Paroled

Chapter 32

When Opie returned from disposing of the body, Eva was on the couch with a sleeping baby staring into the fireplace. The cabin smelled of bleach and was probably cleaner than it had ever been. Opie went to change quickly before even attempting to speak to her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she said sadly.

"You sure?" He asked again, taking her hand in his and giving it a supportive squeeze. "It's okay to be upset."

"I killed someone," she croaked. "I'm no better than Simone, Ope. I'm worse, I actually succeeded where she couldn't."

"No," he snapped. "You are nothing like her, don't say that shit. This was an accident and she broke in here, you were protecting yourself and Harry."

Eva closed her eyes and shook her head. "She wouldn't have hurt us, she would have realized she was at the wrong place when she actually saw me."

"You don't know that," he chided.

"Let's just go home," she said coolly.

"Alright," he sighed. "Go ahead, I'll get him in his seat."

Eva nodded and gently handed Opie the sleeping baby on her way out the door. She sat in the car waiting for him to join her, only barely really paying attention to her surroundings. The back door opened and Opie got the baby buckled in safely before joining her up front.

"I gotta talk to Jax," he reminded her. "Shit's not club related but I still gotta tell him."

"Yeah, I figured," she huffed. "Let's just go home, please."

The entire ride was silent, not a single word between them, and Opie couldn't wait to get out of the car when they got home. The tension was so thick he felt as if he could barely breathe. He hurried to get her and the baby settled before mentioning leaving the house.

"I'm heading out," he said casually, "Talk to Jax, see what's going on with the trial and shit."

"You're leaving? Now?"

"You're safe, baby," he said sadly. "It was a...a fluke. No one is after you, or us," he reminded her.

"I married an ex-con, 1% biker, and I'm the one causing all this shit, I'm the one murdering people."

Opie groaned, rubbing his face roughly with the palm of his hand, and got up from his spot beside her. "Let me call Gem, she can stay, or Piney?"

"No," she looked at him and shook her head. "I need to get over it, get back to reality."

"It hasn't even been 12 hours," he said. "It's okay to be fucked up over it but you can't let it eat at you, Eva."

"I know," she huffed. "Just go, Ope. Please."

"Okay," he said hesitantly. Opie kissed her cheek and did the same to Harry before leaving the house. Against her wishes, he stopped a few blocks away and called Piney to go sit with her which he was glad to do.

--

"Jesus Christ," Jax grumbled. "Right in the head?"

"Fucking dropped her with one hit," Opie said. "I'm actually kind of proud of her."

Jax chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, of course, but damn. How is she?"

"How was Tara when shit went down with Kohn."

Jax grimaced. "That bad, huh?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "My old man's heading over, just in case."

"Maybe Tara can talk to her?" Jax offered.