Page 127 of The Fates We Tame

We sit in silence for a minute.

“Trouble keeps coming for our club, and it always affects the women. Not sure I know what I’d do if anything happened to Iris. Told Curran I’d probably take one of my weapons and put a bullet through my brain if anything ever happened to her. Not even sure if there’s a fucking afterlife, but on the off chance there is, I’d kill myself to follow her.”

I throw my arm over his shoulder. “What did Curran say to that?”

“Told me to put down a tarp and call the cops just before I do it so only a professional team has to deal with the cleanup, then write it into my will that I owed those first responders ten grand each so they could get therapy to deal with having to clean up after my dead ass.”

I turn and look at him. “For real?”

Spark laughs. “It’s cool. I got his point. He’s a good guy. I’m going to have a call with him weekly.”

“Good. Takes balls to confront your shit, man. I’m proud of you.”

“Yeah. Well. I got a baby on the way who’s gonna look up to me one day. Want to be the best fucking example I can be for them.”

Those words really tug at my heart. I feel them as a man. As a son. And as a man who hopes he can convince the woman he loves to have kids with him one day.

I slap his back gently. “You’ve got this. I’m gonna go find Sophia, and then we can leave.”

I see Vex in the hallway. “Just grabbing Soph and then we can go.”

I approach Dr. Polunin’s office. In the quiet of the night, without all the usual hive of activity, I can hear their conversation. I know I shouldn’t listen in, but I’m only fucking human.

“…you think I was wrong to marry him?” Sophia asks.

“I have no opinion on that, Sophia. What I worry about is you both making permanent decisions that affect your long-term future while in a stressful period of your life.”

“I was injured, fleeing a situation I believe was linked to me being married off to my father’s best friend’s son to secure the long-term success of my family. If you know who Theo is, then you also know who I am. You must have looked up my family.”

I smile at that. I like this evolving feisty streak of Sophia’s. There are glimpses of the Mafia princess her brother Alessio seems to think she was. It’s not even memory. It’s who she is.

“But…I hear you. I’ve fallen for Theo so quickly that I worry about what the future holds. I know who I am. I see who he is. He’s recovered from his injuries far better than I have. There may come a time when my limitations bother him or hold him back. I know the path for us is far from smooth. It might even be treacherous. I’m falling in love with my husband while simultaneously preparing myself for the fact there may come a time when he decides I’m not the person for him.”

34

SWITCH

Ilie in bed, Sophia fast asleep in my arms, thinking about what I overheard last night.

I’m falling in love with my husband while simultaneously preparing myself for the fact there may come a time when he decides I’m not the person for him.

And I come to one conclusion.

We rushed everything.

And because we married to avoid her being married to someone else, and for me to help my mom fight her cancer, Sophia is always going to wonder what my real motives are.

So, we need to go back to the beginning.

I need to date my wife.

I need to romance her.

I need to show her in actions how much she’s coming to mean to me.

And perhaps in doing that, we’ll fall all the way in love to a place where we feel comfortable telling each other.

I slip my arm from beneath her, grab my phone from the side table, and pad downstairs. It’s cold in the house, and I adjust the thermostat so it’s warm when Sophia wakes.