Chapter Four
Jax leaned his head back against the wall of the elevator, squeezing his eyes shut before blowing out a heavy breath. His knuckles burned and throbbed. His jaw wasn't much better. Or the side of his ribs. He'd taken one too many shots to the kidneys tonight, and his best bet was a hot shower, a beer or two, maybe some room service, and a good night's sleep.
They had to hit the road early tomorrow morning anyway, and he just didn't feel like hanging around the basement any longer than he really had to. The party was still raging, that was for sure, but all he wanted right now was some peace and quiet.
He could find that here.
No one batted an eye when he left. No one studied him with suspicion as he walked away. He could really just come and go as he pleased. Peace and quiet was waiting for him in his hotel room, and right about now, it felt like a gift.
He'd just rounded the corner of the hallway and was in the process of slipping his keycard out of his pocket when he stopped right in his tracks.
The flaming red hair was a dead giveaway, but it was the way she leaned casually against the door of his hotel room that set him on edge. He wasn't so sure he liked how she was smiling at him right now - with her mouth curling up one side of her face as her eyes flicked up and down the length of him, looking at him like he was good enough to eat.
She obviously sensed both his uneasiness and his hesitation, and so she pushed off his room door and slinked - fucking slinked - a little bit closer to close some of the space between them.
"I think you got the wrong room, darlin'," he called out warily. "Hap's down the hall in 413."
"Oh, I know where his room is," she smirked at him again, coming to a stop about three feet away from him. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced," she held out a hand, "Joanna St. Claire, but you're welcome to call me Jo."
His eyes dropped down to her extended hand, and he found himself hesitating yet again. Whatever this woman was after right now, it couldn't be good. But when she tilted her head to the side, sizing him up as her eyebrows lifted in challenge, he didn't really have much of a choice.
He slid his hand into hers to give it a light shake and pulled it back as quickly and as nonchalantly as he could. "Jax Teller. Nice to officially meet you. How'd you know where my room was?"
Jo shot him an exasperated look, as if to say, Come on, really? And then she just sidestepped his question completely. Not like he was really all that surprised.
"I heard you had a good fight tonight. Congratulations."
"Thanks," he replied a little uneasily as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Her mouth curled into a sly smirk. "Happy's expecting me, in case you were wondering. Liv's at home right now, in case you were wondering about that too. Our employer did not request the pleasure of our company for tonight's fight, so I dropped her off at our apartment after our last set and made my way back here for some more playtime."
Jax rubbed his mouth to hide his laugh, despite the way his knuckles screamed. She wasn't telling him anything he didn't already know, for the most part. If Putlova had asked Liv to be on the floor before, during, or after the fight, she would've been there. And he'd been looking for her too.
Then she startled him by holding out a folded piece of paper, gesturing with her head for him to take it.
"Got a present for ya."
His eyebrows dipped into a frown. He just didn't know what to make of all this - was Mrs. Robinson trying to seduce him, or did she have some other ulterior motive? After a beat of indecision, he reached for that piece of paper, only for her to pull it back at the last second.
"You got a girlfriend back home in California, Jax?"
His eyes narrowed, and he exhaled one measured breath before he left himself to respond: "No. I don't."
"How 'bout an old lady? Isn't that what biker wives are called?"
"That's right," he nodded tightly. "But no - I don't have one of those either."
Jo's grin turned just a touch menacing now, and he had to bite back the urge to take a step back. "You like to mess around in your clubhouse? I've heard some of the parties they throw at the clubhouses in Reno and Indian Hills are real ragers - nothin' but blow and booze and pussy, right?"
He huffed out a laugh, shaking his head as some amusement finally lifted his lips. "Sure, our parties can be real ragers. I used to mess around like that - not the blow part, just the booze and pussy part, but I haven't been real interested in that kinda thing since I got out of prison."
Her heavily-lined green eyes squinted at him, taking that all in, scrutinizing every word and every inflection for even the smallest sign of disingenuity.
"You're not lyin' to me right now, are ya, Jax? Just tellin' me what you think I wanna hear?"
"I'm not really sure what you wanna hear," he huffed. "But I'm not lying."
Jo just shrugged, holding one hand up in defense as she held out that piece of paper again with her other one. "Alright, alright. Here ya go. Take your present," she tipped her chin to her outstretched hand, "Go on now."
While he still had no idea what was really happening here, he slipped the paper from her hand and unfolded it. Ten digits were scrawled across it, and then his eyes shot up to find Jo smirking at him again.
"That's Liv's number."
And God help him - his heart pounded in his chest. What was he? Fifteen again? Shit, even at fifteen, he hadn't needed to play these kinda games, if that's what this really was. Definitely hadn't needed a girl's friend to pass him her number because he was too chickenshit to ask for it himself.
"She know you're givin' this to me?"
"Nope," Jo's eyebrows jumped into her forehead with a little more sass than he liked at the moment.
"You're not lyin' to me right now, are ya, Jo?"
She huffed out an amused laugh, but now, she tilted her head to the side with an impressed air, like she'd sized him up and didn't mind what she saw. "No, Jax. I'm not lyin' to ya. She's got no idea I'm even talkin' to ya like this right now."
"So why are you?"
All he got in response was a cocked eyebrow and another feisty smirk.
"Is this her real number?" he tried again.
Jo just lifted a shoulder as she started to backpedal down the hall. "Only one way to find out," and then she shot him a wink before turning her back to him so she could slink over to Happy's room, "Have a nice night, Jax."
