Chapter Twelve
Allie had a bad feeling about this.
It wasn't just the worn building that looked like it had seen better days. It wasn't just the neon sign with three of its lights burnt out. It wasn't just the cracked pavement covering the parking lot. It wasn't just the long white sign hanging at the front of the building advertising 10 cent wings on Tuesdays. It was just...all of it.
And yet, she was getting out of her car and trailing after Jax, Opie, and Bobby to head inside.
The three Reaper cuts moved purposefully through the parking lot, but the only one who seemed to be taking careful inventory of the whole place - other than her - was Bobby. Jax and Opie were too distracted by the potential of this deal to see anything else, and they sauntered through the parking lot like a pair of kings. It seemed they'd already made up their minds, sight unseen. That was going to be a problem.
It had been about a week since their last business meeting like this, which, incidentally, was also the last time she'd seen Jax. Since he left her house, their contact had been through text messages, starting with Jax telling her about this potential deal. When it came time to actually talk through the details, Bobby had been the one to call her and walk her through everything they'd been able to find out ahead of time. That was fine. It was better this way, anyway, if they kept their distance. Jax being in her house, eating dinner with her, sitting on her patio, the conversation they'd had, the real reason why he'd gotten suspended all those years ago...it felt like they'd crossed some kind of invisible line. It was too personal, too intimate, especially given the nature of what their relationship to each other was supposed to be.
So, for now, she was happy to trail behind him and avoid eye contact for as long as possible.
Her phone buzzed in her purse, and she mindlessly reached for it, mostly just to double-check that she'd really silenced it. One glance at the text message and her phone was flying back inside her purse.
Please, Allie, the text message read. I'd really like to talk about this. Can I call you tonight?
Sure, now Anna wanted to have a conversation over the phone. The phone that Allie had probably paid for. Text messages were just too impersonal now. They had to have a real conversation now that Anna had been cut off.
It was hard not to respond with anything laced with bitterness or sympathy. She didn't want to exacerbate the issue and certainly didn't want to do anything to escalate it. One word responses were the best she could do. If she engaged any further, she worried she'd give in. So far, so good though. After taking Jax's advice and moving her cash from her bedroom to a drawer in her kitchen, and investing in a can of pepper spray, she was still standing firm. A week later, she still had that flag planted in the ground.
Jax was right. Anna's only concern was for herself, and she was just going to keep using Allie's guilt against her for as long as she let her. Because that's what users do, he'd told her.
Those words had hit hard. She'd needed to hear them, but that didn't make them any easier to hear.
With her phone safely tucked back inside her purse, she could just focus on this meeting right now and worry about responding later when she got back to her office. She straightened her silk leopard skirt - this California heat was making it stick to the back of her legs in a really uncomfortable way, given her present company - and she let it flare out a little where it hit right below her knee to move some air around. She'd kept it more casual today and paired the skirt with a plain white T-shirt tucked inside. Against her better judgment, she'd also decided to wear a black bralette underneath - the T-shirt wasn't exactly transparent, but it was thin enough to make it clear just what color her bra was to anyone looking. And as Jax held the door open for her so she could enter the building, his eyes flicked right to her chest, like he was in the middle of deciphering just that very thing.
His lips curled into a slow smirk, his blue eyes flashing with something she didn't want to think about.
"After you," he grinned, sweeping out a hand in front of the door's threshold.
She also wasn't going to think about the fact that she'd chosen this particular outfit, with its barely there peek of her undergarments, because she knew she would see him today. This was not her normal uniform, and while it was still pretty conservative, she was lying to herself if she thought she would've picked this outfit out on any other day this week.
So, Allie stepped inside The Crown Jewel with Jax right on her heels. His hand ghosted over the small of her back as he stepped around her, casting a smirk at her over his shoulder that dripped with a sensuality that had little tremors vibrating all the way down to her stomach. As he joined Opie and Bobby ahead of her, Allie took a deep breath. Time to get into work mode.
The house speakers pumped out the beats of "Whatever You Like" through the whole club and her gaze flicked right to the center stage, where an admittedly skilled dancer swung around the metal pole upside down with her muscular legs spread-eagle in the air. Allie had always been a little in awe of women who could do that - the upper body strength it had to take to pull something like that off and still manage to inject some sexiness into the movement too was pretty spectacular.
When she shifted her gaze to the Reaper cuts in front of her, she found all three heads turned and fixated on the dancer on the center stage. She figured she couldn't really blame them - the woman was topless with only a thin strip of fabric covering the rest of her. Still, Allie's eyes lifted to the ceiling. Freaking typical.
While their attention was decidedly otherwise occupied, Allie took that opportunity to sweep her eyes over the rest of her surroundings. She couldn't say she'd been in many strip clubs before, but as far as strip clubs went, this was probably pretty run of the mill. Matted burgundy carpeting covered the floor - that would probably have to be ripped out and replaced. Who knew how old it was, when was the last time it'd been cleaned, or what, exactly, those stains were. She side-stepped a few of those stains as they ventured deeper inside the club just to be safe. The walls were covered with posters of topless women swinging around poles - again, probably pretty typical. Not exactly tasteful, but it was a strip club...seemed like it would come with the territory. Her eyes drifted to the ceiling, lingering on the water marks coloring more than a few of the ceiling tiles. And then, her gaze fell to the all-you-can-eat buffet table...while food and sex, on paper, seemed like a great primal pairing, serving food in a place like this brought with it a whole other slew of potential, if not already existing, problems. Plenty of well-managed clubs could pull it off without any issues. The optimal word here, of course, was well-managed.
So far, not so great.
"Ah!" a gruff voice called out from the bar. "Jax Teller!"
