September 22nd

Gemma

"Gemma!" a voice calls out on the other side of the door.

Slowly I make my way to my feet as the door opens. It had taken me a long time to get my clothes on. I needed to get home and take a long hot shower, hopefully it would remove the feel of them off my skin.

"Oh, my god!" Unser exclaims seeing the state that I am in. Even dressed it was clear what had happened.

"Get me out of here." I hiss slightly as he finishes helping me to my feet.

Slowly we make our way to his car.

He puts the car into gear, backing away from the warehouse.

"How did you know where to find me?" I ask when I notice my car parked a little ways down the road.

"Recognized the description of the car over the radio." Unser states nodding to my car as we pass it.

"Anonymous tip?" I scoff.

"What's going on, Gemma? You gotta tell me something."

"Where are you going?" I ask noticing the direction he is going and ignoring his question.

"St. Thomas. We need to get you to the hospital."

"No." I state pulling the blanket he had given me tighter around me.

"Gemma…"

"No hospital."

"Where am I supposed to go then, Gemma?"

Swallowing, I hold out my hand. "Give me your phone."

He does and slowly I dial a number I didn't really want to call.

"Tara…" I say the moment she picks up.


"I can't help you if I don't know what happened." Tara says as she puts a kit down on her coffee table in front of me.

"Use your imagination." I scoff, winching as she starts treating the cuts on my forehead.

I notice Tara swallow hard and figures she figured out what happened.

"We need to get you to the hospital. I can't treat you correctly in my living room." Tara states.

"I'd have to check in. Everyone would know…" I sigh feeling numb.

"So we'll use Abel. We'll sign him in. Claim that we're running more tests. No one will question it. We'll stop by Jax's place…" Tara starts.

I scoff on how out of the loop the Doc is, "Jax hasn't been at that house in months. His place has been on the market for nearly a month. He and Abel are all but moved in with Bella."

"Oh...I see. If you have Bella's number, I'll call her saying that I need her to bring Abel in, that I need to recheck some of his tests."

"And the instant she sees me, she'll know something is going on." I scoff.

"I'll tell her something. I'll figure it out." Tara says standing up after I rattle off Bella's number.

"I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this." I tell Unser.

"Gemma…" Unser says giving me that 'you gotta be kidding' look.

"No one can know. Not Jax. Especially not Clay. The animals that did this wanted me to pass a message. I won't start a war in my town." I tell him.

"What message?" Unser asks.

"You don't need to know because I'm not letting it happen. Promise me." I tell him trying not to let me voice waver.

"All right. I won't say anything." Unser says turning to look at Tara still talking on the phone.


Bella

I lean back into Jax as he starts kissing my neck, trying to keep me in the bed.

"We need to get up." I laugh softly not really wanting to get out of the bed.

"Why?" he asks moving his hands underneath my shirt.

"Abel will wake up soon. Plus my brother is here." I say softly smiling as he nuzzles my neck.

He groans slightly, "Don't care." he says pulling me back to lay under him and slowly pushes my shirts up over my hips as he kisses me.

I start scratching up and down his back when my phone starts ringing.

"Leave it." he groans against my mouth.

"Can't. It could be important." I say rolling out from under him to answer.

"Hello?" I asks not recognizing the number.

"Bella? It's Tara Knowles."


I quickly dry off, trying not to think about what Dr. Knowles had told me.

"Why did she call you?" Jax asks wrapping a towel around himself. He had joined me when I had jumped in the shower.

"She wasn't able to get ahold of Gemma and she didn't think that you would answer her call. Besides, I was the one she spoke to at Abel's appointment." I tell him shrugging as I put on my black leggings and an oversized sweater. I didn't bother with a bra or underwear. I needed to get Abel out of bed and get the two of us to the hospital.

"I thought all his tests came back saying he was doing good?" he asks grabbing a pair of jeans and boxers to put on.

"She's a little worried about switching his formula and wants me to bring him in to see how he is adjusting to it." I tell him hating that I was keeping something so serious from him but until I knew what was going on I wasn't saying anything.

"You know what, give me a few and I'll come with." he says as I leave the room to get Abel ready.

