****Happy SOA day! I know I know, you probably all lost faith in me! I promise I will do better with the updating. Of course, reviewing only encourages me to write more, so let me know what you think and what you WANT! Thanks again to all of you who review, follow and read! PS was that Courtney Love who is Abel's TEACHER? It doesn't get more messed up than that lol****

She wasn't sure what had woken her up, the room was still dark and the curtainless window was shadowed as if the sun hadn't decided to creep it's way up into the sky yet, but Kate's eyes had opened wide and her body was awake…so awake. She blinked a few times, but it didn't even take her a second to remember how she ended up exactly where she was finding herself. She was on her side looking right at him...and he was awake too. Her body instantly grew warm, remembering everything that had happened only a few hours before and she couldn't hide the traitorous smile that began to inch across her face.

Jax's eyes were open, but he was staring, motionless, at the ceiling. She studied him quietly for a few minutes, unable to decipher the far away look on his face. She considered making a noise or some small movement to interrupt his thoughts, whatever they were. But she decided to lay still, because for once she was lacking that terrible knot that had grown inside of her, the one he had given her at least twice before when she knew in her heart that his thoughts had drifted to Tara. But he was still here in the bed. He was still with her. And not only that, when she had opened her eyes she had found herself pulled tightly into his chest, her left cheek pressed against his side with his arm wrapped around her, his hand making its final rest across her back. She smiled again, the sweet awareness fueling her grin to grow even wider with content, knowing they had both wanted what had happened the night before.

He must have felt the twitch of her lips on his skin because he glanced over to her, before turning his attention back to the ceiling above them. "You can't sleep either?" He asked her, a smile infecting his lips as well. Those lips...she shuddered just remembering what they were capable of. The feelings they had stirred within her, ones that had been dormant for so long.

"I don't think it's that, I think my body just doesn't want to sleep." She spoke softly, unsure of how he would react to her sudden boldness.

He gave her a quick side glance and smirked. "Maybe that's my problem too."

She smiled at him, absentmindedly moving her hand, tracing circles in his smooth skin on his stomach. Her mind was thinking differently than it had been up until now.

"Do you have to leave today?" She asked him, looking back towards his face.

"Yeah." He grabbed her wrist and stopped her sedated movements, his muscles flexing with every small motion. Kate tried to fight the warmth that was starting to ignite her down below.

"There's just too much going on to stay away for too long." He added as he pulled her by her wrist, bringing her closer to him. "Things are coming together though, I might have something lined up for the future of the club."

Kate's eyes darted up towards Jax's, searching for answers in them, fighting with the darkness of the room for the clarity she needed. "Are you planning on getting out?" She had suspicions he had been thinking that, but she knew how hard it would really be if he were to go through with it. But he should, he definitely should, for Abel and Thomas.

"Yeah." It was all he said to answer her, but it was enough. Her mind was racing with all the things she wanted to say, to encourage him and tell him he was doing the right thing. She stayed quiet though, not intending to try and influence him, who was she at this point? They had barely just begun to get close, she bit down on her tongue to keep herself from saying anything. Silence filled the room and she tried to change the subject.

"So you're leaving this morning?" She asked to hide her real thinking, her real hopes.

"Not for a few hours," He answered, turning on his side to face her. His hand ran down her arm gently and she could feel his warm breath on her face. She looked to his eyes, which seemed to glaze over as soon as they spotted her. He leaned in close to her, hovering at her mouth, "Are we good?"

Kate smiled, "We're good."

Jax grunted to himself as they parked their bikes in front of Paulsen's office building. He knew this was going to be a major test on his will power. He had to stay in control just long enough to secure a deal for the Sons. Even though everything inside him just wanted to end the piece of shit.

Nero had come by the clubhouse earlier in the day. He was one of the last people Jax wanted to see but he couldn't deny that he seemed genuine with his intentions. He had asked how Gemma was doing. As far as Jax was concerned he would rather Nero leave Gemma alone for good, especially that she was finally starting to get her shit together. But Jax put the opportunity to good use and kept the conversation on business, Diosa, plans for expanding. Nero had tried to assure him that his involvement with the Mayans wasn't anything to be worried about, that he was only trying to keep the peace on the streets and keep Diosa up and running smoothly. He preferred things that way, he said, less heat to be worried about. But Jax was still being cautious with how much he could believe him, at this point he could only trust Gemma and the club, well most of them anyway.

Hearing that Nero was not really working with the Mayans only prompted Jax to call for the meeting with Paulsen. It was time to negotiate with that fucker and get control back of Charming.

Paulsen had asked for the meeting to be at 2:00, they decided to show up at 1:00 to make sure he wasn't playing any games.

They entered the building into a small lobby area with a young woman behind a tall counter, a few chairs scattered around, a staircase and an elevator, it was strange because the building didn't look any taller than three floors. The woman's eyes opened wide, filled with a combination of fear and awe as they ambled in and she brushed her long brown bangs from her eyes before she spoke.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" The question came out broken up as she eyed each of them in their SAMCRO attire.

