Turning to face her, I clenched my jaw before saying, “I killed the man who murdered my family ten years ago.”
Her eyes widened, and she looked like she’d been slapped. And then she gave me hope she could accept me for who I was. “Your family was murdered?” Not even a mention of the fact I had killed someone.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
I told her the story and she listened intently. When I’d finished, she scrambled into my lap and put her arms around me. “I’m so sorry, Griff,” she said, and I heard every drop of compassion in her voice. It was the kind of compassion that had been missing from my life for a long time – the kind of compassion I hadn’t even realised I needed.
“I do work for Storm that involves violence,” I admitted, needing her to know exactly who I was. If we were going to make this work, I needed to know she accepted everything about me.
She processed that, remaining silent for a few minutes. “Do you do it to help your club?”
“Yes. The only time I get violent is when I’m doing it to help either my club or someone I care about, but I do it, and I need you to know that.”
Nodding, she said, “I have no problem with that. Ever since I saw you beat that guy up who tried to steal a car, I’ve known you had that streak. It didn’t bother me then and it doesn’t bother me now.”
I watched her closely and knew she was telling the truth.
Thank fuck.
Before I could say anything else, she took hold of my face with both her hands. “Griff, I accept you for who you are and always will. You never need to change yourself for me. I’m still getting to know stuff about you, but I know who you are at your core – you’ve already shown me that. I’ve spent my entire life trying to fit in, and make people like me, and the thing I’ve learnt is that it never works. The trick is to find your tribe where you don’t have to work to fit in, but where you effortlessly slide right in. And to find your person – that one person who just gets you and doesn’t try to change you; that one person who only needs to take a glance at you to know if there’s something wrong; that one person who would drop everything to be there for you when you need them…you’re my person, Griff, and I’d do anything for you.”
Fuck me.
She’d just given me the fucking world.
I claimed her lips in a kiss that went on for so long I lost track of time. And although she sat naked on my lap, my hands didn’t roam over her body. I just needed her lips for now. When I’d had my fill, I ended the kiss, and said, “You’re mine, Sophia. Forever.”
29
Griff
Two days later, when Wilder was in the clear from being shot, I walked into Church with a sense of apprehension. It had been quiet around the club over the last two days, and I couldn’t read some of the boys. They avoided eye contact with me, as well as conversation with me, and I figured they were the ones who would vote me out. The fact there seemed to be a lot of them avoiding me was of concern.
I took my seat next to Scott who opened with club business. Looking around the room, I took in my family. These men had been there for me through good times and bad over the last three years. We’d packed a lot into a few short years, and I’d learnt what loyalty and acceptance meant. I guessed after today, I’d learn who believed in unconditional love.
Scott finished going through the business he had to discuss regarding the fire at Trilogy and a few other matters, and he asked if anyone else had anything to go over. Wilder spoke up, his voice full of nerves as he stumbled over his words. “You remember you asked me to find out a little while ago who those guys were outside The Eclipse Bar who none of us knew?” He waited for Scott to acknowledge that, and when he nodded, Wilder continued. “I was given the wrong information. We were also given the wrong information about who was behind the fire at Trilogy.”
Fuck.
I sat forward in my chair, every muscle in my body tense. This was not going to be good news.
“Keep going, and don’t stop until you get everything out,” Scott ordered, his shoulders tense.
Wilder took a deep breath. It was clear he didn’t want to tell us whatever it was he had to say. “One of the guys is Julio Rivera and he arrived in Brisbane about four months ago. He’s been building his network, with an end goal of running this town. His fingers are already in a lot of pies, Scott, and he’s achieved one of his goals thanks to us – getting rid of Ricky. Seems he was setting Ricky up to take the fall for the Trilogy fire because he hoped we would buy it and do exactly what we did. From what I’ve been told, he’s slowly working his way to bringing down the big guys so he can take over from them. The Bond Family were another one on his list, and we helped him out there, too. That guy who was missing yesterday in your count of dead bodies, Griff? He had just shifted allegiance to Julio; that’s why he was missing.”