Relentless: The Legacy Rises, page 1
Relentless by Kathryn C. Kelly
Published by Makin Groceries Media
24200 SW Freeway, Suite 402, #353
Rosenberg, TX 77471
www.katkelwriter.com
www.deathdwellersmc.com
© 2024 Kathryn C. Kelly
© 2024 Relentless Cover Art Kathryn E. Ferdinand
Relentless Cover Art
A Death Dwellers MC Novel
By Kathryn C. Kelly
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Manufactured in the United States of America
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
ISBN: 979-8-88630-896-9 (eBook)
ISBN: 979-8-88630-871-6 (paperback)
ISBN: 979-8-88630-113-7 (hardback)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023923860
Blurb
In the gripping sequel to "Restless," Christopher "Outlaw" Caldwell's transformation into a devoted family man is put to the ultimate test. Once feared for his ruthlessness, he finds himself drifting further away from his notorious MC leader persona as he navigates the aftermath of his youngest child’s turbulent entrance into the world.
As Jo experiences a new set of challenges, he only spirals further, affecting everyone around him. Most especially his wife, Megan, who struggles to traverse her grief as she enters a new stage in her life while dealing with a hard-headed bully.
Amidst this chaos, CJ, Outlaw and Meggie's son, struggles to hold everything together as his parents falter. He has a hard time recognizing his developing feelings for a girl who isn't Harley Banks, causing further complications in his already tumultuous life.
Meanwhile, Bash still lurks, and as his reign of terror continues, the kids of the MC learn what it means to be a Death Dweller.
In this gritty and emotionally charged sequel, "Relentless" delves deeper into the complexities of family, loyalty, and the harsh realities of life within the MC world. Will Outlaw's transformation be enough to protect those he loves, or will the past catch up with him, threatening to tear everything apart?
Dedication
To all the couples who weather the storms and come out stronger.
Table of Contents
Blurb
Dedication
Prelude – Double Dealing – K-P
Act One – Subterfuge – Jana
Part One - A Tangled Web
Chapter One – Johnnie
Chapter Two - Christopher
Chapter Three - Meggie
Chapter Four – Harley
Chapter Five - Mortician
Chapter Six - CJ
Chapter Seven – Johnnie
Chapter Eight - CJ
Chapter Nine - Meggie
Chapter Ten – Christopher
Chapter Eleven - Ryan
Chapter Twelve - Johnnie
Chapter Thirteen – Rebel
Chapter Fourteen –Christopher
Chapter Fifteen - CJ
Chapter Sixteen – Rebel
Chapter Seventeen - Ryan
Chapter Eighteen - Johnnie
Chapter Nineteen - Christopher
Chapter Twenty - CJ
Chapter Twenty-One – Meggie
Chapter Twenty-Two - Christopher
Interlude – Respect All Fear None – Big Joe
Act Two – Power – Charlemagne
Part Two – Saints & Sinners
Chapter Twenty-Three - Harley
Chapter Twenty-Four – Christopher
Chapter Twenty-Five – Diesel
Chapter Twenty-Six – Christopher
Chapter Twenty-Seven - Kendall
Chapter Twenty-Eight - Johnnie
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Rebel
Chapter Thirty – Kendall
Chapter Thirty-One – Harley
Chapter Thirty-Two – Christopher
A Note
Playlist
CONNECT WITH KATHRYN C. KELLY
Bibliography
About Kathryn C. Kelly
Prelude – Double Dealing – K-P
Each little sound raised the hairs on Kaleb Paul Andrews’ nape. Stones dropped to the pit of his stomach, distracting him from the papers he poured over. Not only because of motherfucking Logan Donovan and the bigger sonofabitch who was also known as Reverend Motherfucker Sharper Banks. If they didn’t blaze to New Orleans themselves, they’d send fucking Rack after him.
But the Dwellers were nothing but a den of blood ties and monumental lies.
