Chapter Thirteen

He had seconds, maybe less than that. The door wasn't going to hold much longer, and Allie was already halfway out the window. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Ope had Lyla and Piper, but all his focus was on the leg hitched over the window, the arms braced against the windowsill and he had to get to her - he didn't have a moment to lose. His heart pounded in his chest, and pure adrenaline propelled him toward the window as he reached for her.

Allie shrieked, jumping at the feeling of leather gloves on her forearms. She was able to focus long enough to register that it was him, that it wasn't somebody trying to hurt her, that she was so close to safety. His hands dropped to her waist, and he pulled her through the window just as her would-be attacker dove for her.

The second Allie's feet hit the ground, Jax pounced.

That fucker stared back at him through the window, just long enough for Jax's furious gaze to lock on him, and then he turned on his heel to run the other way. Jax swung a leg through the window, climbed through the rest of the way, and launched himself at the guy. He pinned him into the floor of Allie's office, flipped him around on his back, and then he unleashed. Jax swung his fist over and over again, letting his knuckles crack across the guy's face until his head bounced against the floor.

He glanced up long enough to see that Tig had skidded into the room, his wild eyes darting around and blood dripping from his nose. Jax let up and pinned the sorry sack of shit underneath him with his foot to keep him in place.

"Where're the girls?" Tig huffed out breathlessly as he staggered deeper inside the office, his eyes scanning the room for any sign of them.

"Ope's got 'em," Jax pushed out and then leaned his heel into the guy's throat just for good measure.

Two seconds later, Happy and Chibs appeared in the doorway with a second asshole. They had his arms yanked behind his back as they shoved him inside the office, sending him right into the floor next to his buddy. Happy made quick work of securing the second guy, and promptly followed his president's lead by slamming his foot right into the guy's throat.

Now that things were under control, Jax took a moment to get his bearings again and come back to himself a little. He glanced down at the fucker underneath his white sneaker and grinned at him. This guy was lucky Tig had shown up when he did because Jax knew he might not have been able to stop. There were two of them - and the club really only needed one.

But, he reminded himself, the club got one more body.

These two weren't it. And they were the luckiest sons of bitches in the world.

"You ready to talk?" Jax propped an elbow on his knee as he put a little more pressure on the throat underneath his foot. "Or you good like this? Doesn't matter to me, bro. I could sit here all day."

He let up just enough to give the guy some air, and the guy sputtered breathlessly underneath his foot. Jax gave him an opportunity, and when the idiot didn't take it, his forearm pressed deeper into his knee to apply some more pressure.

"How 'bout now?"

When the guy gargled a little underneath his foot, Jax let up on the pressure. Then he shifted his weight to haul the asshole up by the front of his shirt. Jax slammed his shoulders into the wall, making the shelves rattle from the impact. In a flash, Opie shoved Jax out of the way and wrapped his big bear paws around the guy's neck.

Opie leaned in menacingly, bringing his face so close it was practically lethal. "You're fucking dead."

Jax put his hand on his VP's shoulder, but Opie just shrugged him off.

"Ope -"

"You better make your peace, motherfucker," Opie murmured lowly as the guy's eyes squeezed shut. "You put your hands on my pregnant old lady. You know what that means?"

Jax blew out a breath, gesturing to Chibs and Tig with his head for some back-up. Together, the three Reaper brothers pulled and shoved, and finally, Jax gripped Opie by the shoulders and shook him as hard as he could.

"Ope," Jax told him. "Back up, brother. Just back up. Just for now."

Opie shoved out of their grip long enough to land one punch right into the guy's eye. He fell back against the wall, and then Happy was on him, restraining him the same way he'd dealt with his buddy: arms tied behind his back and on his goddamn knees.

"What the hell happened?" a low voice rang out in the hallway, and Jax dragged his attention away from his VP to find Jimmy Sweet standing in the middle of the office, his eyes wide and chest heaving wildly.

Jax sighed heavily and stepped around the scene in front of him to bring their business partner up to speed. "Break in."

Jimmy's eyes just about fell out of his head, and he spun around in a panic. "Where's Allie?"

"Out in the parking lot with Lyla and Piper," Jax jerked a thumb over his shoulder toward the window she'd just crawled out of. "She's fine."

At least, from what he could tell. There hadn't been any time to really find out just what had happened here and why the three girls had found themselves locked in Allie's office with a window as their only escape route. Whatever the reason, they'd been smart to get out while they still could.

Even though it had just been a flash, he'd seen Lyla out of the corner of his eye as he sprinted toward that window. While Allie might be okay, Lyla was not. He'd seen enough to see the blood dripping from her nose, the way her right eye sat half-closed, the slashes across her cheeks. His blood boiled just at the thought. Opie had every right to want their heads.

They just couldn't do it.

"What happened?" Jimmy was saying now. He had both hands in his hair as he surveyed the damage around his daughter's office and then he abruptly kicked one of the guys on the floor right in the stomach. "You son of a bitch -"

Chibs had Jimmy by the shoulders before he could do anything else, and he put just enough pressure on Jimmy to pull him back. He, too, had every right to want their heads, but they also had some work to do before any kind of punishment could be handed out.

"How in the hell did they get past our security?" Jimmy growled.

Jax just shook his head at him. "I have no idea. We're gonna find out though."

