Page 144 of Remiss

“You didn’t, did you?” She glared at Mort, who pressed his lips together and averted his gaze. “What about you?”

“What you wanted us to talk to him about, Chester?” Mort asked carefully.

She stiffened.

“We’ll finish with them later, baby,” Roxanne announced, bringing her baby pit bull to heel. “We have to get going if we want to beat the lunch crowd.”

“Where…where…” Knox gulped, shifted, and tried again. “Wh-where are you going, m-m-m-my l-l-l-love?”

“I took care of this motherfucker.” Roxanne nodded to Christopher, then flipped him off at his glare. “One down. One to fucking go.” Sniffing, she looked pointedly at Mort.

Alarm raced across his face. “I didn’t do nothing!”

“Keep it that way,” Bitsy barked.

“Notyou,” Roxanne announced. “Symphony,” she said.

“Kindness free,” Christopher parroted like a petulant little boy. He scowled at her. “Love precious. Empathy human. And forgiveness healin’. Remember that before you fuck Symphony up.”

She gave him a putrid look as if she hadn’t thrown that at him a few fucking minutes ago and swept out of the room with Bitsy following in her wake.

“Fuck,” Mort said.

“That bitch dead,” Val said calmly, reaching for the platter of bacon and digging in.

“Maybe you should call and warn her?” Knox asked timidly.

“I can…I can go to the diner,” Grant offered.

“How the fuck they found out about Symphony anyfuckinway?” Christopher asked, hungry and hurting.

“Red, I guess,” Mort said morosely. “Symphony wouldn’t fucking behave. Even in front of Kendall.”

“Then that bitch deserve what she get,” Val said. “Play with fucking fire. Get fucking burned. Kendall a solid bitch now, but even I know fucking with her is smoke few motherfuckers can handle.”

“Only Prez, Roxanne, and Meggie girl,” Mort said with a nod.

Christopher looked at Grant. “Stay out of it, boy. Intervenin’ now would make it seem like Mort sent you to save Symphony.With the warpath they on, Symphony would end up far worse then if we just let the chips fall the fuck where they might.”

Cuz Symphony played with fucking fire. It was time to face the fucking heat.

Sitting at the breakfast table, Diesel waited for confirmation that the jeweler could put the finishing touches on Aunt Meggie’s diamond by the end of the day. Jana sat next to him, quietly eating. Axel, Ransom, and Ryder’s conversation was background noise in Diesel’s head. On edge, he couldn’t pay attention. He was hoping like hell Aunt Meggie called.

CJ ate, lost in his own world. Diesel wondered if he eventasted his food. Bunny cooked, but then she found out how severely injured Digger was and rushed to the clubhouse, leaving Kaia and Bishop to set the food on the sideboard and deal with Gunner.

When they both sat at the table with their own breakfast, Axel and Jana were the only ones who greeted both of them. Diesel acknowledged Bishop but glared at Kaia. The other three boys spoke to none of them.

Bishop looked after Gunner; Kaia ate and scrolled on his phone.

“Is it okay if I have more sausage?” Jana asked timidly.

Diesel reminded himself she needed gentleness. His shitty mood was no fault of hers, but he was so fucking angry with Uncle Christopher, though he kept it to himself. Why, he wasn’t sure.

Habit, perhaps.

“I can fry up more for you,” Kaia offered.

“No the fuck you can’t, bro,” Bishop said, cutting up the last of Gunner’s sausage and putting it on his plate.