All three Reaper cuts tore their gazes away from the center stage to turn their heads to the owner of the voice, who, Allie guessed, was probably the owner of this club. His tall frame filled out his trim navy suit, and his hair was buzzed short, probably to hide the receding hairline. The owner blew out a long stream of smoke from his cigarette as he stepped around the side of the bar to stride over to where they stood.
He reached out to shake Jax's hand and clapped him on the shoulder with the other one, "Dominic King. It's great to finally meet you."
Jax grinned back good-naturedly and clapped him right back on the shoulder in a bro-hug before Dominic moved on to greeting Opie and Bobby the same way. Allie lingered off to the side, not really needing to be part of the bro-fest, and her eyes dropped to the center stage again where the dancer gyrated up and down with both legs wrapped leisurely around the metal pole. Her eyebrows lifted - that was pretty impressive.
"Well, ya know, sweetheart," Dominic's voice called out to her and she shifted her gaze away from the stage to where he stood, watching her with a knowing smile. "She could teach you, but I'd have to charge."
Allie didn't miss a beat, barely registering the way Jax had stiffened beside her. "Because my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. Got it."
Dominic laughed and wagged a finger at her. "I like that. I think that could be your stage song."
Jax shifted his weight from one foot to the other, tilting his head back to stare straight ahead at Dominic with his shoulders stiff as a board. It must've been subtle - Allie didn't have a good enough view of his face to really tell - because the sleazy grin didn't drop off Dominic's face. If anything, it just left an even greasier trail across his face.
She blew out a sigh and plastered a placatingly grin on her face. "Oh, you know, I think I might be more of an Ariana Grande girl. Maybe 'Side to Side'?"
Dominic laughed heartily, and she thought she heard Bobby chuckle on the other side of Opie. Jax, though, did not see the humor here. He turned his head, tension rolling off his shoulders, and when their eyes met, he cocked an incredulous eyebrow at her as if to say, what in the actual fuck are you doing right now?
Allie just shrugged at him. That certainly wasn't the worst thing a man had ever said to her, or about her. In fact, it was actually pretty tame. So big deal. Why react and ruin the meeting before it even started?
"She's not here to audition for you," Opie allowed tightly, and from where she stood, even Opie looked a little tense from this whole exchange. Allie just rolled her eyes at him.
Finally, with an exasperated sigh, she hitched a hand on her hip and extended the other out to Dominic. "I'm the club's representation, Attorney Allie Levy."
The slick grin on Dominic's face froze in place and then his eyes dropped to her outstretched hand. His eyes flicked to Jax as they shook hands, and Jax held his gaze, staring back at him with just a little bit of lethal animosity. Almost instantly, Dominic's hands flew up in the air in defense.
"I'm so sorry," he backpedalled. "I didn't mean to imply -"
"Why don't we head back to your office and get started?" Jax cut in as he shoved his hands deep inside his pockets, rocking back on his heels. He still hadn't let up, keeping his cold blue eyes pinned to Dominic in silent warning.
"Sure," Dominic laughed nervously, running a hand over his near-hairless head, and then he gestured for them to follow him down a dark hallway.
Allie fought the urge to roll her eyes again when Jax purposefully side-stepped around her to position himself directly in between her and Dominic as they made their way down the hallway. That was a little unnecessary, and she also didn't really appreciate the way Jax and Opie were acting like Dominic had just suggested she go into a back room with him for a private show.
They stepped inside Dominic's office, with Bobby and Opie dropping into the two chairs across from the desk. There was only one chair left, so Jax gestured to it with a ringed hand, signalling that she was supposed to take it. He positioned himself right in between Opie and Allie, resting a hand on the back of both chairs in a stance that should've looked casual and somewhat nonthreatening, if not for the tattoos covering his exposed forearms and the passive aggression simmering underneath his leather cut.
"Now," Dominic started as he sat down across from them. "I know we haven't gotten off to a great start -"
"Mistaking our lawyer for a stripper?" Jax bared his teeth with a smile. "Yeah. Not a great start, bro."
Dominic's hands flew up in the air again, and then one hand dropped to press into his chest. "Yes, that was my mistake," he shifted his gaze to Allie, "I apologize. Truly."
"No harm, no foul," Allie threw out, trying smooth things over as best she could so this meeting could move forward, and she could leave. "I'm flattered, actually. That girl on the stage has some upper body strength I would kill for."
Opie shifted his head to glance at her. Apparently, he, too, was not amused. In fact, irritation flickered across his face as he swiveled his gaze back to Dominic, who squirmed a little in his chair. Bobby, though - his low chuckle bounced off the walls in this otherwise silent office. At least there was one man in this room who wasn't a total Neanderthal.
"So," Bobby slapped his hands on his thighs congenially. "Let's get this party started, huh? I had a chance to look over those quarterly numbers you sent over. Very impressive, my friend."
Allie reached into her purse to pull out the reports Bobby was talking about and set them on her lap for reference. Even as she skimmed through the paperwork she'd already read through a million times, she could feel Jax's eyes on her from over her shoulder. Which, she was grateful now that her white T-shirt was a crewneck - albeit a thin, slightly see-through one - because if it wasn't, right about now, he'd have a clear view right down the front of her shirt.
She crossed her legs, situating the papers on her lap as she reached inside her purse again for a notepad and a pen. She had a whole list of questions prepared, and luckily, Bobby was doing his part to break the ice and get this moving.
"Thank you," Dominic grinned broadly back at Bobby, some relief snaking around his features. "I've worked really hard to build up to that, and I think now is the time for that expansion I've always been dreaming about. I think this," he gestured out to them, "could be the thing both sides need here to take it to the next level."
Allie's eyes flicked up from her papers to meet Dominic square in the eye. This guy was full of shit.
