Jax looked at Jury, giving the old man another hug before they started walking inside. He didn’t miss the glances of the girl he’d brought in. She’d followed him like a lovestruck puppy since they’d gotten there, but that wasn’t his problem. Leila was safe back home. She’d keep herself busy and he’d have someone check in on her later. Probably Gemma. He didn’t like that his mother would be alone either.
“Is that your old lady?”
Jury asked, throwing his arm around his nephew while nodding his head at the girl who followed behind them.
“Nah,” Jax shook his head. “My old lady’s at home. Just got off the phone with her. Picked this one up at the border. Little doe in headlights.”
The men laughed as they took a seat at the bar. Jury looked her over once more as her eyes wandered around the clubhouse. He called over one of the other sweetbutts, telling her to show the blonde the ropes while they got a chance to talk. Jax gave her a reassuring wink before grabbing a glass of beer and taking a sip. The two took the opportunity to catch up. Jax told him all about Leila, his kid. Everything going on in Charming. It was good to just talk to someone who wasn’t fixated on the club, even for just a moment, but they had to get down to business.
“They’re jamming me up, Jax. If I don’t pay, the mexicans turn my business inside out. If I kick up the vig to ‘em, I disrespect you guys.”
“Tribe attracts a good membership?” Jax asked, looking around at the men in vests.
“18.” Jury nodded. “Real good boys.”
“You still get along with local law?”
“Douglas County. Sheriff likes the girls.”
“Right.”
Jax nodded before feeling a hand running down his back. He turned to see Suzie, drinking a beer with Cherry, the sweetbutt, behind them. He rolled his eyes at Jury before looking back at the wide eyed new girl.
“How you doin’?”
“I’m good,” She replied, batting her eyelashes at him.
“Hey girls, the beers are warm.”
Jury thankfully interrupted. The sweetbutt stood immediately but Suzie looked at them confused.
“Oh, we just pulled those.”
Both men glared at her before Cherry cut in front of her to grab their glasses and taking the new girls hand to pull her away from the meeting. Jax let out an aggravated sigh before turning back to continue their conversation, coming to an agreement that they could store their guns in one of Jury’s strip club basements.
“You’ll talk to Clay? Let them know how to handle this Mayan thing?”
“You can talk to him yourself.” Jax sighed, blowing out smoke. “He’s on his way.”
“Clay’s coming out?” Jury asked, taken aback by the news.
“It’s all about the future, Jury.” Jax said as convincingly as he could.
“Future of what?”
“The Tribe.”
Jury lowered his head. Shaking it in disagreement, knowing what was coming. Jax bite the inside of his lip before taking another pull from his cigarette. It sucked having to throw this on him but it was the only way.
“Jesus, Jax. A patch-over?”
“It’s time Jury. This whole area’s blowin’ up. We don’t patch you over, the Mayans will run right through you. We get a foothold in Nevada, you get status to protect your business. Best move for both clubs.
Night had fallen over Charming. Leila brushed her fingers over the incubator, watching as Abel cooed himself to sleep with her singing. The lights at the hospital were dimmed as most babies were out by now. She stopped once he was fully asleep and slowly stood to grab her things. One of the nurses came to check on her and she smiled, asking her to pay close attention to Abel while she was gone. She’d grown to like Nurse Sarah. She was nurturing and gentle and she’d put up with all of Leila’s demands for Abel. It was nice to know that she could count on someone to look after the baby without the endgame being to get with his dad.
After getting home, she took a long, hot shower and changed into her shorts and tank top. The large house hadn’t seemed this empty in a long time. By this time of night it was usually filled with noises of laughter, or pleasure, or even the comfortable silence of them laying in bed. She made her way to the empty room, it was white and plain but it would soon be filled with furniture. Blues and yellows and the sweet sounds of baby Abel playing. She smiled to herself and looked down. There was nothing she wanted more than their family. That’s what this had become. Though it was anything but traditional – they were a family.
Staring at her phone, Leila huffed out a concerned breath. She hadn’t heard from Jax yet. The stress in his voice from earlier made her anxious. She wasn’t sure how close they were with this club but things could go wrong without notice. Pouring herself a glass of wine, she pressed the call button, placing the phone to her ear. There wasn’t much she understood about the club, but being with Jax meant learning about it. If there was one person she was comfortable going to for this, it was Gemma. It was strange. She was viewed as a she-devil but Leila had quickly learned that having her as an ally worked more towards her advantage.
Her eyes shifted to the clock. 11pm. Taking another sip from her glass, she listened to the phone ringing until Gemma’s voice spoke up.
“Leila? Everything alright, sweetheart?”
“Hey Gemma, everything’s fine. Did I wake you?”
She ruffled her fingers through her hair nervously, hoping that she hadn’t. She just needed company. Gemma was the only person she trusted. They had gotten so close since Abel was born. Her stepping up must’ve showed the woman how serious she was about Jax and her family.
“No, what’s going on?”
“You, um, mind coming over? The house just feels so empty without Jax. I popped open a bottle of wine and I got some movies we could watch.”
She heard Gemma chuckle over the phone before she heard rustling from her moving around.
“Sounds like a date, baby. I’ll be right over.”
“Thanks Gem.”