I grab his wookie onesie to go under his black and white hooded sleeper. I make sure to have a dry diaper ready.

"Come on Padawan, time to get up." I say softly taking Abel out of his crib.

It only takes a few minutes to clean him up and get him dressed.

"Quick bottle then we gotta go." I say heading to to put him in his bouncy chair while I get a bottle ready.

"Hey do you want something to eat?" Donna asks from the stove when I enter the kitchen.

Opie and Ellie are sitting at the table having breakfast.

"No time." I say smiling at Opie, who holds out his hands for Abel. I place Abel in his hold and head over to the cabinet next to the fridge.

"Everything okay?" Donna asks.

"Yeah, the doc called wants to see how Padawan is adjusting to the new formula." I say getting a bottle ready.

"Do you want company?" Donna asks.

"It's okay. You guys just hang out here. Make sure that pool gets used." I tell her with a smile as the back door opens and Kenny walks in with Soluna.

"Sounds good to me." Donna agrees as Kenny washes his hands before sitting down to eat.

"Hey baby, I'm gonna need to meet you at the hospital." Jax says coming up behind me as I take Abel from Opie.

"What's up?" I ask as Abel starts drinking.

"Clay called, seems he needs me for a meet with Laroy." he tells me the rest softly so that Donna and the kids don't hear before dropping a light kiss on my shoulder.

"You need me?" Opie asks as Soluna sits down next to his chair watching him eat his bacon.

"Nay, I'll give ya a call if it changes." Jax says picking up a piece of bacon off the plate in the middle of the table. "Soluna…" he calls getting her attention before throwing her a piece of the bacon as he leaves.


Jax

"Yeah, I'll send someone." Clay says as I get off my bike.

"What's up?" I ask Tig.

He just shrugs.

"Otto wants to talk." Clay states hanging up the phone.

"I'll head up. I'll just let Bella know that I won't be coming to the hospital." I say with a shrug.

"Everything okay?" Clay asks looking a little concerned.

"Tara called Bella saying that she wants to give Abel a couple more tests."

"Thought that bitch was leaving." Tig states.

"She better if she knows what's good for her." I state hoping that the feeling in my gut that Tara is trying to ruin my relationship with Bella is wrong.

"Captain Black is here." Tig says under his breath as Laroy pulls in.

"You look like shit." Clay starts.

"Yeah, I'm tired. Recreational H is drying up." Laroy states. "And it seems some fucker laid a dead Mayan in their territory flashing our sign."

"I could see them killing one of their own." Tig says with a shrug.

"We're fighting over junkies." Laroy says with a humorless laugh as he rubs his eyes.

"How can we help?" I ask trying to get the conversation over with.

"Going to need at least two dozen AKs." Laroy tells us.

Clay nods, "We can do that."

"They'll be simple though. No scopes or mods." I tell him.

"Need them tonight." Laroy states.

"I'll call you with the location." Clay says holding out his hand to shake Laroy's in agreement. Laroy is getting back into his car when Unser pulls up. He watches as Laroy pulls away.

"I thought we don't do that shit here." Unser says.

Clay just rolls his eyes.

"What's up?" Tig asks when I notice that Unser looks uncomfortable.

"There's a car out by the power and water construction site." Unser says.

"Call the garage." Clay tells him.

"It's Gemma's caddy. She must have run off the road." Unser finishes quickly.

"She okay?" Tig asks.

"Where is she?" Clay asks.

"She alright?" I ask as the three of us get on our bikes.

"She's at St. Thomas." Unser says.

I pull out my phone and send a text to Bella.

Baby ~ ma is at the hospital, Unser says her car went off the road. Can you see if they'll let you stay with her, give Donna a call at the house so she and Opie know whats going on. Clay and I are on our way there now.

"You're just telling me this shit now!?" Clay exclaims pissed off as he starts the bike.

Anything that Unser was going to say was met with a cloud of dust as the three of us took off for St. Thomas.


Gemma

"There is a number of small tears." Tara tells me.

We had gotten lucky and we had arrived at the hospital the instant Bella had gotten there with Abel. I was pissed when it was clear that she knew that something had happened. I was able to get her to promise to keep this on the downlow, she didn't like it but she understood keeping our boys safe.

