Page 140 of The Fates We Tame

“I’ll be safe.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I have you. Because I know you aren’t going to let anything happen to me, are you, Switch?”

The use of my road name catches me off guard. Not in a bad way. Something settles.

I glance back at my brothers, knowing they’ll back whatever decision I feel is right today.

I take in the chaos of this life. That I’m here. That the air threatens snow. That blood pumps throughout my veins.

And I take in the warmth of my wife’s cheeks, the affirmation of life as I run my thumb over the scar that crosses her cheek. The fact I’m fucking loved.

“My road name sounds good coming from your lips,” I say before planting another kiss on them.

“Help me. Theo. Help me take back what happened to me. Help me be a part of its resolution. I just…I need to be a part of how this ends.”

I take in a deep breath. When she looks at me like this, her eyes pleading with me, resolute in her faith in me, I can’t say no.

“I’ll help you end this. I’d scorch the earth for you if I had to.”

“Then we’ll do this how we’ve done everything else. Together.”

Which is how I find myself passing Sophia a cigarette five minutes later.

“You sure this is going to work?” Halo asks.

I take a draw on the cigarette because fuck knows I need the nicotine, then blow the smoke away from Sophia before handing it to her. “Yeah. She needs to look distressed. I let her try one once and she coughed and spluttered like she was dying.”

“I did not look like I was dying,” Sophia says. Niro applied some dirt to her face and clothes to make it look like she’s been through some shit.

“Sparrow, your eyes streamed for a good five minutes.”

“Because these cancer sticks are poisonous. When we’re done here, you need to stop.”

Halo chuckles. “You should ask King about his Stop Smoking stickers.”

“Fuck you,” King says, dragging one of the dead bodies to Alessio’s car.

Clutch is clearing off a ledge so he can rest his gun on it, pointing towards the lot. “One gold star for not smoking that day was a blow job. Went all the way up to twenty points for?—”

“You say another fucking word and you’ll be the dead body sitting in this car,” King says.

Sophia takes the cigarette from my hand, steps up onto her toes, and places her lips close to my ear. I grab her arms to steady her. “What if you could write your own pain chart?” Her words are breathy against my ear. “Like, one point and I dig my nails in real hard, and ten points mean I’ll stitch your skin whether it needs it or not.”

“Jesus, Sparrow,” I say as my cock hardens in my jeans.

“Always willing to help.” The smile on her face tells me she knows what she just did to me.

I reach into my pocket, grab my half-finished pack of smokes, and toss them to Halo. “I’m quitting smoking.”

“Of course you fucking are,” Halo says as he catches them. “Not sure I ever want to know what you’re gonna redeem your points for.”

“I’m going to need to bleach my ears out,” Alessio says. “There are some things a brother isn’t meant to know about his little sister.”

Sophia grins. “Maybe you shouldn’t be listening in on private conversations.”

King slaps Alessio’s back. “That fucker is engaged to mine.” He points to Clutch. “And I know exactly what you mean.”