Thanks to ks, Angel897, Lenora, and Robin.D for the reviews. Thank you to everyone else who read, followed or favorited. This will be the last chapter before we jump up to an M rating and honestly this chapter is on the line. If you're uncomfortable with that my apologies.
Enjoy.
Chibs finishes ordering dinner and drops his prepay on the bed, moving into the bathroom to start the shower. He sheds his clothes while the water warms up. He hopes the food perks River up. The look on her face just before he'd caught her attention had been concerning. In the last few days he's seen her stone cold, amused, flirty, mad, and scared but he doesn't think he's seen her look worried. Not truly worried the way she'd looked sitting in his big red recliner, her legs pulled up under her body. She'd looked small and lost. She was usually a tower of confidence, real or feigned he doesn't know.
The last week was a mess of ups and downs. He feels like they're trapped in a cycle where only one of them can stand strong at a time. Either she's exploding in a mess of sign language and anger or he's struggling to figure out how to walk the tightrope that is the MC. It's not a bad thing, this give and take, but he can feel the storm that's been swirling on the horizon picking up speed and he knows they won't make it out without their own tethers. He'd told her to keep her head in the game and he needs to do the same.
Steam has started to roll out of the shower and he sheds his boxers stepping under the stream of hot water, rolling his shoulders. He loves the water pressure at his house. He lets the pounding heat fall on his back and tries to push River from his mind, he needs to get his own shit right if he's going to help her the way he promised.
Things are not going well for SAMCRO and Chibs can practically see the fractures building. It scares him that it's gotten bad enough for River to pick up on it after only a short conversation with a few of the boys outside the clubhouse. Then again, the little witch did have a way of reading people that Chibs had never seen before. If her skills of perception are as good as he thinks they are then he can think of several powerful men who would love to add her to their ranks. She would have been a fucking golden asset during his years with the RIRA when everything was actually said in-between what was said out loud.
Running his hands through his wet hair and Chibs realizes her skill could also be just another weakness. Her ability to read lips and pick up on tells would make her valuable to most criminal groups and Clay was no exception to that. Combined with Chibs' suspicions about her possible Italian connection and she might actually be in more danger than he'd originally thought. If she plays the cards right though, fucking christ, she could end up a force to be reckoned with.
One problem at a time though. First he needs to figure out the club shite and get things right there. If there's bigger trouble coming from any direction SAMCRO won't make through unless they're united and right now they are most certainly not. So he needs to get cleaned up, get some food in the girl, right her head space, and deal with the home-front.
He thinks she might be able to help him there. He'd been sorting through it while he tinkered with that damn bike all afternoon. He knows that things with Clay and Jax are about to come to a head and when they do Chibs knows he'll come down on Jax's side of things. He may have tried to walk the tightrope but when it comes down to it Jax is the one looking to take the club towards a reasonable future. Chibs knows the younger man has been through his share of ups and downs but long term Clay isn't going to do anything good for the majority. Clay is out for Clay and Chibs has never liked to follow selfish leaders.
River's part comes in finding out where the rest of the brothers will land. If she can figure out that Tig is waffling after a smoke break Chibs feels like she should be able to sort out the rest of the boys in a day or two. The next issue had been how to get her around the lads but that part actually ended up being quite simple. Chibs had missed work the week before to guard her but now that she'd made an appearance at the clubhouse for church it's not a stretch to bring her to the garage for his shift tomorrow. He just has to get her on board. He has a feeling she's not a fan of being used and that is exactly what he's going to try and do. Use her.
The pounding water has worked out the tension in his back while he thought and now that he's relaxed and has a bit of a plan his mind drifts. Under the hot water, a week of celibacy behind him, he can't really help it when he starts to think about Friday night. He lets himself remember the way he'd been able to see down her shirt at the clubhouse bar. It'd been a quick glance but it was enough for him to get a glimpse of the soft swell of her breasts. Breasts he knows will probably grow as she gains back missing weight.
There's a twitch between his legs and he reaches down to stroke himself his mind jumping forward to his dorm room later that night. He pulls up the image of her caught against him, her cheeks flushed from anger, her eyes bright with booze and emotion. He can feel her wrists caught up in one of his hands and she'd been pressed up against him so tight he'd been able feel her breasts rise and fall against his chest with every breath.
