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She approached the package and carefully opened the parcel tape. Inside were twenty extremely fragile, very old, antique teddy bears. Some were missing eyes, others had no arms, but all of them were totally adorable and totally in need of her help.
She’d got the commission! This was her chance to make a name for herself. But how on earth was she going to do the most work she’d ever done in a place that was almost falling down?
First thing’s first, she’d have to go to Scraps and Studs. Get a bunch of items. And probably explain to Kandi that she probably didn’t need that bed in her office anymore. Not now that she had her own personal biker bodyguard.
After that, she’d have to get to work. But where would it be this time? Something told her that the men’s bathroom of this place was a no-go zone from now on.
‘Are those… stuffies?’ Crank said.
‘No,’ said Sophia, suddenly caught up in the romance of the situation. ‘They’re memories.’
CHAPTER 9
Over the next few days, Wolf didn’t see much of Sophia.
The Little who he was now helping to support and protect went into a kind of soft-toy-induced fugue state. He’d never seen someone change as quickly or as drastically. Gone was the carefree innocence of the girl he’d met just a few days previously. She’d been replaced by a workaholic fiend, who barely had time to have a cup of coffee, let alone spend an hour or so in Little Space.
He’d been busy too, of course. Repairs to the Den didn’t actually take as much time as he’d thought they would. The damage done by Whip and the other Deather had been very much surface-level and cosmetic. Some of it had even been quite helpful, removing old pieces of rotting wood and unfashionable surfaces, ready for updating.
A Drifter called Ferdinand was a builder by trade, and he’d come by the Den to assess the damage the sledgehammer had done early on in the process. It took him a day to fill the chunks they’d taken out of the walls.
‘Really you want to re-skim the whole place,’ he’d said, his hands stained pink from the sloppy material he’d expertly applied to the wounds in the walls.
‘How long are we talking?’ Wolf had asked.
‘Four days? Maybe less.’
‘Don’t have the time. Wish I did, brother.’
A steady stream of Drifters had come by. Marcus had worked out a schedule to make sure that there were always guards posted by the front doors as well as the hidden entrance at the back. Aside from that, he’d managed to get a few volunteers to come help with the work of clearing out and refitting the place.
The club were moving more and more of their activities back to the Big Apple, which meant that — lucky for Wolf — there was plenty of help to be had. They were still a long way off opening the bar, of course, but at least Wolf could see how they’d get there. He’d even been in touch with the companies who’d supplied drinks to his old bar, and he’d arranged to switch deliveries to the Den when the time was right.
The whole time this was going on, Sophia had been locked away in the women’s bathroom, working furiously. He’d managed to get a few answers from her. This was some big contract from a fancy toy store that she’d been trying to get business from for a while. ‘This is the biggest deal of my life,’ she’d hissed at him, her mouth full of sewing needles.
‘Honey, it’s never a good idea to talk with your mouth full, but that’s doubly true when it’s full of sharps.’
She glowered back at him, but begrudgingly kept quiet.
Today, Rainer was here with him, helping him to dismantle the old bar. It was a dirty, tough job, and there was no real way to do it quickly. Still, he was kind of enjoying being with his friend as they worked. Thankfully, Rainer had recovered from his punch to the liver, and seemed to have forgiven his opponent.
For the most part, the two men had been working in silence, but when they heard a loud cussing come from the bathroom, Wolf couldn’t help but say, ‘I’m getting worried about that Little one.’
Rainer raised a jet-black eyebrow. ‘Worried how?’
‘Stress. I’ve never known anyone work so hard. She’s here all hours, fixing those bears. Must be exhausting for her.’
Rainer looked horrified. ‘You’re just letting her do that? Must be wiping herself out.’
‘Well,’ Wolf said, ‘don’t really have a choice. She’s got a deadline, just like us.’
‘Wolf, she’s a Little. If she’s like literally any of the Littles I’ve known over the years — and I’ve known quite a few — then she won’t really have an off switch. Or at least, if shedoeshave an off switch, she won’t know how to work it herself.’
‘You think?’
‘In my experience, Littles need guidance. If someone doesn’t tell them that they’ve done enough work for the day, they never fucking stop. Same with eating candy, or exercise, or whatever. Self-control and regulation ain’t really their forte.’
‘That’s a bit of generalization,’ Wolf said, turning his screwdriver, loosening the surface of the bar.