Jimmy nodded in grim understanding, and a moment later, he blew out a breath, and ran a hand through his mussed hair, the picture of calm and resolute. "Alright. You should move these two pieces of shit," he gestured toward them in disgust, "outta this room though. There are some spare offices down the hall. You can use one of those to do whatever you gotta do. Just make sure you clean it up when you're done."

Jax's mouth quirked at Jimmy's flippant acceptance of whatever the club needed to do. It was clear he didn't care, clear he wanted this dealt with under the table just as much as they did. Nobody would be calling the cops here today, that was for damn sure. Now, he just needed to keep Jimmy busy so he could stay out of their way and let them do what they did best.

He clapped Jimmy on the shoulder and nodded to him. "Maybe it's time to check the security footage. See what you can get from it?"

Jimmy's forehead crinkled in thought, his eyes drifting back down to the men on the floor. "Alright. That's a good idea. I'll check the logs - see if they signed in for anything."

Yeah, that seemed like a good idea too. Judging by the suits those assholes were wearing, Jax was willing to bet his left nut they'd had some kind of cover story to get inside the building. They'd obviously been allowed inside somehow, and somebody had sent them.

Then he tipped his chin to Happy, signaling that it was time to move. Happy didn't hesitate, gripping one of the guys on the floor by the shoulders to haul him and shove him out into the hallway. Chibs followed suit with the other fucker, and Jax watched down the hallway long enough to see Jimmy leading the way toward another open door. Then he shifted back into Allie's office to level Tig with a hard stare.

"What the hell happened here, bro?"

Tig shook his head, his eyes swimming a little with remorse, and he scrubbed his face with both hands. "I looked everywhere for her, man. I tried...I knew something was wrong. I fucking knew it, and I shoulda called Ope earlier."

Jax blew out a deep breath and folded his arms across his chest. As much as he wanted to lay the blame on Tig's shoulders, if those guys got through security and were just walking around the building without anyone around them batting an eye...Tig could only be in so many places at once.

"I looked everywhere," Tig pushed on hoarsely. "And then I asked Allie and Piper if they'd seen her - I figured they'd had to have seen her, right? One of those two had to know and I was just being paranoid. And then Allie thought maybe Lyla was workin' in one of those offices down the hall," Tig gestured with his head toward the hallway, "so we went lookin' -"

"What do you mean we?"

Tig's shoulders drooped heavily and he ran a hand over his face, smearing some of the blood from his nose onto his cheeks. "Allie had the keys. I figured some of those offices would be locked and I'd need to get inside."

Jax's jaw clenched, but he schooled his face into an impassive mask. He exhaled heavily through his nose just to release some of that tension, and Tig's eyes widened a little.

"I panicked, okay, Jax? She had the keys with her, and I didn't think. I just wanted to find Lyla, and if I had to do it over again -"

"I get it, bro."

Tig's eyes dropped to the floor with a tight nod. It had been stupid as shit, but Jax got it. In the heat of the moment, getting to Lyla had been the main priority and Allie had also been stupid enough to go along with him. Something dark and heavy coiled inside him at the thought of what could've happened today - it was already a shitshow - but things could've been worse. Allie's face could've matched Lyla's. Piper's face could've matched Lyla's too.

"We found Lyla in one of those offices down the hall," Tig's quiet, pained voice went on. "Those guys were on her. I pulled one of them off her, and Allie grabbed Lyla and ran."

Jac nodded tightly. That was enough. They'd have to rely on the two assholes down the hall for the rest of the intel. However long it took.

"Alright, look," Jax shifted his weight and blew out a deep breath. "We gotta keep Ope in check. I don't care if he beats them to within an inch of their lives, but we gotta pull him back. He's outta his fucking mind right now and I don't blame him but...we gotta keep him in check, and since you," he pointed a gloved hand at his sergeant at arms, "were the one who let this happen, you're gonna be the one to hold him down and keep him down. We clear, bro?"

Tig swallowed hard and nodded, almost imperceptibly. If their roles were reversed, Jax couldn't say he would've done much differently - other than letting Allie anywhere near those spare offices. Fucking shit for brains couldn't have just taken the keys from her? Jesus Christ...

"We're clear," Tig told him solemnly. All the crazy had dissipated for the time being and for once in his life, Tig actually looked remorseful, like he truly believed he was responsible for what had just happened here today. Good - they could deal with all the rest later.

He gestured with his head toward the door and Tig fell into step next to him as they headed down the hallway. Opie was already pacing, just chomping at the bit to get inside that spare office where Happy was holding the two men who'd just beaten up his pregnant wife. At least he was with it enough to understand that he wasn't getting inside that room until Jax opened the door for him.

As soon as their eyes locked, Jax blew out a deep breath. Opie looked goddamn feral right now, wild and unhinged, his eyes unseeing and blinded by rage. It was a wonder he even registered that Jax and Tig had come into the hallway.

"Let me the fuck in, Jax," Opie growled. "You can't keep me outta there."

Jax held out a hand, nodding placatingly. "I got that, Ope. I know. I'm gonna let you in, but we gotta talk this through first, a'ight?"

Opie's eyes narrowed darkly and something sinister crossed his face. Jesus, if Jax didn't know him better, he'd be backing up with his hands high in the air.