He's fully hard now and stroking himself rhythmically, his free hand slams against the shower wall for support and he's thinking about the feel of her hip under his hand. The skin over her jeans had been impossibly smooth and her lips had been soft pink. He'd wanted to kiss her but thought better of it, pulling her against his chest instead. He can remember how soft her short hair was, twisted up in his hand, and they way it felt when her entire body relaxed against him. Then the sight of her in just a shirt and panties crawling into the bed. He tugs at himself harder.
If he'd thought that first night lying next to her in the little clubhouse bed and keeping his hands to himself had been hard it had nothing on last night when she'd saved him from another night on the couch. Her hand pulling him towards his own fucking bedroom and he'd watched her little ass bounce in front of him for every second of the short walk. His hand picks up speed and he can feel release just around the corner.
He'd laid there impossibly aware of her long legs and that tight little ass just on the other side of the mattress. All he'd needed to do was reach across the bed and he could have had a hand on one of those breasts, figured out if they could fill his palm. It would have been easy after that to pull her towards him and then he could have found out if she makes those little noises in her throat out of something other than annoyance. He just knows he could get her to make that little squeak of impatience he's heard so much recently— his release comes with a groan and a flood of sticky heat over his hand, he presses his forehead into the cold tile of the shower wall.
Well, wanking to images of the girl like a school boy certainly wasn't keeping his head in the game but, jesus, he couldn't help himself. He can only bend so far before he breaks and a week basically trapped in a house with her, surrounded by those wicked little smiles had been hard enough. When he adds in the new element of sharing a bed it's all too much, storm brewing or not. He shifts into the spray of water, cleaning himself up. At a minimum this respite might keep him from embarrassing himself tonight.
He finishes the rest of his shower quickly and tugs on his jeans and a t-shirt just in time for the doorbell to ring. Grabbing his wallet off the counter he rushes to get the door with dripping hair. He throws a glance at River and she's still curled up in the big chair, book on her lap but he's pretty sure she hasn't turned the page while he's been gone. He drops the food on the coffee table and waves a hand to get her attention.
"Dinner is here lass." She glances to the bag behind him and then back with a shrug. Fine, more for him.
She'd told him she loves Italian food so he'd taken a guess about what to order. He throws himself down on the couch and starts to unpack the hot containers. He sees her shift out of corner of his eye when he opens the first take-out lid. He sets the round container of lasagna aside and pulls out the second one of chicken piccata. He makes it to the third, which is a very nice looking alfredo before she closes the book and moves across the room to sit on the floor next to the table.
"Yeh decided you're hungry then?" She shrugs again but her face is tight and he rolls his eyes, holding out a fork. She snatches it. "Uh huh"
He expects her to inhale the food like usual but instead she grabs the container of lasagna and holds it for a minute before she sets it back down and he wonders if he's mis-stepped and ordered the wrong thing. He digs into the alfredo and it's actually not bad. Not the best he's ever had but up there for sure. He'd taken a chance on pasta from a place that he usually only uses for pizza. He takes another bite. A soft noise pulls his attention from the food and he looks up just in time to see River swipe at her eyes with a hoodie covered arm.
"Oh christ." She doesn't look at him, her palms pressed against her eyes, trying to hold in the tears even as her shoulders start to shake. He has a moment of panic unsure of what to do before he decides to just go with instinct. Leaning forward he gets his hands under her upper arms and pulls her up. She comes willingly, letting him lift her bodily on to the couch. He tugs her hands away from her face to find her red eyed, tears sliding out from behind closed lids.
"What is this then?" He knows she didn't get the question from his lips. There's no way she can read his mouth through those watery eyes. "Okay then. It's okay." He tugs her into his chest and she offers no resistance, pressing her face into his shirt. It's like the move gave her permission to really let it out and she lets out a muffled
sob, her body wracked with the effort. He puts a heavy hand on her back and pulls her closer, rubbing in soft circles. She lets out another sob into his chest.
"I would have expected this over the whole prisoner of a motorcycle club thing not lasagna." He knows she can't hear him or read his lips in this position but he feels out of his element and talking to the air helps. "Yeh've been a strong lass. We all know it." One of her hands tangles in his shirt and she moves closer until she's practically in his lap. "I imagine this has been building for a while huh? Yeh've been a good girl. It's okay."
It's several minutes before she seems to cry herself out, finally settling into quiet hiccups. It's another minute before she pulls her face away from his chest wiping at her eyes and nose with the sleeve of a sweatshirt, he only now notices, is still the one he'd draped over days before. Her eyes are red and her short hair is sticking up in all directions from the way he'd tangled one hand in it. She looks desperately pretty.
