A Raven Among Crows

Chapter 75: Ghosts of Mistakes Past

Y'all have been blowing this story UP the last few days 😭♥️🙏🏼

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

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Sydney sat at her desk picking away at the strawberry parfait that Tig had gotten her for dessert as the after lunch lull in business dragged on, but she didn't mind - it stopped her from getting distracted by her brain that had been overrun by all of the shit that they needed to sort out, and they needed to sort out fast.

"Jesus, you get through all those orders already?" Gemma widened her eyes from across the room as she eyed Sydney's empty desk.

"Yes ma'am." Sydney mused, swinging in her chair from side to side.

"I wish the guys could work like that." Gemma scoffed as she looked out the door at the group of useless newbies that she'd hired out of desperation in the last few weeks.

"Me too." Sydney scoffed back, keeping her head down.

"You okay, baby?" Gemma squinted, noticing that even given the poor circumstances - Sydney seemed much less chipper than usual.

"Yeah." Sydney nodded unconvincingly. "Rough couple of weeks..." She shrugged it off even though rough didn't even begin to cover the shit storm that had been brewing - the second that one issue cleared up, a new one arose that was twice as bad.

"Tell me about it..." Gemma nodded as she got to her feet and made her way over to Sydney's desk. "Tig treatin you okay?" She asked quietly this time.

Sydney inhaled sharply as she looked up, expecting to see the infamously overprotective look on Gemma's face, but instead she saw softness - genuine concern. "He's the only thing treating me okay right now..." She chuckled humorlessly through the thick emotion that laced her somber tone before her head fell, looking down at his ring around her thumb. "I don't deserve him, Gem..."

"Of course you do." Gemma lifted her chin, looking into her eyes with a sincerity that nobody on this earth could match. "There aint alot of women that would say that about Tig, and there aint alot of women that Tig would care to hear that from."

"They're missing out." Sydney gave a small smile.

Tig stood in the doorway of the office out of their sight as he listened in with a giant smile on his face as he fought off his own emotions at the unexpected reassurance that his efforts were finally paying off... He was finally doing something right.

"They sure are." Gemma smiled back. "You tryin out some of that transparency?" She asked with a smirk.

"You really want me to say it?" Sydney rolled her eyes with a playful smile as her familiar smugness returned.

"Of course." Gemma grinned.

"You were right." Sydney drew out with mock-reluctance.

"That's my girl." Gemma chuckled, placing a kiss on her cheek underneath the dark bruising. "I'm gonna head to the hospital. You think you can hold down the fort for a bit?" She asked as she gathered her belongings.

"Yeah..." Sydney confirmed distantly as she stared out the window at the two disruptive mechanics racing around the garage with their heads down.

Gemma followed Sydney's gaze where she saw the blood-caked uniforms of her new workers that she hadn't noticed before - looking back to Sydney with a brow raised. "What the hell happened there?" She asked sternly.