And then she just walked away. She just walked away, leaving him standing in the middle of the hallway with Liv's phone number in his hand, daring him to do something about it.
That piece of paper tailed him around his hotel room, taunting him, tempting him, fucking with his head. Because seriously… if he actually used that number right now, and if that was actually her number, what did he really expect to happen? Why would he really be calling her?
He dropped that paper on the nightstand and sank down onto the bed. Might as well call some room service while he weighed his options. He was still weighing his options in the shower and again when he plopped back down on the bed and turned on the TV with a beer in his hand.
And as it turned out, he really didn't have any options to begin with.
He didn't want to use that number to try to blow off some steam after a fight, assuming she'd even agree to meet up with him right now. It didn't really feel right to use that number to call her in the middle of the night just to talk, especially if Jo had really been telling the truth and Liv had no idea he had her number in the first place.
Liv's de facto mom was testing him, and he wasn't sure if calling her tonight meant he'd passed or failed. Or if not calling her meant he'd passed or failed.
But there was still a nagging part of him that wanted to call anyway. Just to talk. Just to find out how her last sets went. Just to hear her voice. He hadn't gotten much of a chance to see her today, let alone talk to her, because she'd been on and off the stage in the lounge for most of the day, and Happy had pulled him away before she was done for the night so they could prep for the fight.
So he could call her just to talk, couldn't he? Without any expectations, without any ulterior motive… because that was the truth. He had zero expectations and no motive when it came to her. He just liked being around her, liked talking to her, liked the peace it gave him. But then again, it was also nearly one in the morning, and calling her right now might not do him any favors either.
He fell asleep trying to decide.
Reno's been different than I expected. I guess I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I definitely didn't expect to spend most of my time in a speakeasy listening to motown, banjos, and jazz, and in a rooftop bar eating hand rolls and tuna bowls. The company is worth it though.
I can breathe here. I don't have to look over my shoulder. I feel a little bit like I'm actually living again when I'm here too, and I can't say the same for the way I feel when I'm in Charming.
I guess I just didn't expect to feel so fucking relieved to be gone from that place, and it's only really been one weekend since I've been here without the club.
Without the club. That feels like sacrilege to write on paper. No way that's something I can ever say out loud.
"Mind if I sit?"
Jax's head jerked up from his journal at the familiar voice and studied the woman standing by his table. She didn't look any worse for the wear since last night, even though she was wearing the same clothes. In fact, she looked pretty downright relaxed and well-rested too. Seeing as how he didn't have much of a choice, he gestured to the empty seat across from him with a playful grin.
"Go for it."
He shut his journal just as Jo dropped down into her chair with a steaming mug of coffee in her hand. She took a moment to peruse his table here by the buffet, taking stock of the empty plate he'd pushed out of the way to make room for his journal and coffee.
"I'm a little surprised to see ya up this early," Jo commented easily in that weird half-Geordie, half-west coast accent, and tilted her head to the side as she brought her coffee up to her lips. "Your friend is still passed out cold and I'm guessing he will be for a while."
"I've been an early riser for the last year or so," he shrugged. "Doesn't seem like that habit's gonna shake anytime soon."
Prison had a tendency to wipe away any habits you used to have and give you a whole set of new ones. Survival was more important than sleep anyway, but he hadn't been able to sleep past seven o'clock since he'd gotten out either.
"Liv is an early riser too," Jo nodded, that little knowing smirk crossing her face again, just like last night. "I'm sure she's already on the couch with her coffee, watching CNN or whatever news channel she's got on for the day," she batted a hand in the air, "American politics is a sideshow. Not to mention boring and predictable as hell. Gimme a nice, bloody serial killer documentary any day and I'm all set."
Jax huffed out a laugh. Sounded like her and Hap were sort of perfect for each other.
"Uh huh," he lifted his eyebrows at her. "You have a good night?"
"Oh, a lady never bangs and tells, Jax."
Now, he bit down on his bottom lip to hide his smile. "A'ight. Fair enough. Well, for what it's worth, it sounds like you were pretty overdue for some playtime. Glad you had fun with Hap last night - and the night before, I guess, too."
Jo's emerald green eyes narrowed just a touch as she leaned both elbows down on the table. "What makes you think I was overdue for some playtime?"
Well, he hadn't been expecting that. And now he had no idea how in the hell to answer her. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, bringing his fist up to his mouth to clear his throat in an awkward, futile attempt at deflection.
"Liv, uh," he coughed again with a weak smile, "mentioned you used to date her brother."
"She told you that?"
Aw, shit. The last thing he needed right now was to get in the middle of some passive aggressive catfight between Liv and this batshit crazy woman. Or be the catalyst for one. When he didn't respond - because, honestly, he had no idea what he was supposed to do - Jo just leaned back in her chair, assessing him carefully.
"I'm just surprised she told you," Jo shrugged, and a little too casually too. "She usually doesn't like to talk about him, not even with me, and especially not with a near-stranger."
"Yeah, well," he jumped to explain. "I told her last weekend that I'd seen him fight before and I guess that got us talkin' about him."
Jo eyed him from over the top of her coffee mug as she took another drink, and when she set it down on the table, her gaze sliced right back to him. "You remind me of him."
"She mentioned that too."
