Page 97 of The Fates We Tame
I huff. “I barely remember my own name right now, so I haven’t got any memory of ever meeting you before. But I’m guessing that right there is why you’ve got problems with the Five Families. You think about every single individual battle. You’ve got to lose some to win the war. You keep them permanently pissed at you, they’re going to want a piece of you so bad that they can taste it. Let shit go.”
“Now I see why the Brotherhood kept coming back to take a piece of you.” Callum grins. “You let them chip away to avoid a fight until you had no choice.”
Niro and Bates walk into the bar and casually go stand either side of King, just behind him. They don’t interrupt. Don’t ask questions. Just flank our president without even speaking.
I like that loyalty.
Cillian stands. “I’m disappointed in you. Thought you Outlaws were supposed to stand for something, that we couldshare intel, but I can see when the fighting spirit has left. We’ll see ourselves out.”
Vex watches them leave. “Fuck him.”
“Permission to step outside to demonstrate my fighting spirit on Cillian’s face,” Niro says.
“Permission denied,” King says. “Sit your ass down. We aren’t going to worry about everyone’s favorite Irish mobster when we have weapons to pick up at the docks in two days.”
25
SOPHIA
Imade a decision in the aftermath of the explosion at the clubhouse.
I am who I am.
Some would say that’s not a particularly revolutionary sentence, but in my mind it is. Because I’ve been chasingher. I’ve been looking for clues to piece the old me back together. As if the me I am now is just a stepping stone to normality. When in reality, she’s not coming back. Even if I get my memory back, my old life isn’t coming with it.
From now on, it’s about how to make the best possible life I can for myself. It starts here and now.
I run a towel over my freshly showered hair as I glance into the pitiful state of my wardrobe.
Theo walks past me, naked, his inked shoulders and taut biceps making my tender pussy clench. There is no reason for it to be needing anything.
Last night, he fucked me hard with his hand over my mouth so we didn’t make too much noise. This morning, he used his fingers to get me off in the shower before forcing me to my knees so he could come over my breasts. I sayforced. With one handon my shoulder, he applied downward pressure, but the other hand held tightly to my forearm to stabilize me as I went down.
He also commanded me to squeeze his balls very tightly. I felt a sense of power that I could make him come that hard with a dizzy feeling of subservience in doing what he needed. The combination is as heady as it is confusing.
The two sides of me and Theo.
Need and care.
I sigh when I look at my clothing options. The girls have been gathering at the clubhouse during the day. In the evening, we’d return to the two separate houses with the men and eat together. Vex had moved in too and was sleeping on an air mattress in Theo’s den.
Arms wrap around me from behind. “What’s got you sighing?” He places his lips to my neck.
“Honestly? My clothing choices. The girls are coming over tonight so we’re all together while you go on your run, and I have no clothes that I love. Finding out the state of my finances is the second question I have for the lawyer this morning.”
“Good job I love you in nothing, then,” he says with a chuckle. He slides his hand between the folds of the towel but does nothing more stimulating than stroke my skin.
“Sadly, the rest of the old ladies don’t have quite the same taste as you do. I believe in polite society, clothing is not optional. And all I have is brain-rehab chic. Soft clothes for the even softer brain.”
Theo places a kiss to the side of my neck. “That’s an easy problem to solve. I’m taking you shopping when we’ve finished with the lawyer.”
I turn to face him. “I’m not letting you pay for unnecessary things like extra clothing. The fact I’m here, married, protected, and building an unexpected life is enough.”
Theo smiles. I like him best when he does. His eyes crinkle at the corners, and he has the most perfect lips and teeth. “Pretty words, Sparrow. But I’m buying you clothes today. You can pick ‘em. Or you can wear what I buy you. But you’re getting new clothes, and I strongly recommend picking them yourself because I might have shit taste.” He points to his closet. A thousand pairs of jeans in various stages of distress. Three pairs of boots that all look the same, three pairs of sneakers, and stacks of T-shirts. “See?” As he says the word, he tugs on the towel wrapped around my body, then slaps my butt.
“Hey.”
Theo shrugs. “Babe. You’re naked in my closet. You think I’m not going to take my chances to feel you up? Even if it’s just a little slap.”