"And when do you think the expansion would turn a profit?" Jax asked from over her shoulder. His voice was more even now, and she hoped it was just because he'd had enough time to calm down.
Dominic lifted a shoulder. "Six months. Maybe eight - tops."
From the corner of her eye, she could see Opie nodding, obviously satisfied with that answer. Sure, that sounded great. Just realistic enough to actually be believable.
"I just have a few questions, if you don't mind," Allie smiled warmly.
"Of course," Dominic shrugged as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm happy to answer any questions you have."
"My understanding is that the building expansion would be built directly behind the current one. You own this building right now, correct?"
She knew the answer already, but she wanted to keep him talking for as long as she could. Make him feel comfortable long enough to get the information she needed.
"That's right," he nodded, his lips lifting in a confident smirk.
"Of course," Allie smiled and folded her hands across her lap as she leaned an elbow on her thigh. "I took a look at the plat map for this property and -"
"Where did you find that?" Dominic frowned at her, running a hand over his mouth as if he was seeing her with new eyes.
"Oh," she laughed easily. "It's on the state's website. They have a parcel map with all the property lines. Pretty simple."
She felt Jax shift behind her, but Dominic folded his hands carefully - too carefully - on his desk and schooled an impassive expression on his face. So, she pressed on.
"If the parcel map is correct on where your property lines begin and end," and she knew it was, "it seems as though the expansion is going to run into the next parcel directly behind it. Now -"
Dominic leaned forward, his forehead creased with confusion. "How do you know that?"
Allie inhaled slowly, and then exhaled again even slower. "Your blueprints show the expansion accounting for a 50 percent addition to the building. If that's correct, then the expansion will encroach into the next parcel by about…" she lifted a shoulder, "20 feet or so. I know that may not seem like a huge issue right now, but there are -"
"Now, hold on just one minute -"
"There are permits," Bobby nodded as he stroked his beard in thought, and it was clear he'd quickly caught on to what she was getting at. "You have to get permission from the owners of that property behind you. You might even have to throw some cash at them to get them to agree to it. You talked to them about this? Find out how likely they are to agree?"
Dominic paused long enough for Bobby to finish talking, and then he furiously shook his head. "I've done my due diligence here. I'm happy to show you the permits and the agreements that have been put in place with the property owners behind me. I assure you, everything is up to par here."
"And I'm sure it is," Allie smiled again, careful to keep her tone even and cool. She'd learned a long time ago that men like Dominic King only responded well to a woman who catered to his needs first. "No one here is trying to say otherwise. I just want to make sure my clients have all the information they need at their disposal to make an informed decision. I'm sure you'd be willing to send me copies of the permits and the agreements after our meeting so I can review them. I'd also like to -"
"I'd be happy to send you any information you want," Dominic told her tightly, his eyes glinting with some bitterness and antagonism. That was fine. "Within reason, of course."
Allie gritted her teeth and flashed him a smile. "Of course. And, I'm sure, when you secure the loan for the expansion, you'll be -"
"Hold on," Dominic held out a hand, leaning forward a little more aggressively in his chair. "That's still in the works, okay? There're a ton of hoops to jump through and I'm working on it," his eyes narrowed at her now, "You can't just call around to banks to find out if I've gotten a loan from them. They won't tell you that. How the hell did you get that information?"
Allie's lips lifted smugly. "You just told me."
Dominic's eyes widened in surprise and he immediately leaned back with his palms against his desk, panic flickering across his face.
And it was just as she figured. He didn't have the money. At least not right now. And that's exactly what he needed Samcro for. They were eager for a deal, and he was eager for the cash. He probably assumed Samcro would just toss the cash at him with very little questions asked based on his club's reputation alone, as long as it was in writing somewhere that they got their cut and he delivered it on time.
"So, I would really like to perform a detailed audit of the expansion plans," she pressed on, "As well as any current business details you can provide me with, mainly your payroll for the last five years, any and all health and safety inspections performed during operations -"
"I'm sure that's something we can -"
Allie blew out a harsh breath, leaning forward in her chair. "If you could stop interrupting me for just a second, that would be really great."
Dominic blinked back at her in surprise, and from the other side of the room, she heard Bobby's muffled chuckle, like he was trying to stifle his reaction with his beard. Opie's eyes remained locked on Dominic, but his features had softened with a bemused grin and he cocked an eyebrow at Dominic, as if to challenge him to try interrupting her one more time.
His hands flew up in the air in defense, and then Dominic leaned away from his desk with a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry. I really am - I just wasn't...I wasn't expecting Samcro to walk in here with a lady lawyer doin' all their work for them is all, okay? I'm really sorry."
Allie's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she was sure her nostrils were flaring. Opie shifted in his chair to glance over his shoulder at Jax, who'd taken a purposeful step forward.
"What exactly are you tryin' to say, bro?" Jax's voice had some humor in it, sure, but when Allie dared a glance over her shoulder, he was pinning hard blue eyes on Dominic with a mirthless grin curving his mouth.
Dominic's eyes widened, as if he'd just now realized that last comment wasn't just a slight against Allie, but also implied - whether purposefully or not - that Samcro needed a woman to fight their battles for them. And the more she thought about it, the more irritated she became. Jax had stood literally and figuratively behind her this entire time while Dominic tried to belittle and run over the top of her at every turn, and had only chosen to intervene when his precious ego got bruised, when it was even suggested that the club might need a woman to help them.
She didn't need him to intervene on her behalf, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't pissed off at the way Jax had puffed out like a peacock at the beginning of this meeting, putting on a show of dominance when Dominic made one, fairly innocuous comment about her - but here, in this business meeting, where it really counted, where she really needed all hands on deck, he'd had no problem watching Dominic try to walk all over her.
