Page 231 of Misrule
Yet, he’d been planning Kendall’s demise for weeks. He was so fucking angry and he wasn’t sure why. However, if hehadn’tbeen so angry, he would’ve thought better of addressing this in front of a captivated crowd, including their children and most of their family.
Barely aware that Bunny grabbed Ryder from him, Christopher stood from his seat, shoving the chair against the wall so forcefully it surprised him the motherfucking wood didn’t splinter into bits and pieces.
CJ slid from his seat and went to his Ma, stopping in front of her, turning around and folding his arms, and glaring at Christopher. He was too fucking mad to care.
“This ain’t like you at-fuckin-all,” he ranted. He stalked to her, unable to get as close as he wanted to because CJ stood in his way. “Bein’ so un-fuckin-concerned about your safety out of fuckin’ character for you, so what the fuck goin’ on?”
The smile she’d plastered on her face when he’d first posed his question, remained, frozen, as if she were an ice statue and her expression had been carved onto her face.
“Let’s talk about this in your office.”
“Fuck no,” Christopher snarled. He pointed at her. “I told your lil’ motherfuckin’ ass not to go a motherfuckin’ place off the premises without motherfuckers on your detail. What the fuck you did, though? Exactly what the fuck my ass told you not to do.”
Megan narrowed her eyes, another warning that he needed to back the fuck off. “Christopher, shut up. We can talk about this in private.” Her hand on her belly, she started to turn away from him.
CJ grabbed his Ma’s hand, guiding her toward the door.
Livid because he felt so helpless, Christopher placed his hand on Megan’s shoulder and yanked her back. She stumbled.
“Mommie!” CJ yelled. “’Law,” he said with a little boy growl.
Christopher raised a hand, stopping his son’s advance. “Shut the fuck up, boy. This between me and your Ma. Unless you want me to spank your motherfuckin’ ass, stand the fuck down.”
CJ halted in his tracks, his eyes widening. Tears rushed to them and his lower lip trembled. He sniffled. “’Law mean.”
“Don’t talk to CJ like that, Christopher,” Megan ordered, kneeling down next to their crying boy and drawing him into her arms, comforting him as only she could. She threw Christopher the evil eye. “If you’re angry with me, take it out on me, jerk.”
“Angry with you?Angry?” He gave a nasty laugh. “My ass furious, you lil’ pain-in-the-ass motherfucker. You was kid-fuckin-napped, baby. I almost lost my fuckin’ mind. What the fuck don’t you under-fuckin-stand ‘bout that?”
She whispered to CJ, pointed to his seat at the table, then got to her feet, as their boy ran and reseated himself. She came up to Christopher and laid her head on his chest.
“I love you and I’m sorry for worrying you. I’m not ignoring your feelings.” She huffed out a breath, then stood on her tiptoes as she tugged his head down.
Obediently, Christopher bent his ear next to her mouth, relishing her nearness, her scent.Her.
“I needed time to myself,” she said quietly.
“Krag and the other motherfuckers did you something?” he asked with suspicion.
She shook her head. “They’ve been respectful.”
“They ain’t got a fuckin’ choice if they wanna keep their tongues in their fuckin’ mouths and their fuckin’ brains in their fuckin’ heads.”
“They keep a distance because I’m Big Joe’s daughter. Or Snake’s sister. Or your wife. There’s a lot of formality that makes me feel so guilty that I’m dragging them all around when they have better things to do.”
Christopher straightened and glared at her. “First of fuckin’ all, they ain’t havin’ no better shit to do than guardin’ you.”
Unlike her, he wasn’t speaking in low tones.
“I grant only the motherfuckers I know layin’ down their lives for you the fuckin’ privilege of guardin’ you.”
“Can you lower your voice?” she asked. “That’s why I wanted us to talk in private.”
“Ain’t lowerin’ my voice, Megan. That mean, you gotta lower yours and my ass gettin’ a crook in my goddamn neck keepin’ it fuckin’ bent.”
“I have a lot to tell you. Can we go to—”
“No, we settlin’ this now,” he commanded. “Cuz next fuckin’ time you leave on your fuckin’ own, I’m lockin’ you the fuck up. Some-fuckin-where.”Any-fuckin-whereas long as he knew she was safe.
