Chapter Eight

Allie pulled into T-M's parking lot and turned off her car's engine, giving herself a moment to steel herself for this. Every time she pulled into this parking lot, her heart rate ticked up a notch, her palms got a little bit sweaty, and she always felt like she had to do a deodorant check before leaving her car just to make sure her sweat wasn't literally visible.

Part of her wondered if this was ever going to change. Maybe, with time, it would get easier, but for now, this parking lot, and the clubhouse that loomed beyond it, still stirred up more anxiety in her than she was willing to admit.

A loud knock rapped on her driver's side door, and she looked up to find Gemma bent down a little, waving to her with a good-natured grin.

"Hey there," Gemma greeted her as Allie slid out of her car and set her feet onto the pavement. "Didn't know you were visitin' us again so soon."

"Hi Gemma," Allie offered her a smile in return. "I've got a few business things to go over with Jax."

"Ah," Gemma nodded knowingly before hitching a hand to her hip. "He know you're here already, then?"

"I texted him before I left my office, so he's expecting me."

Gemma nodded again, an unfathomable expression on her face, and then her lips spread apart a little too much like the Grinch. "You know, I'm really glad I ran into you here. I'm plannin' a family dinner tonight, and I think it would be really great if you came."

Allie's mouth snapped open to reply, but Gemma cut her off.

"I think you should come. You know, get to know everyone a little better - you work for the club now and you were family even before that. I'd say you should bring your dad too, but I think we all know how that would turn out if him and Piney got in the same room together. But, that being said...you should come, Allie."

Oh shit. How was she supposed to say no? There was no excuse in the world that Gemma would actually accept. But seriously, she'd only been officially employed by the club for two days, and they were already pulling her in even deeper. Yesterday, after a long phone call with Opie, the club's intel officer had shown up and installed security cameras around her house. He'd even linked the cameras to an app on her phone so she could literally see who was at her front door without having to go near it. She got that. She really did. And, after some serious resistance on her part, she could understand why Opie thought those precautions were necessary, in light of what had happened the last time he paid her a visit.

But now...this was starting to become too much too soon. Still, how in God's name could she say no? The woman would never let her live it down, and if she did say no, Allie wasn't sure that she wouldn't wither under Gemma's hard glare anyway. And from a certain point of view, Gemma kind of had a point. Allie was working for the club now - maybe that meant there'd be certain obligations that went with it she hadn't considered. Still...how was she supposed to tell Gemma no?

So, Allie swallowed hard and shot Gemma a weak smile. "Anything I can bring?"

Gemma grinned brightly and batted out a hand. "Nah. I've got everything covered already. We're havin' an old fashioned barbecue and I got all the fixin's and everything all ready to go. All you need to bring is yourself, okay?"

She must've seen something in Allie's smile that gave her pause because she leaned in to murmur, "Jax and his wife are officially on the outs now, in case you were wondering if you'd see her there. I know things were a little awkward the last time you were here, but you don't have to worry about that tonight, if that's the thing holdin' you back."

"Yeah," Allie offered slowly, unsure of how much she should say about that particular topic. "Jax might've mentioned something about that earlier today."

Gemma nodded seriously and hitched both hands on her hips. "So you gonna help him with the divorce papers, then?"

Okay, so maybe Gemma knew more than she thought.

"Yep," Allie smiled tightly. "That's the plan."

"Good," Gemma laughed mirthlessly and shook her head. "He's gonna need all the help he can get, ya know?"

Allie huffed out a laugh. "Yeah. I know."

She tipped her chin to Allie with a small, albeit sad, smile. "I'm glad the club has you on their side now."

Then she turned her head to the clubhouse doors, and Allie followed her lead to find Jax sauntering through the parking lot right in their direction. He had a cigarette between his lips, blue and black flannel underneath his Reaper cut, and his blonde hair slicked back in a way that was just as lazy as it was sexy. When their eyes locked, Jax's lips twisted into an arrogant smirk. Jesus, that smirk needed a public safety warning. And it didn't help that it was annoying as hell.

Allie turned to Gemma with a shrug. "Well, duty calls."

"Alright, sweetheart," Gemma waved her on before pointing at her. "I'll see you tonight though, right? My house. Seven o'clock. If you need directions, I'm sure one of the boys can help you out."

"Help her out with what, Ma?" Jax called out as he closed the short distance between. He flicked some ash from his cigarette, then brought it to his lips again while he waited for her to explain.

Gemma's eyes darted between the two of them. If she noticed Allie fidgeting uncomfortably next to her, she didn't show it.

