Page 60 of Micro
We both sat down at their direction, only Soph paused to drag her chair closer to mine before she sat down, grabbing my hand immediately. She looked terrified, but a strange calm had settled over me. Was I beaten and bloodied, and in pain? Of course. Had I just had frantic sex with the woman I loved? Also yes. Did I fear death now? No.I regretted the fuck out of it though.
Reacher cleared his throat, and I realised I was staring at Soph instead of him.
“Sorry.”
“I hear the outing was a success,” Reacher said, like he hadn’t been listening the whole fucking time, and didn’t have to be briefed on it.
I nodded, eyeing him and then Stitch, who stood beside the desk Reacher was sitting behind.
“No home team casualties,” I added, getting nothing back from them. My god, why not just fucking get on with it? The silence was as agonising as I knew my impending death would be. Why were they dragging it out?
“The last few members are open to a patchover, but you know all this. You know every damn thing that happened, so why don’t you just get to the fucking point!” I was nearly yelling by the end of that sentence, and it was only Soph’s gentle thumb rubbing my palm that stopped me from going completely off the rails.
Reacher and Stitch hadn’t even flinched, and they didn’t respond in anger, like my dad would have.
“You were always a better man than him,” I said quietly, “and I’m sorry I was too stupid and arrogant to see that.”
Reacher blinked, turning a wary glance towards his VP, who shrugged in response.
“I’m not trying to change your minds about me. I’m just saying I came in here with a shit ton of anger, and I directed it in the wrong place. He was always the fucking asshole, and I was the stupid cunt who thought he was a god. You’ve got a good club here, a better club, but you know that. I was the only one who didn’t see it. Guess I’ve always been a blind fool.”
Reacher sighed heavily, a sound I was more than used to hearing from him.
“Can I fucking talk now, or do you wanna preach at me some more?”
Sophie
Ilurchedupinthe middle of Reacher’s office, reluctantly releasing Micro’s hand, as I held both of mine up in front of me.
“Please! Before you do anything, can I just say something? I know I don’t have any power here, just like I didn’t with the Rogues, but you seem like more decent people, even if you are intent on killing the man I love.” It wasn’t the best start, I admit, but Reacher nodded, and sat back, waiting for my speech. It had to be the best one of my life, didn’t it? I had to save the man beside me, because they didn’t realise how good he was. He was all heart, and maybe he hadn’t always been, but that’s who he’d become.
“Are you going to speak, love?” Stitch asked gently, and I nodded, lowering my hands to twist together in front of me, even as Micro leaned forward and carefully unlinked them.
“Go gentle with that wrist, babe, please.” See? Even now, he’s all about my safety and my wellness, and not his own.
“I know that he did bad things, and I know probably a lot more about his past, and his upbringing, and I can see that he maybe never had the right tools back then, to make the right choices. I found him broken and bloody on the side of the road, and I couldn’t help myself. Something in his eyes told me I needed to save him, so that’s what I did. I spent weeks doing everything for him, when he couldn’t even move, when he wasn’t even conscious most of the time.”
“Jesus, babe,” Micro grumbled, and I waved my hand at him to shut up. I needed to speak while I was on a roll, and while they were deigning to listen.
“The man who slowly came to life on my farm… I don’t think he’s the same man you knew. He’s caring, and considerate. He’s protective and strong. He makes me smile, and he makes me giggle, and laugh. He watches over me. He makes sure I eat, when I forget so often. He makes my tea perfectly, and he fusses when he thinks I’m overdoing things. He’s sweet and gentle, and he’s loving. He’s everything I always wished I could find, he’s the man I’ve waited for my entire life, and sure, I’m not old like you, but,” I hesitated because Reacher scowled at me, and Stitch snorted, and quickly straightened his face, when that glare reached him, “but I know I won’t find a man like him again. I don’t want to. He’s my everything, and I’m begging you not to take him away from me. Please. I don’t want a life that he’s not in.”
“Fuck, babe,” Micro stood up and dragged me against his chest, hugging me so tightly I could barely breathe, and we both froze when Stitch called out to us.
“Okay, that’s enough. Can we fucking get on with this?”
Reacher gestured to the chairs as we reluctantly pulled apart, and we sat down again.
“Okay, now it’s my fucking turn to speak, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll both keep it closed, because after this, I have to go and beg my fucking old lady for forgiveness. Micro, you’re an asshole. You came to this club a prospect, and you gained our trust. You worked your way from prospect to patched member. You wore the fucking colours, and you shat all over all of it, all over us. You betrayed everyone who knew you and cared about you, and you didn’t give a fuck. When you were caught, you sat there with that smug ass look on your face, and you taunted us. You called this club pathetic, and said no better of the two of us.”
He paused to take a deep breath, and I knew everything was about to change forever, because from those words, it was clear nothing good was coming.
Thirty-Three
Ididn’twantherto hear this stuff, but I was out of any chances here, and completely fucking powerless. All we could do was listen to the man, and pray that something would save me at the eleventh hour.
“You went after Elise, man, my baby sister. My poor, and at the time,virginal, fucking sister. She was gentle, and sweet, and vulnerable, and you terrorised her. Kidnapped her, you jerked off over her fucking face…”
Shit, yeah, guess what, Soph. I’m a real cunt, and I deserve this.
