Page 113 of Remorseless

Instead of chastising Ryan—or telling on him as he feared—Diesel arranged a fight-club style matchbetween CJ and Ryan. The next afternoon, the fight happened in one of the forest clearings. Torrin, already a member for two years and one of Diesel’s best friends, was there. Narci was a week away from his patching in ceremony. Bishop had somehow fallen in with them—seventeen and a juvenile delinquent.

CJ, Harley, and Rory arrived after Ryan. He saw CJ as a skinny, arrogant motherfucker.

“Remember what I’ve been teaching you,” Diesel had said to CJ.

The words should’ve clued Ryan in. But nope. He’d expected to humiliate CJ. Hedefinitelyhadn’t expected CJ to win. Discovering Diesel wanted to bet fifty thousand dollars against Ryan humiliated him tenfold. Luckily, the guys could only put up a hundred bucks.

To this day, no one had ever snitched. The true reason for tonight’s confrontation wouldneverbe discovered.

A noise broke into his revelry. He stood at the top of the second floor landing, lost in thought. Cursing, Ryan hurried down the hallway. He approached Rebel’s door, aware of the location because his mother had talked about how beautiful the bedroom was, nonstop, for fucking days.

It even prompted Val to ask, “What, Puff? You want a different type of bedroom now? The style wouldn’t go with our log cabin, by the way.”

She’d claimed she was happy with what they had, but she sure didn’t sound like it.

Opening Rebel’s door carefully, Ryan slipped in, the flashlight already beaming from his phone. He needed the overhead light. Hopefully, everyone remained downstairs in an uproar because Harley was stupid and Rebel was a fucking boxer.

What the fuck had Harley expected him to say? Fuck, what had she expectedCJto say? She just wouldn’t fucking learn. If she behaved,maybeCJwould forgive her. But just the name ‘Molly’ triggered her.

Girls.

Fuck,women.

Ryan hadn’t expected Kendall’s reaction, but Willard insisted Ryan needed to find out about Logan’s awesomeness and why he’d see sticking his cock inHarleyas such a disgrace.

Bash flip-flopped on Logan, depending on if he was high. Val shut Ryan down about any questions. Willard was just a fucking fan. Ryan wanted to know how his great-grandfather could’ve looked at Harley, a girl as gorgeous as Mom or Molly, and considered herlesserjust because she didn’t look like him.

Ryan hated that not only had Harley touched something in him, but she’d thrown him over the minute CJ paid attention to her at school. Again, whathadshe expected him to say?

Another shocking turn was his softening toward CJ. His entire family. He still loved needling him. And, yes, they all still annoyed the fuck out of him, but nowadays, when he called them cucks and beta boys, he didn’t have the same derision.

He felt as if he had a voice. He felt as if his mother loved him. The memory of Mom begging for his life still resonated deep in his soul. Rory’s claim that Meggie released the Triplets from their punishment because of him was debatable. Maybe, one day, Ryan would ask her. Lie or not, that softened him, too.

CJ’s firm stance on Harley also made Ryan see him in a new light. He felt a modicum of respect toward his cousin. Not only because of that, but because of Molly, too. If their roles were reversed, Ryan would want blood as well.

He probably owed Kendall an apology for calling her a bitch and a thot, but why shouldherespect her when Uncle Johnnie didn’t?

Tonight capped off days of fuckery. Dementor and those other jackasses fucking with their lives got a clue and deleted Meggie’s photo. Once, he might’ve enjoyed the disrespect of it all. That began to change with Mom facing Outlaw in the clubhouse and solidified at his terrifying coldness toward Torie. Outlaw would never geld Ryan and feed his cock to ravens.

Pounder remained on his suicide mission. For what reason, Ryan couldn’t understand. He liked Pounder. He’d make a much better Dweller than he was a Scorpion. The Dwellers didn’t hurt girls. If Outlaw knew the truth—minus fucking with Meggie—he’d find a way to bring him into the Dwellers. Johnnie was too fucking bloated with his own self-importance to understand diplomacy, logistics, dealmaking, or, fuck,finessing.

He’d warned Bash, JohnnieandPounder not to fuck with Meggie. He suggested to Bash and Pounder better targets: Rebel and Mattie. Fuck, if they were fucking with Harley, why not the other two?

Whether this order came from Bash, Ryan didn’t know. He wouldn’t cry at their fucking funerals though. For himself, he already had a contingency plan.

Creeping forward in Rebel’s room, he flipped on the light and ignored the luxury. Fuck. He should’ve brought more than one camera to plant. She had a fucking suite.

Goddamn. He thought CJ’s room was big compared to his. Rebel’s must have been half the size of the entire log cabin.

For whatever reason, he wasn’t mad at her. Not the way CJ’s room had once pissed him off.

He’d plant the first camera across the room, closer to her bed. Or should it be her bathroom? Or her walk-in closet?

If he had time, he’d ask Willard which he’d prefer. Since he didn’t have the time, Ryan had to decide.

The sex tape between Ryan and Harley got him a short video of Molly. She was tied to a bed and drugged up. She’d lost so much fucking weight that it broke his fucking heart. Before the evening ended, he intended to seek out Johnnie again. If he had to, he’d get down on his hands and knees and beg him to get Molly back.

If Ryan had to give her up to CJ, he didn’t care. He just wanted her safe.