Misrule

by Kelly, Kathryn C.

  “You trusted her, and sincerely thought she’d accept you into her clique. You’re doing the same with Outlaw.”

  No, she wasn’t by a long shot. Outlaw had plans for her. Serious, devastating, deadly plans. The more she juxtaposed his generosity with last night’s reaction to the fight, the more convinced Kendall became that she was in danger. Something else she wouldn’t tell Charlotte, so she just said, “I was thirteen-years-old! I’m a grown woman now.”

  “Okay, dear. I’ll trust your judgment but reserve the right to say I told you so, if Outlaw’s motives aren’t aboveboard.”

  Kendall pursed her lips. “Let’s get back to the office plans, please.”

  The rest of the conversation consisted of Charlotte making the plans to decorate the law offices with high-end luxury décor and furnishings that would cost a lot of money. Whenever Charlotte was angry with Brooks, she got her revenge by spending as much of his money as possible…well, she had before Brooks fucked over Outlaw and lost everything.

  Once she bid Charlotte goodbye and threw her phone aside, Kendall rested against her pillows. The silence nearly drove her insane.

  The club, in the evening, was frenetic; Meggie’s mansion, where Kendall had had an office, was always a beehive of activity. Her own home was quieter, a place to unwind, but Meggie, Roxy, Bailey, Fee, Mort and Johnnie contacted her throughout each day. Ella needed direction. Kendall had to make sure she kept up with the latest fashions for herself and her kids, especially Matilda, and home furnishings. Or she was out shopping. Or at some committee meeting. Or at a day spa. A stylist to color out the few gray strands she’d found in her hair.

  In essence, her life had been rich and busy and filled with family and leisure. She hadn’t had to worry about anything, not even her safety.

  Especially not her safety.

  Now, though…she shivered. She felt watched and stalked and…and unsafe.

  She felt…

  Her thoughts screeched to a halt.

  Watched?

  She was in a house Outlaw had given to her. And…and he might’ve pretended to listen to Meggie and overlook Kendall’s participation in Meggie’s kidnapping. Furthermore, he said he disciplined CJ for disrespecting Kendall. Still, Kendall had gone overboard in what she’d intended to do to the boy. It was a situation Outlaw wouldn’t allow to pass without retaliation.

  Shoving the covers aside, Kendall jumped out of bed and glanced around her room, inhaling and exhaling as if she’d run a marathon.

  What should she do? What could she do?

  Call Johnnie?

  No, he wouldn’t care. She was on her own.

  Ordering herself to calm down, Kendall considered her options. If she showed any fear, Outlaw would move in for the kill soon. Sooner. But if she bought some time, challenged him, she could get away.

  She paced, nausea churning in her. One last time she’d have to deceive her beloved Johnnie. She’d have to lull him into allowing her more freedom with Matilda. Rory and JJ she’d leave with him. Her daughter, however, was coming with her.

  A sob escaped her and she covered her face. Outlaw might be watching her give into her weakness. At the thought, she straightened her shoulders, swiped a hand across her runny nose, and drew herself up.

  Biting down on her lip, she tugged her silk nightie off her shoulders and allowed it to slide to the floor. She wasn’t sure where the camera might be located and she really didn’t care.

  She wished to have her family, her friends, back. But wishes were for dreamers and children, and she was neither.

  So she turned in a circle, slow, provocative, hands on hips.

  “Do you have the house bugged, Christopher?” she sneered into the air. “Do I fascinate you that much? Take your fill of what you’ll never have.”

  How could she have been so stupid? Why had she believed he’d forgive her enough to gift her with so much, when Johnnie was barely on speaking terms with her?

  For most of her adult life, she’d survived by shielding herself from pain and hurt by doling it out. How could anyone get to her if she struck first?

  She spun again, swinging her hair, tweaking her nipple before sliding her finger to her bare pussy.

  “Don’t you want it, Christopher? How does it feel knowing I’m the one woman you’ll never have? My pussy belongs to Johnnie. You’ll never have a taste.”

  She cupped her pussy, then dissolved into tears and sank to the floor. She didn’t care if Outlaw was spying on her and saw her brokenness. She didn’t care that all her behavior would earn her is more disgust and a label of being obsessed with Outlaw.

