Page 77 of Pope's Penance

What happens if I’m threatened again?What if the kids are?Will his knee-jerk reaction be to break our hearts and send us away?

They’re questions I don’t have answers to yet.He can say that it won’t happen, but he’s proven that it can.Only time will actually tell if we can count on him to always be there for us, despite what life throws our way.

“Where’s your head at?”he asks.

“Trust.How do I know you won’t break mine and the twins’ hearts to protect us if we’re threatened?”

“Is Frankie not a threat to you?”I bob my head, and he continues.“He knows you’re with me, and you’re still here.I haven’t chased you away because I’m not letting you go again.This time, we’ll face this together like we should have in the past.If you give me the chance, I promise to make it up to you.To show you that this time will be different.I may not include you in a lot of club business, but if it has to do with you or the kids, you will be.Do you think you can do that?Give us another chance?”

Can I open myself up to him again?Can I take the risk of loving him?

If there’s one thing about life that I understand the most, it’s that it doesn’t come with guarantees.You’re going to step in shit and it’s going to stink.Sometimes, the stench will follow you.Sometimes, you have the proper ingredients to wash it away.Love will be sunshine and rainbows, but it also comes with storms.Powerful storms that obliterate everything you’ve built until you’re left standing in the rubble of what once was.It’s then that you have a choice to make.Will you let the wreckage bury you, or will you rise from the ruins and reclaim what you’ve lost?

“Okay,” I whisper, my eyes glued to the way my fingers drift through the coarse hair on his tattooed chest.

Pope tucks a colorful finger under my chin and lifts my face.“Say it again.”

The hope in his voice has warmth unfurling in my chest.“Okay.Yes, I’ll give you the chance to make it right.It’s not just me this time, Apollonos.There’s two other people counting on you to love us.”

“And I’m going to show you all that it’s the easiest fucking thing I’ve ever done.”

He brings his mouth to mine, conveying his thanks.His happiness.His love.

Then he spends the rest of the night worshipping me.Our hands and lips work in tandem to reacquaint themselves with each other’s bodies in the gentle way our fast fires don’t allow.

Slowly.

Sensually.

In the most depraved, the most erotic, the most loving way possible.

We fuck with a salacious obsession.

We make love in a hedonistic madness.

And when our insatiable appetites turn greedy for one another, we fall into the most perverse rapture.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

IwantedtoconfrontSpunky the next day, but Birdie wouldn’t let me.She told me she wanted to take a few days and spend them as a family.It sounded like a damn fine idea to me, so that’s what we’ve been doing.Yesterday, we had a game and movie night at the house, just the four of us.Watching the twins get so fucking excited about board games was the best thing ever.

There were so many things I learned about them yesterday.

They’re competitive as hell.Not against each other, though.Hell, no.My kids love to fucking tag team the other players.The little shits used their twin mojo thing to royally kick mine and Birdie’s ass at each fucking game.

I may or may not have pouted about that, and they may or may not have laughed hard at me.

They’ll always have each other’s backs, and I’m grateful for that.

Shit is dark in this world.Navigating it with someone you trust is crucial.

Birdie asked if it was safe enough to go to town today.She said she refuses to let Frankie take more from them than they already have.It’s not fair to the kids to stay hidden at the house when we have an entire club at our back.

It wasn’t a ringing endorsement that she’s ready to fully trust them, but it was a start.I’ll take it.

Butcher and Pretty Boy are coming for protection, and Gavel wants to tag along to get to know his great-grandkids.

I’m surprised the old fucker has held off as long as he has.Just shows how much respect he has for Birdie.He knows the hell she’s been through and didn’t want to crowd her until she was ready.When he called last night and asked if he could come, she didn’t even hesitate to invite him.Gavel can bring Mad Dog to life for the twins in a way that Birdie and I can’t.They deserve to know just how fucking great he was before cancer took him.

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