"Oh, I was just giving Allie some of the details about family dinner tonight."

Jax's eyebrows lifted into his forehead. "Is that so?"

"Make sure she's got the directions to my house," Gemma put a hand on Jax's cheek as she passed by to head back into T-M's office, then she called over her shoulder, "See ya later tonight, Allie."

Now Jax and Allie were just standing out in the parking lot by themselves. She watched him for a beat, feeling a little off-balance by the way Gemma had just swooped in and taken over like that. Not that it was a surprise. Still a bit of a shock, but not a surprise. And now, as she observed Jax, there was something in his blue eyes that made her frown. He always looked at her a little bit like he wanted to eat her alive, as he'd so succinctly put it, but today, there was a hint of actual danger there too. Something lethal. Something just menacing enough to make the hairs on the back of her arms stand up.

Maybe he'd figured out a while ago what she was coming here to tell him, but his demeanor was more than a little extreme, a little too antagonistic in light of how the storage unit deal went down. And she hadn't even confirmed it yet. There was also the fact that he'd just asked her to draft divorce papers for him today too. That alone would be enough to put anyone in a bad mood.

As if he could smell her uneasiness, he flashed her a grin and then gestured with his head for her to follow him to the clubhouse. Allie fell into step beside him, and he seemed to slow his gait, as if taking into account that his legs were much longer than hers, despite the fact that she was wearing four-inch heels.

Finally, she just couldn't handle the silence between them and had to break the ice.

"I reached out to my friend from law school," Allie told him as they approached the clubhouse's double doors. "It sounds like we'll be able to get everything ready to file tomorrow afternoon."

He reached around her, the back of his arm brushing her forearm, and he swooped in to open one of the doors for her.

"Alright," Jax replied impassively as he followed her deeper into the clubhouse.

His closeness was unnerving. Why did he have to literally be right on her heels? He just had no concept of personal space. Always in her bubble. Always trying to ruffle her feathers and get under her skin.

And when she slowed down, unsure of where in the clubhouse she was supposed to go or where he really wanted to have this conversation, Jax slammed right into her back. His hands ghosted around her hips as he steadied himself, and he chuckled over her shoulder.

Alright. So he was still doing that. Still looking for an excuse to touch her and push for a reaction. Still poking and prodding.

She might've hated it a little less if his touch didn't leave a scorching trail of heat in its wake, but here they were.

It was then that she realized his fingertips were still lingering on her hips and he used them to steer her to the left toward an empty side table. Allie sped up her steps just enough to force his fingertips to slip away and then she dropped into one of the empty chairs at the table. Jax folded himself into the chair across from her just as a prospect set two beers down in front of them. She barely had a chance to react before he took one glance at the beer bottles and whistled to get the prospect's attention before pointing at the beer sitting in front of Allie.

"Grab a Coke for the lady," Jax instructed the prospect. He was smiling, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. And while his tone was mellow, there was an undercurrent of bitterness in his voice she didn't understand.

He'd never seemed upset when she'd refused a drink here before. Why start now? But that wasn't it - she could see that now. The way his eyes narrowed, following her movements with hard animosity...this was different. This was new.

"Sorry," he was telling her now. "We don't have Diet Coke here, but I suppose I can have one of the prospects pick some up for you if you want."

Allie watched him carefully, unsure of how to tread, and confused about what he was really after here. Then she shook her head. "I'm fine. I don't need anything to drink."

Jax just lifted a shoulder and gestured for the prospect to take away the beer in front of her. Then he reached into the pocket inside his cut, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep pull, exhaling a long stream of smoke. His eyes lingered on the cracks in the table top before drifting over his shoulder to the game of pool playing out about 20 feet away from them. Anywhere but on her.

"Jax?"

His eyes snapped back to her at the sound of her voice, and he lifted his eyebrows in response, almost as if a verbal response would be too much effort.

"Everything okay?"

Choosing to ignore that, he tapped some ash into the tray next to him and wrapped his lips around the cigarette again. Jax leaned an elbow on the table, finally settling his full gaze on her for the first time since they sat down.

"So what did you need to talk about?"

Allie chewed on her bottom lip absentmindedly, temporarily distracted by the flat tone of his voice. If he was already in a pissy mood, this was only going to make it worse. Might as well just get this over with so she could leave...and have to see him again at Gemma's just a few hours later.