"Hmm. Interesting," she mused, tapping her long red nails on the table in thought. "You're the complete opposite of him in terms of looks. Him and Liv may have different dads, but they've both got the same dark hair and dark eyes that'll just knock the knickers right off ya. Sometimes I can't even look at her, they look so much alike."
All he could do was drape an arm on the back of his chair, settle in, and listen.
"You're taller and leaner," Jo allowed with a wistful smile. "He's shorter - bulkier than you too. But, Lord, when I saw you in the ring last weekend, I thought to myself, Jesus, has this fella been gettin' lessons from Liam? But it's not just that. There's - now, don't take this the wrong way because this is a compliment, I swear - but there's a gentleness to you that Liam's got, despite what you do in that ring. A kindness that most people in your line of work don't have. You're thoughtful too, like you're just takin' it all in, watching and planning. I just hope you're smarter than he is."
He rubbed his mouth with a ringed hand, letting all that simmer.
"Nobody's ever used the word gentle and kind with me in the same sentence."
What was the point in being anything but honest with this woman? She already seemed to mostly have her mind made up about him anyway, even if he didn't deserve this opinion she seemed to have without much context.
"I suppose that makes sense," Jo studied him carefully from across the table with a wry smile. "Bikers aren't exactly known for being gentle or kind, are they?"
"No, they are not."
Her lips curled into a light smirk as she dipped her head to the side again. "I know you didn't call her last night. I talked to her this morning after I left Happy's room, and I feel pretty confident she would've told me if she got an unexpected call or even an unexpected text during the night."
"Alright."
"So why didn't you?"
Jax's eyebrows lifted in amusement, a wary smile working its way around his jaw. "It was almost one in the morning, Jo."
"Okay," she just shrugged, and then she leaned forward with a knowing smirk. "But don't you like her?"
His reply was easy, and he'd figured out a long time ago that he was better off not lying to a woman's face, especially when it was important.
"Yeah," Jax murmured. "I like her."
Jo leaned back in her chair after that, her green eyes boring into him, scrutinizing him, judging him. "I could use a smoke. You wanna step outside with me?"
She'd already downed the rest of her coffee, set her empty mug on the table, and stood up from her chair, gesturing with her head for him to follow her away from the buffet. So, it looked like he didn't have much of a choice here. Jo waited long enough for him to toss some cash on the table and sweep his journal up before she headed for a side door just beyond the buffet's entrance, marked employees only.
He followed her out that side door, digging into the front pocket of his kutte for his cigarettes. And because he wasn't an idiot, he held the pack out to Jo first and held an open flame out to her before setting himself up with his own cigarette. Once some smoke filled his lungs, Jax let his gaze wander around the space where they stood - it was still pretty early in the morning, but the sun already beat down, punishing the cement and anyone close to it. There wasn't really anyone else around either, despite the fact that he'd expected to see at least a few employees ambling around out here.
They puffed away in silence for a moment, and he made sure to give her a wide enough berth with his free hand in his pocket, before she spoke again.
"Did Liv happen to mention anything about her arrangement with our employer when you two were on the roof Friday night?"
He frowned, eyeing her warily as he exhaled a long stream of smoke. "You mean their protection deal?"
"She said it was a protection deal, huh?"
Whatever lightness that had been in the air between them disappeared. Uneasiness set in now, curling around his chest and wrapping around his throat.
"She didn't tell me much about it. Just that there was some kinda deal made before her brother went inside that included protection for them both. That was pretty much it."
Jo nodded tightly, her eyes dropping to the cement underneath their feet as she flicked some ash from her cigarette. When she stood there next to him, quietly smoking her cigarette, and without another word, he took that opportunity to ask a question of his own. It was only fair, considering the slightly scary interrogation he currently found himself in the middle of.
"What's the deal with her and the boss's son?"
If she'd sidestepped around naming him out loud, and where they could potentially be overheard, he figured he'd better do the same. She hadn't brought him out here, where there were significantly less people around, for no reason.
Jo's eyes flicked back up to him, but she didn't respond, choosing to wrap her lips around her cigarette instead.
"He showed up on the roof while we were waitin' for you and Hap, and for a second there, I thought she was gonna start climbing over the railing to put some more space in between them. I asked her about it, but she wouldn't give me much," he shook his head at the memory. "Anybody can see she's scared of him."
She blew out a heavy breath, dropping her eyes to the ground again so she didn't have to make eye contact with him. "She's right to be scared of him. He mostly kept his distance when Liam was around, but he's gotten worse. A lot worse. I know our boss does keep an eye on Liv while she's here in the casino, and he has his son do most of the legwork - so he hovers, follows her around, watches her. But our boss isn't havin' his son keep an eye on her outta the goodness of his heart. Well, I think he thinks he is. They've got the strangest, most dysfunctional dynamic… I still can't figure it out. He treats her like a daughter or somethin', always checkin' in, makin' sure she's comfortable, talkin' to her like she's family… it's fuckin' sick, if you ask me."
Jax nodded slowly, letting that all churn around and settle in before he asked his next question.
"The boss's son ever try anything with her when her brother wasn't around?"
Jo's head turned at the sound of his voice, which had come out a little gruffer than he'd intended, and her eyes popped a little. "No. And I know she'd tell me if he had. I feel pretty confident she'd tell our boss if he had, too, because our boss would do somethin' about it. He just… it's not so much anything he's done because he hasn't done anything beyond watching her and following her around. It's what he could do."