"Those motherfuckers put their hands on my wife. What else is there to say?"

Now, Jax's hands shot up into the air. "I know, Ope. I know. I'm right there with you - I want their heads on a stick just as much as you do right now, but you know we can't."

"Alright," Opie nodded too easily, determination creasing his forehead. "Let's get them to the clubhouse then. Or some warehouse where we can tear them apart piece by -"

"Ope," Jax told him in an even, calm voice. It was just as important for Opie to know that he supported him as it was for him to understand Jax was only going to let him go so far. "You know what we said at the table. Any other time, any other year, and I would've been out there diggin' two holes for you, no questions asked. But you know what we have to do. You know what we can't do."

He paused long enough to make sure Opie was at least hearing him before pushing on.

"Now, I'm gonna let you in there. I won't keep you out of this. You know that. But before I do, you have to promise me you're gonna pull it back when I tell you to."

Opie dragged his eyes up from the floor to meet Jax square in the eye. Jax held his gaze, mentallly prepared to stand here like this, staring his VP down, for as long as it took for it to sink in. When Opie's shoulders dropped and a little bit of that tension abated in his eyes, Jax clapped both hands on his shoulders and gave them a shake.

"I'm sorry, Ope. We can't have bodies piling up left and right anymore and those two in there aren't worth ending up in Stockton again for. Besides, we both know they didn't come here on their own. So, let's get that intel, and let's do it without you ending up with cuffs around your wrists."

He waited for Opie to nod, and after another look passed between them, they started down the hallway side by side, with Tig trailing behind them. Opie was still wound tight, and that was fine as long as he kept himself in check. Jax glanced at him one more time to make sure his VP read him loud and clear, and then he turned the doorknob to let Opie in first.

Happy had them sitting in two chairs in front of one of the desks, their arms tied behind their backs and a gag in each of their mouths. Jax had to hand it to Happy - he was fast and he was efficient. Jax and Tig flanked Opie on both sides, ready to intervene when necessary. Opie's nostrils flared the second he locked eyes with the sons of bitches, but he didn't move. He stood frozen to the ground, and when Jax turned his head to glance at him, he found Opie staring back at him, his lips drawn into a taut line.

Jax nodded. It was clear what Opie needed right now. If he moved, he might not be able to stop moving. So Jax took a step forward instead.

"A'ight, fellas," Jax started good-naturedly and flashed them a toothy grin. "We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. Up to you."

After a pause, he glanced at Happy and tipped his chin. Happy took his cue, gripped one of the guy's index fingers, and yanked it straight up into the air until it crunched under the pressure. The guy howled in pain, but Happy didn't react. Instead, he moved right on to the next one and did the same thing. With both men screaming in pain, Jax stepped forward as he dipped a hand into his cut for his cigarettes. He lit it, took a few puffs, and then held it out to Opie.

Opie's eyes glazed over in a frenzy, and he snatched it out of Jax's outstretched hand. The cigarette singed one of the guy's cheeks, emanating another howl of misery as Opie dug the cigarette even deeper into his skin. Then he tossed the cigarette to the ground and started with his fists instead. Opie's fists flew in a fury, each crunch smacking harder and harder with every punch.

Jax waited. He swallowed tight as he watched his VP wail on the men who'd been stupid enough to mess with his wife and...even just thinking about Lyla with her battered and bruised face, it was all he could not to step in and join him. This was Opie's right, though. It wasn't Jax's place to step in and take over until it was time to rein him back in.

But finally, after a few minutes, it was clear it was time to step in. He nodded to Tig, who took his cue and wrapped his arms around Ope's chest to pull him back. Opie didn't fight it, though, and he let Tig yank him off to the side and pin him to a wall just for good measure.

Jax scratched his head, grinning widely at the battered men tied to the chairs as he reached for his cigarettes again. He lit up another one easily and tossed his pack back into his cut. Then he sauntered forward as he took a long pull from the cigarette in between his lips. He crouched down to get a good look at the guy whose face was a bloody mess but had been lucky enough up, until this moment, to also not have a cigarette burn in the middle of his cheek.

Jax exhaled leisurely, blowing his smoke right into the guy's face. The asshole coughed and sputtered, and Jax figured that was enough. For now.

"So," he started again. "You ready to talk? Or are you good?"

He sputtered and coughed again, but this time, he told Jax what they needed to know. Jax listened carefully - it was what they'd already thought and then some. And when he finished spilling his guts like the rat he was, Jax sprung forward to dig his cigarette in.

"There," Jax grinned broadly. "Now you match."

***

There wasn't much of a scene out in the parking lot, at least not anymore, so that was one thing to check off the to-do list. From what he could tell, the prospects had just arrived with the transport van and were filing out to head toward the studio's main entrance like they'd been told. Piney was just pulling up next to the van - he'd obviously heard what had gone down today and was late to the party as usual.

Jax spotted Jimmy off to the side with his arms wrapped tightly around his daughter. A moment later, he reached out an arm to pull Lyla in right alongside her. He tipped his chin to Chibs, who took his cue and sidestepped around him to close the distance between him and Lyla. Now that things had mostly calmed down and the matter was just about handled, he needed Chibs to do what he did best and patch Lyla up as best he could. He hoped to God those assholes hadn't gone near her stomach...for a lot of reasons. If anything happened to that baby, he knew there'd be no stopping Opie then. And that was one exception the club might be willing to make.