"Well," she started a little unsteadily, but quickly found her bearings as she slipped into business mode. "I heard back from the realtor today. The other prospective buyers put in another counteroffer - it went beyond the number we'd talked about, and the seller accepted their offer. So..." Allie trailed off, a little disarmed by his impassive expression, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that the deal's done. We did the best we could, and I know how much you were hoping we could turn this one around, but...we'll get the next one, okay?"

She hadn't planned on treating this situation so placatingly, but she just didn't know what else to do. Didn't know how to reconcile the hard glint in his blue eyes.

"A'ight," Jax threw out lightly, but his eyes didn't match his tone. "Bobby mentioned there were a few retail buildings for sale on the other side of town. Might be worth takin' a look at now."

"Sure," she nodded quickly. "Have him send me the info and I'll start looking into it."

He must've sensed she really didn't have much more to say, so he smashed his spent cherry in the ashtray and folded his hands on top of the table, leveling her with a measured expression. "Like you said, we did the best we could. I didn't really expect this one to go any other way, given the way it started. Worth a shot though."

"Right."

Jax nodded slowly, watching her with cool appraisal. His lips twisted into an arrogant smirk as he leaned back in his chair, tipping his chin to her. "You got anything else to tell me?"

She frowned. "Excuse me?"

He nodded again, this time more to himself than anything, and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "I got a call from your dad about a half hour ago."

She could already feel her blood beginning to boil - if he wanted her to feel like a five-year-old getting called into the principal's office for stealing someone else's crayons, she wasn't about to play that game.

So, Allie folded her arms across her chest, shooting that hard glare right back at him. "I see."

His lips twisted again. Any amusement that had been there before had been replaced with animosity and frustration.

"Interesting turn of events today, huh?" Jax grinned. "Seems like you and Georgie Caruso had a little bit of a showdown. Any reason why you didn't feel the need to tell me 'bout that?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it a showdown," Allie just shrugged, trying to downplay this as much as she could.

"Still," he lifted a shoulder, but his eyes were cold, calculating, waiting for her to make a wrong move. "I thought I'd made myself clear last week that if you kept something from me again, we were gonna have some problems. So," Jax leaned back in his chair with ice blue eyes. "We gotta problem here?"

Allie huffed out a laugh and shook her head. "I don't know, Jax. You tell me."

His eyebrows quirked into his forehead like he was surprised she hadn't withered and bent to his every whim. Heaven forbid she should defy him and undermine his authority.

So, she pressed on: "There's no point in making a bigger deal out of this than it -"

"I'll be the one who makes that call, darlin'. Not you."

Ah. There it was. His poor, fragile little male ego was bruised because he thought she'd once again failed to keep him up to speed on the happenings around the club's precious investment. Because she'd once again kept him out of the loop in a situation that was completely and totally handled. By her. Not him.

And now she was just pissed off.

"Okay, Jax," she huffed out a laugh. "First of all, Georgie Caruso is a third-rate producer who doesn't know anymore about business and film-making than Luann knew about safety protocols. He's not a threat to us. He never has been, and he never will be. There's nothing more to say."

"So him showin' up today - that was completely normal? No big deal? The fact that he even thinks he can come in and steal away the actors is somethin' that needs to be dealt with. The club will handle that."

"Jesus, Jax, it was just Ima. As far as I'm concerned, I say good fucking riddance. She's a popular actor, but so are the other actors we have on our roster. She's replaceable. Technically, they all are. So, I don't really see the need to escalate this any further."

That didn't seem to mollify the animosity brewing in his eyes. In fact, it only intensified.

"Again," Jax lifted a shoulder. "Not your decision to make."

She sucked in a deep breath - this wasn't the time or the place to get into this. She hadn't come here to fight with him. And she definitely hadn't come here to be reprimanded by him either. She hadn't done anything wrong, and it wasn't her fault he couldn't just let her do her damn job.

"My dad has come to me for advice about the business for years. He's listened to that advice for years, too. That's not going to change just because we're partnered with the club now, so you're just going to have to get over it."

His eyebrows shot to his forehead, and his eyes narrowed dangerously, but she was on a roll now.

"Georgie Caruso has one lane - he shows up every once and awhile, tries to act tough, manages to take one or two of our actors, and thinks he's on his way to taking us down. Nine times out of ten, those actors always come back to us with their tails between their legs because Caruso is as shitty a businessman as he is a boss."

None of that seemed to matter, though, because Jax just shrugged. "Jimmy and I decided that we need to up the security at the studio - keep a club member on rotation there during production hours to make sure Caruso knows where we stand if he decides to come back."

