Tig finally returns to Charming to an unexpected sight, learning the hard way that if he really wants Sydney back, he's going to have to speak her language.

General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death, racism/gang activity.

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CHAPTER 45: TALK IS CHEAP

;

"You asshole!" Happy flinched when he heard the angry voice, followed by a stinging in his arm. He whipped his head around from where he sat on his bike to see Sydney - whose surely heavy footsteps had been drowned out by the chugging engine - standing in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"What?" He scowled, unsure of what he possibly could've done to warrant a smack on the shoulder in the three minutes since he'd arrived back on the compound.

"You let me believe that he slept with that Nevada sweetbutt!" She shook her head incredulously.

"I didn't let you believe shit." He smirked as he dismounted his machine, bending down to tie his boot that had come unlaced in the early morning wind that had assaulted his body on the drive down from Tacoma. "I wouldn't have brought her if she did that." He straightened back up.

"Well you didn't tell me why you did bring her back." Sydney's eyes widened in what she'd intended to be mock-frustration, but hours of enduring Gemma's nagging with no escape during her Friday office shift had given her theatrical annoyance a little more substance than she'd intended.

"I wanted her to tell you."

"I'm still pissed off." Sydney huffed with a roll of her eyes - she should've known that this conversation wouldn't go anywhere.

"I know." Happy smirked as he nodded towards the gates. "I brought something for that."

;

After the longest five days of Tig's life, he finally found himself arriving back in Charming - albeit much later than he'd intended. He had practically ran to his bike after ditching the cursed cargo truck on the side of the road, mimicking the collective nervousness that Half-Sack and Juice regularly displayed on the way back to the warehouse as he anxiously tapped his foot against the floorboards of the van, and twisted the chunky silver rings that adorned his swelling fingers. He pulled his helmet down over his curls that were beginning to grow out longer than he usually allowed them to, smiling as the engine of his Dyna roared to life beneath him, the lively vibration travelling up his legs, and into his chest. It may have only been five days without the few things that had ever made him feel like he belonged, but it had felt like five years.

He sped onto the compound, scanning the lot for one of Sydney's vehicles as he coasted over to the railing - almost crashing into the row of Harleys before he realized that the lot was free of her presence. "God dammit." He grumbled. His original plan had been to return during the work day where he could guarantee some face time with her, at the very least, but business had wrapped up early on the Friday afternoon, and he had vastly underestimated his arrival time.

The previous pep of confidence in Tig's step began to reduce to nervousness as he crept down the hallway to his dorm, praying that someway, somehow, she would be there waiting for him, but instead he opened the door to see that all of his belongings that had been at her house, were now strewn about his bed. He bit his lip as he took a deep breath, refusing to let the sore sight completely dampen his spirits. He had been waiting all week to get his girl back, and that was what he was going to do.

;

"So then, I finally got him to agree... Took the fucker down in less than five seconds. You know how gullible he is." Donut grinned as he lifted a dainty white mug to his lips.

Sydney laughed as she listened to the Tacoma native relay the story of how he had managed to trick the ever-so-gullible Tank into an arm wrestle, revelling in the girlish excitement she felt behind her bellybutton as he brought some familiarity back to her life. But she suddenly felt the genuineness of her smile fading, dragging out her grin for as long as possible so that he wouldn't catch on. She hadn't found herself missing home at all until this moment - even if it was only because it was the first time that she hadn't been in San Bernardino while he was. But the guilty pang quickly faded when the genuineness of his smile didn't, his squinted eyes bringing the light right back to hers.

"Look at you, Mr. fucking smiles over there." She grinned in amusement.

"I'm just happy to have girl time again." He teased, flipping his long hair over his meaty shoulder. "One on one with my gal pal, my lady friend." He wiggled his thick eyebrows.

"Oh my God, D..." Sydney's eyes widened as she examined the unruly tufts of hair above his eyes. "You need to let me fix those."

"Why do you think I came down, Kitty Cat?" He smirked. "Been too long since I've had a proper spa day... My toes need some maintenance too." He wiggled his large, booted foot. Sydney laughed again, she'd missed her friend. "Plus..." He decided that now was the best time to bring it up, before she could figure it out on her own... "I'm still waiting for you to tell me about this reaper that you let into those tight little pants of yours, when I've been trying for years." He nodded across the small cafe table with a knowing brow raised.

