Page 86 of Pirate

Though it was like pulling teeth to get him to say the words, Pirate finally admitted thathehadn’t let go of Scar’s hand.Scarhad peeled Pirate’s fingers off of Scar’s wrist when it was evident that Scar’s body weight was pulling Pirate off of the bridge too.

Sophia’s gratitude towards Scar doubled at this news. He’d not only saved Sophia’s life with his sacrifice, but he’d saved Pirate’s too. Her man was too stubborn to have let go of Scar’s hand of his own volition. Sheknewthat Pirate would have held on, even if it meant following Scar down into those icy depths.

Sophia would never wish death onto anybody—well, other than child rapists and animal abusers—but she would forever be grateful to Scar for his sacrifice.

With everything else going on,the day that Sophia and Pirate could file for divorce came and went without them realizing it. They ended up going to the lawyer’s a few days later to sign all the necessary documents and officially file. In some ways, the time seemed to drag on and it felt like they’d waited forever to right their drunken mistake; and in other ways, it was hard to believe it was only ninety days since they’d stepped foot on that pirate ship in San Francisco.

Since Pirate’s Charger was demolished and Sophia’s Bug was deemed unsafe by Pirate, they’d both ended up going car shopping at the beginning of May. Sophia got anAcuraIntegra hatchback and Pirate got a replacement Charger with the insurance company’s payout.

A surprise came knocking on their apartment door a couple of weeks after the attack at the bridge. The same lawyer that had shown up at the clubhouse with Fletcher had a settlement offer for Pirate. So long as Pirate did not pursue any criminal or civilcharges against the Montague family, the lawyer was prepared to issue a check to Pirate for a total of two million dollars. If that did not suffice, the lawyer was also authorized to offer Jasmine and Jumper a hefty sum. It was the Montague family’s hope that the money was enough to cover any wedding expenses they’d lost. Additionally, a donation had been made to all of the charities Sophia actively supported.

Before Pirate could make a decision, Sophia had pulled him aside. She advised him to act as if he was denying the amount and see if the lawyer would go any higher. She might not feel the immense guilt Pirate did for what happened, but she was extremely pissed. Stephon Montague’s insistence on covering for his son his entire life had led Fletcher down a destructive path that would one day put him on a bridge pointing a gun at Sophia.

She had every intention of bleeding the man dry. Men like Stephon Montague would do anything to keep their names clean.

The lawyer did end up going higher, though he had to make a phone call to authorize the amount. Pirate received four million, seven hundred and fifty thousand went to Jasmine and Jumper, and an additional donation was made to Jasmine’s clinic for fifty thousand dollars. As Pumpkin’s Power of Attorney, Steel was able to settle on Pumpkin’s behalf and he was also getting a check for four million.

To a man like Stephon Montague, it was a drop in the water, but for Pirate, Jumper, and Jasmine, it wasa lotof money. The papers were drawn up and the money would be deposited within the week.

Before leaving, the lawyer asked Pirate for the name of the man who fell off the bridge. As far as the authorities were concerned, Scar was a John Doe. Even Bulldog refused to giveScar’s legal information over for the investigation. The official story was that he was a stranger who’d gone over the bridge.

Sophia didn’t understand the secrecy around Scar. Had he been wanted by the law or something? And, even if he was, why keep the secrecy even after his death? But the club was extremely tightlipped about the whole thing.

Pirate told the lawyer the same party line: that he didn’t know who the man was.

Though the lawyer was disappointed, he accepted the news and departed. Sophia had a feeling if Pirate had answered the lawyer, Scar’s family—if he even had any—would have gotten a settlement offer too.

Since Sophia and Pirate’s divorce was uncontested and no money was being exchanged between the two, that entire sum was now Pirate’s.

Not that it mattered. He planned on sharing his entire life with Sophia and that meant everything that was his was also hers. Yet he still tried to argue when Sophia had thrown those exact words back at him and explained that everything that washerswas alsohis. Apparently in Pirate’s world, everything that was hers was still hers and everything that was his was hers too. It made no sense to Sophia, but she would allow the silly man to have his delusions.

For now.

When Pirate and Sophia got home from seeing the divorce attorney, they walked into the apartment to find Sophia’s parents sitting in the living room with Jumper and Jasmine.

“Mom, Dad,” Sophia exclaimed, rushing over to meet them. “What are you doing here?”

“We wanted to talk to the four of you,” her dad answered as he hugged her in greeting.

As Sophia reached to hug her mom, Pirate and her dad shook hands. Then Pirate leaned over to kiss her mom on the cheekbefore guiding Sophia over to take a seat on the couch next to Jasmine and Jumper. Despite now having millions in the bank, Pirate hadn’t done anything with the money. There’d been no changes to their living arrangements or to his spending habits.

Sophia knew very few people could resist the temptations that came with that sort of money. She was very proud of Pirate for not changing who he was just because there were a lot of zeros in his bank account balance now.

Jumper sat on the left of the couch while Pirate sat on the right side with the girls in between them. Her parents sat in dining room chairs facing them.

Sophia’s dad took her mom’s hand and nodded to her encouragingly.

Her mom looked to Sophia. “I am so sorry for bringing Fletcher Montague back into your life. When he reached out to me, I got silly dreams of you settling down and giving me grandbabies in my head. I didn’t look into his history or even check in with his father to see what he thought of Fletcher being back in town.”

Sophia shook her head. “It’s not your fault, Mom. No one saw any of this coming. I don’t blame you for his actions.”

Bea smiled thankfully at Sophia before turning her attention to Pirate. “I want to thank you for saving Sophia’s life. I’m aware that you lost a friend that night.” Her mom held up a hand to stop Jumper and Pirate from speaking. “I know what the news and reports say, but I also have eyes and ears around town. I know people who were on that bridge that night. I’m aware that the man who fell into the water was a friend of yours.” She lowered her hand. “And I am here to offer my sincerest condolences as well as my apology for any part I may have played that led to his death.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Pirate told her immediately after she stopped speaking. “As Sophia said,Montague’s actions were his own. You had no part in them. Neither I nor any of the club hold you responsible for him.”

Bea dabbed at the corner of her eyes. “Thank you. The guilt has been weighing on me and I needed to clear the air. Especially with you and Sophia actually dating now.”

Sophia’s eyebrows drew down. “What do you mean ‘actually’?”

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