The optimal word here, of course, was try.
"I understand," Allie jumped in, pressing a tight smile on her face, and she felt Jax shift next to her, and he fisted his knuckles into the back of her chair, just beyond her shoulder. Just that movement alone had her irritation flaring. "I'm sure that was a shock to a man such as yourself. Now, I think we're all in agreement here that this could be very beneficial for both sides, if we can make it work. That being said, my clients will not be buying into a business that hasn't gone through a detailed audit. If that's not an acceptable term to you, then there's really nothing more to say."
Dominic's mouth parted to respond and then shut just as quickly. Finally, after rubbing a hand across his face, he nodded. "I understand. An audit is fine. I'm happy to provide you with whatever you need."
"Very good," Allie grinned tightly with a nod. "I have a few more things I'd like to run by you before we wrap up this first meeting," she didn't wait for him to respond, "I'm going to need detailed reports of your payroll and will need to conduct interviews with your current employees. I'll also need the health and safety inspections I mentioned before. I'll also need building reports, details on any updates you've made since you purchased it, and we'll have a third-party conduct an inspection on the building - and I'd also like to see any insurance claims that you've made over the years. For instance, the watermarks on the ceiling near the center stage - did a pipe break at some point? If so, when was that repaired and who did the repairs? Did you file an insurance claim or repair it out of pocket? I'm sure you'd have that information at the ready as well."
There was more, but Allie figured she'd already said enough at this point.
"So," she folded her hands across her lap again. "Is that information you're comfortable providing to my clients?"
Her eyes narrowed just enough as she studied Dominic's reaction. When his eyebrow twitched, she had her answer.
"I, uh," Dominic laughed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I think that would be just fine."
Sure, it would.
"Well," Bobby clapped his hands on his thighs again and then rose from his chair with a hand extended to Dominic. "I think that seems like a good place to call it for today. I guess you and our lawyer will be in touch about the audit, and then we can go from there."
"Of course," Dominic told him, and Allie was a little surprised he wasn't wiping the sweat from his forehead. "We'll be in touch. Of course."
This seemed like a good time to pack it up, so Allie tossed the papers, notepad, and pen in her hands back in her purse and stood up from her chair. Jax and Opie had already stepped forward to shake hands with Dominic one more time, and when Jax and Dominic shook hands, Dominic clapped him good-naturedly on the shoulder.
"Hey, why don't you guys stop at the bar on your way out and have a drink on the house? You want a dance or anything like that, just name it and I'll take care of it," Dominic told him. "I really feel like this first meeting should've gone better...let's just call this water under the bridge, alright? And - you know, Attorney Levy, that would give me a second to grab some of that information you mentioned before. I'd be happy to send some of it along with you now before you leave."
Jax lifted a shoulder, but with his back to her, she couldn't see where his true reaction landed. But, on reflex, she filed out after them, pressing a cool smile to her face as Dominic waited at the door to see them out of his office. So now, she was Attorney Levy, huh? Suddenly she'd been deemed worthy of respect.
As they made their way down the hallway and back out onto the club's main floor, there was a slightly bigger crowd out there than before - whether that was normal for noon on a Thursday, she couldn't be sure. Jason Derulo's voice vibrated from the house speakers as he told some girl her booty didn't need explaining and that all she had to do was talk dirty to him, and the current dancer on the stage swung around the pole, expertly gyrating against the pole in movements perfectly timed to the bass.
That was goddamn impressive.
By the time they got to the bar, the song was just about over and the dancer spun around one last time to get the rest of her tips. Allie sat down on a barstool with her back to the stage and waved away the bartender dressed in booty shorts and a push-up bra with a polite smile. Bobby dropped into the barstool next to her, with Opie pulling out the one on the other side of her. Jax took a spot at the corner of the bar on the other side of Opie, leaning his elbows on the bar as he tipped his chin to the bartender and ordered three beers. She half-expected his eyes to drift over to the stage, considering he had a prime view from where he stood at the corner of the bar, but Jax kept his eyes rooted to the countertop as he reached inside his cut for his cigarette pack.
She had half a mind just to tell Bobby she'd get whatever documents Dominic wanted to give her some other time. Maybe she could figure out a way to stop by the clubhouse in a day or two and set the pick up with either Opie or Bobby - anyone but Jax. It wasn't like this was the kind of deal the club should move on quickly, or even at all.
Maybe she was being stupid. Maybe she didn't care. All she knew was that Jax was still an asshole - and no better than men like Dominic King and Georgie Caruso, who thought women were here on this earth to serve and to please. The more submissive and sexualized the woman, the better.
God, she just wanted to leave. She'd promised Lyla and Piper she'd be back at the studio in time for lunch, and right now, that was as good an excuse as any, and it wasn't even a lie. What did she really need to sit here for anyway? Whose benefit was this really for? Just as she was mustering up the courage to tell Bobby she was leaving, the song blaring from the speakers changed to another familiar one.
As the opening beats vibrated from the speakers, Allie's eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise.
I been there all night, I been there all day, and boy, you got me walkin' side to side.
Before she could stop herself, she glanced at Jax from the corner of her eye. He'd just brought his lighter up to the cigarette in between his lips, but at the words, side to side, Jax's movements stilled, his lighter frozen in mid-air. Then his eyes flicked to her, his eyebrows lifted high into his forehead.
She bit down on her bottom lip to mask her smile - the last thing she needed right now was this - and when the smile crept across her mouth again, she quickly schooled her expression and forced her gaze straight ahead, not willing to give him anymore of a reaction. Jax's lips curled into a slow smirk, his eyes drifting to the countertop as he tilted his head a little to listen to the song. But, a moment later, his eyebrows knitted together in a frown, like he couldn't quite figure out why, right now, with this particular song playing, she wasn't playing along. At least not with him.