  Covering her face, she cried in loud, broken sobs. Scenes from her life at the club shuffled through her memory. The first time she’d seen Johnnie and fucked him. The next time when she’d sat and had a drink with him.

  The day she’d met Meggie, who’d turned into Kendall’s destruction and her deliverance.

  She thought of last night, and what seemed like her last night with her husband. She’d been in so much pain and infused with anger, cursing Meggie and Outlaw, as Johnnie ushered her to her Navigator then had gotten into his and followed her to the house.

  It would’ve been better if he’d bade her good night and drove off.

  Instead…

  Kendall curled into a ball on the floor, thinking of all that had gone wrong.

  She’d limped to the sofa and sat, staring at her husband. One way or the other those fucking Caldwells were trying to ruin his beautiful face. “How’s your nose?”

  “Broken,” Johnnie answered flatly, fingering the bandage Zoann had put on it.

  “That little bitch is going to pay for what she did to us.”

  “No!” Johnnie said in a hard voice. “Leave Megan the fuck alone. You’ve fucked with her one time too many.”

  “Are you taking up for her?” Kendall had demanded in outrage.

  Heaving in a breath, he glanced away from her.

  “Look at me!” she’d yelled. “I have black eyes, a split lip, bruises on my jaw. On my body.”

  Johnnie stomped to where Kendall sat and leaned forward. “You fucked with CJ. Again. What did you expect?”

  “Oh, go to hell,” Kendall cried in frustration, getting to her feet and moving out of Johnnie’s aura. The scent of him. The strength of him. “All you ever do is defend her. For our entire marriage, I’ve lived in her shadow.”

  Johnnie rounded on her. “For our entire marriage, you’ve placed yourself in her shadow.”

  “That isn’t true!” Kendall spat, stomping her foot. Even that sent jarring pain through her abused body. “You measured everything I did against what she did. I’ve tried, Johnnie, I swear I have. But it’s so hard to like her, knowing how much you love her.”

  “I don’t love her, Kendall,” Johnnie had gritted. “There are many days when I despise her.”

  Kendall drew herself up. “Because you love her and can’t have her. If she opened her legs to you tomorrow, you’d fuck her.”

  “Stop turning the subject away from the real issues here. Megan would never give herself to me…”

  “Goddamn you!” she screamed, noting he hadn’t denied he’d sleep with her if given the opportunity. All he’d admitted was what Meggie would never do. “Fuck you!” She’d burst into tears. “I wish she had. I wish she would. Maybe, then, you’d get over her.”

  “Really, Kendall?” he snarled. “What will it take for you to get over Christopher?”

  She’d dissolved into more tears. “I love you, Johnnie,” she sobbed. “I do, and I don’t want him in the way that you think I do. But what does Meggie have? Tell me! She has you wrapped around her little finger and Christopher blindly obsessed. No matter what I do I can’t get him to want me so she can see how it feels to have a husband who pines for another woman.”

  “That’s such bullshit!” Johnnie barked. “You don’t want to fuck Christopher because of how you think I feel about Megan. You’re attracted to him.”

>   Sniffling, she’d swiped at her tears. “How can that be when I abhor him?” she asked in real dismay. “Can’t you understand that he hurt my pride when he shoved me off his lap? Don’t you see if he would’ve slept with me all those years ago, my sister would still be alive? If…if not for Megan, you’d really love me. Not find the idea of love, of having a woman like the rest of the guys, so motivating. Because that’s it, Johnnie. You married me to be equal to Christopher, Mortician, and Val. Not because you love me.”

  Johnnie released a frustrated sigh. “I love you, Kendall, but you’re just so goddamn infuriating. You—”

  “Stop right there,” Kendall had ordered, holding up her hand. “There should be no buts. If you love me, you love me.”

  “Ditto, babe. I’ve left the club because of you. I’ve gotten beat up because of you. And I’ve gotten shot because of you. Now, I’ve gotten my goddamn nose broken because of you. All in all, I’d say I’ve been pretty fucking patient with all the bullshit that you’ve done that’s endangered my life.”