His eyebrows knitted together in thought. So his initial instincts about that hadn't been too far off.
"When Liam went to prison," Jo murmured as she took another drag. "I promised him I'd guard that girl with my life, and that's exactly what I've done since the day he ended things with me and left to turn himself into Nevada State. She's the only family I've got. Might as well be my kid - it's not like I'm getting any younger, so I figured I should claim her while I still can."
Jax huffed out a laugh, glancing down at his white sneakers to give himself a little reprieve.
"I'm gonna wager a guess that the reason you didn't call her last night was because you like her, not because you don't. So I'm gonna tell you somethin' now that I'm not supposed to tell you, or anyone for that matter, and I need to know that you're gonna keep it to yourself."
He nodded immediately. "Of course."
"And I'm only tellin' you this 'cuz you need to understand something," she wagged a finger at him now, cigarette and all. "If you've got any delusions of grandeur about sweepin' Livie off her feet and carryin' her back to your clubhouse in California so you can make her your little biker wife... well, you can't. She can't leave, Jax, because my boss won't let her."
Everything stilled around him, save for the thundering in his chest.
"You heard anything about why Liam got sent to prison?"
Jax shook his head. He didn't trust his voice to work right now anyway.
"Assault with a deadly weapon," Jo flashed him a tight grin. "Over the years, he got a little too big for his britches, if ya know what I mean. Thought he walked on water a little bit too, and I only get to say that because I was shagging him," she pushed out a bitter laugh and shook her head, "He started takin' out bets, most of them on himself too. Thought he'd win us a little nest egg so we could buy some land in the middle of nowhere and quit all this shit. And guess who fronted the cash?"
"Shit," he exhaled under his breath. That uneasiness wrapping itself around his throat before snowballed into a sick pit in his stomach.
"It was all good for a while too," Jo shrugged a little too easily. "Until he couldn't pay back what he'd borrowed. So our boss did what any boss in his line of work would do and he agreed not to shoot Liam if Liam agreed to work off what he owed. That's how he ended up getting arrested - he was runnin' muscle and collectin' other people's debt while workin' off his own."
His head dipped down into a tight nod. The problem here was that he knew exactly where this was going.
"If we'd gotten married before he went inside, that debt would've been transferred to me. I think Liam thought he was pullin' a fast one by ending things with me, but our boss had to get his pound of flesh somehow. So he turned the tables on Liam and wrapped that debt around Liv's ankles instead. I guess he wanted to keep it in the family, ya know?"
Now he felt like he'd just been kicked in the stomach too.
"How much?" he heard himself ask, even though he didn't recognize his voice.
"It's close to seven figures," Jo told him grimly, her lips pulling together in a firm line. She gave him a moment then, because he fucking needed it. "I had no idea he was doin' all that - takin' out loans from our boss and not payin' them back. No fuckin' idea. At least not until it was too late. I think the only reason our boss let him keep doin' it for as long as he did was because of their history. And now he has to sit in prison, knowing that his sister is literally paying for his mistakes."
He swallowed down the burning in his throat and got his shit together. "And Liv is on the hook until he gets out."
"That's right," she nodded. "The agreement - the actual agreement - is that Liv takes over the weekly payments Liam owes to our boss, and in return, our boss agrees not to shoot her. Calling it a protection deal is a nice little euphemism for her not getting killed. I mean, of course he keeps an eye on her. If anything happened to her, how would he get what's owed to him?"
Jo's previous words about Liv and Putlova's relationship made a hell of a lot more sense now. Calling it dysfunctional was a nice little euphemism for completely fucked up.
"I wanna be clear here that Liv pays him strictly in money, although he does give us both odd jobs around the casino - like when we played hostess last weekend at your private afterparty. We do those sorts of things for him because we have to, and because he knows we'd never breathe a word of it to anyone or he'd pull Liam's protection, or do far, far worse. You and I both know the bratva isn't exactly known for treating women well, and a woman with that kind of debt might be required to work it off in other ways."
Jax's movements stilled again as the cigarette he was bringing to his lips froze in mid-air.
"It was suggested once, early on, that she entertain some of his special guests as more than just a hostess," Jo tipped her chin to him with some pride flooding her eyes. "My Livie told him he might as well take her out back and shoot her if that's what he really wanted her to do."
He blew out a shaky breath, running an even shakier hand over his buzzed hair. Holy fucking shit.
Honestly, I think I'd rather die than have to be with him.
He hadn't realized just how serious she'd been about that until right now.
"Our boss didn't shoot her, obviously," Jo went on. "And ever since then, he's been pretty damn respectful of her too. And he's never made that suggestion again. That respect, for whatever it's worth, really has given her some protection here in the casino. It's a pretty fucked up kinda protection, but it's better than nothin' while Liam's inside."
"So your boss runs protection for him and… what? Liv gives him extra money for that?"
"Our boss may be a fuckin' tosser, but he's an old school tosser with old school rules. Liam worked for him, in more ways than one, and made him a shitload of money too, and our boss is giving him the same treatment he'd give any of his other thugs who get sent to prison on his behalf. But see, the really messed up part of all this is that he acts like he's doin' Liv a favor by keeping Liam safe. Like he's helping her. When in reality, he owns her."
"Jesus fucking Christ," he exhaled. His shoulders sagged and he blew out a shaky breath, running his free hand up the side of his head because he just didn't know what else to do.