By now, Bobby was bopping easily to the beat next to her, and she had to self-consciously cover her face with her hands for just a moment. Then her hands dropped down to the counter. Might as well own it.
"Good song choice," Bobby told her with a grin as he swiveled his shoulders to the rhythm.
"I know," Allie laughed.
She wasn't quite sure what she was feeling right now. It wasn't embarrassment - it was hard to be embarrassed in a place like this, let alone show it. But whatever it was, she was enjoying it, despite everything that had come before, and despite the fact that she'd rather smack Jax, maybe shove him in the chest or pull his hair, than sit here trying not to melt into a puddle at his feet. God forbid anyone suggest she was a stripper, but the second that song came on, she had a pretty good idea of where, exactly, his mind had gone. But that was totally fine, right? Even now, his eyes flickered to the center stage and the dancer swinging on the pole from side to side - those blue eyes seemed to glaze over with a heat that hadn't been there at the beginning of the song.
She dared a glance at Opie, and huffed out a laugh at the way he hitched an elbow on the bar to scrub an agitated hand over his eyes. Then she let her gaze flicker back to Jax long enough to find that his eyes were on her. He bit down on his bottom lip to hide his smile, and then his eyebrows leapt into his forehead at the words, dick bicycle. Something dark and sensual crept across his face as his tongue darted out to his bottom lip. He ran a thumb over his mouth, his lips still curling into a sexy smirk and his eyes darkening - it was subtle, but it was there.
And, despite everything, she liked that she'd been the one to put it there.
"Well," Bobby tossed out over his shoulder. "That guy's a royal fuckin' prick."
Jax huffed out a laugh, digging out his cigarette pack again and lifting one to his lips to calm his nerves. He was on edge, and had half a mind to saunter back inside that club, head straight for Dominic King's office, and trash the fucking place. Flipping over a chair or two would feel real good right now.
Instead, he lit a cigarette and puffed away.
He threw a glance over his shoulder to find Allie trailing after them in that leopard print skirt and see-through white T-shirt. Yeah, that shit wasn't helping either right now.
"I don't know about you guys," Opie started easily as they strode over to where their bikes and Allie's car were parked. "But I get the feeling something might be off about this deal."
"That's because he wants to use you guys as his own personal ATM," Allie called out from behind them.
Jax's steps stalled at the sound of her voice, and he shifted on his heel to face her. The irritation written on her face was beautiful, like it always was, but he was too keyed up to enjoy it. Instead, he lifted his eyebrows at her, signalling to her to continue.
She held up the small stack of papers in her hands - the ones Dominic had gingerly pushed at her before they left - and shrugged. "I'd bet my next paycheck he doesn't give us anything more, at least not without a fight."
Bobby nodded grimly. "I hear ya," and then he playfully bumped her with his shoulder, "Nice work in there, killah. You had that douchebag sweatin' his balls off."
"Yeah, well," she replied flippantly, her lips pressed into a tight smile. "It's not like anything I was saying was rocket science. I don't think he was expecting it though."
Right. What had that fucking prick said? I wasn't expecting Samcro to walk in here with a lady lawyer doing all their work for them. He was lucky his legs weren't broken. Or that he still had eyes in his head. Or that the club had made a pact they'd only take one more body - and his wasn't it.
He tipped his chin to her, frowning a little at the way her dark eyes narrowed at him. "What do you think then?"
"What do you mean?"
Jax just lifted a shoulder and flicked some ash from his cigarette. "You're the lawyer here. What do you think we should do?"
He hadn't meant for those words to come out so roughly...he was just so fucking pissed the meeting had gone down this way. This was supposed to be an opportunity - another shot at the deal they would've made with Luann. Another buy-in with the chance for lucrative and steady cash. But as it turned out, Dominic King wasn't looking like he was going to be any better of a business partner than Luann would've been, if this first meeting was any indication.
While he'd normally be willing to give Dominic the benefit of the doubt, everything about that meeting had rubbed him the wrong way.
And, if the way Allie's jaw tightened was any indication, their feelings about this meeting were mutual. Although, right now, it looked like she was directing all her animosity and irritation at him.
"Well," Allie pushed out a heavy sigh, shifting her weight from side to side on her high heels. "I'd have to do the audit first before I could say either way. It's possible everything will check out - I noticed he included the agreement with the people who own the property directly behind the building, so that's probably squared away. Although, I noticed there weren't any copies of permits in those papers he gave me. Still, I...I wouldn't hold my breath. He doesn't have the money right now, and I also don't buy that you'd see a profit in six to eight months, not with the kind of expansion he's talking about anyway. And there are other opportunities with other people. You don't have to get into business with some fly by night strip club owner just because the opportunity is there. If this feels wrong, then it probably is."
He nodded slowly and rubbed his thumb across his lip in thought. She was right - this felt wrong. And this wasn't the only business in Charming looking to expand or looking for new investors.
"Besides," she went on with a shrug. "We still haven't closed on that retail building deal. I think it's okay to let everything breathe and take it slow. One deal at a time."
Yeah, she was right about too. Except for the fact that the more runs they went on, the more pressure they were putting on themselves. The faster they could get the cash flow they needed, the sooner they could put all that in the rearview mirror.
"I get that," he told her roughly. "But we need to keep movin'. If we're shelving this one for the time being, then we gotta move on to the next one."
Allie's eyes flashed darkly. Alright, so maybe, in addition to being pissed about how this meeting went, she was also pissed at him. Just fucking great. It would be nice if he at least knew what he'd done this time that was so goddamn terrible.