"You sure can baby," Tig said, sauntering over behind her and leaning over her shoulder, "We're here to see that creepy son of a bitch Paulsen."

Bobby smiled while Happy, Chibs and Jax only stared wide eyed, irritated to get this started.

"Uh, sure," she said looking back at Tig over her shoulder, trying to straighten herself away from him, "Let me see if he's available." She picked up the phone and Jax could here her whispering to someone through it. He glanced at Chibs who looked up at him with his eyes, while his face kept it's position towards the girl on the phone. Chibs gave Jax a knowing look, able to read Jax's moods and plans.

"He's available, on floor two, room 204," she informed them.

"Thanks sweet cheeks," Tig said squeezing the woman's cheeks with his hands, "I'll return the favor later."

The woman stared at them in horror and disbelief as they took the stairs to Paulsen's office. Paulsen had opened the door to the room, already expecting them, and was seated behind a large mahogany desk.

"Please have a seat," He lazily swung his wrist around, motioning for them to sit. Jax and Chibs sat up close, Happy, Tig and Bobby decided to stay standing.

Jax pulled his chair up close to the desk, lounging down into it, resting an arm over the back and placing his long legs in front of him in a nonchalant manner. Paulsen was lucky he was trying so hard to act like he wasn't planning on killing the asshole, mutilating him slowly until his own family wouldn't be able to recognize him. He smirked to himself with the thought.

"So let's talk business," Chibs started while Jax was busy laying into Paulsen with an intimidating stare.

"What do you propose?" Paulsen seemed a little unnerved, turning his attention away from Jax.

"Whatever deal you have with the Mayans, they're the wrong people to help insure your success," Jax told him with an intimidating smile, folding his hands in his lap.

"And you," He waved his wrist again, "you boys are the right people?"

"We know Charming, Charming knows us. We will keep you protected and off the radar. We might cost more but it will benefit you to keep the peace in this town. Especially since you own so much of it at this point."

"Why wouldn't I keep the peace?" Paulsen leaned forward, clasping his hands together on the desk.

"Well, when people see brown in Charming, they are going to put a lot of eyes on you. Whatever you have going down will not be easy to hide. They count on us to keep the shit out of here."

"How much more we talking?"

"20 percent." Jax answered flatly.

Paulsen laughed at that, "You're out of your mind. 5 percent tops. I have a good deal going as it is."

Jax just stared at Paulsen, grinning inappropriately, trying to hold his temper in, this guy had gall thinking he had any room to negotiate with Jax after what he knew about him. Good thing he started much higher than he really wanted.

"Fifteen…and let's not forget there are no secrets between us," Jax cautioned, leaning forward towards Paulsen.

"You bring up a good point," Paulsen mused, stroking his chin as if he just had a brilliant idea, "I'd like to restore my privileges at Diosa. Maybe then I'll consider fifteen."

Jax bit on the inside of his cheek, grinning away, struggling to remain reserved. He was actually pretty impressed with himself and how he was handling this.

"You go back into Diosa and you'll have worse things to worry about than a bunch of eses drawing unwanted attention to your shady dealings," Chibs warned him, speaking so Jax didn't have to.

"So maybe not Diosa, but I would like one girl," Paulsen answered with a slight curl to his lips, keeping his eyes anchored on Jax's. The only thing that kept Jax from leaping out of his chair and bashing Paulsen's skull in with his ugly name plaque was the club. The ones he was doing this for, he had known it was going to be a challenge.

"No girls," Chibs responded with a pettish look.

"But she belonged to me, she still belongs to me, I'd even be willing to up it to 25 percent if you deliver her."

Jax shifted in his chair, "You didn't hear? She's dead, never came back to Diosa."

"I heard, but you and I both know she's not dead," his eyes remained trained on Jax.

Jax stared back unwavering, "15 and I advise you to take it and drop any talk of girls. We both know what your fetishes are and have plenty of witnesses who could prove it…wouldn't want the fine citizens of Charming seeing you for what you really are."

Paulsen leaned back in his chair, his eyes were narrowing while he considered the seriousness of what Jax was insinuating. "Fifteen." He finally agreed after a long pause.

Chibs stood up and slammed the desk with the palm of his hand. "We'll be in touch."

As they made their way outside, the mood was somewhat lighter. Part One of the plan had gone favorably, leaving only Part Two if all went as planned. The guys were all happy that they pulled off this deal, Tig even going to far as to kiss the woman at the front desk square on the lips. Jax should have been happy, but his mind was too preoccupied with scheming ways he could calmly torture Paulsen while keeping the deal in place. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the buzzing of his prepaid in his jeans pocket. Gemma.

"Yeah Ma," he answered.

"So I was wondering…with Thomas' birthday Saturday…"

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