Tara wakes with a pounding head and a heavy heart.

The picture of a nameless blonde riding her husband's dick is burned into her mind and no amount of alcohol in the world will ever be able to wipe that memory away. She remembers nothing but the feel of the blonde's nose crunching beneath her fist and the pain of her knuckles splitting open as they connected with soft skin as that old seething anger burned through her veins. Jax had pulled her back against his naked chest and the whispers of her beloved husband pleading with her to stop echoed in her ear. Tara had twisted away from him and thrown back her fist and clocked him in the jaw. Jax's head had snapped back, and though she ached to do more damage, she couldn't bear to be near him any longer. "Don't you dare touch me you piece of fucking shit!" she had spat at him. She pushed past him and met every eye of the Sons who now stood in the open doorway to see what the commotion was about. Not one of them met her eye as she passed them and walked through the clubhouse with her head held high. The whispers and the stares of croweaters followed her out all the way to the car until she was pulling away and driving as fast as she could.

Tara remembers feeling the anger coursing through her veins and the tears that threatened to fall. He loves you, she told herself. This is just part of the life. But there were no excuses that could be made this time. As she drove past the You are now leaving Charming sign, Tara had spared a thought for her boys stuck with Gemma and pressed down on the accelerator. She drove for a long while hoping to distract herself from the image of her husband with another woman, until she couldn't take it any longer and had stopped at the first bar she came across. After her first shot turned into her second, and then her third and forth her memories become fuzzy.

The tears spring to Tara's eyes and though she keeps them shut, a couple manage to escape anyway. She buries her face into her pillow and lets herself release one gut wrenching sob before she pushes all thoughts of Jackson Teller away.

He will not break her. She can survive without him if need be. Since Opie's death, she has become quite accustomed to Jax's long silences and cold stares. Wounds that she had thought healed between them years before have come back, and despite her best efforts, she cannot see the man that she loves in the man who she wakes up next to each morning.

With Abel and Thomas in mind, Tara forces herself to open her eyes, and she immediately wishes that she hadn't bothered.

The room that she wakes in is not her own. Tara's breath catches in her throat as she pushes herself up off the unfamiliar bed. She clutches the silk sheet to her naked chest as she notices an empty bottle of tequila and clothes flung carelessly across the floor. There's a delicious ache between her legs that tells her how she spent her night and if that didn't clue her in, then the smell of sex that lingered in the air certainly did.

Tara pushes away the guilt that settles in her stomach as the word adulteress whispers in her mind. Jax cheated first. Endless times as far as she considered. This isn't the same.

Except that it totally is.

Trying to quell the panic bubbling in her chest, Tara wraps the expensive sheet around herself as if it is battle armor. She cautiously makes her way to her bag and grabs her phone, all the while keeping a wary eye out for the mysterious man who had shared her bed last night.

She's glaring at the twelve missed calls on her phone, most of which are from Gemma wondering where the fuck she is, when the bathroom door opens revealing a freshly showered man.

Tara shrieks and drops her phone in surprise. Far quicker than any hungover person has any right to be, Tara scrambles for her bag and pulls out the gun she carries at all times and points it at the intruder in a panic. She backs away as quickly as possible until her back hits the wall.

The man's eyes widen in surprise and holds his hands up in surrender. "Hey, hey. Calm down lover! Was last night really that bad?"

"Who the hell are you?" Tara spits out.

"Wow, really? You don't remember me?" Tara shakes her head. The man looks offended as he explains, "You came home with me last night. You remember in the bar?" Tara shakes her head again. "This is my place. Look lover, I'm not gonna hurt you." He takes two steps closer to her until she raises the gun with steady hands.

"Back off!"

He rolls his eyes. "Do you even know how to use that thing Princess?" Tara clicks off the safety and raises an eyebrow. "Okay. Point taken." There's a trace of a smile on his face and mirth in his eyes as he stares her down with cool confidence.

The door opens and in walks an older woman with beautiful long black hair. She gives Tara the once over with an amused smile and raises an eyebrow at the man. "Nice. Listen, I hate to interrupt your post coital ritual, but you have an appointment. Can you wrap this up?" she says with a husky voice, waving her hand at Tara dismissively.

She ignores her, and whilst they chat away as if she is not in the room, she studies the man before her. He's got quite a few years on her, all dark hair but graying beard. He looks good, really good. All toned muscles and dark skin despite his age. His warm eyes flick back to hers every few seconds springs something warm in her chest. The scar on his chest makes her pause for a moment, and then she notices the tattoos and she begins to realize with dark amusement that maybe she has a type.

She jumps back to reality when the door slams closed. They stare at one another, and God damn him and that infuriating little smirk, but she starts to loosen her hold on her gun.