  Kendall’s shoulders drooped. “Where do we go from here?” she’d whispered.

  “I don’t know, Kendall. I want to be happy. I don’t want to live the rest of my life, wondering if my wife is into bullshit that might get me or her killed. I want to have a woman who knows how to be a mother and a friend. Who knows the meaning of loyalty. That’s not you.”

  “I know the meaning of loyalty,” Kendall spat on a sob. “I’m always defending you and Roxy.”

  Johnnie narrowed his eyes. “What about loyalty to the club? Loyalty to the women of the club? To our kids? To Christopher’s kids?”

  “I’m the best mother I know how to be.”

  “Well, go back to school, because you’re shit at it. Rory is afraid of you.”

  “He is not!”

  “Yes, Kendall, he is. He told me so.”

  “I was never afraid of my mother, and she treated me the way I treat our kids. I loved my mom.”

  “Your mother was fucked up and she fucked you up.”

  “Oh, my God! Why are you being so mean to me? Why aren’t you holding me and calling me gorgeous and saying we’ll work this out?”

  Shoving his hands into his pockets, Johnnie sighed. “Because I’m done. We’re done. Tonight was the last fucking straw.”

  “No!” Kendall screamed, limp-running to Johnnie and throwing her arms around his neck.

  He disentangled her from him and watched with dispassion as she crumbled to the floor.

  “Please! Please, don’t do this, Johnnie. I love you. I’m so sorry for everything.”

  He stared at her, then looked away, sadness drooping his features. He suddenly looked haggard and drawn. “It’s too little, too late,” he told her, and walked away.

  “JOHNNIE‼” Kendall had hollered, but he hadn’t answered and he hadn’t looked back.

  He’d walked out on her.

  And their marriage.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Knox had just witnessed the dissolution of a couple, and he sat in stunned silence until Cam whistled and said, “Fuck, that was brutal.”

  Slowly, Knox nodded, still too shocked to speak. Johnnie adored Kendall, in ways so pathetic Knox sometimes felt sorry for him. Yet, after years of patience, he’d reached his breaking point with her.

  Thinking of the argument he’d had with Roxanne, Knox shifted in his seat. He’d always looked down on Kendall for the games she played, and the things she said. Wasn’t he guilty of the same thing? Maybe, his position was a little more understandable. Still, Roxanne had overlooked Knox’s underhanded reasons for originally courting her, and given him a real chance.

  She’d trusted him enough to believe he wouldn’t go after her family.

  Yes, Outlaw was so ignorant and stupid he could only form a sentence if it had the word ‘fuck’ included two or three times. And, yes, the entire club engaged in criminal activity. They were important to her, though. Besides, she wasn’t involved in felonious activity, so…

  “Knox?” Cam called.

  Frowning, Knox focused on his friend and business partner.

  “Are you okay?”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I could’ve overlooked Mortician’s games on Roxanne’s behalf,” he said miserably. “I just…Damn it! I didn’t know he was wealthy. I just took him to be a violent offender, like the rest of them.”

  Cam snorted. “Really, jackass? Mortician’s wealth changes the way you see him? Newsflash, brother: he is a violent offender. They all are, but they are also loyal to those who show them the same respect. Besides, your fucking uncle kidnapped Roxanne and intended to kill her. Not to mention the fact that he was embezzling money. That’s criminal too, Knox.”

  “I know,” Knox whispered.

  “We’re here to do a job,” Cam reminded him. “I want to salvage some of my Saturday to spend with my family.”

  “You’re right,” Knox agreed on a swallow.

  Cam nodded toward the now-black screen. They hadn’t switched back to the live feed.

  “Knox,” Cam started, giving him a level look. “Are you sure you want to participate in this? Kendall Donovan…” His voice trailed off and he shook his head. “It won’t take long to drive her to suicide. She’s so broken already.”

  Knox snapped his eyebrows together. “Are you taking up for that woman?”

  “Roxanne loves her. If you are a party to her demise, that might affect your relationship a bit.”

  Not only a bit. Another part of him, the side that allowed him to take the case, disagreed. “If Kendall is out of the picture, the whole club will breathe easier.”