"A'ight," Bobby nodded. "I'll start puttin' some feelers out. See what else we can dig up."
"Well," she smiled tightly. "On that note, I need to get back to the studio. I promised Lyla and Piper I'd be back in time for lunch. I'll let you know if I hear anything from him."
He waved at her as she said her goodbyes to Opie and Bobby, noting grimly that she only afforded him another taut smile before sliding into her BMW and driving away. Jax pushed out a rough sigh, tossed his spent cherry onto the pavement, and lit up another one. He'd probably go through three packs before he hit the sack tonight with the way this day was going.
Bobby clapped him on the shoulder good-naturedly and jerked his thumb behind him. "I gotta say, prez, that was some good hire. I wasn't kiddin' when I said she was a killah. That, right there, is why you hire a lawyer that knows what the hell they're doing."
He blew out another breath. "Yeah, I know."
"Hey?" Bobby grinned, waggling his eyes a little as he pulled his helmet on. "You wanna know what I learned today?"
Jax and Opie exchanged an exasperated glance, before Opie called out, "What's that?"
"I learned," Bobby's grin just widened and he wagged a finger at them, "that you should never, ever refer to a lawyer, who also happens to be female, as a lady lawyer. They don't like that."
Jax's lips quirked at the memory. Up until that moment, she'd kept up the polite routine pretty well. As soon as Dominic dropped that little nugget, though, all bets were off. And the way she'd unleashed on him was a beautiful thing to behold. He knew all too well what it was like to be on the wrong side of the negotiation table with her, and he wouldn't have traded places with Dominic King in that moment for anything.
"Yeah," Opie grimaced as he swung his leg over the side of his bike. "She wasn't crazy about that, was she?"
"No, she was not," Bobby chuckled, revving his engine to life.
"You know, brother," Opie was saying to him now. "She seemed kinda pissed before she left. At you, especially. What'd you do now?"
Jax sighed heavily and shook his head. "Fuck if I know."
Opie just lifted a shoulder and revved his engine to life - at least it looked like his VP was going to drop that for now. It'd be different if he could actually pinpoint what he'd done before, during, or after that meeting to make her so goddamn cranky. All he'd done was give her the space she needed to do her job. He was still shaking his head and had just swung his leg over his own bike, when his prepay buzzed in his cut. He slipped it out of his pocket to glance at the caller ID and swore under his breath when he saw who was calling.
"Harrison," Jax answered, making sure his voice was loud enough for Bobby and Opie to hear.
"Jax," he replied smoothly through the phone. "I'm glad I was able to get a hold of you."
"Oh, yeah?" Jax told him, glancing carefully at Bobby and Opie, who'd killed their engines to listen in. "What's up, bro?"
"Look, I don't want anyone to jump the gun or anything here, but I think I've got something. I'm not quite sure what it is yet, but it's the first hit I've gotten on your guy so far. I think it's worth pursuing."
Jax nodded slowly, his eyes drifting to the pavement in thought. "Alright."
He listened as their PI explained what he'd found - or at least, what he thought he'd found - and the more he heard, the more he felt like throwing up. Or smashing his phone. And when Harrison finished sharing his plans to suss out whether this was actually real, or just a rumor, Jax snapped his prepay shut and tossed it back into his cut. Either way, Harrison would be making a trip to the clubhouse soon to collect some payment and they'd need to get the cash ready.
Jax sighed heavily and scrubbed a hand over his face. He squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened him again, Opie and Bobby were waiting.
"Harrison's headed to Mexico," he told them roughly. "He thinks Darby might be hiding out with a cartel."
"Fuck," Opie exhaled and shook his head.
Bobby just lifted his eyes to the sky, as if that might will this all away. If Darby was holed up, probably underground, with some Mexican cartel, then it was no wonder Juice hadn't been able to find any trace of him. If there was one thing cartels were good at it, it was staying under the radar, especially in plain sight. Harrison didn't think Darby had hooked up with Galindo somehow - but in the end, what difference did it make? A cartel was a fucking cartel. And if this was true, things were about to go from bad to worse.
And here he'd thought this day couldn't get any shittier.
Allie glared at the piles of paperwork cluttering her desk. All she wanted to do was go home, run five miles to work out some of this aggression, and then take a nice, long hot bath before willing herself to sleep without the need for any sleeping aids tonight. The odds of actually getting home at a decent hour and doing any of those things were looking slimmer and slimmer as this day went on.
Her eyes dropped to her newly-minted legal assistant, and she smiled broadly.
"Hey, Piper," Allie called out to her, resting her chin on her hand with a grin.
Piper, who'd been engrossed with her phone just a moment before, glanced up like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Her cheeks flushed and the phone immediately clattered to the desk.
"I'm sorry, Allie," Piper murmured shyly. "I know I shouldn't -"
"Hey, hey," she laughed. "It's alright! You need to respond to a text, you need to respond to a text. I mean, maybe don't sit on your phone all day, but I'm not gonna be upset if you use your phone every once and awhile."
Piper let out the breath she'd been holding, relief washing across her face. "Okay."
"I was going to ask if you wanted to help me sort through some of this mess on my desk," Allie shrugged, and then she bit back a laugh when Piper's phone buzzed on the desk. "You gonna get that or what?"
Hopefully, Piper had someone more interesting, and less tragic, on the other end than Allie usually did. Seeing as though she still had a few unanswered text messages of her own to deal with, she figured she wasn't one to judge.
Piper chewed on the inside of her cheek, and after a moment of indecision, she grabbed her phone and skimmed the text. When that blush on Piper's cheeks only deepened, it looked an awful lot like when Jax had been in this same office with them last week and she'd all but combusted in her chair. Her teeth gritted just at the thought of that jerk's name.