Jo lifted a wary eyebrow at him. "So you see what I meant before when I said she can't leave? Even when Liam gets out, if Liam gets out, I just don't see how those two aren't tied to our boss forever."
"And you -"
"My boss has made it clear the debt stays in the family. Liv's technically his next of kin, and good luck tracking down their mom when it really counts. And I suppose I'm his insurance policy, aren't I? Liv will always stay in line because we all know that if he did decide to shoot her, he'd just look to me for that money anyway - regardless of anything he says. Like I said, he has to get his pound of flesh somehow, and I think he's punishing Liam by punishing her. So I help her with the payments as much as she'll let me. I cover our rent, the bills, that sort of thing, so the majority of her tips can be used to chip away at that debt."
And then, everything just sort of clicked into place.
"She's made a pretty big deal about me not tipping her with any money I win from the fights," Jax murmured hoarsely, rubbing a hand over his mouth in thought. "Now that makes more sense."
"Right," Jo's mouth curled into a smirk again. "Because she knows she's just gonna turn around and hand it right back to him. And she doesn't wanna do that with your money because, clearly, she likes you."
He didn't know how to respond to that. Didn't know if he was still being tested, or if he was being roped into their little inner circle, or if it was a bit of both.
"And, hopefully," she went on, still eyeing him with that smirk twisting her lips, "you understand why you can't be ridin' off into the sunset with her on your Harley because he'll never let you, at least not while her brother's still in prison."
Jax's lips parted to respond to that, but she swooped in before he had a chance.
"Before you give me some line about how you're not lookin' for anything with her, how you just got out of prison, blah blah blah - the first time I mentioned anything about you throwin' her over your shoulder and takin' her back to your clubhouse, you didn't have too much to say about that, did you? And you certainly didn't try to set me straight either. No," she blew out a stream of smoke from the side of her mouth before pointing her cigarette at him, "you wanted me to explain why you couldn't do any of those things, didn't you? Just like you took her number from me without any protest."
Somewhere, deep down, he knew she was right. He could've easily jumped in at any point and told Jo none of this mattered because he wasn't interested in Liv that way. He could've tossed her number in the trash last night too.
But he didn't.
He'd let her give him the whole story instead.
And that piece of paper with Liv's phone number on it was tucked away safely in his wallet.
"Maybe you're right," he allowed with a tight smile. Might as well be honest with her after everything she'd just told him. "But we haven't known each other that long, and in case you forgot, I didn't call her last night. So why you tellin' me all this now?"
Jo flicked her spent cigarette onto the pavement and flashed him a knowing smirk. "Because she's not going to. Or, at least not until she feels some sort of misplaced duty to try to protect you from all this and give you a nice little push in the other direction. And I figure, wouldn't you rather know now than later?"
Right.
Because now, he knew exactly how deep Liv was in with the Putlovas. A sane man - a smart man - might run in the opposite direction as fast as he could and without giving her a second thought. A man that didn't have any kind of real feelings for her might do the same too.
"I'm sure she'd just give me the same line you were about to give me too," Jo told him with a wry grin. "Not lookin' for anything right now, really bad timing, can't leave the city, tied to Russian mobsters, blah blah blah, but she just sort of… gravitates toward you anyway, and I think you've been gravitating toward her too, whether you both know it or not. She likes spending time with you, and that means something, at least for her."
He hesitated, giving what he was about to say a little more consideration because it really did mean something, at least for him.
"I like spending time with her too."
And it had been a really, really long time since he'd liked spending time with anyone. Or liked being around anyone, just in general.
She studied him for a long moment, measuring him, judging him, and then she leaned in closer, as if she'd finally made up her mind.
"I like you, Jax Teller," Jo wagged a finger at him. "See ya next weekend."
Then she clapped him on the shoulder and disappeared inside the casino.
Liv's eyes followed Jo's movements around their apartment, trying to decide what, exactly, she was seeing right now. Jo was… well, she was just sort of going about her normal Sunday routine like nothing had happened these past few days, like nothing had changed.
And maybe that was true. For Jo, at least.
But at the same time, Jo had also unceremoniously dropped her off at their apartment last night after their last set, and after spending a little too much time fixing her makeup and changing into a tight little black dress that Liv had forgotten she even had - because Jo never did these kinds of things.
Jo was an adult, and so she was entitled to go off and do adult things, if that's what she wanted to do.
It was just weird.
Seeing her leaving to go hook up with some guy… some guy who wasn't Liam… it felt right and wrong all at the same time.
"Do you think we should run to the grocery store today?" Jo called over her shoulder, and then glanced back inside their refrigerator, which, admittedly, was running pretty low on necessities.
"I suppose we could."
When Jo didn't respond, Liv's eyes narrowed just a touch from over the side of their couch. But she didn't waste any time either, moving around the kitchen to dump some creamer into her coffee and snatching her toast out of the toaster when it popped up. It wasn't until Jo plopped down on the couch next to her that Liv had finally had enough.
"How was your night, Joanna?"
"Oh, I thought you'd never ask," she cocked a sly eyebrow at her as she took another sip from her coffee mug.
"Okay."
"It was... " Jo trailed off, tilting her head back with a heavy sigh. "Damn, it's been too long since I've done that, ya know? I needed it. Good Lord, I needed it."
"I guess that means it was good, huh?"
Jo huffed out a laugh and then bit down on her bottom lip, as if she was reliving some, if not all, of last night's activities. "Good doesn't even come close. It was an itch that needed scratching and goddamn did he scratch it."