"Yeah, yeah…" She chuckled with a roll of her eyes. "It's a bit of a sore subject." It's not like she hadn't known that this was the real reason that Happy had brought him down for a visit, but it had been nice to be able to pretend that it was just because he'd missed her. "I cared about him..."

"Yeah… Hap mentioned that." The tall man reached across the table, grabbing her hand as he looked into her green eyes. "You okay, kid?" He knew that she wasn't, that was why he was there, but he wasn't going to make her talk about it if she didn't want to. His job was to lift her spirits before Tig came home, and that was what he was going to do.

"I will be." She nodded sincerely, squeezing his large hand in both of hers.

He gave a curt nod, leaning in closer as he looked around the small coffee shop, as if he was about to tell her some top secret information. "I'll kick his ass if I see him." He whispered. "You just gotta tell me which one he is."

Sydney grinned. "Why else do you think Hap would bring you down here." She mused as she reached for her cup.

Tig parked his bike halfway between Main Street, and Sydney's house, placing his helmet on the seat before beginning the short walk down the road to her favorite coffee shop. For the purposes of protecting his already shrunken ego, he'd decided that he needed a cover for stopping by her house in case she completely shot him down, and some peace-offering donuts would serve as just that. He rounded the corner, a smile almost coming to his face when he saw it, right outside of the cafe; her car. He ducked behind the brick building, blinking as he tried to come up with a last minute game plan - which was apparently just going to be scaling the side of the building until he could hopefully catch her off guard enough that she would have no choice but to speak with him. Perfect.

It would have been perfect, if it wasn't for the sight beyond the glass...

Tig's heart sank as his eager blue eyes landed on Sydney where she sat at one of the tables. She looked good; happy and healthy, like she wasn't missing him at all as she drank her favorite iced latte, and smiled the way that he used to make her smile, with another man.

"No." He whispered to himself, watching the mystery man's long hair shake as the pair broke into hysterics. He felt his heart breaking all over again. This was exactly what he had feared, that she would move on if he stayed gone long enough. He hung his head, swallowing his tears as he made his way back to his bike. His demons had been right all along.

;

Happy pulled up in front of Maya's house, traversing the small walkway where he immediately began rapping on the front door. He hadn't called to let her know that he was coming by, but he'd expected that she would've heard the bike, and came to wait for him at the door - even if he had only been there for less than thirty seconds.

Maya groaned from her bedroom when she heard a knocking at her front door, pulling her pillow down over her head where she tried to ignore it. But as she gave it her best shot, whoever was at her door was also giving it theirs. She threw the black duvet back, stomping down the hallway towards the door, throwing it open without thinking as she planned to give whoever was on the other side, a piece of her mind, but embarrassment flooded her as soon as she saw who was on the other side.

"Hi." She blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?" She didn't mind the unexpected visit - granted, it would've been better appreciated if she had been awake, but she was curious to know what had warranted it...

"Letting you know I got home safe?" He scowled. He thought that this was what she had wanted.

"Oh." Maya was even more surprised when not only did he give a straight answer, but a favorable one at that. "Okay. Is that all?" The thoughtful gesture from the seemingly emotionless man had managed to calm her post-waking rage, but it only left her in a groggy haze of confusion.

"Yeah. You sleeping?" He looked over her disheveled appearance amusedly.

"I work later." It wasn't a lie, but she wasn't going to add that a bottle of whiskey, and a night of cheesy movies had contributed.

"Oh." He supposed that bartenders had to stay up late for their shifts, which would explain why she was always willing to have him over at such obscure times in the night, and was so grumpy in the mornings.

"Will I see you later?" She squinted in the sun.

"Not sure."

"Okay." She nodded, watching as he turned to walk away, but all she could think of was the other night... She didn't know why it had been eating away at her, but maybe it was because she wondered if it had something to do with why she might not see him, tonight... "Hap?" She called after him, deciding to take the leap of faith while he was being cooperative. He turned around, saying nothing as he waited for an explanation. "What happened the other night?"

"Someone needed help."

"Is she going to need your help tonight?" She raised a tentative brow.

"Not sure."

"Okay." She looked to the ground.

"She's my family." He clarified, knowing what it was that she was trying to ask.

"Like, your sister?" As far as Maya knew, Happy only had his mom and aunt as relatives.