There was something about the way he said Jimmy and I, like he was completely setting aside the fact that she'd literally just told him she was part of this business too, that she had an opinion that mattered too, that made her fingertips itch to smack that arrogant smirk right off his face.

"He's not a threat, Jax," Allie shook her head furiously. "But he will be if you back him into a corner. He hasn't really done anything except take a problem employee off our hands. We should be thanking him for helping us get rid of her. But if you put on a show - "

"Not your call, darlin'."

Heat flushed her cheeks and it was all she could to stop herself from picking up this table and shaking it - to do anything to make him fucking listen to her.

"If you provoke him, Jax, he'll bite. If you leave it alone, he'll go away. That's what he does. Maybe he'll show up again in a few months, or whatever, but it's nothing we can't handle."

Jax's eyes narrowed again, and he leaned forward with menace creeping across his handsome face. "This is club business too now. And while I appreciate your input, it's not necessary here."

"You mean it's not tolerated here?" Allie tossed out. This time, she let her own animosity creep through her tone.

He pointed a ringed finger at her. "That's not what I said and you know it. And you still haven't explained to me why I had to hear this from your dad, and not my fucking lawyer."

There was something new in his voice that hadn't been there before. It was more than frustration, more than animosity. And a few of the missing pieces slid into place, even though she still couldn't quite reconcile them. He'd wanted...her to be the one to tell him. He'd wanted her to be the one to come running to the club, to him, for help.

That was going to happen over her dead body.

"Seems to me like you got the information you needed from my dad," she leveled an even glare at him and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "He obviously called you right after I left his office. Nobody kept you out of the loop, like last time. You were brought up to speed almost immediately. Someone from the studio told you what happened, and I don't see why it's my responsibility to make sure you know every little thing that goes on in the studio.That's not my job, and if anything, it would create a pretty big conflict of interest if I did since I'm technically representing both the club and the studio, separately. So, what exactly is it that you want from me?"

Jax's lips parted to respond, but the words seemed to die on his lips. That's right. He didn't really have a response, did he? There really wasn't anything he could say - he was being an asshole. A complete and utter prick for no good reason. She was so over assholes who thought they could just say whatever the hell they wanted to her without any consequences.

"Caruso is just another sleazeball that's a dime a dozen in this industry," Allie was on a roll now and there was no stopping it. "He knows he has no pull and a reputation for being an asshole, and because of that, he will not be a serious problem unless you make him one. I don't know what else to tell you. I mean, every time I see that idiot, he runs his mouth about putting me in one of his films and it's -"

Jax's eyes darkened into shards of ice and his entire body stilled, coiled and ready to strike. "He what?"

"You know what?" Allie just shook her head as she started to rise from her chair. "I'm done with this conversation. We're not getting anywhere -"

A tattooed forearm shot out to clamp down on her wrist. That vise grip yanked her back down to the table, and she clamored into the chair again with a heavy thud. When she tried to jerk her wrist back, Jax just tightened his grip on her with his nostrils flaring, forcing her to stay put. The violence in his eyes sent a wave of panic down her spine and she furiously tried to yank her wrist away, only for him to pull back harder.

"Jax," she murmured through her panic. "Stop it. You're hurting me."

That broke the spell immediately, and Jax dropped her wrist, pushing back against the table with his other hand, a stunned expression flickering across his face. Then he ran a hand shakily through his slicked-back hair and swallowed tightly. Jax sucked in a haggard breath, shaking his head before dropping his forehead against his hand.

When he finally dragged his gaze back to her, his blue eyes softened with apology.

"Allie," he called out to her. "I didn't..."

He trailed off, glancing around the clubhouse to find that several of the club members, Bobby and Tig included, were watching with confused expressions written on their faces. Jax blew out a deep breath before lighting up another cigarette.

"I think maybe we should take the rest of this conversation somewhere more private."

"I don't think there's anything left to say," she shook her head, rising to her feet once again to really leave this time.

"Allie," he called out again. The hint of desperation, mixed with the apology in his voice gave her pause. "Will you just..."

Jax trailed off, gesturing with his head for her to follow him away from the clubhouse's main floor and down a side hallway. She'd never been to that part of the clubhouse before, but she had a feeling it led to the dorms where some of the club members stayed or lived, she wasn't really sure. And while all she wanted to do in this moment was turn on her heel and get the hell out of here, Allie found herself unable to tell him no.

So she trailed after him against her better judgement, and followed him down the hallway.