She stayed sitting right next to me holding a sleeping Abel during most of the exam. She didn't try to coddle me and it felt good.

I flinch as Tara moves away.

"The tears will heal on their own. I'm going to start you on antibiotics right away." Tara says.

"Why?" Bella asks.

"It's standard procedure to treat most common STDs before the test results come back." Tara says as I sit up.

Tara starts placing bandages on the cuts on my face.

"You should have a plastic surgeon look at this." Tara says as she sets my broken nose.

"I've been hit before." I mutter under my breath.

"Shit." Bella says taking out her phone. She quickly does some quick typing.

"What?" I ask as she stands up holding out her phone to me.

I quickly glance at the text on the screen.

Baby ~ ma is at the hospital, Unser says her car went off the road. Can you see if they'll let you stay with her, give Donna a call at the house so she and Opie know whats going on. Clay and I are on our way there now.

"Unser." I growl as someone knocks on the door.

"Sorry to interrupt but can I speak to Gemma?" Unser asks as he enters the room.

"You son of a bitch." I hiss at him as Tara turns to the desk in the room.

"Gemma…" Bella says softly placing her hand on my wrist. I was clenching my fist so hard that I had broken the skin.

"Shit." I mutter.

"They don't know. I told Clay and Jax that you were in a car accident." Unser tells me.

"Yeah, I know." I mutter nodding towards Bella's phone. "Why?"

"Gemma, think about. It's pretty clear that something happened. An accident would explain some of it." Bella says as Unser nods.

"Yeah. I ran your caddy into the concrete barrier out by the shed. Take my head off if you want but that was the only way that we could sell this." Unser says giving me a look.

Bella's phone goes off.

"They're here. I'm gonna go to the waiting room. Do you want me to send Clay back?" she asks.

"I don't want to see him yet." I tell her.

She nods in slight understanding.

"I'll come out in a couple minutes." Tara says as Bella leaves the room with Abel.


Bella

"Hey.. I was just coming to find you." Jax says as I head towards the waiting room.

He kisses my head as I lean against him.

"Hey little man." he says softly as Abel stretches towards him. He takes my Padawan out of my hold and wraps his arm around my shoulders as we head back the way he came.

"How is she?" Clay ask when he notices the three of us.

"Sore, Doc Knowles will be out in a little bit." I tell him.

"Gemma okay?" Donna asks as she, Opie and the kids come into the waiting room with a few of the boys behind them.

"Tara's taking care of her." Clay tells them as we sit down.

"Clay." Tara says coming into the room.

Clay stands as Tara looks around the room.

"She's okay. She's going to be sore. When she hit the barrier, she took a good shot to the face. I was able to set her nose but there is some swelling. I'm going to run a few more tests but she should be able to go home later today."

Everyone seems to breath a sigh of relief with the news.

"Can I see her?" Clay asks in soft tone that I had never heard come out of his mouth.

Tara shakes her head 'no'. "It's going to be a while."

"Thanks for taking care of her doc." Clay says turning to sit back down to wait.

Tara nods before leaving the room.

I lean against Jax watching as Kenny and Ellie sit down with Donna.

"How's the kid?" Jax asks.

"He's okay. Taking to the new stuff like a champ, she said to keep doing what we are doing." I tell him smiling down at Abel.

I groan when I feel my phone start to vibrate.

"There you are." Unser says going right to Clay to whisper something to him.

"Shit…" Clay says looking over at Jax.

"What?" Jax asks.

"Need you to see Otto, now." Clay states.

"Clay what about?" Tig starts not finishing just gives Clay a strange look.

"Opie, can you go with Tig?" Clay asks.

Guess Clay knew what Tig was trying to say.

"We're okay." Donna says softly when Opie looks at her.

"Yeah." Opie said standing to follow Tig out.

"I'll be back baby." Jax says giving me a kiss as he places Abel back in my arms. Donna comes over to sit next to me as the other guys follow Jax out.

"You girls don't need to stay." Clay tells us as he sits down.

"We're family, Clay. Deal with it." I tell him. "Could you hold him, my phone is buzzing like crazy." I ask Donna softly.