"No." He walked back to his bike where he pulled on his helmet and drove away. He'd been dreading the inevitable 'what are we' conversation, but Maya had been cool about the status of their relationship until this point. Maybe that was why he hadn't minded sharing personal information with her, maybe that was why he hadn't minded sharing things with her, at all - something that he'd never done with any other woman that he was sleeping with. She hadn't tried to get him to commit to her, and until this point, he hadn't even known that she'd wanted him to commit to her. Maybe she didn't, but he was glad to be spending a few nights at the clubhouse, away from her questions about the other women in his life, because he'd already shared far more with her than he was comfortable with.

Maya's familiar frustration returned. She'd thought that she had been making some progress with him, but progress meant nothing if he was seeing other women - at least while he was in town. She huffed, letting the screen door slam behind her as she stomped down the hallway, and back into bed before her shift.

;

Tig returned back in town after a short drive to clear his head that he could feel was beginning to cloud after the sore sight. He couldn't let his doubt take over, not yet, not after how hard he'd worked. He sighed as he parked on a side street, trying to calm his nerves on the short walk to her house where he could feel his heart beat beginning to pulsate in his throat.

He realized once he saw her car in the driveway, that he was taking the gamble of a lifetime as he let his feet carry him up the pathway to her house; what if she ignores me? What if she took mystery douche home? He was hot. What if she castrates me the same way that she castrated the rapist clown? (I would let her).

He had absolutely no idea what had gone on in the fiercely independent woman's head over the last few days. He didn't know if letting him earn his way back into her iron-gated heart was even an option for her, but he had to try. He had to show her that he was the man that she'd fallen in love with - the one who knew how to keep her when no one else could. He would do anything if it meant that he could call her his again.

Sydney had just finished changing into her pyjamas for the early night, when she heard the doorbell ring. She padded down the carpeted stairs, tiptoeing to the peephole where she came face to face with Tig. She wasn't surprised to see him, she had been waiting for him to come grovelling at her door ever since she'd talked to Cherry, but she realized as her nerves went haywire, that she hadn't prepared for this moment nearly as well as she thought she had.

"Hi." She opened the door, greeting him coldly as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the doorframe so that he wouldn't notice her trembling. She had every intention of hearing him out, but she wasn't going to let him know that. Her ego, her heart, and her reputation had suffered immensely because of him, she intended to have as much fun with this as possible.

"Hi." Tig blinked a few times, caught completely off guard by how caught off guard he was to finally be seeing her in the flesh, as if she was the last person that he would've expected to open the door. "Hi, beautiful." He attempted to compose himself, but he couldn't lift it; that trance that she had always managed to slip him under.

She looked him over, noting the multiple cuts and bruises on his face - courtesy of Happy, no doubt. "What are you doing here?" Obviously she knew the answer, but she was dying to hear the bullshit answer that he would come up with.

Tig hesitated. He'd come prepared with a backup plan that was even better than the first cover story that had been thrown out the window, but in the moment, he completely forgot his premeditated answer - cowering under her question as he replied with the first thing that came to mind. "I came to check on you-" He grimaced harshly as he realized what had left his mouth.

If Sydney didn't find him stumbling over his words so amusing, that one probably would have pissed her off. "Yes, well, you know how much I love protection." She smiled sarcastically. "But from the looks of it, you're the one who needs checking up on." She scoffed, scanning over his battered face again - which she unfortunately found extremely hot. "Is that all?" She raised a brow.

"How was your date?" He looked to the ground as he kicked a rock around with the toe of his boot.

Her brow creased before she realized that he must've followed her, apparently not recognizing his burly Tacoma brother without his kutte, or short hair. "You really did pick up a few things from me, huh?" She smirked. If he wanted to think that the worst thing she'd done while he was gone was go on a date, that was fine by her.

"A guy like that can't handle you." He shook his head, looking back up into her eyes as her smugness re-inflated his ego, which took the reins as she challenged him with that cocky little smile.

"Apparently you can't either." She snorted.

"I was wrong."

"You proved the opposite." She went to close the door.

"Nah." Tig stuck his foot in front of the heavy barrier, leveraging it back open. "Nah, I let you walk away before, I'm not letting you walk away again."

Sydney's eyes trailed to his ring-clad hand that was holding the door open, the familiar sight lighting an even more familiar fire in her core. "You left." She reminded him after ripping her eyes away in an attempt to break the trance that she was beginning to slip under, as well.

