28. Sophia

28

SOPHIA

" I ate too much of that crumble," Iris says, rubbing her hand over her belly. She's settled in the corner of the sofa near the fire that smolders as it dies down. Theo left it built and ready to light for us, and it's added to the comfortable evening.

Ari hands Iris a cup of herbal tea. "I'm pretty sure that's the baby taking up so much room in there, not crumble."

Iris takes the cup. "Eight weeks. That's all I have left, and then Spark and I will have a baby."

Vi pats her own stomach. "You have the cute bump. I have the second-pregnancy spread."

"Which Bates can't keep his hands off." Gwen sits with the rest of the cheese board on her lap.

Rae sits on the floor, leaning against the sofa, and Briar lies on the floor, her head on Rae's lap.

"We should all sleep down here tonight," Gwen says. "Like a proper sleepover."

Briar chuckles. "You think we should have pillow fights?"

Rae shakes her head. "Absolutely not."

"Why not?" Ari grins. "It sounds like fun."

"Well, I'm sure Daddy Halo will play pillow fights with you when he picks you up tomorrow," Vi says.

Ari blushes. "You honestly don't want to know what Halo does to me."

"No. We don't," Catalina says as she shoulder checks her gently. "Could you imagine Colton's face if I called him ‘Daddy'? He wouldn't let me out of bed for a week."

"Or King? I think he'd jump on me for sure," Rae says.

Briar chuckles. "Saint would just think I'm making fun of our age gap."

I love how easy these women are to be around. They have a genuinely kind and teasing relationship with each other. And they love their men in an unapologetic way.

"Thank you," I say. "For being so…welcoming."

Rae glances up at me. "You're one of us now."

"I just realized; you use your men's road names more than their real names. I only ever call Theo…‘Theo.' Should I be calling him ‘Switch' because I think I only used it a couple of times?"

"For me it depends on the context," Gwen says. "Like, around the clubhouse, he's Clutch. But at home, I'm more likely to call him ‘Landon.'"

"It's easier to use their road names," Ari says. "It's how everyone else refers to them."

"And their names have just become an extension of their personalities," Catalina says. "Like, the concept of a birth name is pretty weird when you think about it. Your parents kinda guess what name might suit you. It's usually gendered too, forcing you into a box. With road names, at least they mean something."

Gwen laughs. "Yeah, but you haven't heard some of the road names. Two weeks ago, Clutch met up with a friend from the Vegas chapter called Twinkle Toes."

"Hey, Cat," Briar says. "Why is Niro called ‘Niro'?"

Catalina grins. "Because of a typo."

"What?" I ask.

"Shortly after Niro saved Camelot, he went into ADHD hyperfocus about Emperor Nero. Started quoting him about poisonous mushrooms and fiddling while Rome burned. Camelot chose his name and got the patch made without bothering to check the spelling."

"And he never pointed it out to Camelot?" Gwen asks.

Catalina shakes her head, a soft smile on her face. "He's worn a misspelled patch for as long as he's been with the club because he loved Camelot too much to embarrass him by pointing it out."

"That's Niro," Rae says.

"Isn't it?" Iris agrees.

The fire crackles, and the candles I've lit create a soft but tiring light. My eyes start to droop. "I may head to bed."

"Me, too," Vi says, climbing to her feet. "It's so lovely that Avery has friends. And really convenient for nights like this when I can get her a sleepover."

"I love having Lola, but I'm also really grateful she can sleep like the dead once I put her down for the night," Ari says, glancing upstairs where Lola is sleeping and Joules, the babysitter, is keeping watch. "It was thoughtful for Halo to get a sitter for tonight so I could just hang out with you all."

Briar stands and reaches for Iris's hand to help tug her out of her seat. "You get to sleep with me."

Iris chuckles. "We should tell the boys we're having a threesome. You, me, and the baby."

Briar grimaces. "Let's not do that. It sounds weird."

"I'll share with Rae," Gwen says. "And I'm totally telling my brother that I'm sleeping with his old lady to squick him out."

"I'll take the sofa," Catalina says.

Slowly but surely, everyone pairs up and disappears to the bedrooms, and Catalina helps me with the last of the cleanup.

"I can't believe how much I drank tonight. It's a wonder I'm still walking…well, any more than I usually walk."

Catalina tuts. "Don't put yourself down like that. I got hurt and Niro came off his bike earlier this year. And you've met my husband. You've seen his face. The two of us, perhaps more than anyone else, have a…what's the word…fraction of what it's taken you to be here."

