Page 107 of Remiss

Christopher had lost himself. Because of her.

Or…

Maybe…

Christopherneeded to sit down so he could get his full Outlaw on.Outlawcould hold it all together.Christopher, like Val, was kind of a himbo.

Narrowing her eyes, Meggie pursed her lips. She’d already told her husband Outlaw needed to return. Maybe she needed to show him?

The question was how.

Everyone was going at Christopher at once. Rule was institutionalized. Johnnie was a traitor. The priest was out of control. Cash was a disappointment. Digger was a thief. Bash was a threat. Diesel was an idiot. CJ was a concern.

There was no other way to describe her two eldest sons as much as it behooved her.

Allies were few. Among the OGs and their family, it was Mortician, Val, and Stretch. Shecouldcount Digger if she wanted to be technical. But it wasn’t about surface level and she needed absolutes. Because,technically, Diesel and CJ weren’t traitors, but they were problems.

She could count Bishop, Potter, Narci, Huck, Pike, Zephyr, and Torrin as allies of Christopher, but not of her.

The younger club girls saw her and the old ladies as threats. Now, they feared Meggie because Christopher killed Nyx.

An unfortunate fact but it was what it was. If that’s what it took for them to back away from Meggie and give her a little breathing room, then so be it. Again, her way of catching flies with honey as she’d boasted to Reb hadn’t worked.

Exactly what could she do with the resources–and allies–she had?

Easton DeLuca rose in her head.

The idea of flirting with him to get under Christopher’s skin left her feeling a little icky. But suppose she got back home and Christopher still wasn’t treating her with any regard?

Would an attempt to make him jealous even matter? Probably not. Whatever else he might have forgotten about her, he knew she’d never willingly have sex with another man.

Swallowing, she sat up and shoved her covers aside, aching to have Christopher’s arms around her.

She walked to the bureau and opened the top drawer, pulling out the T-shirt Christopher had taken off the night before she left. Quickly, she changed from her nightie to the shirt and breathed in deep, smiling at his lingering scent.

“You my everyfuckinthing.” The words rose so clearly in her head, she glanced around to make sure Christopher wasn’t in the room. “I love you. I need you. I miss you. I’m so fuckin’ sorry. I get it, Megan.”

She was losing her mind. She certainly didn’t believe in a superpower, although she’d always thought the love she had for Christopher could be counted as hers.

Refusing to cry, she scampered back into bed and closed her eyes, hoping to settle down now that her husband’s smell surrounded her.

“I’ll be back,” Rebel quipped, sliding from her bottom bunk and getting to her feet, one normal and unencumbered and the other itchy and hot because of the cast that extended nearly to her knee. She had a cast on the opposite hand, luckily not her dominant one.

“Where are you going?” Winnie peeped over the edge of the bunk above Rebel’s. Her little cousin insisted on that one, eventhough Rebel begged her to take a bottom one. When Winnie declined, Rebel reminded herself the wooden guardrails would protect her.

Rebel liked the simplicity and tranquility of the all-white bunk room with four built-in bunk beds. Two huge windows overlooked beautifully landscaped gardens and fig trees, her destination. “I won’t be too long.”

“Can I come, Reb?” she asked, already shoving the covers aside, not caring Rebel hadn’t answered.

Rebel shook her head. “No, I won’t be long,” she reiterated, smiled at Winnie and held out her finger. “Pinkie promise.”

Poking out her lip, Winnie grudgingly entwined her pinkie with Rebel’s.

Mattie eyed Rebel throughout the exchange but remained silent. Earlier, Mattie caught up to her and hugged her while she cried over Gypsy and Diesel and helped her to calm down. When they returned to the dinner table, Gypsy, Momma, and Axel were gone. Although Momma came back for the main course, Axel and Gypsy didn’t.

Hours later, Rebel knew Mattie was worried about her and she wished she could put her mind at ease.

Not knowing what to say, she hurried toward the door, cursing her limited mobility.