K-P wasn’t a pussy by any means; he just enjoyed cooking. Sue his fucking ass. However, what he was willingly and knowingly doing betrayed those two fucking psychopaths and their lapdog.
They had eyes and ears the world over, so, yes, every noise scared the fuck out of him. If they knew what he was doing, they’d skin him the fuck alive.
A premonition of doom hit K-P and he couldn’t stop the shiver assailing him.
In the near distance, something thudded, and K-P paused, sweat popping off him. He didn’t need to finish reading the documents, so he gathered them together, tapped the thick stack of papers against the dusty table in Roxanne’s attic to make sure the edges met, rolled them up and secured them with a rubber band.
After stuffing them into a specially made cylinder, he placed it against the exposed wood frame.
Footsteps pounded on the rickety, dropdown staircase. Spinning around, K-P placed his body in front of the cut sheetrock, glad the rectangle was only a foot in width and two feet in length. Made it easier to hide.
Big Joe stepped into the attic. The overhead light beamed off his blond hair, pinned up in a manbun. His blue gaze roamed the place, touching each crowded corner, every layer of dust on the wooden floors, the boxes of Mardi Gras and Christmas decorations, and the pieces of furniture.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Joe?” K-P snapped, turning back to the task at hand. After opening the container of readymade drywall mud, he snatched the trowel from the floor, then grabbed the forgotten piece of sheetrock he’d cut out with a utility knife and fit it back into place.
Joe hadn’t answered, so K-P dived into his second question. “Why the fuck are you up here with me, asshole? Roxanne will be suspicious enough seeing my fucking ass coming out her attic. But if it’s the two of us…?”
Fuck, those stones dropped into the pit of his stomach again. He hated to deceive her. The woman was plain damn hell-on-wheels, and he loved every inch of her.
“K-P?”
Just as the thought crossed K-P’s mind, her voice floated to him.
“Fuck me,” he grumbled, hurrying with his task. He’d have to get back to smooth over the piss poor float job. He was just happy she’d stored furniture up there.
“Me and Joe searching for some of your old photographs,” he called down, wincing at the scraping of the table legs when he shoved it against the wall containing the evidence of his double-dealing.
Silence and then, “Joe is here, too?”
“Yeah, sweetheart,” Joe answered, then sniggered. “Sorry for intruding but I had to come and see my second favorite girl.”
K-P glared at Joe, who grinned and shrugged.
“Not funny, asshole,” K-P warned as Roxanne called, “I have some albums downstairs, but if you’re looking for club photos, there’s a big plastic bin near my old sofa.”
It had been their old sofa, but K-P didn’t point that out. “Okay, thanks, babe,” he responded.
She didn’t say anything for a moment, but then another question floated up. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming into town?”
It had been an impulsive decision, precipitated by madmen. “I wanted to surprise you and Bailey,” he lied.
“Can you and Big Joe stay for dinner?”
“Actually, babe, we were hoping to stay for two or three days,” Joe answered before K-P could. “Won’t look so suspicious,” he whispered to K-P.
“I can prepare the guestroom for you, K-P,” Roxanne called.
“What about me?” Joe returned, grinning from ear to ear.
“Let me call the local kennel, motherfucker,” she snapped. “You should fucking fit right in with the goddamn dogs.”
“Ouch. You wound me, Roxy,” Joe said, hooting with laughter.
“I wish, motherfucker.” She paused a moment, then said, “Baby, your daddy and Big Joe here.”
“Daddeeee,” Bailey’s little voice squealed.
K-P’s heart turned over. In the four years since his daughter’s birth, he’d never felt as much unconditional love toward anyone else. He’d mourned the dissolution of his and Roxanne’s relationship because of how much he loved her but also because it meant separation from his baby girl.
“Our girls really need to meet,” K-P said wistfully. “They’re family. First cousins.”
“Shut the fuck up, asshole,” Joe snapped. “Shit’s complicated enough because of Cee Cee’s fucking cock making Christopher and Johnnie. We agreed to keep this shit to ourselves and away from Roxanne and Dinah.”
