Page 24 of Misrule
“What does she have that I’d want?” The moment the words left his mouth, Knox regretted them.
Mortician’s growl didn’t help.
Backing away, Knox raised his hands in surrender. “That came out wrong. I meant she doesn’t have any assets to protect like I do.”
Mortician grabbed Knox by the collar and lifted him off his feet, without much effort. “You not ruining her wedding, her happiness, with no mention of a prenup. Understand?”
Knox tightened his jaw. It wasn’t any of Mortician’s business. Besides, it was because ofhimKnox felt the need for the legal document.
“Do. You. Understand?” Mortician snarled, shaking Knox like a rag doll with each succinct word he spoke.
“Doyouunderstand?” Knox finally shouted. “I guess you don’t know what it means to have so much at stake, but I have a lot to lose if this marriage fails.”
“You shouldn’t open your fucking mouth about things you don’t fucking know. Especially about me.”
Mortician set Knox on his feet and thrust his face forward. They were almost nose-to-nose, but the biker was several inches taller than Knox and the fulminating looks and threatening posture worked.
“Would you have a house without insurance?” Knox asked in even tones. “It doesn’t mean your house will be destroyed. It just means it is protected in the event something does happen. That’s the only reason I intend to ask her to sign a prenup.”
“Whatever your goddamn reason, it’s bullshit.” He shook his head and released a humorless laugh. “I don’t have to worry, Knox. Lay that shit down to Roxanne and youwon’thave a wedding.”
“I doubt that. She loves me. Unlike you, she’ll understand my reasoning.”
“Want to make a fucking bet?”
Knox brushed off the sleeves of his jacket. “No, I don’t. Everything you’ve said is a crock of shit. Roxanne never told me she was afraid of our relationship failing. Besides, she’s tougher than that.”
“Tough on the outside, soft on the inside,” Mortician corrected. “And she didn’t have to tellyou. Why would she, motherfucker? That’s what women got other women for. If Bailey say her momma scared, then she scared.Think. You ever know Roxanne to get ass-hurt over whatever silly argument happened at the ball and hold a grudgethreefucking days?”
Refusing to admit how much sense Mortician made, Knox gave him a sour look. He’d address this with Roxanne. He wouldn’t stand here, in the cold, talking to a man who had no perception of what was at stake and no real understanding of Roxanne. He changed the subject. “If you and Bailey still want to renew your vows and make it a double ceremony, you’re welcomed to do so.”
He puffed out his chest, silently showing Mortician who was in control of this situation.
A muscle ticked in Mortician’s jaw. Instead of commenting, he stared at Knox for one long, intimidating moment.
Knox scowled. “Do you still want a double ceremony or not?”
“I’ll talk to Bailey,” he said grudgingly, then relented and sighed. “I lost my momma when I was a kid. I never got to see her happy, Knox. My father was a motherfucker who made her cry all the time. That’s not happening with Roxanne. I don’t give a fuck whatyouorshesays. You not living under her roof and you not sleeping with her until you marry her.Without a fucking prenup. After the wedding, if you fuck up and divorce, she’ll be a rich woman and I’ll have no choice but to de-cock you, shove it in your mouth, then cut your fucking head off.”
“What is wrong with you people? Johnnie threatened me with the meatshack and draining my blood. Now, you’re threatening me with castration and decapitation.”
Mortician grinned. “Don’t fuck with John Boy. He like torture. He’ll use a few steel straws to puncture you with and talk to you as you bleed out.”
“Johnnie? College-educated, suit-wearing,Johnnie? You’re a liar.”
“Appearances deceiving, Knox,” Mortician said with a glare. “Don’tget on Johnnie bad side. No bullshitting.”
“I’ll remember that.” Knox didn’t believe for a minute that Johnnie enjoyed torture and murder. Maybe, at first, he’d thought so. But since he’d gotten to know Johnnie more, the man had never shown anything but a light-hearted, classy side. Even when he was in his cut. “It’s time for me to stop bullshitting with you, Mortician. I’m not adhering to your stupid no-sex, no living-together rule, and neither is Roxanne. She wants to appease you, but she makes up her own mind. I’m going to be with Roxanne before the wedding. We’re grownups. We don’t need your permission to do anything. Who the hell do you people think you are? Outlaw with his dictator complex, givingmywoman a goddamn tacky, purple, Navigator. It reeks of classlessness…Now, this? Fuck you. Roxanne’s visiting me tonight and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
The cold look Mortician gave Knox chilled him, but if he allowed himself to be intimidated, he’d never have a chance with them. Until now, he and Mortician had been on good terms.
“What are you going to do about that?” he taunted. “Neither me nor Roxanne will allow you to use your need for amommato carry out this ridiculous bullshit. It’s pathetic to think you can substitute Roxanne for a dead woman who didn’t have the sense to leave her husband and make a good life for herself.”
Mortician’s punch to Knox’s Outlaw-abused jaw would’ve knocked him to the ground, if the enforcer hadn’t grabbed his hair and land a few more punches on various places of Knox’s body. Just as he released him, he landed a blow to Knox’s stomach.
Moaning and choking, Knox rolled on the ground.
Mortician crouched next to him. “Don’t talk about my dead momma. In my eyes, the woman next to a saint and you defile her with your fucked-up words. Roxanne like a substitute momma to me, toallus. More than that, she Bailey momma and they adore each other. You fucking lucky I liked you enough to let you be her boyfriend, instead of disappearing your fucking ass by running you through a goddamn wood chipper. Deep in your heart, you don’t think she worthy of you, because of us. You think you doing her a favor by marrying her.”
