Page 159 of Remorseless

The last time Meggie left CJ’s side to check on her other children, Rebel wanted to go with Christopher to the meatshack and watch whoever was there die.

Meggie didn’t care about that either. If Rebel wanted to kill, it didn’t matter. Meggie only wanted CJ toopen his eyes.

Hate was an emotion she steered clear of as much as possible. Only a select few made her list. Of course, Logan Donovan topped it, followed by her stepfather, Thomas Nicholls. Until now, perhaps, they had been in an exclusive club. She didn’t know. She didn’t know if she hated her brother, her father-in-law, and Rack, or if she just hated their behavior. As with her father.

But those women who hurt her son? Nyx, their ringleader? Shedespisedthem. They’d targeted him because ofher. No one had to show her footage or recount the evening. She knew because she knew them.

Somewhere, during the club’s years of peace, she’d taken for granted that no matter what, Christopher would return to her. He wasOutlaw. Formidable. Indomitable. But her potato was just entering this life. He didn’t know that women could be as ruthless and remorseless as any of the bikers.

This was the final straw for Meggie. After weeks of the awful behavior and protecting the troublemakers and rumormongers for the good of the club, Meggie no longer cared if they saw her as whore or saint. They’d feel her wrath as CJ’s mother.

A hand slid through her hair.

Meggie froze.

“Mom?” CJ croaked.

Raising her head, Meggie released a sob at seeing CJ’s gaze trained on her. She jumped to her feet, leaned over and hugged him. “Oh, CJ. Thank God. I was so scared.”

CJ didn’t answer and Meggie raised her head. He was staring at her.

“I…” He swallowed. “Did Uncle Mort tell you and Dad I loved you?”

“Why would—”

“I thought I was dying,” he said softly. He sounded sodevastated.

Meggie hugged him tighter.

“I thought…I don’t know what was in that drink, but I thought it diluted with Sprite.”

“Don’t worry, son. I’ll see that they never hurt anyone again.”

“It’s okay, Mom. They were kind of like hazing me.”

Meggie wouldn’t argue the point. “Let me call your daddy and the nurse, then get Rebel and the boys in here.”

“Okay.” Silence, and then: “Mom?”

“Yes, son?”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken the lean. It wasn’t their fault.”

“You deciding to take it wasn’t their fault,” she agreed. “Them trying to poison you with rubbing alcohol, cocaine, near lethal amounts of codeine mixed with vodka and promethazine, was.”

“They tried to kill me?”

Definitely. “Your daddy’s still investigating. Now, let’s get you checked out.”

Kissing CJ’s forehead, she grabbed the remote and pressed the call button for the nurse.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

CJ flipped through the channels on the hospital TV, hoping to find a decent show to pass the time. The nurse came in a couple of hours ago and checked his vital signs. Not long after, the attending physician arrived and reminded him how lucky he was to have survived. He hinted he wouldn’t release him to Mom and Dad but would insist he enroll in drug treatment.

At Mom’s pushback, the doctor reminded her he could call in child protective services for all the kids. Mom dropped the subject and promised she’d “talk to her husband”. CJ assumed the text she sent explained the situation to Dad.

After his supper, Mom curled up on the extra bed that Dad had used when she was a patient and fell asleep almost immediately.