"Well, now I'm back." Tig knew that he was on the right track when she didn't stop him, even though she could've, finally identifying the angle that he would have to work as she became flustered under his dominance.

"You think it works that way?" She scoffed at his easy reply.

"No." He spoke sincerely as he looked to the ground, moving his hands to his hips. "No, I don't." He looked back up into her eyes. "I fucked up." He took a step inside the house, then another, then another, gradually shrinking the gap between them. "Give me another chance."

"If you think that I'm going to fall for your begging just because Happy talked you into it with a few punches, then you clearly don't know me at all." She snarled with her head tilted up towards his, trying desperately to cover her burning desire with a passionate anger as he got close enough that she could smell him - that smell that she loved so much; the one that could make her feel at home no matter where she was.

"I ain't gonna beg." Tig turned his lip up as he got closer, not daring to touch her yet. "But I am gonna remind you that he can't take care of you like I do." He shook his head. "Can't make you feel what I do, can't fuck you like I do." Sydney felt her nerves spark when the words left his lips, looking up into his lusty blue eyes with a fire in hers. She didn't say anything, waiting to see what his next move would be.

Tig knew that he'd hit a home run when she looked up at him with those gorgeous, passion-filled eyes - now he just hoped that he could cover all of the bases. He brought his hand to hers, tracing up the silky skin of her arm with the featherlight touch of his fingertips, bringing his hand back down until it grazed her thigh. "Tell me to stop." He whispered shakily as he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, gathering the black silk of her short nightgown in his hand,praying that she wouldn't take the out that he was giving her...

Sydney knew exactly what he was doing as he exaggerated his slow movements. It was a cheap move; praying on an easy weakness, but it was one that she made no effort to stop. It may have been a cheap move, but it was a smart move; a move that she respected, a move that confirmed that he was playing her game - and she was going to win.

Tig opened his eyes to see her staring up at him with hardened, daring eyes that were a darker shade of green than he'd ever seen before. He continued his slow movements as he slid the dress up her body, keeping the anticipation high and the touches light in hopes that the building need for release would keep her from possibly changing her mind. He felt his heart stop after pulling the garment over her head to reveal her completely naked body; a sight that he'd thought he may never be lucky enough to see again. He took his time admiring the tanned skin that inhabited every ounce of his consciousness, his eyes falling to her delicate collarbones which looked even more naked without her necklace - the necklace that was sitting in the pocket of his kutte; the backup reason as to why he had stopped by...

He snaked an arm around her waist, his opposite hand caressing the smooth skin across her chest, sending shivers through both of them as he made his way around to the back of her neck. His eyes almost rolled back when he heard her moan; a sound that he'd played over and over in his mind, and was now finally hearing for real. She rolled her head back to give him access, curling her arms around his biceps to hold him in place while she pressed herself against him, and parted her lips.

Tig felt his eyes closing like a dimmer switch as he got closer and closer, waiting for the feeling that he'd been longing for; the feeling that made him feel alive, loved, and wanted. The feeling that would make all of his pain and suffering, worth it.

"Stop." His eyes flew open, halting with his lips a mere hair away from hers. "Get out." She spoke into his mouth with an evil tongue and a cocky grin, pushing off of him where she turned around and bent all the way over to pick up her nightgown from the hardwood floor, straightening up and walking towards the kitchen with a smug smile over her shoulder.

Tig's blood ran cold. She had been playing with him all along.

Sydney let her taunting gaze linger, thoroughly enjoying the shock on his face until she got far enough down the hall that she couldn't see him anymore. Her lips started to curl up in a smirk as she turned away, but her cocky stride was stopped by a hand tightly gripping the back of her neck, and spinning her around.

"You fucking tease." Tig growled as he held her face close to his, walking her backwards until her back hit the marble countertop of the kitchen island.

"I've been a tease since the day you met me!" She bit back. "Thinking otherwise is what got you into this." Tig ground his teeth in frustration; frustration that, once again, she had somehow managed to turn the tables, and leave him feeling humiliated.

"I have enough men that don't know how to give me what I want." She spoke through gritted teeth. "You say you're the only one who can handle me? Then fucking handle me." Her tone wasn't any less venomous than his had been as she snarled at him, reminding him exactly who he was dealing with, because lately he seemed to have forgotten.

Tig acted purely on animalistic instinct now that she'd given him the green light, roughly spinning her around and shoving her down onto the countertop before yanking his belt open before she could try and stop him again.

