“Not right now, Mama.”
“Okay. After I shower, I’ll check on you.”
“I love you, Mama.”
Kendall hugged her daughter. “I love you too, baby.”
Mattie trudged to her bedroom and closed the door, so Kendall went to her own room.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Kendall heaved in a breath, sobbing softly until her phone rang and a number with an ‘801’ area code flashed across her screen.
Anger roared to the surface and shoved away her despair. She accepted the call and snarled, “I fucking trusted you, motherfucker. Stupid me. I’m sure you had a good fucking laugh at my fucking expense.” She couldn’t hold onto only her anger. For some crazy reason, she was hurt, too. At the realization, she started to cry all over again. “Fuck you, fuckhead. How could you order that motherfucker to hurt my baby? How, Bash?”
“Are you through?” he asked, solemn, lacking his usual hubris.
“I’m through all right, bastard. I want you to fucking die—”
“I love it when you talk dirty—”
She swiped at her tears angrily. “Fuck you. Don’t ever fucking call me again.”
“Wait!”
Debating on whether she should give Bash a chance to explain himself, Kendall hovered her finger above the ‘end’ button.
“I didn’t set you up, Kendall.” His voice traveled through the earpiece. “I promise. If I had, I would say so.”
She fucking hated that she believed him. But, as far as she knew, he’d never lied toher. That didn’t mean much, under the circumstances.
“I’m still in Hortensia. If I would’ve sent that little fuckhead after my almost-stepdaughter, I would’ve been long gone and so would Celia.”
Frowning, Kendall pressed the phone to her ear again. “Your almost…? You’re insane.”
He ignored her. “Celia almost got fucked up because of Wally, Jr. Christopher came in with guns blazing to avenge Mattie and demanding to know the whereabouts of that little mud mite.”
“He did?” Kendall whispered.
“Motherfucker was livid. The way he kicked that fucking door down and shot up shit would’ve made Daddy so fucking proud. Fuck, I was proud myself. Scared shitless but proud. If Meggie hadn’t been there, Celia, Johnnie, and me would’ve been dead.”
Suddenly, it all made sense. Meggie hadn’t left her to be with Christopher and desert Kendall. She’d rushed to save Celia.
Kendall sniffled, her emotions all over the place. “She doesn’t get enough credit for her ability to quickly assess a situation.”
“She doesn’t. Big Joe would be proud, too. She’s a fearless little cunt. Wild as a motherfucker, but worthy of her father and the Caldwell name.” Bash cleared his throat. “How’s your girl?”
“Traumatized. Battered. Her throat has his fingerprints on it and she’s so very hoarse. He ripped away…never mind.” She might not have been able to finish the statement but she knew where the fuck to lay the blame. “That motherfucker thought nothing of attacking my daughter because ofyouand how you feel about women.” How could she have forgotten that and allowed his odd charm to influence how she saw him? Was she that pathetic? “You let those fuckheads kill innocent girls and women.”
“I’m guilty of all of that, Kendall, but I told you I was backing off for you and I fucking meant that. If I’m sober, I don’t say what the fuck I don’t mean.”
“He was going to kill Mattie,” she spat around a sob. “He would’ve taken her away from me. I always wanted a daughter. Do you know when I discovered I was pregnant with Rory, I was a little disappointed? I wanted a daughter to be the mom I never had. To t-teach her things and to show her how to make up her face. Go shopping with her. And just love her. Show her the beauty of being a woman. How could I have forgotten the dangers, too?”
“Mattie’s there, sweetheart,” he said gruffly. “Safe. You have your daughter. Maybe not particularly sound right now but she will get there. She has Caldwell blood.Yourblood. That means she has inherent strength.”
“What the fuck do you care, Bash?Youwould kill her for what you’re praising to me. Your fucking platitudes won’t convince me otherwise.”
“I didn’t call to defend myself,” he said irritably. “I’m notinterestedin making excuses for what I do nor am I blowing smoke up your ass. You chose to stay at Johnnie’s side whenyou pushed your daughter out of your pussy. Even before you became aware of what happened to all the women before her,you, you fucking knew what faced her. Forget Aunt Kimber, Patricia, Tess, Vivian, Dinah, and Elmira. You didn’t know about them at the time, but you fucking knew what happened to Zoann. You knew what the fuck Spoon and Logan did to you. What Daddy, Rack, and Snake did to Meggie. You fucking chose to raise Matilda in that club with full fucking disclosure.”
Kendall wilted. Everything Bash said was true, so she couldn’t think of anything to say except, “Mattie is so young, though.”
