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General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death.

CHAPTER 28: FUNDRAISER

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"Tell everyone to leave room for the buses." Gemma ordered Luann from across the white and blue tented 'Sam Crow chili booth' where they were setting up for her annual 'Taste of Charming' fundraiser that was to take place the following day.

"Who are we bussing?" The blonde woman inquired as she crossed multiple tasks off of the hefty to-do list that she'd attached to her clipboard.

"Oakdale assisted living. Seniors are all compulsive gamblers, it triples our raffle dollars." The matriarch smirked as she filled a block of styrofoam with tiny American flags.

"God bless social security." Sydney mused, chuckling with the older women as she stacked plastic cups across the foldout tables.

"Hey, I uh... Never got to thank you for the other day." Gemma lowered her voice as she approached Sydney, nodding from where she stood beside her.

"The club protects their own." She replied with a simple nod of her own.

"You know, sayin that won't get you a patch any sooner." Gemma smirked with a knowing narrowing of her eyes.

"Eh, I figure it's worth a shot." Sydney shrugged with a chuckle.

"Gemma." The two women heard a soft voice, looking up to see a dark haired woman approaching tentatively.

"Oh hey, April." Gemma nodded to the woman that Sydney had seen helping set up for the event around the school yard. "I appreciate you comin to help."

"Yeah..." She smiled. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?" Gemma trailed off - this couldn't be good.

"Charlie's band is playing during the fireworks tomorrow night, he really wants his dad to come..."

"Shit…" She winced. "April I- I don't think Clay is gonna go for-"

"I know." She sighed. "I would never ask anything like this - me and you? We understand what went down. But Charlie? He doesn't know. It breaks his heart that his dad can't come to anything around here… No baseball games, no school stuff, no-"

"Alright, alright, alright." Gemma cut off the pleas of the desperate woman who she truly felt for - a rare occurrence. "I'll bring it up to Clay, but I can't promise anything."

"Thank you." April replied sincerely before getting back to work.

"Who was she?" Sydney asked, knowing that for Gemma to show a compassion that wasn't self serving - she must've been somebody substantial.

"April Hobart." Gemma chewed her lower lip, disregarding the taste of MAC's 'Creme d'nude' that coated her teeth as she contemplated the fellow mother's request.

"Hobart... Hobart like Kyle Hobart?" Sydney's forehead creased.

"Yeah, that's right..." Gemma furrowed her brows. "You know about Kyle?"

"Yeah, me and Tig saw him at Fun Town."

"What?" Gemma exclaimed when she heard that the excommunicated man had been seen in Charming. Now she would definitely ask Clay to put it up for a vote - Kyle needed to be sent a message.

"I'm sure that's all you'd need to tell Clay if you don't want him to come..." Sydney raised a brow.

"I don't give a shit if he comes." She scoffed. "They do. He ruined Opie's life."

"Where does she stand on it?" Sydney nodded towards April who was hanging a banner over the chainlink fence across the field that had been packed with blue and red picnic tables.

"Divorced him, stayed in Charming - she stands with the club."

"Damn…" Sydney blinked. "Now that is an old lady." She looked to her mentor knowingly, the two sharing a chuckle.

;

"Chuck's been cookin the books for the asian mob - skimmed $400k off of Henry Lin's crew. Otto was keepin him safe up at Stockton, but he gets out tomorrow. So; we protect him, we pick up the cash, we get him outta Cali." Clay relayed the plan that he and Jax had devised with their incarcerated brother on their day's visit to Stockton State Prison.

"We're gonna split the pot with Chucky Boy. Fifty to him, twenty-five to us, and Otto wants his twenty-five to go to Luann." Jax added.

Everybody at the table nodded their understanding - grateful for the timing of this breakthrough when they were deeply in need of the cash.

"Aint gonna be a cakewalk." Bobby shook his head. "Lin's a dangerous cat - sneaky little bastard."

"That's why we're gonna work three-man shifts." Clay nodded. "We keep this place locked down. Chuck never leaves the clubhouse, and the garage is open for pickups only."

