Chapter 1

Pulling up to the TM lot, I walk up to the office door and knock on the open doorframe. "Yeah." the woman behind the desk answered. "I'm here for an interview with Gemma?" I say. "You must be Maura." she said, standing up. I walk into the office and shake her hand and say "Yes ma'am." She smile a little and says "Have a seat." I do as she says and she starts asking me a few question. "Okay, I have to tell you. We are connected to the MC so working here means you are going to hear a lot of foul mouths and back talk. Does that bother you?" she asked. "Nope. But don't be surprised if I mouth off back to them." I say. "I like you already. Now if you work here, you don't see shit, you don't hear shit, you don't know shit. If we have lockdown, you will be here helping. It's all part of the package." she says. "Works for me. It'll feel good being a part of something again." I tell her and she looks at me confused. "The last place I worked, back in Tennessee, we were a family. We took care of each other. But when the business shut down we all went our separate ways." I explain. "Well, we are family here and family comes first no matter what. You will work six days a week and we will pay you well. Where are you staying?" she asked. "I just have a room at the hotel right now until I can find a place." I say. "Well, you can go get your things. You can save money better staying in one of the dorm rooms in the clubhouse." she says. "I don't want to overstep." I say. "You aren't sweetheart. You work for us now and we take care of our own." I nod my head "Thank you Gemma." She smiles again and says "Let's let you meet everybody."

We walk into the clubhouse and see a bunch of guys in kuttes with the SOA Reaper on them. "Guys this is Maura. She's starting work here in the morning. When I'm not in the office she's in charge." Gemma says "Holy Shite a mini Gemma." the one with the Scottish accent says. "Guess that means don't piss me off." I say with a smirk and he walks over and says "You, Lass, are going to fit in just fine. My name's Chibs." Smiling, I hold out my hand. "Nice to meet you Chibs." Gemma turns and introduces me to everyone else. "These goons here are Tig, Juice, Bobby, Half Sack, Happy and Kozik. And this is my son Jax." she says. "Nice to meet you guys." I say. "So, which one of you assholes wants to go help her get her things from the motel while I get her dorm ready?" she asked and the one named Kozik speaks up. "I got her Gem." Smiling she says "Thank you baby. Maura, Koz will follow you to the motel and help you get your things and I'll have your room ready when you get back." I nod and say "Thanks again Gemma." and I walk out the door with Kozik behind me and I hear Gemma say "Watch her Koz." I wonder what she means by that?

Walking to my car, I hear Koz whistle. "Damn. This your cage?" he asked. "Yeah. Rebuilt it with my dad before he died. This was our baby." I say about my 1967 Shelby. "Nice." he says. I get in the car and wait for him to get on his bike before pulling out of the lot with him following. As we pull up to the motel, I take my key and unlock the door. "I'll get my things packed back up. Can you take the key and check me out?" I asked. "Sure. Be right back." he says before running off to the office. A couple of minute later he comes back with an envelope. "I got him to refund since you aren't staying." he says. I looked at him a little shocked and said "Thanks. I didn't think they would refund." He smirks and says "Well, he's a friend of the club." I nod my head in understanding. "So, you have a southern accent. Where are you from?" he asked. "I'm from Tennessee. You?" I asked, making conversation. "Tacoma. Patched Redwood couple months ago." he says. "Nice. Gemma said I'd be staying in one of the dorms?" I asked. "Yeah. Most of us have houses but we all have dorm rooms to stay in if we don't want to go home." he says "You mean when you Old Lady kicks your ass?" I asked. "Yeah. But I don't have to worry about that shit." he says sitting on the bed, leaning back. It's a really nice view, too. "Why's that? No home or no Old Lady?" I asked as I put the last of my things in the suitcase. "Both. Only family I have here is the club so don't need a house yet." he says. "What about back home?" I asked. "I sold my house when I patched. And no girl back home either." he said and I raised my brow. "Are all of you guys so cocky?" I asked as he picked up a couple of suitcases. "Confident Sweetheart. We're confident." he says and I can't help but laugh. He helps me put the suitcases in the car and we head back to TM.

Pulling onto the lot. Half Sack and Juice come running up to help get my things. I ended up not carrying anything in but my purse. "Juice can show you to your dorm." Gemma said. "Thanks again Gemma. This means a lot." I tell her. She hugs me and the Juice shows me to my room. "Here you go. Sheets are clean and there are towels in the bathroom and extras in the laundry room. It's at the end of the hall last door on the left. There's a community bathroom at the end of the hall." he tells me. "Thanks Juice." I say. "I'll leave you to unpack. If you need anything just let one of us know." I smile as he walks out the door. He is really sweet. Almost too sweet to be a biker. I start to unpack and hear a knock on the door. Opening it, Jax is standing there. "Hey Darlin. I just wanted to make sure you were okay staying here with a bunch of guys?" he asked. "I'm good. I grew up with five older brothers and in a garage. This is actually comforting if that makes sense." I tell him. We both laugh and he says "Well, if you need anything, let one of us know. There are going to be some girls around here most of the time. They are croweaters. Don't pay them any mind but don't take any shit off them either. You are one of us now so make sure they show you respect." he said. "I will. Thanks again for this." He nods and walks out to leave me to unpack.

