Page 94 of Remiss
“We see that,” Kendall said viciously.
Gypsy ignored her. “I have a plan to get, and keep, Derby’s attention for a long time. He’ll never want another woman again.”
“I’ll pay you if you spare us your delusional details,” Kendall said. “Because I can guarantee that motherfucker will never change.”
“I have to at least try,” Gypsy insisted. “Me teaching those young boys to fuck doesn’t even faze Derby any longer.”
Meggie glared at her. That was still a sore spot between them.
“Fuck, how young?” Bunny asked.
Gypsy cackled. “Nothing to worry about, Bunny.”
“It should go without saying that you stay away from Ryan,” Zoann started, her tight smile not reaching her eyes. “Just in case you’re touched in the fucking head and don’t like living anymore, let me remind you. Stay the fuck away from my son.”
“It’s his cock, Zoann,” Gypsy said with another laugh. “You can’t dictate where he puts it.”
“So true,” Zoann conceded testily. “But I can tell Val how unhappy I am that you, a woman who has known Ryan all his life, has made me.”
“Your son’s safe,” Gypsy said. “Meggie made it quite clear the Dwellers sons of the officers were off-limits.”
“What fucking reason did that conversation even come up?” Kendall asked.
“Diesel,” Meggie mouthed, hoping Kendall could read lips. “It doesn’t matter why we discussed it,” she said to the room at large. “Just that it happened, and she promised she understood my position.”
Rebel’s fragile state of mind concerned Meggie, and she didn’t want Gypsy blurting her and Diesel’s affair and hurting Rebel even more. She had to accept the fact that Diesel couldn’t be hers. He’d decided to move on with another girl. Even if Meggie wished he’d waited until his divorce was final, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief that she wouldn’t have to face the possibility of an entanglement between Diesel and Rebel.
But Rebel wasn’t in a place where it wouldn’t devastate her to find out about yet another woman that Diesel slept with.
“I’m starving,” Axel declared, inadvertently cutting the conversation short. “Can someone please feed me?”
“So if any of you ladies have something I can do to earn extra money, let me know.”
Since Gypsy began listing her woes that all centered around Derby, Kendall had been tuning in and out. Catching the tail end of the woman’s latest complaint made Kendall pour another glass of wine and stare at her barely touched entree.
“You want a total makeover because of Derby?” Ophelia squeaked. “May I ask how much you have saved?”
“A surgical makeover,” Gypsy said.
Kendall drained her glass and reached for the wine again, but Roxy scowled and snatched the bottle away before Kendall poured more.
Huffing, Kendall folded her arms and leaned back.
“That’s a lot of time, pain, and expense, Gypsy,” Meggie said, her tone unreadable, sitting to Roxy’s right, while Kendall sat to her left. “Will Derby even appreciate it?”
“He loves younger women. If my body can compete, he’ll remember what attracted him to me. Same with my face. I was the beauty of the Burning Hounds.”
Kendall snorted.
“Stand down, baby,” Roxy warned on a whisper. “Dinner’s almost over.”
Gypsy’s lips trembled.
“You are reading too much into Aunt Kendall’s words,” Rebel declared.
“Be nice, Mama,” Mattie said quietly.
“What do you think Aunt Kendall meant, Reb?” Harley asked hesitantly, another attempt to have Rebel acknowledge her.