His smile widens. "Look lover, all the shit that went down last night, it was all consensual. In fact, you initiated it. And who am I to say no to a woman as beautiful as you?" Despite herself she can feel a blush forming on her cheeks. Jesus, she feels like a giggling schoolgirl. "I'm pretty sure we had fun. You gonna put the gun down now lover?"

Tara eyes him for a moment before sighing heavily. She clicks on the safety and puts the gun back in her bag.

The man smiles. "Good. You're welcome to use my shower. I'm gonna head downstairs, have some coffee. You're welcome to join me lover, but if you want to sneak off then that's cool too." He steps closer to her and holds out his hand. "I'm Nero, in case you don't remember. And it was a pleasure meeting you Tina."

Tara stares at his hand incredulously. "Tina?" she says in disbelief.

The man, Nero, raises an eyebrow. "Yeah. You said your name is Tina." Tara's blush deepens when he smirks. "Well, I guess that the number you gave me is gonna be wrong too, huh lover?"

Tara remains silent, but nonetheless she's thankful when Nero drops his hand and winks at her before leaving her alone.

She's grateful for the shower. She stays in there for a long time, washing away all of the shit that went down yesterday. The image of Jax and his latest blonde is replaced with the image of Nero's head between her thighs, his brown eyes locked on her face as he watches her reaction. Despite herself, a spark of desire ignites deep in her belly. She doesn't know if it's a memory or just her imagination, but decides that it's better to forget all about Nero for his sake and her own.

She spares a thought of Jax's reaction if he knew what she was up to last night, but she pushes the thought away uneasily.

She dresses quickly, grabs her things and is out of the door like a shot. Sparing a brief thought as to where she's left her car, it takes her moment to notice the various women in short skirts and slinky dresses. She raises an incredulous eyebrow and for an absurd moment all she wants to do is laugh.

"You want breakfast?" Tara jumps out of her skin and and turns to see an amused Nero staring at her.

"Are you a pimp?" she asks, trying to sound unaffected, though is very presence has her a quivering bag of nerves.

"I prefer the term companionater. I bring folks together. I'm all about the love."

Her lips twitch into a reluctant smile despite her current predicament. This Nero has a certain charm about him, and she can easily see how she fell into his bed last night. "Well, that's an unusual way to phrase it."

Nero smirks, and she would be lying if she said that it doesn't make her stomach flutter in the way exact same way Jax used to. He takes a step closer and tilts his head curiously. "I'm guessing that I'm not going to be seeing you again, am I lover?"

Unable to find words, Tara shakes her head.

Nero's smirk falls slightly, but his dancing eyes stare at her intently. "You married or something?"

She considers lying, but she's already feeling pretty rotten about giving him a fake name and number and perhaps it's best he hears the truth on the off chance he learns who her husband is. "Yes," Tara says simply, not offering him an excuse or explanation.

"I see," Nero hums. "Where's your ring?"

"Huh?"

"Where's your wedding ring lover?"

Tara looks at her left hand and tries to squash the panic as she realizes that it's completely bare. "Shit," Tara breathes,

"Listen lover, it's no sweat. You probably just left it in your car or something. Let me take you back to your car, or I can call you a cab if you prefer and you can forget that this ever happened."

It's not what she wants. She wants to stay here a little longer with this refreshing man and forget about her problems with Jax and her constant feud with Gemma. She wants to feel like herself again just for a few minutes, even if it's just getting a coffee with this strange man.

But she can't. She has responsibilities and a life to get back to. A life that may not be what she expected it to be, but it's what she chose, and now she's facing the consequences.

"A ride would be good. Thank you," Tara says quietly, trying to convey her appreciation with her eyes.

"Let me get my keys," he says quietly. Tara watches him wearily as he walks over to what she assumes is the reception. He stands close to the woman who had walked in on them earlier and says something she can't quite catch, but the woman's cold eyes meet hers briefly before they flick back to Nero. Tara swallows tightly, trying to ignore the unease in her belly. Nero looks back at her and smiles softly. He doesn't spare the other woman a look as he walks back to her. "Follow me." He leads her through a maze of corridors, and the sounds coming from behind the closed doors has her flushing. Nero looks over his shoulders and raises his eyebrows but otherwise remains silent. Eventually he leads her outside and to an expensive truck. She hides her smile as he opens the passenger door for her, holding out his hand to help her in.

She gets in and frowns at their still joined hands. "I don't know where I left my car-"

"It's all good. You left it at the bar." Tara nods and wrenches her eyes away, wondering how the fuck she's gong to deal with Gemma, and she can't even bare to think about laying eyes on Jax. But she knows that she can't hide away forever, and she's really missing her boys.

"Chin up lover," Nero says, his eyes tight despite the perkiness of his voice. "You will be rid of me in no time." He shuts the car door before she can reply which is probably for the best, because she really doesn't want to be rid of him just yet.