Jax woke up early the next morning. He wanted nothing more than to go talk things out with Mina. Everything was weighing so heavily on his shoulders and the one person who’d allowed him to be himself, let out all his fears, all his demons, he’d made go away. He put Thomas in the high chair after feeding him his bottle. The tea kettle started to whistle and he poured it into the cup bringing it down to Tara who was laying on her side on the bed.
“I made you some tea.” He leaned over kissing her head.
“Thank you” She whispered lowly closing her eyes feeling his lips against her skin.
He kneeled down next to the bed holding her hand. “You should eat something babe.”
She shook her head and closed her eyes. “I can’t.”
Jax looked down and nodded. “I’ll take the boys to daycare. You need to rest.”
Tara nodded and looked at him. “Jax. Why did you want Mina to watch the boys, yesterday? I don’t trust her. You don’t even know her.”
Jax looked down and shook his head. “I trust her Tara. She’s a really good woman.” he took a deep breath getting up.
“Don’t worry, she won’t be around anymore.” Tara gave a satisfied nod and Jax ran his fingers through his hair. “I have to check in with the club, but then I’ll come home, okay?”
“It’s okay, I’ll be fine.” She shook her head lightly. He took her hand and gave it a soft kiss before walking towards the door.
“What are you going to do about Gemma?” He heard her weak voice and turned around.
“Don’t worry about her. The restraining order keeps her away from you and the boys.” He walked towards the bed again.
“Who’s going to bail her out”
Jax shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t give a shit.” He said as he walked out the door.
Mina hadn’t slept all night and got to work early to open. She parked the car and leaned against the window of the shop to smoke before having to go in. She lit the cigarette before taking a deep inhale and blowing out the smoke. She noticed the guys up early opening up Scoops and waved at them when they look over. This was going to be harder than she thought. It would’ve been easier to stop thinking about him if he wasn’t going to be across the street from her everyday.
She plastered a smile on her face as the guys walked over. “Hey!”
Chibs, Bobby, and Tig all gave her a hug and kiss. “Doin’ alright, girly? Looks like you haven’t slept a wink.” Chibs spoke up as they stood in front of her.
Mina took another pull of her cigarette and shrugged. “I’m alright. How’s Jax doing?”
They looked down and shrugged. “Not doin’ great” Tig spoke up.
She looked down and nodded. “You seen the paper?” Bobby asked her.
“No, why?” She shook her head before placing her cigarette between her lips as Bobby handed her the paper. Her eyes widened as she blew out the smoke. “Jesus Christ.” She mumbled as she read the headline linking the club to the school shooting.
“Yeah. Just fucked us all over.” Tig spoke again and Mina nodded.
The roar of a motorcycle caught their attention and they turned to see Jax drive by. Mina gave him a small smile before dropping her cigarette on the ground, stubbing it out. “I gotta get inside guys, looks like duty calls for you as well.” She smiled at them reaching in her purse for the store keys. “Be safe out there.”
“Always.” Chibs smiled rubbing her hair before heading across the street. Mina and Jax locked eyes once more before
Mina opened the door to the shop heading inside.
Jax’s eyes met Mina’s and she gave him a small smile. It only made him feel worse. He wanted nothing more than to go over there and talk to her like the guys were but he needed to keep his distance. He walked inside and the guys joined him. Chibs sat on the counter as Bobby and Tig sat on the stools. Everyone looking grim.
“How’s Tara doin’?” Bobby asked Jax as he walked behind the counter filling a cup of coffee.
“She’ll be okay.” He said while letting out a breath.
Chibs looked down taking a sip of his coffee. “How are yew?”
“I don’t need to talk about it.” He took a sip. “Happy and Juice get back?”
Tig nodded. “Yeah. Juice is on his way.”
Jax looked around at all their gloomy faces and took a deep breath before addressing the elephant in the room. “Look, the shit that went down with my mom and Tara was crazy…” He started but was cut off by Bobby.
“It’s not about that.” He tossed a newspaper on the counter in front of him.
He picked it up reading it over and felt a rush of anger roll over him when he read the headline. “Local Gangs Tied to Count of Aquino Shooting.” Then right under it saying “Bizlats, Sons of Anarchy May Have Supplied Gun to Shooter’s Mother.” He walked around the counter dropping the paper on it. “Get everyone here. Chapel.” This was the last thing he needed.