Sydney felt the cool leather slapping against the backs of her thighs - a direct contrast to the fire that was burning just above them. She pressed her face against the cold marble, soothing the heat on her cheeks as he kicked her feet apart wider, obscenely spreading her before him where he smacked her ass and spit down into his hand, pumping his dick a few times before he finally pushed inside of her.

"Fuck..." He groaned shakily. Every bad thought melted away instantly at the feeling of her gripping down on him, and the sound of her moan dissolved the puddle. This was how it was supposed to be; them, together.

Sydney curled her toes and flexed her calves when she was hit by the intense pleasure wave that only him deep inside of her could cause. She'd been too preoccupied trying to ignore her feelings that she hadn't even thought about how much she would've missed this part of being with him; the way that he knew exactly how to please her. But now she didn't have to think about it, and she hoped she would never have to, again.

As much as Tig wanted to thoroughly enjoy the moment, he couldn't help but notice how much more successful he'd been with her as soon as he stopped trying to act the way that he thought she would've wanted him to act, and just acted. He realized that this was what she had been telling him all along, what everyone had been telling him all along; to stop trying to give her what he thought she deserved, and just give her what she wanted. And what he now knew she wanted, was him. All of him. Everything that he was, had been, and could be. He truly believed that now, and he wouldn't doubt it ever again.

But now that he'd learned how to speak her language, Tig worried that the depth of his feelings would get lost in translation. He needed her to know that this was more than just sex to him, and if he was going to do that, he needed to challenge her the way that she challenged him - show her that he could handle her, and the only way to do that was with plain English.

The moaning that Sydney was filling the kitchen with as she crested an earth-shattering orgasm was suddenly cut short when she felt him pull out. The hazy sex high that she'd been riding came crashing down, and her passionate arousal was replaced by a raging anger. She couldn't believe that he was doing this to her again, now, after everything, after she'd been stupid enough to give him a second chance. "You're fucking kidding m-" She swung her arm back as she straightened up, but the blow was stopped by his hand on her wrist, and his other on her throat.

Tig let up on his grip after a few seconds; enough to let her breathe, but not enough that she could break away. She was going to listen whether she wanted to or not. "Now, I never stopped wanting you, ever. I've wanted you ever since I met you, everyday, for the rest of my life. I got scared that you'd stop wanting me and I left, like a pussy." He growled into her ear.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the way that he'd deflected her outburst, his hand on her throat, or even his lips against her temple that sent the shiver rolling through her entire body; instead, it was his husky voice and bated breath, full of purpose and authority as he took full ownership of his wrongdoings.

Tig chuckled darkly when he felt her shiver beneath his hands, knowing that even if the vulnerable admittance hadn't worked, the delivery had. "See, baby… I told you. You can lie to me, but your body can't."

Sydney shoved him off of her as she spun around to face him, her confusing rush of frustration returning in an instant over the action that usually would've turned her on - or at the very least, would've provoked submission. "You think insulting me, pissing me off, and fucking me around is going to make me take you back?" She spit out as her chest heaved with the unspent adrenaline.

"That's why you fell in love with me, ain't it?" He smirked.

Sydney felt her lips curl up. This was the man that she'd fallen in love with. The man who said the wrong thing at the wrong time with every drop of confidence. The man who was unapologetically himself and didn't question it, no matter how many other people did. "Yeah… Maybe it is." She bit her lip, containing a smile as she nodded slowly.

Tig finally felt it, the one thing that had always been the hardest for him to come by, and the easiest for him to lose; relief. Pure, proper relief - not the hope that he'd been so desperately clinging to. "Give me another chance." He brought his hands to her face, speaking softly as he rested his forehead against hers.

"You finish what you started here, and maybe we can talk about it." She nodded up the stairs with a smirk.

;

"Thought we agreed to meet alone?" Darby lifted a pistachio from the pile that he'd dropped onto the empty picnic table.

"My son, Esai." Alvarez looked back at the young man who stood guard by their bikes on the side of the road. "I don't travel far from home without family, these days..."

"Well, hombre, I bet you've got a lot of family." Darby scoffed.

"What do you want?" The Mayans President quickly grew impatient.

"Where're you at with the Sons?" Darby nodded.

"Same place I was at, the last time that we talked." Alvarez sat himself on the opposite end of the bench, as far away from Darby as possible. It was a lie, things were much worse, but he wasn't going to give the disrespectful man even more of a reason to taunt him.

