“Ma’am, can I be of any insistence?”
Sammy smiled up at the sales assistant. “Yes. Do you have this in two seats? I like the three seat sofa and the single, but I’d like the two as well.”
The sales assistant’s eyes lit up, and Slater could see the dollar signs flashing. The assistant clearly didn’t notice Slater standing behind him gazing at Sammy.
“Do you like it, Slater? Do you think Brock will like them?”
“I like them, angel. I think they’re a good choice.” Slater grinned as Brock came in and went straight to Sammy, sitting next to her and leaning in for a kiss.
Sammy’s face lit up as she beamed at Brock, then turned her gaze on him and held out her hand. “Come on, Slater, sit. Tell me what you think.”
Slater didn’t hesitate. He sat on the other side of Sammy. The sofa was comfy, and they fit perfectly. “This is what you want, beautiful?”
Sammy leaned in to him. “This will look so good in that big area. I say a three seat, two singles, and a two seat sofa.”
“I agree, but are you sure you don’t want to look at the other shops first?”
“No. I know what I want if you two are happy, too.” Sammy gripped his hand, and he could see the excitement in her eyes.
“Okay.” Slater turned to the sales assistant, who stared wide eyed at them. Sammy was theirs. In their world she was more than a wife. “Could we please order what my wife said? A three seat sofa, a two seat one, and two armchairs that match.”
Slater tried not to laugh as the sales assistant went back and forth among the three of them. Humans and their boxed in rules of how relationships should be were weird.
“Sure. I’ll get that moving, sir.”
Brock stood and helped Sammy up. “There is other furniture we need to look at. Why don’t you wait until the end after we’ve looked at everything as we may buy more?”
The sales assistant nodded, and both Brock and Slater held Sammy’s hands. Together they wandered around the big furniture store, picking lamps, a coffee table, lamp table, and stools for the kitchen bench. They looked at dining room tables, but Sammy didn’t find anything she loved and was certain about like she had been with the other things. So they visited other stores.
Slater was so exhausted by the end of the day that he couldn’t wait to just get home and snuggle with Sammy on the lounge. Sammy seemed to be filled with energy, and she was the one who reminded him that they had self-defense classes tonight.
Brock was quieter than usual, and Slater could feel something was up. Slater even became the lead instructor that night at self-defense. He debated if he should ask Brock what was wrong, but he knew Brock would say something if it was a problem he needed help with.
****
Sammy had been living with Brock and Slater for a week now and was the happiest she’d been in a long time, and the safest. Today, though she was nervous, she was going somewhere where it would put her out of her comfort zone, a barbeque with all of Brock’s precinct.
The last time she’d met a bunch of cops it hadn’t gone well for her. It had started out okay, but then Sammy had overheard a conversation she shouldn’t have when she’d gone to the bathroom. Two of the men Greg had introduced to her were talking about one of their deals going bad and that they’d had to get rid of a guy and covered it up. She’d backed away and told Greg and his partner, only for Greg to then beat her and tell her not to say or breathe a word of what she’d heard. Sammy had been terrified.
The next visit to a barbeque had been worse. They picked on her from the start and had all threatened to beat her or kill her if she told their secrets. And Sammy still hadn’t told their secrets.
Sammy studied herself in the mirror. She wore her loose fitting clothes, the ones Greg made her wear to any event, that is, black pants and a baggy grey top. She’d pulled her hair back in a ponytail and only had lip gloss on. Sammy was nervous. She didn’t want to do this again. She didn’t want to go through the nasty banter, the badge bunnies sneering at her and so on. She prayed they weren’t going to be anything like Breakaway precinct.
Slater was supposed to come to the barbeque but had an emergency at one of his restaurants. She wasn’t happy to be going to the barbeque as it was, but with Slater not going she was willing to try anything to get out of it.
She groaned, because she really had no choice but to go to the barbeque if she wanted to keep Brock happy, and she did. Sammy slipped into her black boots and walked to the lounge room where Brock was ready and waiting for her. He’d gotten ready in one of the other bathrooms, so he didn’t distract her. Brock stood as she came into the room, and Sammy’s breath caught at the sight of him. He looked good enough to eat. He was clean shaven, and his jet black locks were slicked back. He wore black jeans and boots, with a white and blue striped long sleeved, fitted shirt.