Donna nods taking him out of my arms so I can take my phone out.

FEDs are here just taking shit! ~ Leelee

Bella…. going nuts! The FEDs showed up saying they can take everything! I need you, please ~ Tinysis

Bella, if you can get to the warehouse quickly! I need you to download everything from my computer onto yours. I am not losing everything to the FEDs! ~ BossLady

Little sister..you need to contact me ASAP ~ Bear

"Shit...Could you watch Abel? I need to get to Luann's before she loses everything." I ask grabbing the diaper bag off the floor to take out my keys and wallet. I would have to call Emmett on my way to the studio.

"Of course. Everything okay?" she asks as I give Abel a soft kiss on the top of his head.

"Hope so." I say giving her a quick hug. I give Kenny and Ellie a quick hug before moving to give Clay a hug. He gives me a look that tells me he knows what is going on with Luann.

Whatever this is must be why Jax is going to see Luann's man, Otto.


Jax

I scoff as the guard puts a hand up not letting me through as another guard pull a couple guys going at each other apart.

Otto is sitting at his table waiting barely even watching what is going on around him.

"Enjoy the show?" Otto asks as I join him

"Always like good shows. White on white? Any idea what's up with that?" I ask.

"Seems our Aryan friends are getting particular about who they burn crosses with. That's not why I needed to see you though."

"I heard. My girl is there trying to salvage what she can off the computers. How can we help?" I tell him. I was slightly annoyed that Luann had contacted Bella before talking to myself or Clay but technically Bella did work for her behind the camera.

"This punk wannabe producer has been trying to go after her talent. Being shut down, this asshole will hijack all of them."

"We'll talk to him."

"What she needs is time, money and possibly a new safer place." Otto says seriously.

"We can give her time."

"And the money? A place?"

"We're barely half healed, brother. We don't have it."

"This seizure. I know that Stahl bitch is behind this for what I did to her."

"We'll take care of Luann."

"I don't want her back in front of the camera, Jax... I told her she'd never have to do that again."

"That's a promise I'll make sure you can keep."


Chibs, Bobby, Juice, Half-Sac and I walk past an ATF agent that is carrying what looks like camera equipment.

"Stay away from Georgie. Nearly all of his talent ends up strung out and turning tricks." Luann is saying to two of her girls.

I notice Leah, Destiny and Bella across the room packing electronics into a few bags. More Bella and Leah since Destiny seems to be standing there with her arms wrapped around herself.

"Damn...Otto wasn't kidding. They've cleaned you out." Bobby says looking at the bare room. There was still some furniture and clothes but it looks like nearly all electronics are gone.

The two girls that Luann was talking to quickly leave, holding envelopes which probably have their pay in them.

"That's some lovely talent you have…" Chibs says turning to watch the girls leave.

"They'll keep walking if I can't pay them." Luann growls.

"Luann, calm down." Bella says as she, Leah and Destiny join us. She places the bags down on the ground to wrap a arm around Luann's waist while Leah holds Destiny.

"Otto said something about some guy giving you problems?" I ask.

"Georgie Caruso." Luann states.

I watch as Leah pulls Destiny closer.

"He's tried poaching some of Luann's better talent. Offering better money, more screen time...tastes of something special. If that doesn't work, he threatens." Bella states.

"He threaten you beautiful?" Chibs asks.

"I'm not talent so I'm not on his radar." Bella says looking at Destiny.

Destiny just whimpers softly.

"It's okay, baby. Fucker will have to go through me first." Leah says softly pulling Destiny tight against her.

"Georgie specializes in fear. Fucker's crew treats his talent like a pimp running pussy." Luann growls.

"Where's this guy's office?" I ask.

Luann nods and moves over to her desk.

"Come 'ere, baby." I say as Bella steps over the bags to hold onto me.

"We got everything transferred onto my computer and some flash drives. I can keep her head above water as long as this fucker backs off. She loses her talent and she's dead in the water." she whispers to me.

I smirk before giving her a quick kiss as Luann comes back over.

"His address." Luann states holding out a piece of paper.