She placed the phone on the counter before going to her living room to look through movies they could watch. She wasn’t really sure what Gemma liked and at this point, she didn’t even have a preference, she was just glad that she wasn’t going to be spending the night alone. After pulling out a few options and bringing the wine and popcorn to the living room, The doorbell rang and Leila went to let Gemma in..
Gemma smiled down at the young, nervous woman and pulled her in for a hug after walking in and locking the door behind them. She could remember the same look on her face the first night she had to spend without John when he started going on runs. It was scary. There was always an unsure feeling in the air that didn’t necessarily get easier with time.
“First night without your Old Man is always the toughest, sweetheart.”
Leila smiled softly, Gemma’s wisdom was always appreciated. It’s not like she could talk about this with anyone else. She took the older woman’s coat, hanging it in the closet beside the front entrance before the two walked to her living room where she’d laid out pillows and blankets everywhere and turned off the lights leaving the room dimly lit with string lights. Gemma chuckled at the seen. She could only imagine how nervous this girl was to set all of this up, but regardless, she was glad she remained in her sweats. The older woman took a seat and Leila poured her a glass of wine before turning on the movie and leaning back.
“Have you heard from him?” Gemma asked, breaking the silence.
“Not yet.” Leila shrugged. “Are they going to be okay over there? Jax keeps calling him Uncle Jury.”
“They’ll be okay. Jury and J.T. were together in ‘Nam. Jury’s been close with the club for shit ton of years now.”
Leila nodded, leaning her head back against the pillows. “Then why did they need to go under the radar?”
“Area’s loaded by Mexicans. They’ll be fine now that the rest of them are there but if they were caught alone shit would’ve hit the fan.”
Her eyes widened as she looked at Gemma. “Jesus Christ, this never gets easier does it.”
“I’ve been in this game a long time, babe. It’s never once been easy. I’m just glad to see you’re holding up. Jax tells me he’s movin’ in?”
“Yeah. I mean – Abel will be getting out in a few weeks. He can’t be living in the dorms and Jax is almost always here anyway.”
“You really love that kid don’t you?” Gemma took a sip of her wine, her eyes looking over the younger woman.
“I’ve never loved anyone more. Is that weird? I have no biological attachment to this baby but I feel so connected.”
Leila lowered her eyes before Gemma smiled down at her.
“That ain’t weird. Besides a few people, none of us are blood related. Does that make us any less family? No. You love that boy and you love my son. I had my doubts but I couldn’t hope for a better daughter.”
Leila’s eyes lit up as she pulled Gemma in for a hug. It felt so good to hear that. They had a rocky start but it felt good to know just how much they’d accepted her. Gemma had given her life to the club, she’d risked it all, and she had a better family than any of these fake politicians pretended to have. This was real.
The vote for the patch-over went through. A few men left but the ones that remained were going to stay loyal, not just to Jury but to the Sons. Yet, Jax couldn’t explain why he still had a sinking feeling in his stomach. They’d voted for this. It was the best option for them all. But to him, it felt like they were throwing these people to the wolves. They never saw it coming. It just didn’t sit right with him.
With the men switching their vest, the patch-over party was well underway. Women were throwing themselves at anyone with a patch. Drinks were flowing. Clothes were coming off. Jax was kept busy talking to Clay and Jury for a good amount of time but soon he lost interest and took a seat by an empty couch. He’d gotten so sick of Clay’s bullshit. Everything that came out of that man’s mouth was conniving. All he wanted right now was to be in bed with his old lady. He wanted to have her curled up in his arms and let himself be surrounded by the sweet smell of her perfume.
“Hey.”
The familiar voice caught his attention. He looked up to see it was the girl he’d picked up earlier in the day. Truth be told, he’d forgotten she was even still here. Why had he brought her here to begin with?
“You okay? You want something?”
She lowered herself onto his lap. Her fingers moving up through his hair but before she could kiss him, He stood up, almost knocking her to the floor. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t do this to Leila. He knew the rules about runs. What happened on one stayed on one but it didn’t feel right. He knew the other men were enjoying themselves. Burying themselves deep in as much pussy as they could but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. She looked at him confused but he shook his head.
“I’m going to bed. Help yourself to whatever.”
He shrugged his shoulders before grabbing his bottle of beer and walking back towards the dorms. He made sure to lock the door behind him knowing how sneaky these bitches would get. Pulling off his shirt and his jeans, he let himself fall back on the bed. Damn what a day it’d been. It took a lot out of him. Grabbing his phone, he dialed Leila’s number wanting nothing more than to hear her voice.
“Hello?”
His lips curved into a smile hearing the sound of her sleepy voice. It was groggy and higher pitched than usual.
“Hey babe. What’s up?”
“Hey!” Her voice lowered to a hushed whisper. “Nothing. I was watching movies with your mom and we both fell asleep. How’s everything going over there?”
His smile widened thinking of her and his mom bonding. That and it comforted him knowing neither of them were alone.
“Patch-over went well. Still don’t feel right but we’ll see how it goes. I just wanted to hear your voice before I went to bed babe.”
“Alright, Sweet dreams Jax. I love you”
“I love you, Leila.”
He hung up the phone and pulled out the binder containing his dad’s memoir. He’d been disagreeing more and more with the ways of the club lately. What it stood for. What they were willing to do. Based on his dad’s writings, it seemed that he disagreed too. Nothing JT wanted for this club existed anymore. This was supposed to be more about brotherhood than greed. Clay had turned that around.