"Yeh could have just said yeh didn't want Italian." The terrible joke serves it's purpose and she lets out a wet huff of air. Something he's come to learn is her version of a half laugh. She looks around and he catches on leaning them both forward until she can snag the pad and pen off the table. She shifts just enough to let her write without moving off his lap.
I'm sorry.
Rather than look up at him like usual she holds out the pen and he takes it shifting to get his hand free to write back.
Okay now?
She nods and takes the pen back.
That's the first time I've cried since this all started.
Part of him feels like he's taking advantage of a vulnerable situation but he does it anyways, taking the pen back to write.
How long ago was that?
There's no hesitation before she answers.
86 days.
The arm still wrapped around her tightens involuntarily as he reads the number. He takes a deep breath and takes the pen.
86 days since what?
If they're going to talk about this he wants to be very clear. Is it 86 days she's been working for the Cartel? 86 days since she made a bad decision? 86 days since what? She takes the pen back.
I was kidnapped off the Vegas strip on July 28th, Lobos Sonora
He nods along before writing back.
Because you're Cosa Nostra.
He feels a shiver go through her when he finishes writing the word and he feels rather than sees her nod against his chest. He puts the pen back to paper.
What family?
She won't take the pen from him and he looks down to see her staring up at him her eyes impossibly wide. He can read it all on her face. It's a big family and it could bring a hammer down on his little club, one they may not survive. He feels something dangerous coil up in his chest and he shoves the pen at her roughly. She puts it to paper with a shaking hand.
Sofia Santorini, Piero Santorini, Nicco DiForno
He realizes the first name must be hers and the second is probably a father or brother, her male tie to the organization. The last name he absolutely recognizes. Nic DiForno is the head of the entire Chicago Outfit and the sixth member of the famed Mafia Commission. His reach is impossibly large. The DiForno family represented all Italian organized crime from Chicago to the Pacific at a national level. Chibs is also distantly aware that both DiForno and his Consigliere had been picked up a few months ago and were still engaged in a very public legal battle over some suspicious evidence. Chibs is only aware of it because a shake up a few months ago had inspired the L.A. Italians to up their gun order over some upheaval while their boss was away.
This is a level of organized crime that SAMCRO can't touch. If River's connection is high enough in the ranks they could be talking total wipe out. If her family had ordered her kidnapping the MC would be done for harboring her. If her family was looking for her the MC could get wiped out for having her before they have a chance to explain.
He picks up the pen and taps her name then points to his face, "This is yeh?" she nods. He taps the second name, "This is yer da?" she nods again. He lets out a deep breath. "Who is yer da to the family?" She takes the pen back.
DiForno's Consigliere
Chibs runs his hand through his hair and sighs. This was too big. Her father the number two of one of the most powerful mob bosses in the country. He couldn't keep this from his brothers but maybe he could control the message to keep them all from getting swallowed whole.
"I have to tell the lads." He hates the way her eyes widen and she shoots off his body so quickly the pad falls from his lap on to the floor. "I have to River. This could get us all killed. They need to know what they're dealing with." She ducks to pick up the pad and pen.
Jax. We'll tell Jax.
She underlines the we part a few times and passes it to him. He considers the idea. The VP would love to get the information first since it puts Clay in a bad light and it did make sense to get the story checked. Technically she's been missing almost three months and they haven't found her yet what's another few days. Finally, Chibs nods and he watches her shoulders sag.
"I need a favor though." He throws it out there as an after-thought. He'll tell only Jax per her request but he needs her to use her people skills. She raises an eye brow and puts pen to paper.
Quid pro quo?
He hates that term. "Nah darlin', it's not like that. I was going to ask anyways." She nods and writes.
Head in the game right?
"Yea, lass." He gives her a small smile. "Head in the game." He can't help the way he reaches out for her and he feels relief when she comes back to his side of the couch, willingly, her body melting into his side. Something about her pressed up against him makes him feel dangerous and capable of anything. He tucks his chin in so she can see his face, "Yeh okay, really?" she nods.
"Eat yer food then and I'll tell yeh about it after dinner." She nods and picks up the now room temperature lasagna digging in with most of her usual speed.
He feels like he's just made a deal with the devil and he doesn't care.
It's getting real for River and MC. More will be coming soon.
Quick note: Cosa Nostra is the term the mob uses internally to refer to the family.
Reviews are very much appreciated and really do help keep me motivated!