All she could really do was shake her head and shrug. "Well, good. I'm glad you got that itch scratched."
"You know, speaking of that," Jo wagged a finger at her. "When I was waiting for my new friend last night, I ran into your new friend when he was comin' back to his room from the fight."
Jo must've seen the surprise that flickered across her face because her green eyes flashed.
"Don't worry, Livie," Jo patted her on the thigh. "He was alone. I'm pretty sure I scared the bejesus outta him though," she laughed a little, shaking her head again, "Anyway, I gave him your number last night."
Her lips parted right around the time everything froze around her. "You did what?"
"Yeah," Jo just shrugged nonchalantly. As if she was well within her rights to go around, giving out other people's phone numbers without their permission. "He took it, by the way. You wanna talk about why he didn't call?"
"Jo, that was -"
"Before you start yellin' at me, you should probably know something else too."
Liv squeezed her eyes shut and she blew out an exasperated breath. "Do I even wanna know?"
"Well, it's a little late for that," Jo informed her in a sassy, sing-song voice that set her on edge. "I told him everything."
Her eyes just about fell out of her head. "Wait a minute, what do you mean you -"
"Everything," Jo lifted her eyebrows, her voice firm and pointed as she held Liv's eye contact long enough to make sure the message was received.
Holy fucking shit. Of all the stupid, misguided, completely deranged things Jo could've done, this was next-level bullshit. This was next-level psycho bullshit.
"Jo," she started in a tone so cool it was lethal. "You can't -"
"It's too late for that," Jo just shrugged. "I already told him. And I told him because he opted not to call you at one in the morning for a booty call, or whatever you kids are callin' it these days."
"What does one have to do with the other? Maybe he didn't call me because he didn't want to. Ever think of that?"
Especially considering he'd had plenty of chances to ask for it himself during the time they'd spent on the roof Friday night.
Jo just huffed in exasperation. "Well, if you would give me a second to explain, I would explain."
"Explain yourself, Joanna," she pushed out through gritted teeth.
"It's pretty simple," Jo shrugged a little too easily, flipping some bright red hair out of her face. "You should've seen the look on his face when I gave him your number last night. And you know, the first question he asked wasn't why I was giving it to him - it was if you knew I was giving it to him. He asked if it was your real number too. Now, a man doesn't ask those kinds of questions unless he's genuinely interested."
"I understand what you were trying to do," Liv sighed heavily. "I did the exact same thing to you on Friday because I was just trying to help and I thought you needed a little push in the right direction. Obviously, you didn't need my help, but I didn't give Happy your number without your permission either. I just brought you to the roof."
"Sure," Jo shrugged again. "Maybe I just wanted to see what your new friend would do. And you know, he didn't disappoint. If he'd called you to meet up for some post-fight entertainment, I would've said good for you, but I also would've written him off as just another wanker - a biker wanker - who wasn't worth another second of your time. Now, if he'd called you just because he wanted to talk, that would've been a different story. But he chose not to because your new friend actually seems to have some manners, and knew it probably wasn't a good look to call the girl you like at one in the morning, especially if that's the first time you're calling."
"Oh, so you're psycho-analyzing him now? That's nice, especially coming from you."
Jo batted a hand her way, unruffled and unrelenting. "He told me he likes you and -"
"Last I checked, Joanna, I'm not in middle school anymore."
"Okay, okay," she held her hands up in the air, coffee mug and all. "Fine. My point is, wouldn't you rather know now, instead of later, if the situation with our employer is gonna scare him off?"
"But what if he…" Liv trailed off, almost immediately knowing the answer to that question.
Jax was the vice president of a one-percenter MC. Of course he wasn't going to tell anyone, especially when he was at the casino. He had to know how these kinds of things worked, and there was no doubt he understood how important it was that her arrangement with Viktor be kept under wraps - for all their sakes.
But that wasn't the point.
"It wasn't your place to tell him, Jo."
"I know," she flashed her a sympathetic smile and put a hand on Liv's shoulder. "But I'm just lookin' out for you. He's got a week to think about whether he wants to keep spendin' time with you while he's here for the fights. If he shows up in the lounge next weekend, if he calls or texts… then you have your answer. If he doesn't, then you can cut your losses before you get too attached."
When Jo put it like that, Liv could see what she'd been trying to do. And as much as she wanted to, it was hard to argue with that logic.
"Look, Livie," Jo sighed. "I appreciate what you were tryin' to do - orchestrating that little setup on the roof, and I know why you did it. This really isn't that different. You haven't given yourself the time or the space to have any real, meaningful connection to someone who wasn't me since your brother went away. And then, this gob-smackingly gorgeous blonde biker with those blue eyes shows up, and you're like a moth to the flame. Whatever it is you want from each other, this situation with our employer is gonna complicate it. And wouldn't you rather know now, instead of later, if that situation is just gonna make him run for the hills?"
Liv blew out a heavy sigh.
Maybe Jo was right.
Maybe she was already getting attached, as crazy as that sounded. They barely knew each other, but there was an ease that came along with spending time with Jax Teller. It felt natural. Carefree. Peaceful. It didn't make sense to feel that way around a near-stranger, but here she was, already counting down the days until it was Friday again.