Jimmy saw him coming and waved him over, releasing Lyla long enough so Chibs could get to work, but he kept an arm securely around Allie, as if he couldn't bear to let her go.

His fingers twitched at his sides as he approached them. Now, seeing her standing in front of him, in one piece and without a scratch on her, Jax finally felt like he could really breathe. And that weight on his shoulders lifted. He blew out another breath just to calm himself down as he let his eyes scan her from head to toe to convince himself that she was really okay.

She looked pissed, sure, but he didn't mind that as much.

Still, he let himself put a hand on her shoulder. "You alright?"

Allie's dark eyes flicked to him when his hand grazed her shoulder, and she watched him carefully as she nodded to him.

"Yeah," she murmured. "I'm okay, Jax."

He swallowed tightly, nodding more to himself than anything, and he let his hand slip from her shoulder. Then he turned his attention to Jimmy.

"You got anything on those security tapes?"

"The cameras caught them coming up to the building about an hour or so before all this shit started," Jimmy told him, his face taut and then a long tick clenched along his jaw. "They were posing as marketing reps. They'd even been on my calendar for an appointment and when they didn't show, I didn't really think anything of it. They flashed IDs at security and it all checked out with what was on my calendar - I'm sure they were fakes, but fucking still."

Jax nodded slowly and pushed out an aggravated sigh. So it was even more coordinated than they'd thought. His jaw clenched into a tight line, and his eyes flicked back to Allie long enough to see she was still watching him.

"Right," he pushed out roughly. "It was Caruso."

Jimmy's head tipped back against his neck exasperatedly and he scrubbed a hand over his face. "Great. Just fucking great. I'm assuming you've got this handled?"

"He's gotta special delivery headed his way," Jax nodded. "That's for damn sure."

"Good," Jimmy allowed.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Allie's eyes narrowing, at him, specifically. Jesus Christ - what did he do now? Just as his lips parted to respond, a loud voice bellowed:

"Sweet, you son of a bitch! This is how you take care of your girls, huh? You let them get their faces bashed in?"

Even though the old man moved like a turtle any other day, Piney launched himself at Jimmy with his fist cocked and ready to punch. His fist connected with Jimmy's jaw before anyone had time to react, and Piney and Jimmy tumbled to the pavement in a mess of limbs and fists.

"That's my daughter-in-law, you bastard!" Piney screamed. "She's knocked up!"

Jimmy grabbed hold of what was left of Piney's hair and yanked his head toward him. "Eat my dick, asshole!"

Jax and Allie launched forward at the same time. He had his arms around Piney's shoulders, yanking him away so hard he practically fell to his knees. Jax was able to roll the fat bastard away long enough for Allie to reach down to the pavement to grab her dad by the shoulders. Jax saw it coming before it happened - his mouth opened to shout for Jimmy to stop, but he was too late. Jimmy, unaware of just who was behind him, reared his elbow back and caught Allie right underneath the nose. Her head jerked back as blood poured out from her nostrils.

"What the fuck, Jimmy!" Jax roared at him.

By now, Chibs had scrambled away from Lyla to tumble into the fray and grab Jimmy by the shoulders to pull him away from Allie. Jax kept his vise grip around Piney's chest, barely getting out of the way when Jimmy kicked out a leg to hit Piney right in the stomach.

"You see what you made me do, you crazy son of a bitch!" Jimmy screamed at him.

Piney jerked and thrashed under Jax's hold and jabbed a finger at Jimmy. "Oh, you did that all by yourself, hot shot."

"Everybody just shut up," Allie's low voice echoed through the commotion. Her voice was calm, sure, but it was laced with a lethal stillness that had the two men halting in surprise. She stepped forward, her petite frame looming in front of them with blood running down her nose. She wiped her nose with her palm, glanced down at the blood coloring her hand, and then sliced her furious eyes back to Piney and Jimmy, who'd both been stupefied into submission.

Jax blinked at her and found himself staring with his mouth slack-jawed. His hold on Piney slipped, and then Piney lunged at Jimmy again, only to be halted by Allie's deadly still voice.

"What the hell is your problem," Allie growled. "Rolling around the parking lot like a pair of fucking assholes. Fighting over something that happened years ago. And guess what? She dropped both of you like a bad habit. Both of you. And you're still acting like big giant babies 20 years later over a woman who clearly doesn't give a shit about either of you...you're making this all about you, when you should be helping her," she jerked a hand at Lyla, who was standing off to the side with tears in her eyes, "how is this helping, huh? How is this making anything better? And you," her eyes dropped to Piney, who stiffened under Jax's grip, "showing up here a day late and a dollar fucking short, blaming my dad like this is all his fault. I didn't see him throwing punches at women, did you?"

She paused long enough to give Piney a chance to answer, wiping her forearm underneath her nose to catch more of the blood that dripped from it. Her dark eyes sparked fire and narrowed dangerously as more crimson moisture pooled underneath her nostrils.

It was terrifying. It also just might have been the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. Either way, all he could do was stare, eyes wide and open-mouthed.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Piney muttered under his breath. "You gonna let her talk to me like that, prez?"