“What’s the fucking point?” K-P growled. One day, the many lies and deceptions would be their downfall. Once, he’d understoo
Logan happily went along with the idea that Meggie and Bailey never know the truth, since Bailey was biracial. The motherfucker.
K-P nodded toward the wall that now held a wealth of incriminating evidence. “Roxanne and Bailey are in as much danger as Dinah and Megan. I’m hiding documents I stole in my old lady’s house.” Ex. Neither here nor there. Roxanne would always be his. “You’ve temporarily made your baby girl equal heir to the empire. The fucking criminal empire, Joe,” he added in disgust, “founded by a fucking lunatic on behalf of a fucking monster. For as long as she lives, she’ll be at risk.”
Joe glanced away. “Not if they don’t know she owns it. And it’s only until all debts are paid. I need to get a return on my investment. As long as I’m alive she’s safe. I would give my life in her stead. By the time she’s of legal age, her name will be long scrubbed from all club documents. It was my fucking hard-earned money that bought the original property and built the fucking club.”
After Kimber’s death, he hadn’t given a fuck about the jobs he took for Sharper and Logan.
“Why not make Joey co-owner?” K-P asked gravely, the weight of his actions, Joe’s actions, heavy on him. One misstep would cost innocent lives. “Or Johnnie? Why involve Christopher and Meggie? She’s two, turning three in a few months.”
“Johnnie?” Joe spat, glaring at K-P from head-to-toe and back again. “Are you out of your fucking mind? That would play right into Logan’s hands. He sees Johnnie stepping in. Christopher’s life would be snuffed out without a thought.”
“Cee Cee is paying to keep Christopher alive. He killed Fred and used a hot fucking poker on Logan for betraying him.”
“Listen to what you’re saying, Kaleb. Cee Cee discovered Logan’s dirty deeds toward Christopher and Fred’s coverup at Patricia’s behest after it was over and done with. Besides, Cee Cee’s on the other side of the fucking country. If I leave, Christopher has absolutely no one to protect him. I love that kid.”
More than he loved Joey, although K-P didn’t point that out. It was just one of the reasons Joey hated Christopher. Although Cee Cee swore to kill Joey if he ever had to acknowledge him as his nephew because he held the kid responsible for Kimber’s death, Joe hadn’t been able to bond with the boy for the same reason. He'd chosen a random club rat to pose as Joey’s mother and just left him, only visiting occasionally until he’d had no choice but to raise him.
Misery and heartache filled the entire situation.
“Motherfucking Logan is all out of virginal daughters to offer up as sacrificial lambs.” Joe scrubbed a hand over his face, returning to the original topic. “It should all go to Christopher, but Meggie is my blood. I want her to have her share. She can resell her portion to Logan if she chooses. Either way, she’s set for life in the event something happens to me. As for Joey? I love my boy, but I don’t trust that little motherfucker not to go to their side for enough incentive.”
“Then leave. Both of us. Let’s turn in our patches and be fucking happy. Fuck the club. Fuck the money. Fuck everything except our little girls and their mamas.”
Joe clasped his hands together and rested them against his mouth, then turned in a tight circle. “What about Christopher?”
“Take him with us,” K-P said, making this up as he went along. “That kid loves you. We still have a chance to save him and steer him on a path to where he isn’t on the fringes of society. Logan might want Johnnie to inherit everything, but he’s doing what he has to so that the boy has choices.”
“What about Joey?”
There was not one hint of what Joe thought about K-P’s suggestion.
However, Joe’s question stole K-P’s hope. Christopher and Joey hated each other. It was in Joey’s nature to be a cold-blooded killer, despite how young he was. Kimber would be heartbroken. Joe had been too grief-stricken to properly raise Joey, but the kid was a fucking maniac, more like Cee Cee and Rack than Kimber or Joe. It was a good thing that Cee Cee decided he didn’t want their connection known.