"Maybe you're right," Liv allowed, chewing on her bottom lip uneasily. "But we've kept this just between us for the last two years. Neither of us has ever said a word to anyone at the Rose about what's really going on because we can't. And then you turn around and spill all my dirty secrets to a guy I barely know… for what? Because -"
"First of all," Jo wagged a finger in her face. "Don't ever call it a dirty secret again, Olivia. I understand how you might see it that way, but this situation you've found yourself in - it's not your fault. It's never been your fault. And maybe it's a secret because it has to be, but it's not dirty and you shouldn't be ashamed of doing what you need to do to survive."
Liv's mouth opened to respond, but anything she might've said choked in her throat. Jo was right - she usually was. And the fact of the matter was that none of this really was her fault. She'd had no part in any of the loans and side-deals Liam had been wheeling and dealing with Viktor behind their backs, and finding out about those loans and side-deals had been the most devastating surprise of her entire life.
The only thing worse than all of that had been the knowledge that Liam was also going to prison and was going to stay there for the foreseeable future.
"And second of all," Jo went on, this time with a soft smile crossing her face. "I told him because you were never going to. Because - excuse the middle school jargon - you like him and he likes you. He asked me if the boss' son has ever tried anything with you. Is that really a question he'd ask if he didn't care what happened to you? If he wasn't already feeling a tiny bit possessive?"
"Jo -"
"When you realized he was in the lounge on Friday, I saw your whole face light up, Livie. That means something. And I didn't wanna take the chance that you'd get hurt if he decides this isn't something he wants any part of. If he decides to ghost you now, then it'll be a helluva lot easier for you to let go than if it happened weeks or months from now."
She gave herself a moment to mull all that over because while Jo was right, yet again, she was missing a pretty big piece of this too.
"I'm not gonna get hurt," Liv told her quietly. "If he shows up in the lounge next week, and I hope he does, I think I need to make sure he understands we can't really be anything other than friends. That's what we are now, and that's all we can ever really be."
It was the way it had to be.
Jo blew out an exasperated breath and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "Please. You can't just be friends with a man like that."
"Well, what are you and Happy then?"
She just huffed out a laugh. "Happy and I are friends - with benefits. So, more than just friends, Livie."
"Okay, okay. I like spending time with him - I'll admit that," she shrugged helplessly. "But I don't see why we can't just keep it simple. Why we shouldn't just keep it simple. It's already complicated enough - why make it even worse by adding all that other shit into the mix? Besides, he technically lives a couple hours away and is only here on the weekends. And you and I both know I can't exactly leave Reno whenever I feel like it. Even if I wanted more than friendship with him, I don't know how that would even work."
Jo glanced at her, a grim line on her face. "You can make anything work, if both of you want to actually make it so."
Just as Liv reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, Jo pushed off the couch, effectively brushing her away, and headed back to the kitchen under the guise of topping off her coffee.
"Look, Livie," she called over her shoulder. "I'm not gonna spend the rest of the day arguing over whether or not you should just be friends with the fella. If you wanna pretend friendship is all you want right now, that's fine by me, but at least now you'll know where his head is at with all this. Although, for what it's worth, he told me he doesn't have a girlfriend or a little biker wife waitin' on him in California. Food for thought, that's all."
Food for thought.
Sure thing, Joanna, she thought to herself, still shaking her head.
There wasn't much to think about beyond the fact that Jo was right about one thing: maybe it really was better to know now, rather than later, if Jax was just going to get spooked by her arrangement with Viktor and run the other way as fast as he could.
If he never showed up in the lounge again, and if he steered clear of her around the casino and in the basement for those fights… she wouldn't blame him. Definitely wouldn't hold it against him either, even if it would hurt for a little while.
But she knew, just as well as Jo did, that it would hurt far worse if she allowed herself to get even more attached than she already was.
She had more baggage wrapped around her neck than any normal person should have to deal with, friend or otherwise.
And it was with a heavy heart that she found herself dealing with that baggage yet again as she walked down that blindingly bright hallway to Viktor's office about an hour later with Val hovering next to her, just like always, and just like every Sunday morning. She had a wad of cash in her purse, carefully counted and intenvoried on their spreadsheet by both her and Jo before she left their apartment - Jo contributed as much of her tips as she could, but she also needed to have enough leftover to make rent and pay the rest of the bills by the end of the month.
Val knocked once, waited for the okay inside, and then turned the knob for her, just like always. And she stepped inside the office with her head held high and her hands folded calmly in front of her.
"Ah," Viktor called to her from behind his desk. "Good to see you this morning, Liv. How has the weekend been treating you?"
"Oh, you know," she shrugged as she dropped down into a chair, careful to keep her eyes straight ahead, and not on the posters on the wall. "It's a weekend. The lounge was pretty busy on Friday and Saturday, which is always good."
Viktor smiled, that kind expression on his face that always set her on edge. "That's right. The numbers I've seen from the bar this weekend are impressive. This might end up being the lounge's best quarter yet."
"That's great to hear."
"Are you planning on working in some new songs any time soon?"
"Sure," Liv lifted a shoulder nonchalantly. "Jo's pretty adamant about putting a new spin on 'Ice Ice Baby,' so we're gonna keep plugging away at that one in rehearsals tomorrow and see how it goes."
He chuckled heartily at that, and wagged a finger at her. "That'll be a crowd-pleaser, no doubt. You and the rest of the band never cease to amaze me - the talent on that stage every night is pretty palpable."
"Thank you," she smiled tightly. "I appreciate that."