Bella

Soluna is whining when I walk through the door. "Gotta go out baby." I say leading her to the back door to let her out. I take a quick look to see that she still has a full bowl of food and half full bowl before letting her out, I grab her water bowl to fill it with cold water.

"Bella, are you heading back to the hospital?" Leah asks softly coming up behind me a few minutes later.

We had followed Destiny to her apartment. Leah didn't want to leave her but Destiny said she was going to shower, pack a bag and meet us here.

"Donna has it covered. She and the kids are staying until Doc Knowles lets Gemma leave." I tell her opening the fridge to take out a couple waters.

Leah nods taking the water.

"How come you were at Luann's? I thought you started your new job today?" I ask her.

"It did. I got there and my supervisor was a raging racist bitch, saying shit about the higher ups hiring me before I even clocked in. I turned around and walked out." Leah sighs following me outside.

"Well, office work isn't for everyone." I say sitting down in the hammock, watching Soluna run around.

Leah sits down next to me.

"I'm drawing again. I'm thinking about talking to this tattoo parlor on the main strip to see if they are taking apprentices."

"That would be perfect for you." I say softly.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

I just shake my head taking a sip of my water. A small part of me debates telling her about what Emmett told me about the suit from last night but I know that I need to talk to Jax first.

"Bells…" she starts.

"Leah. I…." I take a deep breath. "I don't want to lie so please don't ask."

Leah scoff laughs nodding, "Secrets."

"Yup." I mutter as Soluna comes and rests her head on my foot that is on the ground.

"Well, you didn't tell anyone that Jacob, Sam and Emily tried to bring Seth and I down with them on the child porn or rape charges." Leah says softly.

"I finally got in touch with Old Quil. Quil's not allowed to leave the reservation at all. He's dealing with statutory rape charges because of Claire. Luckily, she's on tape telling him that she was nineteen." I tell her.

"I feel bad about leaving him, Paul and Seth but I didn't want to be arrested for murder." she growls.

"I know."

"I talked to Seth last night, guess who showed up on Paul's doorstep saying that she's pregnant with his kid." Leah says clearly trying to change the mood and subject.

"Who?" I ask taking a sip of the water.

"Rachel Black."

I spray the water that I hadn't swallowed, laughing.

"That was my reaction." Leah says laughing.

"Poor Paul." I say giggling.

"Poor Paul nothing. He's the one that stupidly dipped his dick in that pussy. I warned him to wrap it tight." Leah says with a grin.


Jax

"Auditions are out back." a guy blocking our way to the offices says when we get close.

"Do we really look like we're here to audition?" I ask with a grin.

I watch as the guy's eyes roam over me, Chibs, Juice, Half-Sac and Bobby.

"They must be your managers." the guy says smirking at Bobby and Chibs.

I laugh running my thumb across my lower lip. "We're here to see Georgie."

"You got an appointment?" he asks barely glancing at me.

"We don't need one." I say as Chibs maneuvers the muscle so that we pass him and enter the office.

I take a good look at the guy giving Luann and her talent so many problems.

"Let me take a wild guess...Georgie Caruso." I say pointing at him.

"Sorry Mr. Caruso." the muscle says from behind Juice as he maneuvers through to stand next to Caruso.

"What for? You know…. you got a good look going for you. A not so gay Brad Pitt." Caruso says with a smirk.

I scoff and roll my eyes.

"We're friends of Luann Delaney." Chib states.

"That so. I'm really sorry about what's happening to her." Caruso says trying to look upset and failing.

"You're terrorizing her talet. That stops now." I tell him remembering the look of fear on Destiny's face.

"I'm trying to help them. Luann's out of business and just letting them know that they got options." Caruso says with a smirk.

"Luann's not out of the business, don't make me come back here." I tell him turning to leave.

"Bye Georgie." Juice says happy go lucky.


Donna

"You sure it's alright for you to leave?" I ask as the kids and I follow Gemma.

"I need to go home. Take a long shower and crawl into bed." Gemma says softly.

Kenny moves in front of me to walk next to Gemma. I watch as he tries to help her walk since she is moving stiffly.

"Shit." Gemma says stopping suddenly.

"What's going on?" I ask noticing her staring into the waiting room where Luann and one of her girls are sitting.