"You think I'm gettin' in the middle of this shit?" Jax huffed out a laugh and shook his head, tightening his grip on Piney's shoulders just for good measure. "You're on your own, old man."

"Well, did you?" Allie prompted again, her chest heaving as she glared daggers at Piney. When he didn't respond, she swiveled her gaze to Jimmy. "And you. Telling him to eat your dick? Did you have a stroke or something? This is your property. This is your studio. Everyone is watching right now. What the hell are you doing?"

Well, Jax had to hand it to her. She had a point.

"You two need to pull your shit together and knock it the hell off. Nobody cares what happened 20 years ago. Nobody. So, pull your big boy pants on and be there for Lyla. That's your job right now. That's what you need to do."

"Honey, I'm sorry -" Jimmy tried, but Allie just shook her head.

"I really don't care, Dad. I really don't," she wiped some more blood from her nose as she spoke and sighed heavily. "I'm gonna go check on Lyla, and then I'm going home. I am done for today."

With that, she turned on her heel and headed straight for Lyla. She was still wiping the blood from her nose as Jax shoved Piney away with pointed instructions to fucking behave himself and then he jogged after her.

"Allie," he called out to her. "Tilt your head back. That'll help the bleeding."

"Leave me alone, Jax," she called back to him, but still, she did as she was told and tilted her head back as she kept walking toward Lyla.

"You alright? You need Chibs to take a look?'

She paused mid-stride, and turned on her heel to face him head-on. Blood dripped down her nose and she caught it with the back of her hand. "Does it look like I'm alright?"

His lips quirked and he had to bite down on his bottom lip to keep a grin from spreading across his face. If she caught him smiling at her right now, he might actually get slapped. She might actually punch him instead, if the fire in her eyes was any indication. And while he had some deep, depraved need to finally get slapped by her, he wasn't real keen on it happening because of this.

"Are you..." Allie's eyes narrowed at him. "Are you actually laughing at me right now? You really think this is funny?"

Jax's hands shot up in the air in defense. "It's not. It's really not."

"Good," she practically hissed and then she reached out to shove him in the chest. "Because none of this would've happened today if you would've listened to me. I told you not to push him. I told you not to make him feel threatened, and you didn't listen. Look at her," she gestured to where Lyla stood, with her face still bloody and bruised, "look at what happened to her today, Jax. It could've been so much worse. What if the baby..." Allie's breath hitched in her throat and she inhaled shakily as if she was trying to swallow back some tears, "that shouldn't have happened, Jax. It never should've come to that. What if Piper had been with her? What if..."

She trailed off again, but he knew what she'd been about to say. What if she'd been in that room? What if her face looked like Lyla's? He knew exactly how he'd feel, how he did feel just thinking about it. He had to blow out a deep breath just to focus again and keep the red spots that colored his vision at bay.

He gingerly rested both hands on top of her shoulders, and when she shoved his hands away, he just brought his hands on top of her shoulders again, this time gripping her more firmly to give her a light shake.

"Hey," he murmured to her. The last thing he wanted to do was fight with her in the middle of this parking lot. This wasn't the time or the place for this kind of discussion, especially not when there were too many eyes on them and too many Reaper cuts around watching to see how he handled her. And at the end of the day, he got it. He really did.

This was on him, whether he was willing to accept it or not.

"I know this was scary today," Jax told her, crouching down a little to meet her more in the eye. "And I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad Piper's okay. And Lyla will be okay too. I can't go back and change what happened, but I'm gonna make it right. You think you can get behind that?"

Allie stared back at him for a moment, her chest heaving even as another trail of blood dripped down her nose and landed right on her white shirt. She jerked her head back, and with her eyes to the sky, she squeezed them shut before sighing heavily.

"Alright, Jax."

And for the first time in a long time today, he felt a genuine smile creep across his face. He gave her shoulders another quick shake before letting his hands slip away.

"So here's what you're gonna do: you're gonna check on Lyla, like you said, then you're gonna let Chibs check out your nose and let one of the prospects get you some ice. Then you're also gonna let one of the prospects drive you home," her lips parted to protest, but he didn't let her cut in, "and then you're gonna go home and relax and by tomorrow, your office will be cleaned up and it'll be like all this shit never happened."

A flicker of irritation flashed across her beautiful face, blood and all, and then, when she pushed out another heavy sigh, he knew he'd won this round, at least for now. And then, because he just couldn't help himself, he pushed.

"So," he threw out lightly, a smirk curving his mouth. "What, exactly, do you do at night to relax and unwind?"

Allie didn't miss a beat. In fact, her dark eyes darted back to him to meet his challenge head-on. "I like to take baths."

His breath choked in his throat, but he recovered just as quickly. Jax rocked back on his heels, regarding her with an appreciative smirk. Well, he hadn't been expecting that, but he'd also learned what happened when he underestimated her, and it usually involved something coming back and biting him on the ass.

"Is that right?" he tossed back at her.

She smiled tightly. "It is."

"Well, I think that sounds like a great plan."

Her eyes lifted to the sky again and she shook her head. "I swear to God, Jax, if you even try to touch me right now, I will smack you in the face so hard..."

His forehead crinkled as he rocked back on his heels again to consider her offer, smirking at the way she stared back at him, daring him to call her bluff.

Tempting. Definitely tempting.