  “I don’t know her well enough to agree or disagree. However, you can just tell Outlaw to handle her death on his own.”

  “That’s impossible,” Knox snapped on a scowl. “First of all, Megan Caldwell would never agree with his decision to murder Kendall. Second, Outlaw would also have to kill Johnnie in order to save his own life. Johnnie wouldn’t allow his wife’s death to go unavenged.” Especially given the sordid history of the four. Sudden anger infused him. “Kendall deserves to suffer for all her sins. She needs to be so fucking haunted that she can’t live with herself. I’d gladly supply the gun, the rope, or the poison.”

  “Give her a break. She has severe mental problems. She’s lost her family and her friends. Her marriage is over—"

  “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person,” Knox sneered, not feeling a bit of empathy toward the redhead.

  The chime on the entrance door sounded. Glancing at his watch, Knox saw that it was five minutes to eleven.

  “Hello,” Emily Riser called from the small reception area just outside of the conference room. Her voice still had edges of culture in it, but, according to what he’d discovered about her, the roughness in it had been born of cigarettes, hard liquor and cocaine.

  “She’s here.” In spite of Knox’s intense dislike of Kendall, unease slid into him.

  Cam nodded, and looked toward the conference room door. It was ajar, allowing no one to see in or out. He seemed as rooted to his chair as Knox. They both knew they were about to set a chain of events into motion that would have far-reaching—and possibly—deadly consequences.

  The same hesitation Knox felt showed in Cam’s face.

  “Fuck, man. Jordan and Roxanne are best friends,” he said, the look he turned to Knox grave. “If she knows of my involvement should anything happen to Kendall, and Roxanne is hurt, even emotionally, that’ll be my ass.”

  “Cam, I swear, this is the right thing to do. Before she curled up on that floor, and we switched to last night’s recording, she stripped, apparently so paranoid that she feels as if she’s being watched. Instead of cowering, she showed her pussy. Who does that?” Knox growled in frustration. He wanted bleach for his brain. “As if anyone but Johnnie is interested in seeing her naked ass.”

  “Knox—”

  “Hello?” Emily repeated with a touch of impatience.
r />   “I’ll be right there,” Knox responded as both he and Cam stood from their seats.

  In the waiting room, the gorgeous blonde stood in black trousers and a blue silk blouse that enhanced the color of her eyes.

  He stepped aside to reveal Cam. “This is my partner, Cameron Baptiste.”

  Emily nodded. “Good morning.”

  Cam cleared his throat. “Hello. Welcome to our office.”

  She glanced around. “Are they here yet?”

  Before either of them responded, the door opened and Johnnie walked in, wearing his cut, a white T-shirt, a pair of faded jeans, and his motorcycle boots. His hair was windblown and the bandages on his nose gave him a bad boy vibe.

  “Christopher asked me to drop this off to you.” Johnnie took out an envelope from inside the pocket of his cut and held it out to Knox. He barely noticed Emily as Knox accepted what Johnnie handed to him, then started to turn.

  Knox sidled a glance at Emily.

  “Er, don’t leave on my account, sir,” she said in a sweet tone that surprised Knox. She hadn’t been the nicest person the day they’d met. “I have a lot of time on my hand, if you need to speak to Mr. Harrington a moment.”

  Johnnie stopped and looked in her direction. He went still, not moving a muscle. Not uttering a sound. He merely stared, before his breath caught, and his mouth fell open.

  “Jesus,” he mumbled, blinking.

  Emily lowered her lashes. “I didn’t mean to catch you off-guard.”

  Slowly, he shook his head, taking in every detail of her face, squinting at her upswept hair. He closed his eyes. “Fuck.”

  “Are you okay, Mister…” Emily pressed.

  Johnnie drew in a deep breath. “Excuse me, sweetheart.” He grinned, and Knox wasn’t sure if it was forced or not. “Where are my manners? I shouldn’t burn the ears of a lady with my foul language.”

  Emily smiled. “I’ve been known to burn a few ears a time or two,” she admitted. She held out her hand. “I’m Emily.”

  For the longest moment, Johnnie stared at her hand, before accepting it. When he wrapped his hand around hers, he frowned and released it, as if his skin had been burned.