"I can't deal with her right now. She's gonna have question after question." Gemma says sighing.

"Let's wait in here." I say maneuvering her into the hospital chapel.

We sit down in one of the back pews.

Kenny and Ellie sit in the pew in front of us.

Gemma is holding Abel as if he is going to disappear from her arms.

"I know something is going on." I tell her.

"Donna…." Gemma says softly.

"I have a feeling this is something more than an accident. While I want to know...I'm asking that you don't tell me….at least not now. When you think I need to know..tell me." I tell her.

I have had this feeling ever since Bella left this morning that something was going on. It was clear that she knew the real story about what was going on but was keeping it quiet. A small part of me was annoyed for her keeping secrets but I have a feeling the truth would destroy Jax and Clay.

"Okay.." Gemma says softly.

"Mama can we light a candle?" Ellie asks turning to look at me.

"Go ahead baby remember to pray for someone." I tell her.

Gemma watches as Kenny and Ellie stand at the candles, each lighting one before clasping their hands in front of them.

"When did you get big on prayer?" Gemma asks.

I just shrug looking over at Gemma smiling down at Abel.


Jax

"I told you not to stir shit up!" Luann yells as I enter the waiting room. "Look at what that asshole did!" she says looking back a extremely thin blond holding a cloth to her face.

I walk over and slowly the blond shows me blood gushing from her broken nose.

"Caruso did that?" I ask the girl.

She nods.

"Who else?" Luann scoffs.

"Prick." Chibs mutters behind me.

"You really made him tremble in fear. Tell 'em what he said." Luann tells the girl.

"He told me to tell Luann that if the little biker boys show up again, he'll roll camera as he shoves you over the table to show who the real man is." the blond says, it comes out slightly muffled due to the cloth.

I laugh shaking my head as I turn to leave.

"Jax! Don't….." Luann starts yelling, annoyed.

"Who the hell do you think you are talking too?!" I yell whirling to yell at her. This woman might be like another mother and my girl's boss but she needs to remember her place. "Get her patched up!"

"I'll call Bella….she can get in touch with the rest of Luann's talent to make sure they are safe." Chibs says getting out his phone.

"Okay…" Luann says shakily.

I turn to leave as Chibs talks in hushed tones into his phone.

"Should we call Clay?" Chibs asks once he's off the phone.

"He's dealing with the guns with Tig. Put the word out to the others. It's baseball time." I say with a smirk.


Leah

"Alright...Ima seems to be the only one not answering her phone." I say as Bella hangs up her phone.

"How's Lyla?" Destiny asks as she looks up from the list of numbers of all of Luann's talent.

"Just a broken nose. Luann's bringing her home." she says placing her phone down on the coffee table.

"What's going on?" Donna asks as she and Gemma walk in. Ellie and Kenny wave at us before heading outside, stripping down to their swimsuits as they go.

We all watch as the two of them jump into the pool, Soluna barking at them as they start splashing.

"Shit Gemma…." I say seeing how much pain she is in just trying to sit down on the couch. Fucking secrets. That is not pain from a car crash. What the fuck happened to her?

"Is it okay to tell her?" Destiny asks looking over at Bella.

Bella smiles softly. "Yeah...Luann's been having some problems with this asshat Caruso. He or one of his crew attacked one of her girls..the boys are taking care of it."

"That's why she was at the hospital." Gemma mutters.

"Did the doc give you anything for the pain?" Bella asks.

"She can take one now, but she needs to eat something." Donna says taking Abel out of the carseat and handing him to Bella.

"I can make something." Destiny says standing up and heading into the kitchen.

"I'm fine." Gemma calls out.

"Gemma...she needs something to do." Bella says softly as she sits down.

"What happened? That is more than nerves." Gemma asks.

"She thinks she saw some of Caruso's guys heading to her place when she was pulling out of the parking lot. Lyla and her son are her neighbors, she's worried that Caruso and his crew went after Lyla since she wasn't home." I tell her sitting down across from the two of them.

"I want you to be careful." Gemma says looking at each of us.

"We will." Bella says kissing the top of Abel's head.

Something is definitely going on.

"Aunt Bella! Come play with us!" Kenny yells from the open door, water dripping down his legs.

