Page 9 of Remorseless
“She was thirteen.”
“Zoann’s seventeen and you’ve ruined her life. Tell me whatyouwouldhave done?”
He stared at Missy’s head again. Regret flickered across his face and he blew out a heavy breath.
So it did matter.
“Fine, Pattie. But I fucking warn you, the debt is settled. Don’t talk about it ever again. Whatever she’s going through, let her fucking suffer.”
Sharper’s secret trophy room, in the bowels of his office, were filled with works of art. A collection of heads and eyes that Sharper collected from his kills.
“If I hear a peep, I swear I’ll fucking kill her and add her goddamn head next to my granddaughter’s.” Cee Cee gave her a final look and stormed away.
Part One – Love & Happiness
Chapter One
January 26th
A long while after she and her husband turned in for the night, Megan Caldwell laid awake, thinking about what the death of Edna Torie Meadows Carter meant. The nurse had refused to back off tormenting Meggie. She wanted to feel remorse that Christopher had killed Torie and that their son, CJ, had witnessed her death. But Meggie’s relief overrode all other emotions. She couldn’t even find it in herself to mourn on behalf of a little boy who’d grow up motherless.
Torie created a rift between Meggie and her sons and husband. In herlife. The club girls took their disrespect to new levels and the bikers saw her as naïve and gullible. In recent weeks, Meggie had heard it all: she was old and used up; she was infertile; she was a fraud, pretending she had the power to sway Outlaw; she was a liar, claiming she’d leave herhusband if he ever cheated. Some of the bikers asked her to suck them off or requested sex.
It exhausted Meggie. More than anything, she didn’t trust Christopher’s reaction. She didn’t know how she wanted him to react for that matter.
He might kill everyone who insulted her or he might shrug it off. She justdidn’t know.
No matter what scenarios she’d imagined as she approached the eighteenth anniversary of meeting Christopher, they never ended with question marks.
She didn’t know her place in her potato’s life or at the club. She wasn’t sure what to say to her husband. When Kendall told her to let Christopher fix the situation with Torie if Meggie had the smallest bit of trust left toward him, she gave in. Her emotions were so jumbled. Deep down, she couldn’t imagine Christopher cheating. He loved her and respected her. He knew shewouldleave. That didn’t mean he hadn’t gotten a little too comfortable with her faith in him. Nor did it mean he realized he was building a wall between them as he drew CJ into club life.
Earlier, he’d taken CJ to his room, and she hadn’t seen Christopher for almost two hours. When he finally came to their bedroom, he’d said, “CJ good, baby,” and that was that.
That was that.
She stared at the plain white ceiling, shadowed because of the dimly lit lamp that she couldn’t sleep without. A mural would be much more interesting for nights like these. Or mirrors.
She giggled.
Christopher shifted, facing her. He’d gotten into bed, kissed her goodnight, and turned his back on her. Definitely not a normal night.
“How long you been awake, baby?”
“I never went to sleep,” she admitted.
Scooting closer, he drew her into the crook of his arm and kissedher temple. “Fuck, me neither.”
“I didn’t realize you were awake.” That made her sad. Until a few months ago, they’d been so attuned to each other.
“I didn’t know you was either,” he said, sighing.
His words proved their chasm wasn’t in her head.
“CJ was fine when I left him, Megan.”
“Hmmm.”
What did he expect her to say? Fine by club criteria wouldn’t translate to a mother’s standards.
