how long he had to keep worrying about every little fucking thing that came out of his mouth whenever they were together.
Gauge and Zed had promised him their votes on the matter of asking Liv for a loan, provided it was obvious they’d come up short on Cora’s two hundred grand at the ten-day mark. They would, he already knew they would. They were out of shit to sell—except guns, but that wasn’t an option—and it would take way too many bodies and extra runs to make another hundred grand in a week without closing up their legit businesses. Also not an option.
It wasn’t like he wanted to stick out his hand and beg his old lady for cash either, but the cost to his ego would be a lot less than the cost to the club if they failed to pay up. Hell, making their debt a priority had probably already cost them their chance of finding the assholes who’d robbed them in the first place. Biff hadn’t had any luck tracking down the coins or van, and the assholes had now had a week to totally cover their tracks.
But there wasn’t a point in dwelling or getting himself worked up now, was there? The majority had spoken and he’d had no choice but to go along with it.
He just hoped they hadn’t made an even bigger mess to clean up.
: : : :
Except for the light coming from their muted TV in the living room, the house was completely dark when he got there. Eyeing his gorgeous wife passed out on the couch, he quietly pulled off his boots and hung up his cut. She looked so peaceful, so opposite of how he felt inside, that his eyes couldn’t tear themselves away. He moved in, mesmerized by her soft lips and the flickering, colorful light bouncing off her silky skin.
He knew the divide had been all his doing, but fuck, he missed the shit out of her.
She was propped up on the armrest wearing a slinky, white tank top and gray sweats, unknowingly making his dick twitch with lust for those perfect curves. The woman could rock denim, lace, and leather, but with those outfits came the tough vixen act. It was her downtime style he loved the best. Be it baggy pants with a tight top, or one of his over-sized shirts with a thong, her outside matched the inside whenever it was just the two of them relaxing. She was unpretentious, easygoing, and—bonus—sexy as fuck. He’d said it before and he’d say it again, there wasn’t a luckier motherfucker on the goddamn planet. Livia Larter was a gift from the gods and he’d fight to the death if any of them ever tried to take her back.
He leaned down and slowly pulled an open notebook and tablet out from under her hand. Studying her jottings, he recognized them as a list of their twenty chapter locations. Each had multiple clinic names and contact numbers written next to them.
How did she do this shit? It had only been a couple hours since he’d stormed out of the clubhouse and she’d talked to Buddha.
And why did he suddenly feel the need to prove something? Prove what, he had no idea, just… something.
Liv’s brain was just as big of a turn-on as her body, but in that moment, the weirdest fucking wave of insecurity hit him. Clever broads like his old lady were blessings in disguise, they could breathe life into a broken man but could also be downright deadly to the lovesick idiot who thought he could tie one down. And pity the fool like himself who knew he couldn’t, but would die fucking trying anyway.
Truth be told, Torch was still—probably more so now—struggling with how to balance his controlling nature and her independent one. By MC standards he was being a total bitch just admitting it, because men were supposed to be, you know, fucking men. But outside of foreplay, that macho shit didn’t work on women like the one he was staring at, it just reminded them of all the headaches they could save themselves by leaving. Their power was in self-awareness, in the confidence of knowing they could survive anything and do it alone. Demanding subservience was like trying to stick reins on a wild horse, you were just asking to get kicked in the damn face. Intimidation, threats, they didn’t cower to any of it, they saw it as a goddamn challenge to be