So, she shifted her focus back to Piper. "Big plans tonight? I know it's just Thursday, but I guess it's never too early to get a start on the weekend."
"No," Piper shook her head and dipped her head down a little. "Tomorrow night."
"Oh," Allie nodded nonchalantly, and made a show of settling back into her chair to get back to work, before glancing back up at Piper. If Piper wanted to share more, she'd be more than happy to listen - and for the potential gossip, and the distraction. And after a few moments of silence, Piper's quiet voice rang out again.
"There's this guy," she murmured, biting down on her bottom lip. "We've been to a couple of movies with some other people before. He wants to go to a movie with just me tomorrow night."
Allie's lips parted to respond, but she hesitated. Was going to a movie code for something? Was that what the kids were calling it these days? Probably best just to roll with it.
"Oh, okay. Do you want to go to a movie with just him?"
Piper just lifted a shoulder. "I guess."
Her blush said otherwise. Allie smiled softly at her and nodded, folding her arms down on her desk in thought.
"Is he cute?"
Piper chewed on her bottom lip again before nodding almost imperceptibly. "I don't know if my mom will let me go though."
"Okay," Allie replied slowly. They were getting into some uncharted waters here, and she wasn't sure how far she could push. "Does she...not like this guy or something?"
"I don't think it's that. She's just…" Piper trailed off, tilting her head a little to the side before letting her eyes drop back to her phone again. "She's weird about guys. Well, weird about guys and me."
"Oh," Allie nodded again.
Lyla had gotten pregnant with Piper when she was 17, so it sort of made sense that she was hyper-sensitive to her 15-year-old daughter hanging out with boys. And, given her profession, it also made sense that Lyla wanted her daughter to stay as young and as innocent for as long as she could. Allie wished she'd had a mom like that - her mom was always too strung out to be useful for any kind of advice, let alone advice about boys, and even if she hadn't, Anna Levy's track record with men didn't exactly make her Allie's first choice for girl talk. When her dad married Mary Winston, she'd hoped that maybe this was finally a chance to have a real mom, who talked to her about real things, but that had been pretty much dead on arrival from the beginning. She'd been lucky to have a few teachers at Charming High she could go to when she needed to talk.
"She doesn't want me to end up like her," Piper confirmed and then lifted her eyes to the ceiling, as if just even saying the words out loud was annoying.
"Well," Allie laughed. "I mean, you can't blame her, right?"
Piper lifted a shoulder, but there was still a little bit of a smile there too. "I guess."
"Hey," Allie started again, leaning forward on her elbows to help make her point. "All I know is that your mom cares about you. She really does. Trust me, you're really lucky to have a mom like that. And you know...if you like this guy, and you want to spend some more time with him, maybe see if he wants to do something someplace where you guys can actually see each other and talk. Like, I don't know, bowling or something."
Piper's mouth quirked up. "Bowling?"
"Yeah," Allie laughed, and she leaned forward in a faux-panic. "Do people not bowl anymore? I don't know - it's been forever since I did anything outside of my house for fun."
"No…" Piper trailed off, watching her curiously. "People still bowl, I guess."
"Okay, good. I was worried I'd completely missed the boat on anything fun. You know, since I don't have it."
A shy smile spread across Piper's face and she shrugged. "I don't know...maybe you're right. Maybe we should do something other than see a movie - that's all we've ever done together anyway."
And, as far as Allie was concerned, anything was better than Piper being alone in a dark room with some guy. Although alone was a relative term in a movie theater, if this was more of a first solo date between them, it was more important for Piper to be with this guy around other people, who could see them and who could intervene if necessary. Not sitting next to some guy, whether she liked him or not, in some dark room where the opportunities were just about endless. The last thing she wanted was for Piper to find herself in a situation she didn't know how to get out of.
"So, no bowling though?"
"Probably not," Piper laughed, and Allie smiled at the sound. It was good to see her come out of her shell, a little bit at a time. "I think only old people bowl."
"Hey!" Allie cried out with a laugh and playfully tossed a pen at her. "I'm not old. At least not that old."
"Well," Piper's tips twisted ruefully. "If your first idea for a date is going bowling, then you're old."
"Well," Allie scoffed. "I guess it's a good thing I don't have time to bowl then."
Piper's head tilted to the side a little in thought, her blue eyes studying her carefully. "So you don't...bowl...like ever?"
Allie's eyebrows lifted at the question. She hadn't expected Piper to go down this road and turn the tables on her, but she was happy to keep Piper talking. Still, she definitely needed to choose her words carefully here. "I don't...bowl very often. If anything, I'm...going to a movie and even then, I haven't had much time for that either lately."
She could see the wheels in Piper's head turning as she shifted through those words, and when that realization hit, Piper's eyes lit up mischievously.
"Oh," she grinned. "I see. When was the last time you...went to a movie?"
Allie huffed out a laugh and shook her head at Piper. "I don't think I'm gonna answer that question. But let me just say this, and since I'm old, I feel like I can say it - bowl first, okay? Then bowl again. And bowl again. And bowl a few more times before you go see that movie, okay? Don't go to that movie before you're ready, and before you're sure you really wanna see that movie with that guy."
Piper nodded slowly, her head tilting to the side thoughtfully. Maybe she'd said too much, too pointedly. But it was hard-earned advice, and if she was going to give it to anyone, it was going to be Piper, before she started dating, and before she went to college.
"Besides," Allie threw out lightly. "Most guys are assholes, right? Half the battle is figuring out which ones are worth the time and the effort, and which ones aren't."
And which ones ran so hot and cold it made your head spin.
And which ones you should turn and run from as fast as your feet could take you.
