Page 68

Rex

The second I’m out of Rem’s office guilt hits me like a sucker punch to the gut. I hate lying to her, especially now with the baby on the way, but I shake it off. This is for her own good and our family’s safety. The less she knows, the better.

I stride through Papa Midnight Customs, nodding at a few of the guys working on bikes. The heavy New Orleans air surrounds me as I step into the parking lot. My Harley gleams in the late afternoon sun, a beautiful beast waiting to roar to life.

Swinging my leg over the seat, I fire up the engine. The vibration travels through my body, grounding me, reminding me of my purpose. I peel out of the lot, the wind whipping against my face as I navigate the streets of the French Quarter.

The city blurs around me, a mixed bag of colorful buildings, wrought-iron balconies, and faces of tourists drunk on the Big Easy’s charm. But I’m blind to it all, my mind racing faster than my bike as I head towards the construction site of our new clubhouse. Our fresh start after Rene’s ghosts came back to haunt us. Wolff and Diaz had tried to take everything from Rem and me. They’d paid for that with their lives. Our clubhouse was collateral, but necessary damage. The Zulu Kings needed a clean slate, and in a fucked-up way, Wolff gave that to us. I’d cleaned house, getting rid of anyone still loyal to him, and set us on the path we’re on now. One no longer painted in blood and drugs.

I pull into the clubhouse parking lot, the gravel crunching under my tires as I slow to a stop. The site is a hive of activity with work trucks scattered around, their beds loaded with lumber and equipment. The skeletal frame of our new home rises against the fading light—a promise of rebirth from the ashes of our old life.

Coffey and Tex are waiting for me when I cut the engine.

“Where is she?” I demand, swinging off my bike. My boots hit the ground with a solid thud, stirring up a small cloud of dust.

Coffey steps forward, his massive frame blocking my path. “Rex, man, I don’t think this is a good idea. Let us handle it.”

I feel my jaw clench, a muscle ticking in my cheek. “I asked you a question, brother. Where. Is. She?”

Tex shifts uncomfortably, his lanky form a stark contrast to Coffey’s bulk. “Look, I want to kill the bitch as much as you do, Prez, but there are too many eyes around here. “The construction site buzzes around us, oblivious to the storm brewing in our little circle.

I scan the area, my eyes narrowing as they lock onto a flash of blonde hair inside the half-finished structure. “I’m not here to kill her,” I grumble, pushing past Coffey and Tex. Their protests fade behind me as I trudge towards the building.

My heart pounds in my chest, keeping time with my measured steps. I spot her in what will eventually be our main gathering room. She stands there, backlit by the dying sun streaming through the empty window frames. Her silhouette is painfully familiar yet foreign at the same time. Five years is a long time.

As I approach, the floorboards creak beneath my weight, announcing my presence. Meredith turns, her blue eyes, Birdie’s eyes, widening as they meet mine.

“Rex,” she breathes, my name a whisper on her lips.

I stop a few feet away from her. “Why the fuck are you here?”

Meredith’s eyes dart around nervously, like a cornered animal searching for escape. “I...I needed to see you,” she says, her voice trembling slightly. “It’s been so long, Rex.”

“Not long enough. What do you want?”

“Why do you think I want something?”

“Because that’s how you’ve always operated, Meredith.”

“I’ve changed.”

I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest. “Changed? You abandoned our daughter, Meredith. You don’t just come back from that.”

She flinches at my words but takes a step closer. “I know I made mistakes. Terrible ones. But I want to make things right. For Birdie.”

The mention of my daughter’s name ignites a fire in my gut. “Don’t you dare say her name,” I bellow, my fists clenching at my sides. “You lost that right when you walked out on her.”

Meredith’s eyes fill with tears, but I can’t tell if they’re genuine or just another act. “Please, Rex. I’m her mother. I deserve a chance to-”

“You deserve nothing,” I cut her off. “Birdie has a mother. Remington is her mother. So cut the shit and tell me what you really want.”

At the mention of Rem’s name, something flashes in Meredith’s eyes, anger, jealousy, I can’t quite tell. But it’s gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a look of desperation.

“I need help, Rex,” she pleads, reaching out to touch my arm.

I jerk away from her touch, my skin crawling. “Don’t,” I warn.

Meredith’s hand falls to her side, but she doesn’t back down. “You don’t understand. I’m in trouble, Rex. Real trouble. I wouldn’t have come back if I had any other choice.”

I study her face, hoping for any sign of the girl I once knew. But all I see is a stranger wearing her skin. “What kind of trouble?”

She glances nervously over her shoulder as if expecting someone to materialize from the shadows. “I...I got mixed up with some bad people. They’re after me. I thought if I came back, if I could just talk to you...”

“You thought what?” I snarl, taking a step closer. “That I’d drop everything and ride to your rescue? That I’d risk everything I’ve built, everything I love, for you?”

Meredith’s eyes flash with anger. “I’m the mother of your child, Rex. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“You walked out on us, remember? You left me to raise my daughter all on my own,” I spit out. “Any loyalty to protect you left when you did.” She opens her mouth to argue, but I cut her off. “I’ve got a family to protect, and you are no longer my fucking problem.”

“Your family with her,” she spits back at me. “Your precious little Remington. She left you too, but maybe my memory of that event is a bit clearer than yours.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and for a moment, I see red. I take a deep breath, tasting sawdust and the metallic tang of my own anger on my tongue.