Mina was by herself at the coffee shop. Nobody was coming in until 4 so she had some time. The doorbells chimed and she walked to the front to see who it is. Her fake smile went away quickly when she saw Chris coming through the doors. She walked around the counter and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fucking Christ. Why are you here Chris? What is it that you don’t fucking understand?!”
“Mina,” He started stepping in closer to her. “I need you to hear me out at the very least. We’ve been together for too long to let this and your ridiculous fling with that criminal get in our way!”
Mina took a step back and shook her head. “We are not together. We WERE together until you fucked somebody else!”
He grabbed her arms tightly and slammed her back against the counter hard. “We ARE together! So help me god, I’ll get that through your thick fucking skull!” She yelled out in pain before kicking him in the shin and reaching back behind the counter to grab the baseball bat. He stepped backward holding his hands up in the air. “Put that down baby. Let’s just move forward from this.”
She swung hard hitting him in the arm, “GET THE FUCK OUT!” She yelled swinging again until he backed up out the door. He opened it and she hit him again in the back. He fell forward on his hands and knees before she hit him again in the legs causing him to lay down flat.
The guys were walking out the shop when they saw Mina standing over someone with the bat and ran over. “HEY! ” Jax called out as they crossed the street.
Tig tried to pull her away but she shoved him off and hit the guy again. “No!” she yelled at Tig and kicked Chris in the stomach causing him to roll over on his back and she pressed the bat into his throat. “I see you around here again, I’ll have your ass locked up for stalking, harassment, and assault you dirty fucking bastard!” She yelled down at his face while he held his body in pain.
“Leave!” She shouted as he got up terrified as he saw all the bikers behind her and ran back to his car.
The guys stood around her shocked, impressed, some turned on, but all of them were angry that she had this douchebag bothering her. “You alright, dollface?” Tig asked putting a hand on her shoulder as they gathered around.
Mina watched his car drive off before turning to look at the guys. “I’m fine. Can I get you guys some coffee?” She smiled sweetly at them throwing them off a little more.
The guys laughed but Jax had his eyes locked on her. He was right. It was one hell of a sight and he was more than turned on watching her. It was even more impressive to see her turn a switch immediately. A smirk crawled onto his face but went away when he realized she hadn’t even spared him a glance.
“Nah, we have to get going. Good to know you can handle yourself short stuff” Bobby laughed and gave her a hug.
She smiled and nodded before heading back inside. Nobody had failed to notice how cold she was towards Jax.
The club went to meet up with the Bizlats to find out they were having troubles with the police due to the headlines. Most of their guys had been locked up and they were starting to lose their tempers but there was nothing the club could do. Before they knew what was going on a blue car started driving right to them and although most of them were able to get out of the way, one of the Bizlats was run over and dragged several feet. Chibs told Jax to go home and be with Tara while they handled this. He needed to be with family.
While Jax got home he noticed the house was empty. No kids, no Tara, nothing. He walked around aimlessly before sitting on the couch to breath for a moment. His eyes catching sight of the giant stuffed giraffe that Abel loved so much and he couldn’t help but smile.
His phone rang again and he walked up to the kitchen pulling a burner out of the drawer dialing the number back.
“Hey, you on a burner?” He heard Barosky’s voice over the phone along with doors slamming.
“Yeah. What’s going on?” He asked leaning back against the counter.
“Paterson pulled me into her office this morning. I’m standing in the mens room stalling before my police escort takes me home.”
“This about the headline?”
“Yeah and about the hit and run this morning.”
“Jesus Christ.” Jax sighed as he leaned his head against the wall.
He got off the phone with Barosky and called Juice to get faster information on the driver. He went to open the door when Wendy was behind it. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see Tara.” She took a step back looking up at him.
“She’s not here. And don’t come to this house again.” He stepped forward.
“What’re you going to do?” She asked sarcastically but the trace of fear was still clear in her voice.
“I’ll do whatever I have to do. There’s very few people I’d ever trust my kids with and you are nowhere on that list. I suggest you get lost because our next conversation won’t be so smooth.” He slammed the door in her face before walking back to the couch taking a seat for a moment.
