Badger to the Bone (Honey Badger Chronicles #3) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,110

stay with Stevie for up to six months at a time.”

“I took six months and she took six months. It’s what we had to do to keep our sister safe from the idiot our mothers had insisted on fucking.” Charlie knew she was getting pissed, so she forced herself to calm down. “What I mean is . . . we came to an agreement. I didn’t force her.”

“No, no. Of course not. Sure. But I think she felt she, you know, owed you.”

Anger. “Why? Because my mother and then my grandfather took her in when the Yangs wanted nothing to do with her, and you were too busy being locked up in prison because you listened to fucking Freddy MacKilligan? You mean like that?”

It looked like Max’s smile, but it was nothing like Max’s smile. Because it was cold. It was a cold smile that Renny had. But she was still Max’s mother and Charlie wasn’t going to get between them. Not now. Not ever.

“Yeah,” Renny said, “something like that.”

“I’ll tell you what I always tell her: She owes us nothing, because she’s our sister and we love her. And she can go and do whatever she wants and we’ll always be here for her. End of story.”

“Sweetie, that’s perfect! Now if you could just tell her that directly—”

“Wait a minute,” Ruth cut in. “Do you want Charlie to pressure Max to go with you?”

“Of course not!”

“Then what are you asking for?”

“Maybe you should mind your own business.”

“Maybe you should fuck off before I maul that leathery badger skin right off that ass.”

“Okay,” Charlie said, quickly jumping in. “I’ll make this clear for everybody: I am not going to pressure my sister to do anything. Whether it’s to stay or to go, she has free will. She can make up her own mind. Okay? Everybody happy? Great.”

“That’s fine,” Renny said, taking a step back. “That absolutely works for me. I just wanted to make sure we understood each other and it seems we do. I just wanted to ensure you wouldn’t put any undue influence on her. That’s all.”

Charlie jerked up so fast that she made the She-bears jump. She needed to get herself back under control, even though she was getting to the point where she might not be able to maintain it.

She raised both her forefingers and turned her head so she didn’t have to look at Renny while she forced herself to calm the fuck down.

It took a few seconds, but once she knew she had proper control, she faced her sister’s mother and precisely and succinctly explained, “Never, in the history of the universe, have I or will I get in the way of you and Max. Not now. Not ever. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes. Perfectly clear.”

“Good. I need you to go away now. Please.” Because she couldn’t keep from punching her much longer.

“Sure. No problem. It was great seeing you again, Charlie.”

Charlie sat back down on the stoop and, after Renny had driven away, Ruth took her hand.

“Oh, Charlie-girl.”

“Before we go any further, I just need you guys to be honest with me. Did I mis—”

“No!” Ruth said before Charlie could even finish. “Charlie, you did not mis-read, mis-hear, mis-interpret. You heard what we all heard and understood it correctly.”

“Thank you. I wanted to make sure.”

chapter TWENTY

Will was going over paperwork and he was in a bad mood. One was not linked to the other. He was in a bad mood because a lot of questions were being asked about his plane being blown up. Coppers from this country and his own were asking too many questions and he didn’t like it. You’d think the bastards would just be glad they didn’t have to scrape MacKilligan guts off their tarmac, but no. Bastards had all sorts of questions.

Will didn’t like answering questions. Never had. And he wasn’t about to start now.

They kept saying they wanted to prove—or disprove—that the explosion had been a terrorist thing. But the bastards knew better. They all knew the MacKilligan name and what it meant. They were just trying to trip him and his boys up. Wasn’t going to happen, now was it?

Will’s nose twitched, that familiar scent hitting his senses like a bloody rock to the head.

Jumping up, he spun around and she stood there in the shadows of the hotel suite, watching him.

“Hello, Mairi. Come to kill yer old Uncle Will, did ya?” he asked.

His niece smiled. A mean smile. She’d always had a mean smile. Even