Jax opted to light up a cigarette instead, grinning back at her when she just rolled her eyes. He tapped two fingers to his temple in a mock-salute to leave her to it.

"Have a nice bath tonight, Allie," he grinned at her over his shoulder as he sauntered away.

***

Compared to Sweet Productions with its expansive white columns, clean lines, and just overall expensive and well-cared for building, Lacuna Films was a complete shithole. The lawn, or what was left of it, was so overgrown it was more weeds than grass. The main entrance was just a door barely hanging on its hinges, propped open against the red brick wall with a chair. Anyone could just walk right in without a care in the world.

That's exactly what they did.

Jax strode down the hallway with Opie to his left, with Chibs and Tig dragging their packages behind them, and the rest of the club trailing up the rear, and he was acutely aware that each room in this place was wide open. Moans filled the air, right along with the sounds of skin slapping against skin, and he glanced inside one of the open rooms long enough to see a woman face down on a bed and a man railing into her from behind. Of course, there was a camera two inches away from their faces to capture the action, and a few crew members standing off the side, watching with their hands in their pockets.

Needless to say, the atmosphere was a little different around here. Dirtier. Grimier. If they were lucky, they'd find their target soon, deliver his package, and then they'd be able to leave this place in their dust.

As they made their way down the hallway, a skinny guy in a hipster hat skidded into the hallway. He stopped short at the sight of the long line of Reaper cuts heading straight for him, and Jax grabbed the back of his collar before he could scamper away.

"We're lookin' for Georgie Caruso," he told him a friendly enough tone, but leaned in just enough to stare into the guy's scared eyes with menacing calm. "You think you can point us in the right direction?"

The guy stood frozen to the ground, stunned into silence, and when Jax shook him by the collar to snap him out of it, he lifted a trembling hand toward the one closed door down the hallway.

"He's..." the guy stammered. "He's... in there."

Jax grinned broadly at him, clapped him on the shoulder, and then promptly pushed him out of the way. They closed the distance between them and that closed door in a matter of seconds. He didn't bother to knock. He used his foot instead.

The door kicked out with hardly any effort on his part, and the man sitting behind a desk jumped. The guy definitely wasn't anything to write home about - cheap suit, balding, gold chains around his neck. He was obviously overcompensating for something.

"What the hell?" Caruso spat out, but a moment later, recognition flickered across his face when he got a good look at the leather on Jax's chest. "Shit."

"Yeah," Jax grinned and tilted his head to the side. "Shit is right."

Chibs and Tig hauled the packages up to the front of Caruso's desk and dropped them like a sack of potatoes. Caruso's eyes flicked to the floor, where his two men lay in a crumpled heap. He started to rise from his chair, but Opie was on him before his ass even left the seat.

Opie shoved him back into the chair and held him by the shoulders. "Why don't you have a seat."

"Listen, I -"

"You know," Jax started easily and shoved his hands in his front pockets. No one had their guns drawn, and he was hoping they could keep it that way. "I heard an interesting story today. This guy told it to me," he pointed down to one of the guys on the floor, who'd passed out long ago from the beatdown Opie had delivered to them, "and I gotta say, I didn't wanna believe him at first. It just sounded so fucking stupid, ya know? I mean, how could any sane person think they'd be able to send two of their cronies into Sweet Productions, specifically targeting the wife of the MC's VP who they know is partnered up with Jimmy Sweet, beat the shit outta her, and actually think they'll get away with it. I mean, a sane person doesn't pull that kinda shit, right?"

But the longer they stood there, and the longer Caruso stared back at them in complete defiance, the more Jax realized what was really going on here. The asshole really did think he'd get away with it.

"Oh, I see," Jax grinned good-naturedly, wagging a ringed finger at him. "You thought you were sending us a message. You wanted us to know you were here and that you weren't gonna stand by and let Sweet Productions have any more success than it already has. Well, my friend, message received. We heard you loud and clear."

He flashed Caruso another wide grin as he slipped a hand inside his cut for his cigarette pack. He brought one to his lips and lit it, taking a long pull as he tilted his head to the side, a slow smirk creeping up the side of his face.

"So, here's what's gonna happen," Jax told him, smiling at the way Caruso's eyes widened. "My VP here," he gestured to Opie as he spoke, "is gonna rearrange your face for as long as he damn well pleases. That's a privilege you earned, and there's just no way around it. I think you knew that already anyway. And once that's done, I think we're all in agreement here that that should really be the end of all this shit," and then he leaned forward to look Caruso right in the eye, his voice deathly calm, "because if you so much as breathe in the direction of Sweet Productions or any of its employees ever again, we're gonna come back here and we're gonna burn every inch of this pile of shit studio to the ground. And if that doesn't make its way inside your tiny brain, then we're gonna find you and I'm gonna put a bullet in you myself. So, we clear, bro?"

Caruso blinked once as a bead of sweat dripped into his eyes. He inhaled shakily and nodded.

Of course, Jax had no intention of actually killing the guy, as satisfying as it would be. But Caruso didn't need to know that.

With nothing left to say, Jax took one last pull from his cigarette and handed it off to Opie.

***

By the time he got back to the clubhouse, he was dead on his feet. It was a good thing they'd already sat down for church once already today because he wasn't so sure he had the energy to do it again. All he wanted was something to eat, a beer, and his bed.