***

Jax held the door open to his dorm, gesturing for Allie to walk through it. She lifted her chin and walked inside his dorm on those high heels, her steps slowing a little as she took in the room. She must've realized almost instantly that this was his dorm, not some random side room, and he was acutely aware of the way her dark eyes swept around the space. The bed wasn't made, beer cans littered the side table next to the bed, there were a few dirty dishes sitting right underneath it on the floor, and he'd left a trail of clothes from the bed to the bathroom this morning without a care in the world.

Right about now, Jax felt like he'd just made a huge mistake in bringing her here.

Allie stood off to the side, careful to keep a safe distance away from the bed, and his eyes dropped to her wrist.

He swallowed hard and scrubbed a hand over his face. Somehow, her visit to the clubhouse today had spiraled wildly out of control. He'd never meant to go that far, never meant to scare her...to put his hands on her like that. He couldn't believe that had happened. Couldn't make sense of it. Sometimes, though...sometimes she just made him feel so fucking crazy and his control slipped right out of his hands.

That was no excuse. And the fact that it happened, that he'd lost his grip on any restraint so goddamn quickly, it left him shaken to his core.

After Jimmy called, he'd been willing to give Allie the benefit of the doubt. She'd already texted him that she was on her way to the clubhouse, and Jax figured she'd also had some bad news to give him about the storage unit deal if she was willing to drive to the clubhouse to talk to him about it. It didn't help that he'd been so incensed that not even two full weeks into this partnership, they already had some fucking idiot sniffing around and trying to stir up trouble. Not to mention the fact that Allie had been alone in a room with that guy - Ima didn't count - dealing with that shit on her own. A club member should've been in there with her to handle him. That's all there was to it, and he didn't care if she disagreed.

He'd waited, as patiently as he could, and in the end, she'd chosen to keep him in the dark. Again.

And when Allie had let the details slip about the true nature of her conversation with Georgie Caruso, he thought he actually might've blacked out. It was just for a second, but long enough to completely lose his grasp on reality.

"Look," he sighed and rubbed a hand over his mouth in frustration. "I didn't mean to do that before. I shouldn't have..." he shook his head, "I'm sorry, okay? That won't happen again."

Allie nodded tightly, and he could see her chest heaving a little even from a distance. She had every right to be pissed at him, and it definitely wasn't helping that she was beautiful as fuck when she was angry.

"Now," he pressed on, trying his best to keep his voice even. "I really need you to tell me exactly what was said between you and Caruso today. I'm gettin' the feeling I don't have the whole story here."

Because Jimmy definitely hadn't mentioned that Caruso offered his daughter a starring role in porn.

Allie chewed on her bottom lip in thought before sighing heavily and lifting her eyes to the ceiling. "Alright. Fine. It's really not a big deal though -"

"Just tell me, Allie."

She blew out a deep breath and tucked some dark hair behind her ear. "He might've said something about adding me to his talent roster. He also might've mentioned a new legal-themed film he was casting for at his studio."

Something dark and bitter coiled through him, freezing him to the carpet. Jax didn't think he could move right now if he tried. Here it was again...that crazy, out of control, disconnected, unnerving sense of...he didn't know what it was, but it felt familiar. All he knew was that he felt out of his body, hovering somewhere between punching a wall and tipping his head back and screaming.

"He says dumb things like that every time I see him, Jax," Allie offered, like that somehow made any of this better. "I mean, he's not the first jerk to say something stupid like that to me and he's not gonna be the last either."

And Jax still didn't see how any of that made this better, or excused it away as no big deal.

"I've learned the hard way that it's better not to give them the reaction they're looking for," she just shrugged. "And I mean, the titles he threw out at me were weak. The Hung Jurist? Innocent Until Proven Filthy? Come on, right? Those are the worst."

His lips quirked a little bit, despite the dark current he was wading in.

"Besides," Allie laughed. "Like I'd ever be a lawyer in a porn film, right? Talk about tired stunt casting."

He found himself frowning back at her. Was she really making jokes about this shit right now? Trying to shake it off like it was all just water under the bridge? Part of him wanted to laugh. The other part of him couldn't pick up a solid emotion if he tried.

"Allie," he murmured. "He can't show up like that, stand in your office, and say that kind of shit. I don't care if your dad has let him get away with it for years. That fucking stops now."

She shocked the hell out of him by rolling her eyes. "Jax, do you really think no one has ever asked me if I'd been in a movie before? Threw out the old like mother, like daughter thing because they think it's funny? You really think I can't handle that?"