His mind wandered back to Mina. The sight of her with his boys. It was like she fit right in. They loved her. Abel wouldn’t stop talking about her. It was actually pissing Tara off. He hadn’t been able to say a word to her all day. Not even when they saw her beat the living shit out of some guy. He sighed and put his hands over his face, closing his eyes for a moment seeing her beautiful face and that smile.
Mina brought out coffees to the tables as Jake continued to make them and Rachel rung them up. She heard the phone ringing and saw Rachel pick it up before calling her over.
“It’s Lisa from corporate.” Rachel put the phone on hold with a nervous look on her face. “You should answer it in the office.”
Mina bit her bottom lip and walked to the office to answer the phone. It was never a good thing when corporate called. She’d wondered if Matt had ratted on her for all the times she’d been late, or worse, someone had called them about her fight with Chris.
“Hel..Hello?” she answered nervously. “What?” Really? Oh my god, thank you! Yeah! I won’t let you down. Thank you so much!” She hung up the phone and ran out to the front where Rachel and Jake were looking at her nervously.
“What? What is it? Did you get fired?!” Jake asked stepping towards her.
“No!” She said excitedly. “But Matt has been! And guess who just got promoted to manager!”
Rachel and Jake both looked at her and smiled just as excited as she was. “Oh my god congrats!” Rachel hugged her and so did Jake.
“I think this calls for some free sundaes since you have the hook up at Scoops.”
Mina laughed “I’m gonna run across the street, stay put.”
She saw Jax’s bike was still gone and let out a relieved breath. As excited as she was, she wasn’t ready to run into him yet. She walked inside to see a bunch of women in sluttly clothes hanging around and laughed to herself before walking up to Chucky behind the counter.
“Hey Mina!” Chucky smiled and walked over to her.
“Hey Chucky, can I get 3 Sundaes? I’ll bring back the plates squeaky clean I swear!” She looked up at him with puppy eyes.
“Sure thing! Comin’ right up!” Chucky went back to work.
Mina sat and waited by the counter when she noticed Bobby and Tara coming from the back.
“Mina! To what do we owe this pleasure?” Bobby smiled and walked up to her giving her a hug.
Mina hugged him back giving Tara a nod. “I just got promoted to manager. Buying my staff a sundae to celebrate!”
Tara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as Bobby congratulated her. “What you got promoted from sucking dick to filming it?”
Mina’s jaw dropped as she looked at Tara. “Excuse me?”
Bobby looked down at Tara with an irritated look and shook his head. “She doesn’t work for us, Tara. She works across the street at the coffee shop.”
Tara scoffed and looked the girl up and down. “You wouldn’t know from the looks of it.”
Mina looked down at her simple black tshirt and black skinny jeans before she cocked her eyebrow and stepped closer so she was face to face with Tara. “Look, I’m sorry for your loss. I’m hoping this is the stress talking, but I wouldn’t go running your mouth to people you don’t know.”
Tara stepped closer so their noses were almost touching. Bobby having seen what Mina had done earlier in the day put his hands on the younger woman’s shoulders so she wouldn’t hurt Tara. “Or what?” Tara continued. “You’re going to fuck my husband some more?” Mina let out a sarcastic laugh and looked into Tara’s eyes as Bobby pulled her away. “Woah, okay thats enough.”
The doctor continued to look at Mina as the younger brunette spoke up again. “I’m not fucking Jax sweetheart. Maybe you should be less worried about me and more about the man who’s done nothing but slave away to make everything right by you.”
Tara slapped Mina across the face and Bobby immediately picked up Mina putting some distance between the two. Mina wiped her lip and looked at her. “If you weren’t Jax’s wife, you’d be in a goddamn body bag, bitch.” she said calmly as Bobby held her arms.
Tara’s eyes widened before she stomped out of the place. Bobby put down Mina and took her face in his hands examining her cheek. “Hey, I’m so sorry about that.”
Mina shook her head and looked out the door. “Yeah. Whatever. As long as she’s good to him.”
He put a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes.“You really love him, don’t you?”