Meanwhile, Christopher learned survival of the fittest kept him alive. The boy loved his sisters, especially Zoann and Ophelia, and doted on his mother. He knew nothing of Patricia’s previous life. She was now as pious as a nun, a respectable lady who’d stood tall in the face of adversity.
K-P glanced at the wall. One day, his documents would tell the real story. He knew there’d be more to steal. Sharper, Logan, and Rack weren’t finished manipulating the legalities.
“For that matter, what about Dinah?” Joe continued at K-P’s prolonged silence.
What about her? K-P didn’t know her. The two times she’d come to the club he’d been away.
“One week, we’re working things out and the next week she’s accusing me of fucking every bitch I say ‘hello’ to. The next time she puts my ass out, she might not take me back.” He tipped his head back. “Good girls are fucking headaches.”
“Without your good girl, you wouldn’t have Meggie,” K-P reminded him. For that matter, he wouldn’t have Joey. Kimber had been a good girl, too.
“Yeah,” Joe agreed on a sigh, then looked at him. “Drop this fucking idea that Bailey and Meggie meet. You’ve never acknowledged Joey as your nephew.”
It was a mutual decision between K-P and Joe. They’d feared slipping up and revealing Cee Cee’s connection if they disclosed K-P’s family ties to Joey. The tangled fucking web needed a fuckton of explanations.
“There’s a reason for it and you know it.”
Joe shrugged, always so fucking cavalier toward his son.
“Cee Cee would kill Joey. He can’t stand to look at him and not think of Kimber.”
“He did fine in Alaska,” Joe reminded him.
“Yeah, the motherfucker cavorted with sanity for one fucking hour when he saw Joey before all hell broke loose. Do you want to fucking risk your son’s life by allowing him to discover the truth? Fuck, Joe! Don’t turn this shit around on me. I’m doing it to protect him. He deserves to know the fucking truth about everything. But since we can’t risk him, our daughters—”
“It must be the same for us with our girls,” Joe interrupted. “Joey won’t ever know of Meggie’s existence. Dinah’s happy with that idea. It’s best this way.”
“I’m sick of this way,” K-P snapped. “Joey doesn’t even know Kimber was his mother.”
“What the fuck do you want me to do? We worked it out. Even if he were inclined, I don’t want Cee Cee to get near my kid. I don’t want him to see Kimber in Joey—”
At that, K-P snorted. That would never be an issue.
Joe scowled. “I don’t want Cee Cee to set aside his hatred for Joey—”
K-P snorted again.
“Fuck you, Kaleb! I don’t want Cee Cee to ever have any influence over Joey.”
“Wally has sway over the kid, motherfucker.”
“Drop the fucking subject, Kaleb Paul.”
“Why? You paid a woman to pose as the kid’s mother, then she died.”
She’d OD’d. K-P hoped he never saw such a sight again. “Mira’s death was hard on Joey. Maybe, if he knew the truth, we could bring him to heel. He wouldn’t fucking bristle every time I opened my fucking mouth.”
“No. Absolutely not. The more he knows, the more chance there is he’ll find out about Meggie and hurt her one day.”
K-P wouldn’t deny what a psychopath Joey was, so it was possible he would want to kill Meggie. He sighed. “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when we first set out to deceive.”
Joe grunted, stark pain on his face. “My son is so much like his Cee Cee, it fucking kills me.”
Pity rose in him. “And Christopher looks so much like his aunt, it fucking kills you.”
“He’s a lot like her,” Joe said softly. “He has her kindness.”
“Kimber was a bad bitch,” K-P said with a chuckle.
“She was,” Joe agreed. “Christopher is a bad little motherfucker.”
“He is. He’s a beautiful kid. He looks like Cee Cee and Bash.”
“He looks like Kimber,” Joe stated, brooking no room for disagreement. “Underneath that warrior queen spirit, she was fair and compassionate. When I look at Christopher, I see her. When I look at Bash and Cee Cee, I see my son.”
K-P returned to the original argument. “We can leave and allow Wally, Sharper, and Logan, to run the fucking club in the ground.”
