Page 17 of Rebellious

“No,” Johnnie, the lying motherfucker and original superiority junkie, said with a straight fucking face.

Kendall held her tongue.

Jumping to her feet, Ophelia pounded the desk. “Why, Kendall? Why did you order those fucking tests?”

“Ophelia—”

“No, Johnnie,” Kendall said as sick of Ophelia as she was of Johnnie. “Let me answer your cousin.” She smiled sweetly and got to her feet, only remembering she wore a silk and lace nightgown with spaghetti straps at Johnnie’s smoldering silver-gray gaze. He wore jeans and a T-shirt today. No cut. No business attire. Just ordinary clothes on an ordinary day. “I ordered those fucking tests at your brother’s request. I ordered those motherfuckers because, instead of moving against the American Scorpions and wiping them off the face of the fucking earth, Cash voted with Johnnie to sue for peace. I ordered those motherfuckers because those motherfuckers tied Outlaw’s hands and left him no fucking choice but to solve the riddle of whose cum made what child. Don’t you fucking ever question what the fuck I do if you can’t ask the same of your goddamn husband. Now, get the fuck out before I drag you out of this motherfucker and toss you in the goddamn stream.”

Blinking, Ophelia swallowed.

Johnnie cleared his throat. “Uh—”

“Get out, both of you,” Kendall interrupted. “I have work to do.”

If not for the fair, she’d work on the family tree she was trying to build. In her head, she was missing something vital and that wasn’t good. Bash was all goodwill and happiness now, but she still hadn’t definitively proven that Meggie didn’t own the club. Later tonight or tomorrow, she’d search through the files of psychopaths for more letters or information, anything to help her.

“I always thought Fred Sterling was my father,” Ophelia bemoaned around sniffles. “To find out Rack was…”

“Do you even fucking remember Fred?” Johnnie asked in frustration, another point for him. “I was twelve the last time I saw him and I don’t have a lot of memories. You were two.”

“How could Mama keep this from me?” Ophelia wailed, ignoring Johnnie.

Fuck, no wonder Winnie cried so much. Her mama was so fucking whiny, she gave Kendall a headache.

“I don’t think she realized Fred wasn’t your father,” Kendall told her. In all the letters she’d read, she’d never seen any indication that Patricia thought Rack fathered one of her children.

Just as Hopper seemed to sincerely believe Jana was Johnnie’s daughter. Shocking turn of events and another conversation Kendall needed to have.

“Does that mean Mama had sex around the same time with Rack and Fred?” Ophelia sounded disgusted.

“Yeah,” Johnnie said with a nod. “That’s exactly what the fuck that means. Not surprising, considering—”

“Nothing,” Kendall blurted, giving Johnnie a slight shake of her head. Did this motherfucker have no fucking sense? He couldn’t blurt the truth of Patricia’s true character without massive repercussions and trauma, especially for Outlaw. “Considering nothing except a woman who was probably lonely and sought attention from Rack.”

Ophelia’s shoulders slumped. “Fine,” she said, sobbing again and stumbling toward the door.

Kendall considered letting Ophelia leave without another word, but she understood hopeless despair. Ophelia’s life had been blown apart, and Kendall knew how that felt, too.

“Fee?” she called.

Ophelia stopped but didn’t turn.

“You didn’t know Fred and you didn’t know Rack. You’re still Outlaw and Zoann’s sister. You’re still Johnnie’s cousin. My cousin-in-law. You’re still family, honey, and that won’t ever change.”

“Th-thank you, Kendall,” she said and walked out.

“It figures she belongs to Rack,” Johnnie grumbled. “Wally, Jr. was a pathetic little fuckhead and she’s always been a whiny milquetoast.”

Nodding, Kendall sat again. “She doesn’t seem to know she had a brother or that she has two miserable motherfuckers as nephews.”

“Cash doesn’t want her to know,” Johnnie revealed. “He doesn’t think she can handle it.”

“I don’t either.” Kendall wrinkled her nose. “I hate that I agree with Cash about anything.”

Johnnie caught her gaze. “Do you feel that way about me?”

Lowering her lashes, Kendall bit her lip, just wanting to be alone. No matter what she said, Johnnie wouldn’t listen to her, so she wouldn’t bother protesting.