Page 187 of Remiss

Diesel was done for. He hadn’t laughed so fucking much in weeks.

He’d never underestimate Axel again.

“Hey, Uncle Val,” Mattie greeted when her uncle (actually her second cousin by marriage) opened the door to the log cabin. “How are you?”

Holding the doorknob, he stepped aside and indicated she enter with a wave of his hand. “About to go round up my girl. Hogzilla got out of her pen.”

Wrinkling her nose, Mattie walked into the hallway. “Ididn’t see her on my walk from the clubhouse.”

“You wouldn’t. She doesn’t go east. Always west. She knows her Uncle Outlaw would shoot her if she tried to run him.”

Mattie giggled. “Your pig refers to Uncle Christopher as Uncle Outlaw?”

He winked at her. “Don’t tell Zoann. She wouldn’t believe me, but my girl knows about respect. One nip at his heels and he’d turn her big, juicy ass into thick slices of bacon.”

Unsure if he was serious, Mattie clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from roaring with laughter.

“The boys are in the den,” he said, chuckling and brushing past her, heading toward the door at the opposite end of the hallway. It led to the back of the house and Hogzilla’s pen.

“Thanks, Uncle Val,” she said.

Setting her book bag on the hallway table, Mattie heaved in a breath, drew herself up, and sailed to the den. She’d called for the meeting and they’d agreed to come, so she shouldn’t feel so overwhelmed.

She peeped in the room. CJ, Ryan, Devon, and Rory were still in their school uniforms, scrolling on their phones and ignoring each other. Grant sat with an ankle on his knee, bored and beautiful.

“What’s up, Matt?” Rory asked without looking up. “Why’d you summon all of us? Especially me. You could’ve just talked to me about whatever at home.”

“Where’s Harley?” she asked, stepping just inside the door, flushing when CJ and Grant simultaneously raised their heads and focused on her.

“With my mom,” Ryan answered, leaning over and grabbing his cigarette from an ashtray on the table in front of him. He took a draw and then returned it to its place. “Why?”

“Because I need to talk to you about her and I don’t want her to overhear.”

“Don’t tell me you called us together for her,” Devon complained, glaring at her.

“I know she isn’t anyone’s favorite person right now—” Mattie started.

“What about her?” CJ interrupted, his tone as inscrutable as his look.

“I’m sure you knew she wouldn’t be here, Mattie,” Ryan told her. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked to meet.”

“I suggested here,” CJ said. “I didn’t know it was about Harley. Mattie merely said she had an urgent matter to discuss. I thought it was about Rebel.”

All five boys turned to her and she bit her lip, suddenly uncertain. She might’ve been blowing everything out of proportion.

“Uh, n-never mind.” She started to back away. “Forget it.”

CJ slid his phone in his top pocket and straightened. “Wait, Mattie. Tell us. I’m genuinely curious.”

Tangling her fingers through her hair, she pulled on the strands, enjoying the burn to her scalp. “Something’s wrong with Harley,” she blurted, tugging her hair again. “I th-think Nardo’s hurting her in some kind of way.”

Unease flickered across Ryan’s face. Mattie swore she saw guilt too, though she couldn’t imagine what he’d done. Unless he was hurting her?

CJ cocked his head to the side. Rory and Devon exchanged glances with each other. Only Grant remained expressionless.

“What makes you think that?” CJ finally asked.

“Every time I saw her when we were in LA, she was covered from her neck to her feet,” Mattie explained. “Even at the pool. It was so weird. She was acting weird too.”