"I think a dip is a good idea." Donna says.

"You go play…." Gemma starts.

"Go lay down on the hammock. You can rest and stay cool." Bella says standing.

Gemma smiles softly and nods.

I stand up and help Gemma stand as Bella heads down to the nursery with Abel.

"I'll keep 'em safe." I whisper to Gemma as we slowly make our way outside. I might not know what is going on but no one is touching any member of my family.

"I know you will. You're a protector like me." Gemma says winching.


Jax

"Guys like Georgie are a dime a dozen. If Luann can't pay her talent, they'll keep coming out of the woodwork." I tell them.

"Wasn't that blonde one of Luann's girls?" Juice asks.

I remember the blonde that was on her knees in front of Caruso's camera as the same girl that had been at Luann's getting paid.

"Yeah..That's one of the reason she wants the money we gave her. To keep her talent from leaving." I say looking at Clay.

"Ain't gonna happen…" Clay starts.

"No shit. Maybe we could offer her something else, a partner." I state.

Clay rubbed his head in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"The empty warehouse. It's the same size as Caruso films." I start telling them my idea.

"Boy, you ain't Larry Flint." Clay grumbles.

I scoff laugh, "I know that. I'm saying Caruso just a scumbag with muscle and a lease. His staff and talent do all the work. We already have staff and talent, Luann."

"So what? We're the scumbags with the lease and muscle?" Bobby asks with a laugh.

"We could. We give her protection, space, front a little cash to cover the shit that the feds took and split the profits." I say.

"I could upgrade her net. There's tons of room for servers." Juice says.

"You'ld have to talk to Bella about that. She's in charge of the site." I tell him.

"Clubs get into trouble when they try to take on too much." Clay tries to justify.

"ATF is on our ass. Guns have been downsized. We need the extra income. I understand what you're thinking but it's a legitimate business. We run it clean. The feds will get tired of us, thinking we turned a new leaf and go away."

"Thoughts?" Clay asks looking around the table.

"Everyone loves pussy." Bobby states.

"I second that." Ope states.

"Third it." Juice says.

"At the very least, we'll get Bobby laid." Chibs jokes.

"I'm a very big fan of pussy." Tig states.

Clay just shakes his head, "All in favor?"

"Pussy!" everyone exclaims raising a hand in agreement.

"Looks like we're going into the movie business. We got a delivery to make." Clay states.

"I'll let Luann know that she's got a new partner." I state as everyone stands up to leave.

"Jax, one moment." Clay says waiting until the room is empty.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Does going into business with Luann have anything to do with your girl?" Clay asks leaning against the wall.

I sit down on the table, "No. I promised Otto that I would help him keep his promise that Luann would never work in front of the camera again."

"Shit, I forgot about that. Alright, let's make it happen." Clay says with a nod.


Gemma

"Gemma…" a voice softly calls out.

I feel a hand on my shoulder.

Startled, I instantly raise my hand to attack.

"It's just me. It's Bella." Bella says grabbing my hand before it connects with her face.

"What…?" I say opening my eyes to look around.

I am in the hammock in the backyard. Bella and I are the only ones outside.

"You fell asleep after taking your pill. I didn't want to wake you but I thought that you might be getting hungry." Bella says helping me sit up.

"Yeah...a little." I say stiffly getting out of the hammock.

I wrap the blanket that someone must have placed on me around myself and follow Bella inside.

"How you feeling?" Donna asks placing a plate of food on the table in front of me.

"Sore." I told her sitting down next to Leah. "Where's the tiny one?" I ask not seeing the girl that seems to be joined at Leah's hip.

"Destiny ran to her place to grab some clothes for a few days. Caruso might be settled with but I want my girls with me." Bella says smiling at Leah.

"Love you too baby sister." Leah says blowing her a kiss.

"Does that mean she's our aunt too?" Ellie whispers loudly to Donna.

"No baby. Leah and Auntie Bella are really close friends. Like Daddy and Jax." Donna explains.

Ellie nods and starts eating.

"Family is what you make it." I say watching as Bella eats while holding Abel.

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" Bella asks.

I nod. "I'll call Clay to let him know."