After getting most of my things unpacked, I head out to the main room. "So what's the plan tonight?" I asked and Half Sack said "It's Friday night. We have a party." Smiling I say "Good. That will give me a chance to relax a little." I see people start filing in and see several girls wearing next to nothing. Those must be the croweaters Jax was telling me about. I decided that I would just hang out at the bar for a while. "Beer?" Sack asked. "Please." I answered and went to get into my pocket. "We don't charge." he says. "Sweet." I take a drink and a guy walks up beside me. I glance at him and see he isn't wearing a kutte and Sack is watching him so I know he's not a member or prospect. "You must be new." he says while putting his arm on the back of my chair. "And yet not interested." I tell him. "I didn't think croweaters said no." he asked smirking. "Then maybe you should ask one of them." I say. "Come on. I just want to have a little fun." he says and starts rubbing my back. Placing my hand on his cheek like I am giving in, I slam his face into the bar and say "Yet still not interested." before getting up out of my chair. Tig walks over with Kozik and says "Shit girl. Now I see what you mean about not pissing you off. Nice move." Laughing I say "Grew up with five older brothers. Had to learn to defend myself early." Grinning Tig says "Look like your girl here can handle her own shit." I look at him and Koz smirks and says "Oh yeah she can." Tig grabs the guy and heads out the door with him. "Your girl?" I asked with a mischievous look. "I don't remember you asking me to be your girl." He leans in and says where only I can hear. "I haven't yet. But I will." he says before walking off, leaving me shaking my head.

The next morning, it's Saturday and I am up at 7am. I start the coffee pot and it's brewing when Gemma walks in. "Early riser. I like that." she says "Yeah. I don't sleep much. Late to bed, early to rise. It's the only way to get shit done." I say. We pour our coffee and head out to the office. We are there for over an hour before the guys start filing in to clock in. Most of the grumble 'good morning' and we just laugh at how bad they are dragging. Happy and Kozik come in and I say "Morning guys. Coffee's fresh if you want some." They both look at me and Happy nods and grabs a cup while Kozik smiles and says "Morning Rocky. Thanks for the Joe." and walks out to the garage. "Rocky?" Gemma asked. "Yeah, I kinda helped a guy introduce his face to the bar last night when he thought I was a croweater." I tell her. He burst out laughing and says "God I hope someone got that on video." Just as she says it Juice speaks up and says "Hell yeah I did." Great. He pulls out his phone and shows it to Gemma. "Holy shit. You really fucked him up." she says. "Have to say I'm a little proud right now. Where the hell did you learn that move?" she asked. "My brothers told me to use my cuteness to my advantage because guys wouldn't think that I was as evil as I really am. They started teaching me how to fight when I was about five years old. Got in my first fight in Kindergarten when another girl stole my crayon." I tell her. Laughing she says "You are gonna fit in really good here." She gets me started on entering some of the invoices and where to file them and says "I am going to see my grandson. Call me if you need anything." she says. "I'm sure I'll be fine." I tell her. The work is not hard, there's just a lot of it.

Around lunch time, Jax walks over and says "I'm heading to the diner to pick up lunch. Want anything?" I nod my head and say "Yeah, cheeseburger and fries would be great." I say and go to get some money out of my pocket but Jax stops me. "I got it." "Are you sure?" I asked. "Yeah. It's good. I'll be back in a few." he says and heads to the tow truck. After Jax comes back with the food, Chucky comes into the office. "Head out to the tables. I'll watch the office." he says "Are you sure Chucky? I can eat and work." I asked. "It's no bother, madam." he says and I thank him and head out to the tables. I sit down and, of course, Kozik sits on one side of me and Happy on the other. Jax hands me my food and we start eating. "So, tell us a little more about where you're from?" Jax asked. "I am from a small town in Tennessee. No mom. Dad gone. Five brothers that all went their separate ways. There was nothing left there so I decided that since I always wanted to come to California that this was my next destination." I say. "Well, we're all glad you're here." Kozik says as he puts his arm around my shoulder. Removing his arm I tell him, "Just remember the last guy that touched me without permission Kozi." I said smirking and all the guys laughed. Even Happy.

After lunch I say "I gotta head back. Thanks for lunch Jax." He smiles and says "No problem." I was in the office for a while and a dark haired woman walks in. "Oh sorry. I thought Gemma was in here." she says. "Oh she stepped out. Can I help you?" I asked. "You must be the new girl." she says. I hold out my hand and say "Maura. And you are?" She shakes my hand and says "Tara." I smile wide and say "Jax's Old Lady. He told me a little about you. Nice to meet you." I say. "Yeah. He said you were staying in one of the dorms. If you ever want to get out for a while, I could show you around." she offered. "I will definitely keep that in mind. Thanks. I think Gemma said she was going to see her grandson but Jax should be in the clubhouse." I tell her. "Thanks." she says before heading inside to find Jax. "I see you met Tara." I hear a voice say and about jump out of my skin. "Kozik. Fuck. You scared the shit out of me." I say. "Sorry. Hey I wanted to apologize for putting my arm around you. I didn't want to piss you off." he says. "It's good Kozik. I was just fucking with you. It didn't bother me. I knew you were just being a perv." I say and we both laugh. "Well, I gotta finish this truck or Gemma will have my balls. I just wanted to make sure we were good." he says. "Yeah, surfer boy, we're good." I say and he heads back out to the garage. Fuck. Sexy and sweet. I better watch myself around him.