And now, it was time to get down to business so she could just get out of here. They'd had enough pleasant small talk, at least for the time being. So, she reached inside her purse for that wad of cash and handed it over.
He took it without hesitation and without letting that kind, fatherly smile slip a fraction of an inch, and dropped the cash into a drawer without giving it a second glance. This was all routine and all by design, of course, to give her the impression that she was safe right now. She'd paid her weekly dues, they'd exchanged their usual small talk, and all in all, this was just another checkpoint, another week she could check off until the day finally came when Liam was out of prison and could pay his dues on his own.
But they both knew this was just all one giant front.
Viktor could reach inside that drawer, take out the gun she was sure he had in there, and shoot her.
It was likely he wouldn't, at least not today, but there was always a chance. Always the threat that at any day, at any time, he could change his mind and decide the money wasn't worth his trouble.
"You know," he went on. "I've been thinking about my staffing situation for the fights and I think I'd like to keep a few employees down there on a more permanent basis. This rotation I've got going just doesn't make much sense to me anymore - it makes more sense to have employees down there on a more regular basis who'll not only be discreet, but will also have a better pulse on the wants and needs of my patrons and my fighters."
Liv's eyebrows lifted at that, but she knew better than to respond just yet.
"I'd like you and Jo to be more permanent fixtures in the basement on Saturdays until I tell you otherwise - preferably after the fights. Whether or not you're on the floor during the fights is your choice, but I'd like you to be on hand afterwards to make sure everyone has everything they need during the afterparties."
She sucked in a harsh breath. Had he just suddenly renegotiated the terms of their arrangement? Not that she expected any kind of warning, but she really hadn't been expecting this today.
"Of course," she smiled tightly. "You know Jo and I are happy to do whatever you need."
When he offered her another gentle smile, uneasiness wrapped around her throat.
"And you know how much I appreciate that. Now, I tend to stay out of other people's personal business and only focus on actual business, but I couldn't help but notice that you and Mr. Teller have become friendly over these last two weekends," and when her lips parted to respond to that, he held up a hand with an easy grin. "And that's all fine and good, Liv. I want you to know your happiness is important to me. Mr. Teller's comfort and happiness while he's here in town is important to me too. You're an asset to this casino just as much as he is, and I see no problem with you continuing to ensure he's comfortable and happy here - as long as that makes you happy as well."
She nodded, pressing a smile to her face because that was the response he expected and because that was the only response she could give.
But her heart thundered uneasily as she said goodbye to her boss and her dictator and followed her mute escort down the hallway again until she was back out on the casino floor. She didn't actually exhale until she was sitting in Jo's car again, twisting her hands around the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. Even as she drove out of the parking lot and headed to her next destination in her Sunday routine, she almost had to pull over on the side of the road to catch her breath again.
Or maybe throw up. Maybe both.
Viktor Putlova never did anything without motive. He certainly never did anything out of the goodness of his heart or because he actually cared about anyone else's happiness or comfort - unless he benefited from it.
She knew better than to hope that she could take anything he'd just told her at face value. There was always some ulterior motive. Always some kind of angle he was working. Nothing was ever simple, and nothing was ever that easy.
And that, she thought as she turned onto the interstate and headed south, was exactly why this new term of her imprisonment just couldn't be taken at point blank. Was Viktor just trying to stir the pot? It didn't make much sense for him to play a game like this, at least not with Jax because he had the potential to be the same kind of money-maker that Liam was.
But maybe that was it after all - if Jax was happy when he was here, and if she was happy when he was here, then Viktor was just mitigating the potential for trouble, wasn't he? Jax would have another reason to keep coming to Reno, and she would look forward to the days he was here, which would lead to both of them performing better on the weekends - when they were together, in whatever form that was, and when the casino had the most potential to make the most money.
God, she hoped that was all this was.
On its own, it was a pretty shrewd manipulation. But if there was more to it than that, if he was testing them somehow for some unknown reason… she didn't really want to spend more time worrying about something she couldn't control.
And, she sighed with a heavy heart as she pulled into a parking spot, it didn't seem like there was much about her life she could really control right now.
So, she gave herself one more moment to pull herself together, took a deep breath, and then slid out of Jo's car to head toward the visitor's check-in entrance at Nevada State prison.
A/N - So now that her real arrangement with Putlova has come to light, what are your thoughts? It was never going to be this huge secret or anything like that in this story (not like Harrison in Fly By Night, lol), and part of the reason I wanted to reveal that now was to put aside any worry that Liv might eventually use her arrangement with Putlova to give Jax a nice little push in the other direction, just like Jo said. That's clearly not going to happen here, and hopefully, Jo's motives make sense here too. She's totally manipulating the situation (maybe even a little bit like Gemma), but she has good intentions, and honestly, she kind of has a point, right? Jax and Liv are better off knowing everything now - he's better off knowing exactly what's happening with Liv and Putlova so he knows what he's up against, and she's better off knowing now that he's going to stay, not run. Because we all know whether he's going to show up in that lounge the next weekend or if he's going to steer clear of her ;)
I'm happy to report that I just started working on chapter 15 last night, and am still on a roll with this story! I've been posting teasers for the upcoming chapters on Tuesdays on Tumblr and have been posting other teasers as well if you want to check that out (my handle on Tumblr is at lovebarefootblonde).
Thank you as always for reading! I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the details of Liv and Putlova's arrangement and how Jax may or may not respond to it ;)