Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Once I dried off, I wrapped a towel around my waist and walked to my dresser, grabbing a pair of boxers and a pair of sweats. Sophia sucked in a sharp breath of air when my towel hit the floor, but I let it go, ignoring her sharp intake of air, and instead tugged on my clothes before walking over to the bed, not bothering with a shirt. I needed to feel her against me as much as possible.
“Hey,” I murmured, lifting the comforter and sliding in beside her. She rolled to her side so we were face to face, and once I was settled, I grabbed her hands in mine, linking our fingers together. “I missed you.”
A small smile tilted her sleepy lips. “I missed you, too,” she whispered. “Everything is going to be okay now though, right?”
I nodded and brought our joined hands to my lips, pressing a kiss to one hand and then the other before lowering them back between our chests. Her cheeks colored a pretty shade of pink, making my heart skip a beat in my chest. No one woman affected me like she did. Sophia was one of a fucking kind. “Yes, cupcake. Everything is going to be okay now.”
She sighed, her eyes sliding shut. “Promise me you won’t go anywhere?”
I brushed my lips to her forehead. “I’m here, cupcake. I promise.”
“I’m trying to be better,” she promised, her eyes not opening as she spoke. Her hands trembled in mine, so I held them tighter, trying to reassure her. “My trauma… I let it rule me for too long.” Her eyes slowly opened. “I don’t want to be that woman anymore, Chase.”
I frowned at her as I brushed my thumbs over her knuckles. “Can you tell me what happened?”
She sighed. “Dad was a biker, too, though his club is gone now. Wiped out by a rival. Mom fled with me when I was seventeen so we wouldn’t be caught up in the shit storm that followed the rival club’s takeover.” Her eyes slowly opened, meeting mine. “But Dad… the club came first. Always. I know that’s the same with you, but he…” Her voice trailed off, and she pursed her lips, like she was trying to word how we were different. “Mom was a… convenience. A woman he could use when he felt like it. A punching bag when he was drunk and angry. The other club women weren’t treated much better.”
Sophia drew in a shaky breath. “He always promised her he would change when she threatened to leave. He would do better. Be better. He’d get help for his anger and his drinking.”
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out he never had.
“Did he ever hurt you?”
Sophia shook her head. “I stayed out of the way as much as possible, but things I saw. The things I heard—” She audibly swallowed. I raised her hands to my lips again, kissing them, trying my damnest to soothe her. Because the torment in her eyes were clear.
“You’re not him, Chase,” she said softly. “None of you are. Sure, some of you can be assholes. And you’re domineering. You push and push. Most of you do. But one thing I did notice is that you and everyone else here are fiercely protective. And loyal. That loyalty is something I’ve never witnessed before.” She moved a little closer to me. “What you’ve done for me, he never would’ve done for her. None of it, Chase.”
I brushed my lips to her forehead. “Sophia, you’ve been my beginning and my end since the moment I laid eyes on you. The reason I fucking breathe every day. My motivation to keep going forward.” I moved my head back a little so I could look down at her. “I’ll never be him. You have my word. This club comes first—you know that—but I’ll cherish you until my last dying breath. You hear me?”
She nodded, sinking further into the pillow, relaxing now that her past was out in the open. And fuck, I could breathe a little easier now that I knew and could understand her trauma and her fears.
Leaning over, I brushed my lips to her forehead before letting my own eyes slide shut, finally getting the rest I needed. Her scent clung to the sheets and my pillowcase, and her warmth curled around me, dragging me into her deeper and deeper.
And this time, I didn’t fight it. I allowed everything about this woman to cover me and embrace me.
She was mine, and I was hers. And once I took care of the VP of the Ghosts of Chaos MC, I would officially make her mine.
That was a goddamn promise.
15
Chase
Sophia was still asleep when I woke up the next morning. As much as I wanted to remain in bed with her, I needed to head downstairs for church. We had shit to discuss as a club, and as the VP, I had a duty to sit at that table.