She looked at Bobby then at the ground. “I’d stop if I could. It’s not right.”
The club had tracked down the address of the guy who’d run them over. Jax met up with them as soon as he could. Tig pointed out the guys house after Jax informed them that Barosky needed the man alive to deliver to the DA. The club understood but they were worried about the Bizlats acting up. They were waiting for the rest of their gang to join them before busting in and killing the man.
The guys watched as a black van pulled up to the front of the mans house and the Bizlats kicking down the door and running in. The Sons immediately following them to stop them. Looking around the house, it looked completely empty when one of them screamed in pain as a mad man holding a butcher knife and swinging it around at the men. Jax was able to catch his hand and headbutt him to the ground but as Fiasco, leader of the Bizlats, was throwing in a few hits, Jax looked around to see pictures of a little boy all over the living room.
“Stop! Stop!” He yelled catching their attentions. He picked up a picture off the ground and showed it to the man on the ground. “I said stop!” He pushed Fiasco off the man and the Bizlats pointed their guns at Jax while the Sons pulled their guns out to them. “His kid was at the school.”
“The hell you talkin’ about!?” Fiasco shouted.
“His kid!” Jax shoved the picture in his face so he could get a good look at it. He turned his attention to the man on the floor showing him the picture. “Is this your boy?”
“He WAS, you pieces of shit! You guys gave that freak the gun!” The man cried out on the floor. “You killed my babyboy!”
“Don’t shoot him man.” Tig shook his head looking at Fiasco.
“Look we just found out the cops know about the hit and run. You want to kill this guy in a house full of evidence? Your cars parked outside dude.” Jax tried to reason with them.
“Shit!” Fiasco shook his head trying to steady his breathing. “So what now? We just let him go?!”
“His baby boy was just gunned down brother. Dead. He blames us for that. What would you do” Tig stepped forward pointing at the man.
“Goddman headlines did this man.” Juice spoke up still holding his gun at the man.
They saw the man try to reach for the knife again and Jax nodded his head at Tig who knocked the guy on the back of his head. “Let’s get out of here before the cops show up.” Jax nodded his head towards the door causing everyone to head out. He took one more moment to look at the boys pictures. He did blame himself for it. “I’m sorry.” he whispered to the guy as he walked out.
The men headed back to the ice cream shop. After the day they’d just had, they felt like shit. Bobby walked over to Jax at the counter and motioned his head for them to sit.
“What’s going on?” Jax asked sitting next to Bobby.
“Tara was here earlier.” He began and Jax raised an eyebrow. “Mina came in to get some ice cream for the staff and they ended up getting into it”
Jax’s eyebrows flew further up his head. “Jesus Christ. What happened? What did Mina do?”
Bobby shook his head. “Wasn’t Mina brother. She came in for ice cream and she told me she got promoted. Tara was the one being rude. Asked her if that meant that she could stop suckin’ dick and start filming it. Called her a whore.”
The blondes hands flew over his face and he ran them back over his hair. “Jesus Christ. And?”
Bobby looked down before looking back at him. “Mina told her she shouldn’t talk to strangers like that. But Tara said something about you and Mina fucking.” Jax lowered his head on his arms on the table and Bobby continued. “Mina told her you two weren’t and told Tara that she should focus less on her and more on you because you’re busting your ass to do right by your wife.”
Jax lifted his head to look up at Bobby. “She said that?”
The older man nodded. “Yeah but Tara slapped her right across the face. I pulled her away so she wouldn’t hurt Tara. She said if she wasn’t your wife she’d be in a body bag. Feisty one, that girl.”
“What the fuck is going on Bobby. Everywhere we turn, there’s some shit popping off.” Jax ran his hands over his face. “Is Mina okay?”
“Yeah. You should go check on her. She’s probably still at the shop.” Bobby nodded his head out the door and Jax nodded.
He got up and walked out the door and across the street but before he could go inside his eyes caught sight of Mina talking to another guy. He’d seen him before. He was her co worker – Jack or Jake, something like that. The guy touched her face to check it out and it drove Jax crazy. He wanted to tear off each of his fingers just out of pure envy. He heard Mina’s laugh and lowered his eyes. He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to get out of there before he killed the guy.