Page 66 of Rebellious

“I got this, Dad.” Axel threw Johnnie the evil eye, then thrust his chin toward Tio. “Mattie’s afraid of that motherfucker, you blind fucking rat bat dog.”

“Rabid,” Diesel said around a cough.

“Mattie’s afraid of Tio?” Johnnie asked incredulously, releasing her shoulder. She didn’t move out of her father’s reach.

Tio laughed, a hollow sound that chilled Kendall. “You’re stretching it, chino. If you really think she’s afraid of me and you’re so big and bad, you should’ve handled me yourself, instead of calling your pussy ass brother to step in.”

“Excuse you, motherfucker,” CJ snapped. “Why don’t we take this outside? I’ll show you what a pussy ass I am.”

“Ignore him, CJ,” Diesel said, the hate in his eyes as he looked at Tio telling Kendall she was missing something. “He’s baiting you. Don’t risk the peace agreement for a motherfucker who has less sense than Johnnie.”

“I resent you comparing my kid to Johnnie, Dee Dee,” Bash said with a shake of his head.

“That’s your fucking take?” Johnnie asked. “Not that he’s threatening your son?”

“Didn’t Uncle Bash just threaten his son, Uncle Johnnie?” Axel asked in exasperation. “Who do I got to call to buy you ears and a fucking brain? Two plus four equals six, so it should be obvious.”

“Two plus two equals four, Ax,” Grant Harrington said with a smile.

“And two plus four equals six, Grant,” Axel said. “I got it right.”

“Yeah, boy, you got the math right but not the sayin’,” Outlaw told him.

“I already said how I feel about sayings, Dad. Most of them are stupid. Do I got to keep repeating myself?”

“If you wanna,” Outlaw said. “Don’t mean my ass got to engage.”

“A motherfucker who ignore me is asking for fucking trouble,” Axel huffed.

“Really, Axel?” Tio said, reengaging with the little boy and refusing to let the situation calm down.

If Kendall felt strong enough to grab Mattie and walk past Johnnie, she would. But she was in a freefall, in a waiting area filled with bikers, most of them Diesel’s contemporaries. Cleaner and Tio were there and the last thing she wanted was Johnnie or Rory to humiliate her any more than they already had in front of them. It didn’t matter who defended her, the words would still be out there.

“Dad told me to behave,” Axel said, his stiffening shoulders revealing how he felt about that. “So fuck you, Tio.”

“He told you to behave, Ax,” Ryder said with deceptive calm.

Underneath his bland façade lurked the same anarchy that Axel was known for. His blue eyes looked paler and colder than his mother’s, her golden hair a much warmer tone than his flaxen shade. “Not Ransom and me.”

Ransom eyed Tio with dislike, black-haired and green eyed like Axel and their father. “Keep fucking with Axel. Ry and I will get our baseball bat and bow and arrow.”

Bash shifted. Rory shuddered.

“You don’t got to fight for me, men,” Axel said.

“Oh yeah, chino?” Tio challenged. “What can you do?”

“Kendall—” Outlaw started again.

Axel’s grin interrupted him. “I can do this.”

He moved so quickly that Kendall didn’t realize he’d armed his slingshot and flung the rock until Tio dropped to the floor.

Bash gaped at him, then blinked when Ryder and Ransom screamed with laughter and congratulated Axel.

“That can be grounds for war,” Cleaner said coldly, kneeling next to Tio’s prone body.

“So can what that motherfucker said to my boy,” Outlaw said flatly, “so fuck you and shut the fuck up.” He turned to Diesel. “Find Griffin.” He nodded to Narci, Torrin, Kenny, and a newer prospect that Kendall thought was named Seven. “Go with him. Protect my boy with your fuckin’ life.”