I set the dishwasher to run and close the door. "Thank you. But at some point, it's the past, right? I was thinking, I used to run the company's real estate portfolio. I'd need refreshers. But I find that things I've forgotten, I'm quick to pick up. Do you know who manages the Outlaws' portfolio?"

Catalina grins. "I'll ask Niro. He used to be the club secretary/treasurer. But I like the idea there might be another woman in the club who is more than just an old lady."

"You don't like being an old lady?"

"I love being Niro's wife and old lady. I love being the first female Outlaw crew member. But I want so much more. I'll be a brother one day. But what if there were a financial officer for the club who wasn't a man? Or if there were a female Vex?"

I shake my head. "I'm a Sicilian daughter. From a Cosa Nostra family. I was headed for an arranged marriage for power. In our worlds, women don't have the right to vote."

"Fair. But look at you and me. We're changing it, no?" She gestures up and down my body. "You're in this situation because you are valuable. I've settled for crew because it's an official stake in the ground. I can't go backward to being nobody. But I can claw my way up to being a brother. By showing them I can do everything they can. I think you should do the same. We could do it together."

A ripple of excitement trickles through me. "We could?"

Catalina places her arms on my shoulders. "We could."

She glances past me, out the window over the sink to the back garden, then hurries to the light switch and flicks it off. "Call Theo. Tell him there's someone outside. I'll let the prospects on guard know."

"Don't go outside, Cat," I say, but it's too late.

Just as the door closes, the kitchen window shatters.

I drop to the ground as I hear more gunshots. My phone is on the kitchen island, and I reach up, staying low, and pat my hand over the surface. When I find it, I grab it, then crawl towards the stairs.

Theo has weapons in the closet near the bed, but stairs are my nemesis. I can't climb them quickly, but if I'm going to help Cat, I have to.

Gwen runs to the top of the stairs, a gun in hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but Cat went outside." I begin my ascent. It's messy. My foot drags.

I pause to dial Theo. He doesn't answer on the first ring, so I call him again. This time, he answers.

"Sparrow, I can't talk right now. Just got back to the clubhouse with shit to clean up."

"We're under fire."

"Fuck. How bad?"

"I don't know. Bullet through the kitchen window. Cat ran outside to help the prospects; I'm headed to get weapons from the bedroom."

"We gotta go," I hear Theo shout. "Be there in ten. Fuck, Sparrow. Be careful."

I climb the rest of the stairs and see Rae pushing Vi into the hallway. "You and Iris need to stay away from windows," Rae says firmly. "Stay in the hallway unless someone breaches the house."

"It's too dark outside," Gwen shouts from the bedroom. "I can't see who to shoot at."

"Catalina is out there," I say. "She went to alert the prospects. We need to cover her. There are weapons in our bedroom if you don't have your own."

Pain is a funny thing. It can creep up on you. Overwhelm you. Then dissipate and make you wonder if you imagined how truly horrible the whole thing was. You think you have no control over it, that it controls you.

And yet, the pain, like a hot poker through the fleshy part of my hips, reminds me that survival is a state of mind.

I find the weapons and hand them to Rae, Briar, and Ari.

"I don't know how to use it," Ari says.

"Hopefully you won't need to," Rae says. "Just remember the training Niro gave you. Hip-width stance. Aim for the torso."

I take a weapon and hurry to the rear window with Gwen, who is standing on the very edge of it, shielded by the wall and hidden by the drapes.

My phone rings. An unknown number. I just look at it.

"You should answer it," Gwen says. "It could be one of the prospects or something."

I stay down beneath the window and do as she says.

"Sophia. This can all end tonight," my father says. "Just come to the front door. Luca and Leo are waiting to bring you home."

I'm an intelligent woman. I could be noble. Sacrifice myself for the greater good. But I know Theo and the club are on their way. What I need to do is stall. "Why would I come home? I've told you I don't trust you."

My father makes a sound. A humph. A sigh. I can't tell what. But something about it rubs me the wrong way. "Just come home. You don't belong there."

You don't belong there.

My father is not outside. He's doing his dirty work from a distance.

This all seems too implausible. I'm not that precious. My family still has power without this marriage. It's been months since I was supposed to marry this man. I'm already married to someone else.

There has to be something more at play here.

I just don't know what.

"Tell your men to back off. I won't talk to you while there are gunshots outside."

My father blows out a harsh puff of air. "You are coming home one way or another tonight."

"Why? I don't believe this is about an arranged marriage anymore."

There is a long pause, peppered with the sound of bullets outside. "You remembered?"

"What do I know?"

He hangs up the phone.

"What do I know?" I shout.

But my whispered words are drowned out by the roar of motorcycles.