"Now I understand why you're losing your turf." Darby chuckled as he cracked open another pistachio. "Kinda hard to gain ground when you let all the competition get the big guns."

"You make me drive forty minutes just to shit talk me, asshole?" Alvarez raised a brow.

"No." Darby shook his head with mock-innocence. "Just thought you'd be striking while the iron's hot."

"Ain't hot enough to start a war on some bullshit intel." He scoffed.

"Ain't bullshit." Darby held up the manilla envelope.

"I hope that's your last Will and Testament." Alvarez glanced at the envelope, doing his best not to appear intrigued.

"It's part of an ATF file on the Sons." Darby rolled his eyes. "Guess your little informant thought you'd need an extra push to get the job done." He smirked.

"When did you get that?" He wasn't going to give his time or attention if he didn't know that it was worth it, the same way that he hadn't the first time. If he couldn't trust the intel that he'd received from the supposed same agent, then he sure as hell couldn't trust the intel that he was receiving from Darby.

"Over a week ago, far before your little pack shack got blown to shit." He grinned, adding as much insult to injury while he had the chance. "Upped my game as soon as I got it, now it's your turn to do the same." He narrowed his beady eyes, holding out the envelope. "How would you like to take over SAMCRO's gun business?"

"And how the hell am I going to do that?" Alvarez scoffed, hoping that the reverse psychology would have the desired effect.

And it did. The second that Darby's ego felt challenged, his need to prove himself took over, and he began laying out the photo evidence across the rickety wooden table, free of charge.

"Irish gun supplier." He explained as he displayed a photo of Clay and McKeevy. "I also know when, what, and how the guns are comin' in - everything that you need to intercept, and renegotiate the distribution agreement." The glint behind his eyes began to fade as he noticed Alvarez's hesitation from where he sat across the table, stiff as a board. "Look, if the niggers can't buy guns, they can't protect their heroin. Mayans win out on two fronts - horse trade, and gun running." He sighed. "So what do you say? Friend." He forced a smile.

"What do you get out of it?" Alvarez scoffed.

"Same thing I always wanted to get out of it… Charming." Darby spit a shell onto the ground. "You kill Clay Morrow, and while the chicken's running around without a head? You hit the rest. Wipe out SAMCRO."

"That's it? A simple little massacre?" He raised a brow. "You sucking your own pipe, gray boy?"

"Charming PD and the feds have hit a wall with these bastards. They sent me this file for a reason, the same way that they sent you that tip about the hit on your little heroin house." He sneered. "Now, do you really think they're gonna give a shit about some outlaw bloodbath? Nah. They'll count the bodies, count their blessings, and close the case."

"You sure they aren't just baiting you into a crime so that they can close that case a little faster?" Alvarez countered.

"Alright." Darby shrugged as he ripped the papers up from the table, getting up and walking away from his so-called partner.

Despite his doubt over the motives of the fed, the President knew that Darby had a point, but he didn't know if having to work with the Nords would be any better than having to deal with the Sons. Unless...

"Hey, hold it." He spun around in his seat. "It's not that simple, man..."

"It is that simple, man." Darby mocked with a scoff. "You hit Clay, then you kill the rest. I get Charming, you get the gun intel. Now what part of that is confusing your little brown brain?"

Esai Alvarez watched his father stop the Nord, exchanging a few more words before sharing a nod. He started making his way over to the two men, watching as Darby turned and began making his way back to his truck, passing him as he spit a nutshell onto his shoe.

"What'd he want?" Esai shook his head in disbelief as he approached his father.

"Gotta put down a couple of dogs that are making my life miserable..." Alvarez sighed.

Esai widened his eyes before looking back at Darby. "Let me and my boys do it." His eyes lingered on the beat up blue truck, and the white trash that got into it.

"You think you can handle that weight?" Alvarez's forehead creased.

"Just tell me who." He nodded, hoping to impress his father, and finally live up to his expectations.

"SAMCRO boss." The older man followed his son's gaze. "And that greedy cracker shithead."

;

Hombre - "Man"

MR. TRAGER HAS REJOINED THE PARTY. How do we feel about Tiggy being back?! Did we miss him? Or did we kind of like solo Syd? I'm more conflicted than I feel like I should be :/

Songs for this chapter

Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys

Inside Out - Britney Spears

So Bad - Eminem

Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar

Feel It - Michele Morrone