Jax sank down into one of the barstools and ran a tired hand through his slicked-back hair. Today was seriously the day that just wouldn't end, and he was ready to turn the page on it. He felt it weighing heavily on him. All of it - that shitshow meeting with Dominic King, the call from Harrison, the shitshow at the studio and everything that had followed...it would be really fucking great to put it behind him, at least if only for the night.

A soft hand slid across his shoulders, and then a finger ran a light trail down his forearm. Jax squeezed his eyes shut and blew out a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, the tall blonde was leaning an elbow on the bar top, her eyelids fluttering a little as her cherry red lips curled back at him. It was clear there'd be very little, if any, work involved for him with this one. Then his gaze flicked to Tig, who was sitting about five feet away from him at the bar with his head in his hands.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one feeling the weight of this day.

He flashed the blonde an easy grin and then tipped his head toward Tig. "Why don't you go see about my boy, darlin'."

The blonde just shrugged, probably figuring she'd get her turn with him later, and sauntered over to Tig. He watched just long enough to see the blonde wrap an arm around Tig's shoulder, and then he snatched his beer off the counter and got the hell out of there.

A few minutes later, he settled back into a chair, letting his head fall back against the headrest. With his lips wrapped around a cigarette and a beer in hand, he wished that would've been enough to help him calm down. He blew out a long stream of smoke from his nostrils, watching the smoke curl and waft through the air until it disappeared over the side of the roof.

Tig might've been feeling responsible for what had happened today at the studio, and maybe a little of that was earned, but the brunt of this landed on his shoulders. Even if there'd been no way to predict how Caruso was going to react to them upping the security at the studio, he'd still been the one to make that call. Jimmy had just agreed and gone along with it.

It had been a knee-jerk reaction. Flex some muscle. Put the shitbird in his place. Send the message that they weren't playing around. The way it had escalated was the exact opposite of what his intention had been in keeping more security there in the first place.

Lyla's bruised and battered face flashed across his mind and he winced from the impact. Old ladies were supposed to be protected - untouchable. He fucking hated that they ended up as targets too. It didn't have to be that way. It shouldn't be that way. Opie shouldn't be at home right now, holding onto his wife while she cried, cleaning the blood from the cuts on her cheeks and hoping they didn't leave scars. They should be at home, enjoying a night together and making plans for their family.

As far as they could tell, though, the baby was okay. Lyla would be okay. And he supposed, at the end of the day, that was all that really mattered.

He just hoped what they'd done today had been enough. If Caruso was smart, he'd listen. He'd go back into that hole he'd crawled out of and they'd never hear from him again. But if he'd learned anything today, it was that the path of least resistance was usually the road not taken.

Caruso might be back. And then they might actually have to make good on those threats, at least one of them. He just hoped it never came to that. He hoped - and he felt like he was doing a lot of that shit lately - that they'd be able to find some other way. That if push came to shove, they wouldn't have to resort to the violence they'd threatened.

Probably a lost cause though. You could shit in one hand and hope in the other...

He blew out another heavy sigh as his eyes drifted up to the sky. There was something he needed to say, and he didn't think he'd even have a shot at getting to sleep tonight if he didn't. So, before he could talk himself out of it, he flipped his prepay open, scrolled down to find her number, and hit send.

After two rings, she answered: "Hello?"

"Hey, darlin'," he smiled into the phone, even though he knew she couldn't see it.

Hearing her voice just felt good.

"Well, hello, Jax," she replied. If he didn't know any better, he could've sworn he heard some faint water splashing in the background. "What can I help you with?"

He grinned. He just couldn't help himself. "Are you...are you in the bathtub right now, Allie?"

"Nope. You really think I'd answer your call if I was in the tub? And even if I was, I'd never tell."

"Yeah," he laughed easily. "That sounds about right."

Maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part.

"Any noises you're hearing right now are strictly coming from my living room. That cackling in the background? That's Dan - he's two hours deep into a Golden Girls marathon on Hulu."

His lips quirked a little. "Whatever you say, darlin'. How's your nose?"

"Ah," she allowed easily. "It's sore. I'm definitely going to have a nasty bruise, but it's not broken, so there's that."

"Good to hear."

"So," Allie tried again. "It's almost 10:00, Jax. What can I help you with at this hour? I really don't think you called just to ask about my nose. Do I need to add an amendment to our terms of engagement that specify which hours, specifically, constitute as work hours for me and which ones don't?"

"Well," he shot back with a smile. "Seeing as though this isn't the first time we've communicated outside of normal work hours, you've conditioned me to believe that if I contact you, no matter what time, you'll respond. Now who's fault is that?"

Her laugh reverberated through the phone and he found himself grinning at the sound. He needed to hear her laugh more often.

"I guess that's true, but all those other times have been text messages, Jax. This is the first time you've called me. Is everything okay?"

Jax pushed out another heavy sigh. It was funny, they'd only been on the phone a few minutes, and already, he felt lighter somehow. More at ease.

"Yeah," he pushed out roughly and ran his hand through his hair again as he leaned back in his chair. "Everything's fine."

"Okay."

He could feel her hesitating, feel the question that was right there below the surface. If everything's okay, then why are you calling?

