Page 160 of Ruptured
The door opened and Meggie glanced in that direction, expecting to see Rebel returning from her testing. Instead, Johnnie sauntered in.
“Would you please just go away?” she asked crossly, in no mood for his stupidity. “If Diesel has beaten up another one of Tabitha’s friends, talk to Christopher and Mortician.”
Johnnie ignored her and walked to her, looming next to her like a cartoon villain. He raised his bandaged hand and met her gaze as if he wanted a reaction.
She already knew. Mortician had clued her in that Christopher shot Johnnie, although he hadn’t gone into the reasons why. She hadn’t cared about his injury the day after it happened and she didn’t care now.
“What? What, Johnnie?” Grabbing her IV pole, she stood and glared at him. “Christopher would’ve done me a great favor if he’d shot away your tongue.” She started past him.
“You little bitch,” he snarled, yanking her arm with his good hand and almost tripping her, since her foot cast had her so unsteady. She had crutches, but it was such a short distance between her bed and the window seat, she’d ignored them. “If you don’t care about my injuries, maybe this will matter to you. Your husband wants to fuck my wife.”
Scowling, Meggie jerked away, limped to her bed and tucked herself in. Her wrist was nicely healing, but her sprained ankle continued plaguing her. “You’re an idiot.”
“Am I?” Johnnie stalked to her and narrowed his silver eyes. “Last week, I found them at the club drinking together. I looked at the footage and do you fucking know what Kendall asked him?”
“What possessed her to marry you?” Meggie asked sweetly.
“You’ve turned into a first-class cunt.”
“Lovely. I’ve finally joinedyou, since you’ve been one.”
Rage contorting his face, he swept her with a chilling look. “I fucking hate you so fucking much.”
“So you’ve said.” The first time Johnnie told her that, long before his actions backed up his words, it crushed her. “That’s old news and it bores me. Say what you came to tell me and then get out.”
“Kendall,my wife, asked the man you’ve put all your trust in, what kind of couple they would’ve made.”
Meggie blinked, waiting for Johnnie to continue. “And?” she pressed at his silence.
“And? What the fuck do you meanand? They were at the table, cozied fucking up like long-lost friends.”
“Kendall and Christopher aren’t having an affair, moron. They’re acting like family, and it’s long overdue.”
“I disagree.”
“Of course you do. When are you ever agreeable?”
For the briefest moment, Johnnie dropped his guard, and vulnerability blanketed his face. Once, Meggie would’ve sought a way to help him. Be his friend. Talk to Christopher or Mortician or both on his behalf. But Johnnie’s moods swung as fiercely as branches in a storm. They, like him, broke, leaving mere remnants of their former majesty.
“They aren’t sleeping with each other, Johnnie,” she repeated. “They are having the relationship you always wanted Kendall to have with Christopher.”
He swallowed and glanced away. Meggie thought he’d accept the truth.
Instead, he turned to her again, a smirk replacing his defenselessness. “How does it feel, Megan?”
Shoving aside her moment of nostalgia, Meggie hoped she didn’t regret falling for his bait. Obviously, her guards allowed him in, so they didn’t think he was much of a threat. “How does what feel?”
“How does it feel to be such a fucking failure? Everyone thoughtmychildren would be fucked up because of Kendall.” Malice gleamed in his eyes. “But it’s your pack of brats with mental issues, anger issues, insecurities, and a lack of respect for you.”
Meggie longed for the days when her kids weren’t on the cusp of adulthood or, in Diesel’s case, already an adult.
Back when Axel was first born, and family was family. Back when her husband truly listened to her and took her into consideration. The only thing she’d change was her treatment of Kendall. Meggie could’ve handled situations differently and offered a little more understanding. Yet, she’d learned nothing about mental illness, if her son was any indication.
When her kids were small, things were so much simpler. She’d felt safe and secure. Cherished. She wouldn’t admit to how her boys’ changed view of her felt like a festering open wound. Self-pity wouldn’t help anyone. And it truly wasn’t their fault that the dismissive way the club members treated women rubbed off on them.
Yet Johnnie didn’t get to disparage her sons.
“You have a problem with Christopher? Talk to him. Problem with me?” Meggie laughed without humor, pretending Johnnie hadn’t hit a nerve. “Excuse me.Anotherproblem with me? I’m listening. But I’ll see you tossed from the roof of a fifty-story building before I allow you to call my children out of their names.”