He sucked in a deep breath. Yeah, he knew she could handle herself. He'd seen it firsthand. He knew she didn't suffer fools and that she didn't take shit from anyone, but that wasn't the point. This was different. This was personal shit. This was somebody treating her like a fucking second-class citizen. This was someone coming into her workplace and talking to her like she was some kind of...he didn't even let himself finish that thought. This had happened before - he'd heard it almost every day years ago at school, and even though he'd acted on it once, that didn't change the fact that she shouldn't have to put up with stupid assholes running their mouths.

"Those guys are just scummy sleazebags with nothing better to do than give me a hard time about what my parents did for a living," Allie went on. "Besides, who cares? So what if I was in a movie, huh? It's not like it's this terrible thing to be in porn. Big deal."

Jax had to admire her strength. Even it was stupid as shit right now. As far as he was concerned, that was the last time Georgie Caruso was going to saunter into Sweet Productions like he owned the place, stealing away actors, and propositioning his lawyer like she was no better than a cheap hooker.

"I get where you're comin' from. I really do," and then he shook his head, "but the club is part of this now, whether you like it or not. We're not just gonna stand by while he throws his weight around. We defend what's ours, and that includes the studio. He needs to be put in his place so he knocks this shit off."

Allie shifted from one foot to the other, her dark eyes hard and unrelenting. While he hadn't expected her to necessarily get on board with this, he also hadn't expected her to dig her heels in quite this much. Which, he could see now, was a mistake. Underestimating her in just about any scenario was not a smart idea.

"Okay," she nodded surprisingly, clearly having sensed they'd come to an impasse. "But I'll just say this one more time: Caruso is not a threat unless you make him one. Now, I can see why you and Ope wanted to put more security in at my house. I didn't like it at first, but I see now that I should've had something like that in place a long time ago. This is not the same thing. We already have security guards at the studio. We don't need to add any more and show him we think he's serious. As soon as he finds out we've got club members staked out on security detail, he's gonna take that as a threat to him, he'll probably even see it as an open invitation, and then he'll lash out. That's exactly what will happen if you do this. There. I don't know what else I can say."

His lips curled as she glared back at him. Allie, on any given day, was a sight for sore eyes. Allie pissed off was the stuff dreams were made of.

"Well," Jax told her with a grin. "Your disapproval is noted. I appreciate you tellin' me what you really think without holdin' anything back."

"Right," she smiled tightly. "But you're still gonna do whatever you were already gonna do, huh?"

"Like I said, darlin', that's not really your call."

Her eyes flashed dangerously and he found himself biting back another grin. Man, she was really not happy with him right now. It was a beautiful thing.

By now, his pulse had calmed a little and he felt like he'd come back to himself and had a tight grip on control again. He'd heard her. He understood where she was coming from, whether she believed him or not. He was in control again here.

"Now, you're not gonna let this stop you from comin' to family dinner tonight, are you?"

Allie leveled a cool glare his way, shifting again on her high heels. He let his eyes drift down the length of her, taking in the leather skirt hugging her curves and the silky leopard button-up that just hinted at some cleavage in the deep V it left on her chest. Then, his lips pulled apart in a slow, satisfied grin.

"I would never dream of disappointing Gemma," Allie replied flatly.

He just lifted a shoulder. That was probably a good play - Gemma would never let her hear the end of it if she bailed, especially if she bailed after promising she'd show. At some point, he was going to have to share with his mother that he'd decided to give his house to his soon-to-be ex-wife, and maybe he had a chance of surviving if his lawyer was also present in the room when he told her.

Although, at this point, his odds were better that Allie and Gemma would just gang up on him. And he'd grin and bear it because he wasn't changing his mind.

"Well," Jax grinned. "I guess I'll see ya later tonight. Feel free to shoot me a text if you need a ride."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm good, thanks."

"Suit yourself, I guess," he shrugged, gesturing with his head to his door. "There's the door. I'm sure you can find your way out."

Allie lifted her chin, as if daring him to say anything else, to say one more wrong word. He'd like to know exactly what it would take to get her to snap, but that was a project for some other time on some other day. After all, he had a feeling the earth would have to open wide and swallow her whole before she quit and bailed on Opie.

He could keep pushing. He saw that now. Maybe she even liked it just a little bit too.

As if she could read his thoughts, Allie shook her head, and then walked around him, careful to keep a safe distance away from touching him as she passed. Then she gently shut the door behind her.

Jax stared at the closed door for a beat before sinking down onto the edge of his bed. He ran a thumb over his lip, and then he smiled.