"I can call him if you want to go take a shower and lay back down." Bella said.

"I'll call him.." I winch slightly. "Thank you though."


Jax

"Shit...what happened?" I asked walking into the clubhouse to find Chibs treating a wound on Bobby's shoulder.

"Mayans crashed our delivery." Tig states.

"You got lucky. It went right through." Chibs states.

"You okay man?" I ask sitting down next to them.

"Yeah…" Bobby says before picking up the bottle of vodka to take a swig.

"You have better luck than us?" Clay asks coming into the room.

"Yeah. Luann agreed. She's going start moving in and setting up her studio next week." I tell him as Chibs starts stitching up Bobby. "How much did they get?"

"Mayans got away with two cases of AKs." Tig states.

"Fuck." I state.

"Niners are not happy. Looks like going into movies is going to cover our ass." Clay states. "Gemma is staying with you tonight. I going try to salvage what I can with the Niners."

"Got it." I tell him watching as he heads into his office.

"Not much you can do other than watch, why don't you head out?" Bobby says clearly trying not to pass out.

"You sure?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm in good hands. All of ya get out of here." Bobby says to all of the guys standing around doing nothing.


Quietly I walk into the house.

"Hey…" Leah says from the couch where she and her girl, Destiny are laying watching some movie.

"Where is everyone?" I ask softly when I notice that Destiny is asleep.

"Donna and the kids went home. Gemma is laying down in the nursery with Abel. Bella is in your room." Leah says.

"How's ma doing?" I ask.

"She's a little out of it. Spent most of the day sleeping." Leah states.

I nod and head down the hallway to check on ma. I open the door to see her laying down on the pull out couch that we had put in the room. Abel is in his crib passed out.

I open the door the rest of the way, entering the room to sit down on the bed.

"I'm fine." ma whispers, opening her eyes to look at me.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. He's okay...go spend some time with your girl." she says pushing me off the bed.

I laugh softly as I make my way down to our bedroom. Bella is laying on our bed typing away on her laptop. I smirk noticing that she is only wearing my SAMCRO t-shirt.

"Did you just get here?" she asks noticing me after a few minutes of me just standing there watching her.

"Been home a little while." I tell her as I step inside, making sure to close the door behind me as I start stripping.

"I gotta talk to you about something." she says sitting up and turning the laptop so I can see the screen.

"No guy likes those words babe." I tell her sitting down after dropping my shirt and kutte on the chair in the corner before sitting down next to her.

"Those guys that showed up at Bobby's party made me nervous so I snapped their photos and sent them to a friend." she says gnawing at her lip, clearly nervous.

"Clay has Juice looking into them." I tell her.

"On paper Ethan Zobelle is a goddamn saint. Deacon at his church, widower, raised one kid on his own however in three of the five locations that he has a cigar shop, the local MC suddenly has tons of problems." she tells me showing me things on her laptop, pretty much ignoring what I just said.

"What the fuck?" I ask reading.

"Emmett found that Zobelle is part of the League of American Nationalists."

"Who are they?" I ask scrolling down at photos of Zobelle meeting with people that I don't recognize.

"On paper, the League seems to represents a group of businessmen, cergy and politics who are tired of criminals undermining local enterprise. Reality, it has extremely strong ties to the Nordics and Aryan Brotherhood. White hate pure and simple."

"Fuck." I say looking at the information about MCs being arrested on one count or another within months of Zobelle setting up shop. "What about the guy that was with him?"

"AJ Weston, he's Zobelle's right hand in the League. He's got a list of priors that make nearly all of the boys look like angels. He's an ardent white supremacist but has been able to keep custody of his two boys."

I nod taking the laptop and placing it beside me. "I'll let the boys know about this. Thank you baby." I say bringing her closer for a kiss.

She instantly straddles my lap, pushing me back onto the bed. I place my hands on her hips, raising them slowly to remove her t-shirt until she is nude on top of me.

She smirks as she scratches her nails down my chest stopping at my belt.

I pull her down for another kiss.

"I don't know what I would do without you." I whisper against her mouth.

She smiles and gives a little laugh as I roll us so that she is underneath me, "Go insane."