you whilst you sobbed over headless Zach, but fuck me, right?”

“This is what I mean!” Mama growled. “You have no control over her at all! Because ofher,you weren’t here when your father needed you!”

She slapped him again, and I saw his temper reaching its limit.

“Erm… Mama?” Vienna said. “Might I remind you that in Crash’s absence, that’s the current president you’re slapping?”

“Oh, what’s he going to do? Kill his own mother?” She almost laughed, rolling her eyes as though it was the most absurd thought in the world.

“I mean… It’s not a bad idea,” I shrugged. “Let’s not be too quick to dismiss it.”

Everyone ignored me as Dante finally spoke, his voice surprisingly composed, considering all the shit he had been through tonight. “For your information, Mother, I wasn’t anywhere near Rachel tonight. I wasn’t even with her when the shooting started. Vienna was. I was at home, recovering from the massacre we just committed. The massacre we were wholly unprepared for, but we did because the president,yourfucking old man, forced us into it to avenge a brother. None of us had any fucking control over tonight. We were all just trying to survive. We had no preparation for this. We lacked manpower, weapons, astrategy.All because thepresidentwanted his revenge for Zach, without giving thought to the ramifications for the rest of the club!”

“So you would rather we did nothing?” She shrieked. “Zach was your brother!” She slapped him again, this time hard enough to have his head flying to the side.

I swear I heard the literal snap of his temper breaking. Before anyone could stop him, he slapped his mother in return, knocking her into the wall. I smothered a gasp as Vienna reached out to steady her. “I would rather the women and children were evacuated,Mother.I would rather my child and old lady were somewhere safebeforewe brought war to ourgrounds. And I wasn’t even with my old lady and child tonight, because I was arrested on mass murder charges defending our fucking home. So don’t you fucking dare ask where I was. Don’t you fucking dare.”

“You hit me,” she sobbed, holding her cheek.

“Be grateful that’s all I fucking did. I indulge you and your godforsaken attitude because you’re my mother, and you’ve done a lot for this club. But I’ve had it now. There will be no more questioning me, and there will be no more dictating my choices. You are not a fucking leader. You are an old lady, and it's about fucking time you started acting like one. Instead of thinking you get to tell me what I can and can’t do, and where I should have or should not have been. Oh,” he said, looking down at her with scorn. “And should you ever say one more bad word about Rachel, you can consider yourself banished the second I am sworn in as president. You will no longer call her a skank, a whore, or anything else derogatory. You will speak to her with the respect she deserves, just like you expect to be spoken to with the respect you demand.”

Mama scoffed. “And what has she done to earn respect?”

“Right, can we just circle back to the whole killing her thing? I feel like we dismissed that far too quickly,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Oh, will you shut the fuck up for once? Why do you always have to open your smart mouth?”

“Because my legs are too tired to be open that often. And like the good whore I am, it's either legs or mouth.” Chicken and Rooster smothered a laugh, and Vienna smirked at me.

“Enough!” Dante barked. “You can consider us done, Mother. Did I, or did I not, just warn you about the way you speak to Rachel? I haven’t intervened, because we all know Rachel can handle herself and doesn’t need me rescuing her. But enough is enough. You can't speak to her with respect, then you don’t speak to her at all. Do you know what I think your problem is?”

“Enlighten me,” Mama replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I think your problem is, Rachel highlights all your flaws as an old lady. You left Bee to her own devices. Rachel went chasing after her through the flames to ensure she was rescued. You were sobbing on the steps, unable to think of anyonethrough your own grief when we saw Zach. Rachel ensured Bee was taken to safety. I can’t actually remember the last time you did anything to help this club. Rachel was right when she said you were just the loudmouth behind the bar. Your presence here has become like the furniture. It’s expected you’re going to be there, but you don’t actually provide any valuable function that can’t be replaced.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the grin that was threatening to take over my entire face.

Fucking finally!

I was aware that it was harsh to be doing this when her husband was fighting for his life. But this was a long time coming, and she had pushed Dante into this. I wasn’t going to do a thing to stop it. Not when he was on such a roll.

“How dare you speak to your mother like this?”

“Like what? With the truth? Tell me what you’ve done recently that has proved valuable? Because the other old ladies have jobs. They work at the bar, the hairdressers. They balance the books at the garage.”

“I work at the bar, too!”

“When? When was the last time?” Dante shot back without missing a beat.

“And what doesshedo?” Mama hissed, pointing in my direction.

What was her fucking problem with me?

Alright, fine, yes, I killed her son. But she had hated me the second she saw me, and I hadn’t actually done anything to her at that point.

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