Still, Piper took it the way she'd intended, and laughed with a wide smile. She got it. Allie just hoped she'd listen.
A knock rapped on the door, and it opened before Allie had a chance to respond. Tig's wiry head stuck through the door and he waved sheepishly.
"Sorry, ladies. I didn't mean to interrupt," he held a hand up as he cautiously stepped inside her office. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and for once, Tig actually looked a little tame. Maybe that had more to do with the fact that he was on security detail today. When Allie had passed him in the hall on her way back to her office, he'd nodded stoically, his eyes only flickering with something slightly depraved for a second. For him, that had probably taken a lot of effort.
"No problem," Allie shrugged. "What's up?"
He ran a hand over his hair, agitation crinkling up the side of his face. "You seen Lyla lately? I've been tryin' to track her down for like 45 minutes now and I can't pin her down."
Allie's eyes flicked to Piper, who frowned back at her. "We just saw her...maybe an hour or so ago for lunch. Right, Pipes? I think it was something like that, but I haven't seen her since."
Tig shifted his weight and a flicker of anxiety flashed across his face. "Alright. Any ideas where she might be? I might've...I might've jumped the gun a little and called Ope, but if you could help me off the hook, that'd be really great."
And, judging by the way he anxiously rocked back on his heels, he wasn't concerned about getting chewed out by the club's VP for losing track of his wife at work. He was just concerned, in general, and he didn't like that Lyla had disappeared. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to rope Opie into this in the first place. Or her, for that matter.
"Well," Allie sorted through all the places Lyla could be in her mind, frowning in concentration. "Sometimes the writers hole up in a few of the spare offices down the hall to get some work done. Did you check over there?"
Tig shook his head, his eyes dropping to the floor with a frown. "Maybe I'll head over there then. The boys are on their way, but I should probably make sure I looked everywhere before they get here."
She schooled her reaction, not wanting Tig to see any hint of irritation flashing across her face at the mention of the boys. And here she thought she'd met her quota for encounters with aggravating men today. But still, that wasn't the most important thing here. Lyla was more important than that, so she sprung up from behind her desk to walk toward her office door.
"I'll go with you."
Tig shook his head furiously. "Nah. It's okay, Allie. Just point me in the right direction."
"Well," she lifted a shoulder. "If any of those doors are locked, you need a key, right?"
And, they both knew that if any of those doors were actually locked, it didn't necessarily mean that Lyla wasn't inside, if Tig's agitation was any indication. Before he had a chance to protest, Allie opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
"Just...stay here, Piper, okay?" she called over her shoulder as Tig fell into step beside her.
"Don't make me regret this, sweetheart," Tig murmured to her. "If somethin' happens to you and Lyla all in the same day, under my watch, I might as well hop on my bike and never look back."
"I don't know about that," she huffed out a laugh, and gestured to one of the spare office's doors as they approached. "She's probably just getting some work done. She's fine, right?"
Saying the words out loud didn't make her believe them any more. And the trepidation in Tig's wild eyes didn't help matters either. So, she knocked on the door, waited a beat, and then let Tig try the doorknob. He stuck his head through the door, and finding nothing, shut it again and gestured with his head for them to head toward the next office. They did that two more times, until Tig tried the knob on another door, and it wouldn't budge.
"You got that key, Allie?"
She flipped through her key ring, finding the one for this particular office, and handed it to him. Tig flashed her a reassuring grin, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Her chest heaved a little as he put the key in the lock, and turned the knob to open the door.
"Stay behind me," he murmured to her over his shoulder as he pushed the door open.
She barely got a look inside the office before Tig took off, heading straight for the two men who had Lyla pinned into the corner. One of the men slammed his fist right into Lyla's already battered face just as Tig launched himself on the guy's back to tear him away. Tig landed a punch, and then the other guy grabbed him from behind, wrapping his arms around Tig's neck to put him in a chokehold.
Allie didn't think. She just lurched forward to yank Lyla to her feet, pushing her out the office door as fast as she could.
"Run!" Allie gasped. "Run!"
She grabbed Lyla by the elbow, pulling her along down the hallway and headed right for her office door. Allie turned her head long enough to see one of Lyla's attackers skid out into the hallway, and then break out into a dead sprint, headed straight for them.
Allie pushed Lyla inside her office in a desperate rush, and then closed the door behind them, flipping the lock a moment later. Somewhere, the sound of faint motorcycle engines roared in the distance, but maybe they'd already run out of time.
Because the man on the other side of the door started reaming into it over and over again. The door shook from the impact, and she could hear Lyla's quiet weeping behind her and Piper shriek as the door shook again. Allie backpedalled, and in a split second decision, started pushing Lyla and Piper toward her window. She yanked the blinds up, pushed the window up as high as she could get it, and then reached for Piper's shoulder to push her through.
Her frantic eyes fell to the parking lot, where a line of motorcycles pulled into the entrance. They were so close. They just needed to get out of this office and through this window, and then they could run to safety. The door shook again and again as Allie helped Piper through the window, and then instantly reached for Lyla to do the same. By now, the club had parked their bikes in a hurry, and she could see their tall frames throwing their legs over the side of their bikes to jump into action. Someone was running toward the studio's main entrance, and the others were sprinting for her window with a flash of a blonde head and a tall hulking figure right out in front.
Lyla jumped down, landing safely on the pavement, and just as Allie swung a leg out the window to start climbing through, the door shook again, breaking open with a sick crack. The man burst through, frantically searching, blood dripping down his face.
His furious gaze locked on Allie, and then he sprung forward.
A/N - Thank you again to everyone who's reading along. If you've reviewed, thank you so much for the feedback! I know this one ended on a cliffhanger, and I might be able to be persuaded to posting the next chapter... ;)