Because I just wanted to hear your voice didn't seem like the right answer. At least, not an answer he felt he could say out loud. That would be pretty fucking ridiculous. Of course he hadn't called just to hear her voice. It was an added perk, sure, and her laugh was a bonus he hadn't counted on, but that wasn't the reason why.

"I guess I just wanted to say that..." he trailed off, fumbling for the right words. "Everything that happened today, you were right, you know," he let her sit with that for a moment before pressing on. "Maybe I couldn't have known for sure what was going to happen - and maybe it would've happened anyway. But you warned me, and I didn't listen. I should've listened. What happened today was my fault. It's on me."

"Jax -"

"I know what you're gonna say," he smiled sadly. "You're gonna tell me that I wasn't the one who punched Lyla in the face, and maybe that's true, but I was the one who led those guys there, wasn't I? If I hadn't pushed the issue with your dad, we never would've had the club there on security detail. He obviously found out about it, just like you said he would, and he also reacted exactly the way you said he would too. That's on me."

Allie sighed, and after a moment, he heard her voice again: "I understand, Jax."

He nodded tightly, his eyes fixed out into the night sky. He needed her to understand. He needed her to really get it.

"Everything the club does now...that's all on me. Before, I always had Clay standing over my shoulder, judging every little thing I did, and even if he wasn't always right and even if sometimes I just wanted to clock him for not trusting me, at the end of the day, I always had that safety net, you know? Nothing I did and nothing I wanted made it to the table unless Clay brought it there. My VP patch was still second-tier, second-in-command, and I always had that fall-back. If an idea I had was really aisine or even fucking dangerous, Clay always knew when to pull it back. And now that safety net is gone. And I...if we're really gonna turn things around, if we're gonna be better, than I have to be better too, you know?"

She was silent for a moment, and then she spoke again, "Yeah, I know."

Jax nodded again, satisfied with just hearing her say those words out loud. "I'm trying, Allie. I'm trying really fucking hard. And I feel..." he blew out a deep breath, unable to believe the words that were about to come out of his mouth, "I feel like I'm just failing miserably right now."

When she didn't respond, he pushed on.

"Ope might've beat the shit outta those guys and outta Caruso, but he really shoulda been throwin' those punches my way too. I set Lyla up for that. I mean, of course Caruso was gonna see the club as a threat and go after the one person who was connected to both the studio and the club. I should've seen that coming. I thought as long as we had a body there, that would be enough. And it wasn't."

He heard her breathing over the phone, and now he just couldn't stop himself.

"You know I can't even find the guy who shivved Clay in Stockton? Clay might as well have been my dad...he was my president...and I can't even find the guy who killed him. We had to hire a fucking private investigator because there's just no sign of that piece of shit anywhere."

"I'm sorry, Jax."

He nodded again, a flicker of a smile crossing his face at the sound of her voice. "Nothin' to be sorry about, darlin'. I might be failing pretty spectacularly right now, but I'm...I'm gonna try harder. I just wanted you to know that."

He just needed her to know that he wasn't a complete fuck-up, even if he'd completely fucked this whole situation up. He needed her to know that he was doing the best he could, even if his best wasn't really good enough right now. He wished he could tell her nothing like this was ever going to happen again, but he didn't really want to make her a promise he couldn't keep.

And...saying the words out loud, saying that he was failing, it just made it feel all the more real. He really was failing. Maybe the club had the best of intentions in going legitimate and getting out of guns, but what headway had they really made in the last few months? They had the partnership with Jimmy in their pockets and a rental property they hadn't even closed on yet. That wasn't enough. It wasn't even in the ballpark of being enough. Not to mention that both of those investments would take real time before the club ever really saw a return. They needed more and they needed it fast if they had a real shot.

"Okay, Jax," Allie was saying now. "And for what it's worth - I don't think you're failing. You're doing the best you can with the information and the resources you have. That's the best anyone can do. You've only been doing this for three months now, right? You've got the club pointed in the right direction. You just need to keep it pointed that way and I think everything's gonna be fine."

He had to smile at those words. For someone who wasn't really around the club much these last few years, that was pretty naive. Too many things could still go wrong. Caruso could come back. They could start bleeding cash on these investments. They could have trouble actually getting those investments, although now that Allie was involved, he had to admit the odds of that were less likely. They could get pulled deeper and deeper into guns before they really had their way out. The club could get pulled into an all-out cartel war if Darby really was hiding out in Mexico. There were so many ways he could fuck this up it wasn't funny, and the stakes were higher than they'd ever been in his entire life.

But hearing those words from her - anyone else and he wouldn't have even thought about actually taking them seriously. But she had no reason to lie. No reason to bullshit him. No reason to do anything but tell the truth the way she saw it. That was what she did for a living anyway, and the club paid her generously to do it. And even if she was only saying that to him because she was his lawyer, and because he paid her to tell him the truth, it mattered.

It really did.

"Thanks, Allie," he murmured. "You have a good night."

"You too, Jax."

He swallowed hard as he snapped his prepay shut and slipped it back inside his cut. There was a part of him that wanted to keep her on the phone longer. There was also a part of him that figured she'd probably bill him for that time too. He'd probably deserve it.

And as he took a long drag from his cigarette, letting the smoke drift out of his nostrils in lazy loops, he closed his eyes and finally felt like he could breathe.