Mature Content 17+ || Savage Wolves MC Book Three
Talia's been through hell and back. After suffering at the hands of Dmitri Petrov and his band of goons, she was left broken and ruined.
But, she isn't going to let that stop her from being the woman...
*I am sorry about having to break this into two chapters! I have a migraine and I was barely able to get this out. Enjoy!*
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•Talia•
Previous Chapter Told From Talia's POV
A woman leading a small crying child out of the restaurant is my perfect invitation into the building without causing too much of a scene. I'm not worried that I'm being led into some kind of trap like Ryder is, but you can never be too cautious. I'd rather it not look like we came together if I can help it. He'll be my backup if things go south and I can't give away his position.
I toss the smoke to the ground and step on it with my boot, crushing it into the asphalt. It crumbles into ashes under my foot and I pick up the butt, tossing it into the bin right outside the entrance of the Greek restaurant Athena said to meet at.
Assuming she's more familiar with the layout, I hope she's sitting in an area that offers easy escape and I don't have to meet her in the back and sit at a secluded table waited on hand and foot by some waiter—who probably isn't a real waiter—that's been paid off by her family.
I've been watching too many crime drama shows.
Shaking out my nerves one last time, I slip through the front door the woman and her kid come through and immediately my eyes land on Ryder who has found a seat at the edge of the opening of the restaurant. He's perched against a wall facing the back of the restaurant but I know it's him. Even without his cut, I'd recognize the back of his shaggy head any day.
Loads of other customers sit around so that does make me feel better. If the entire restaurant was bought out for this meeting with Athena I might vomit and leave. I'd considered she might have done that, but seeing the variety of people sitting around, I know not everyone here has anything to do with the King family.
And the startling amount of children sitting at high chairs or on their parents laps does make me feel a little more comfortable. I may not want the sticky little bastards for myself, but seeing them in places where I'm uncomfortable does set me at ease. Where there's children, there's safety. What mother in their right mind would put their child into unnecessary danger?
Scanning the crowd, I search for the long haired brunette I'm here to meet. I can picture her just as vividly as if it was last year. Her Instagram photos help, but I can never forget her face. It's etched into my memory, forever ingrained as the angel who saved me when she didn't have to. She didn't have to show me the type of kindness she did. She could have easily avoided me, forgot all about my presence in her family's hotel, and moved on with her life. She didn't have to get involved. She didn't have to risk herself. Who knows what they would have done to her if they found out she did what she did.
Dmitri went to the Avant Garde with the intent to remain capable of going through with his dirty deeds. An heiress of the King family intervening wasn't necessarily in his contract. Her stepping in so she could undermine his advances was more than likely highly against the rules. But she helped anyway. She went against what her family would have wanted for her and helped a stranger.