“Don’t you dare compare yourself to Remington,” I snap. The boards beneath my feet creak as I take a step closer, looming over her. “She didn’t have a choice. You did.”

Meredith’s eyes narrow, a sneer twisting her once-pretty features. “Oh, please. She left you high and dry, just like I did. What makes her so special?”

I clench my fists at my sides, fighting the urge to put them through the nearest wall. “The difference is, Rem came back. She fought for us, for our family.”

“Family? Birdie and I are your family.”

“We were never a family, Meredith. You were just a club whore who I pity fucked. She is everything to me. My fiancée and the mother of my son.”

The color drains from Meredith’s face, her eyes widening in shock. “Your...son?”

I nod, a smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth despite the tension crackling in the air. “That’s right. And Rem’s pregnant again.”

Meredith’s face contorts with rage and jealousy. “You bastard,” she hisses. “You replaced me with that...that whore?”

My vision goes red. In an instant, I’m across the room, my hand wrapped around Meredith’s throat, pinning her against an exposed beam. “Don’t you ever speak about my future wife like that again,” I snarl, my face inches from hers. “Let’s not pretend who was the true whore of the Zulu Kings. Who bed hopped her way through the members in a pathetic attempt to get a property patch.”

Meredith claws at my hand, her eyes wide with fear. I can feel her pulse racing beneath my fingers. For a moment, I’m tempted to squeeze harder, to end this threat to my family once and for all. But then Birdie’s face flashes in my mind, and I release my grip, disgusted with myself. Killing Meredith here and now solves nothing.

Meredith crumples to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. I take a step back, my hands shaking with barely contained rage.

“You’re pathetic,” I spit out. “You come here thinking you can manipulate me like you did five years ago? I’m not that man anymore, Meredith. I’ve got everything I need, everything I want. And you’re not part of that.”

She looks up at me, tears streaming down her face. “Please, Rex,” she croaks. “I have nowhere else to go. They’ll kill me if they find me.”

For a split second, I feel a flicker of pity. But I crush it ruthlessly, remembering all the pain she’s caused. “That’s not my problem,” I say coldly. “You made your choices, now you have to live with them.”

Meredith struggles to her feet, her hand rubbing her throat where I grabbed her. “What about Birdie?” she asks. “Don’t you think she deserves to know her real mother?”

I laugh, a harsh sound that echoes through the unfinished room. “Real mother? You gave up that title when you walked out on her. Remington’s been more of a mother to Birdie than you ever were.”

“She’s not her mother!” Meredith shrieks, her face contorting with rage. “I am! And I want to see my daughter!”

I step closer, towering over her. “You listen to me carefully,” I growl, “you stay the fuck away from Birdie. You stay away from Remington, from Beaux, from all of us. If I so much as catch a glimpse of you near my family, I’ll make sure those people you’re running from look like saints compared to what I’ll do to you.”

Meredith’s eyes widen with fear, but there’s a glint of something else there too, defiance. “You can’t keep me from her.”

I turn to leave, my boots crunching on the debris-strewn floor. The tension in the air is thick enough to choke on, and I can feel Meredith’s eyes burning holes in my back.

“This isn’t over, Rex,” she calls out. “You can’t just erase me from Birdie’s life. I’m her mother, whether you like it or not.”

“Fucking watch me,” I yell over my shoulder before striding out of the room and away from her. Each step away from her feels like shedding a poisonous skin, but the anger still simmers just beneath the surface, threatening to boil over.

I inhale deeply, trying to clear the stench of Meredith’s desperation from my nostrils. The construction site is quieter now with most of the workers having packed up for the day.

I hear her before I see her, Meredith’s frantic footsteps echoing behind me as she tries to follow. “Rex, please!” she calls out, pleading. “We’re not finished!”

I don’t turn around, don’t give her the satisfaction of acknowledging her existence. Instead, I keep walking, my eyes fixed on my Harley gleaming in the twilight.

Suddenly, Coffey materializes from between the construction equipment. His massive frame blocks Meredith’s path, a human wall of muscle. I hear her gasp of surprise, followed by the dull thud of her body colliding with Coffey’s immovable form.

“That’s far enough, darlin’,” Coffey rumbles with a thin veil of false sweetness.

“Coffey,” I call out. “Make sure she understands that if she comes near me, this clubhouse, or my family again, there won’t be a second warning.”

“You got it, Prez,” Coffey replies, his tone leaving no doubt that he’ll carry out my orders.

“Let me go, asshole!” she screams at him.

“By all means, struggle. It makes it more fun for me,” Coffey chuckles back at her.

“Let me go!” she bellows again.

“You club whores never learn, do ya? When my president says it’s time for you to go, you’ve got to go.”

Meredith continues to yell trying to get my attention, but I leave her to Coffey.

I make my way over to my bike, and swing one leg over. The familiar leather seat a comfort after the tension of the last hour. The engine roars to life beneath me, drowning out whatever desperate pleas Meredith is trying to make. I don’t look back as I peel out of the lot, gravel spitting from beneath my tires.

The wind whips against my face as I navigate the darkening streets of New Orleans. My mind races faster than my bike, replaying the confrontation with Meredith. The anger, the disgust, and the fleeting moment of pity all swirl together in a toxic cocktail that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

I try to shake it off, focusing instead on the road ahead and the promise of home. Of Remy’s arms around me, of Beaux’s laughter, of Birdie’s smile. My family. The one I’ve built, the one waiting for me.