"Skim is hidden in one of the restaurants Lin uses as a front. Gonna keep Chucky here until Sunday - go pick up the money when the place is closed. Happy's gonna be back later with the glocks, so we'll bring em to Laroy tomorrow after we scoop up Chuck."

"Good." Tig tapped the table in agreement, the rest of the men nodding.

"Got anything to add, Princess?" Sydney pursed her lips and shook her head in response to Jax's question that she knew was for the sole purpose of asserting his dominance. Regardless of their ongoing power struggle, she thought it was a good plan - and it was nice to see him and Clay working together on something.

"Good." He pushed his chair back with a smug smile.

"Uh... Wait a minute, wait a minute." Clay put his hand up to halt their departure. "There's uh... There's one more thing." He sighed, rubbing his forehead regrettably. "April Hobart wants to know if her old man can come to the fundraiser to see his kid's band play." He dropped the bomb in a voice which told Sydney that the idea to put it up for a vote was allGemma's.

"You gotta be kiddin..." Jax raised a brow as everyone turned to Opie for his reaction.

"I know..." Clay sighed. Sydney had been right, it hadn't been his idea at all - but as usual, his wife had found a way to make it his idea.

"That's done brother, that's done." Tig shook his head.

"No I know, but... You know she took a big hit standin behind. She supported the club." He tried to reason with a shrug as everyone looked to each other skeptically. "It's for her, not Kyle. I figured I'd throw it up for a vote."

"What? Don't got nothin to say? No opinion on how we should handle our problem?" Jax egged Sydney on from across the table when she stayed silent on the matter, pushing harder and harder for a reaction as his carefully chosen words reminded her of her position: an outsider.

"It's not my beef." She responded simply.

"Where the hell's that attitude been hidin?" He scoffed.

"What's your problem, man?" Tig squinted as his VP attacked his woman for what he only wished was no reason, but he knew that there was one - but until it came to the surface, he was going to play dumb, just like he wanted.

"Yeah, Jackson." Sydney contorted her face into a sympathetic pout. "What is your problem?" Her brow raised deviously.

"Let him come." Opie announced in an attempt to diffuse the situation - a method that was effective as Jax's face fell.

"Are you serious?" The VP blinked in disbelief.

"This can't be about gettin even... Not at the school." Clay scolded.

"It's not about that." Opie confirmed with a sincere nod. "The guy's got nothin, right? No club, no family - it'd do me good to see that, appreciate what I got." He tipped his beer back.

"Anybody opposed?" Clay nodded, pleased with the maturity of one of his younger members - hoping that maybe Jax would take notes from his lifelong pal.

"Yeah, me!" Tig hollered.

"I don't agree with it." Piney threw his cigarette butt into the ashtray, glaring disappointedly at his son.

"This is wrong." The Sergeant continued.

Clay looked around the table, seeing that nobody else objected to the matter. "Majority rules." He shrugged as he lifted the gavel. "The vote passes, let him come." The echoing of the harsh wood-on-wood was the only sound that cut through the tense atmosphere until Jax piped up again.

"You okay with that, Sydney?" He just didn't know when to fucking stop, she thought - even when it was at his detriment. "You gonna let us make a decision for our club?"

"Alright, that's enough." Sydney slammed her hands down on the table, pushing her chair back as she stood and pulled her glock from her waistband where she rounded the table to where the VP sat wide-eyed.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Tig began protesting when he saw what she was doing, Clay rising from his seat to stop her before he heard the cocking of her gun and found himself on the other end of it - being forced back into his seat as the feisty woman managed to restrain him without even looking over her shoulder.

"I'm gonna give you one free punch, let's go." She told Jax who rose from his seat as well, harshly staring down at her as he weighed his options. He couldn't believe this girl - exposing him to his own club, holding the President at gunpoint, and then demanding that he hit her? Who the fuck did she think she was?

"I'll keep my promise." She sneered through gritted teeth as the cocky man stayed silent. "You had so much to fucking say before, why so quiet now?" She looked around the table as a smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. "Or was the first one enough for you?" She'd adorned his yellow and purple marks like a badge of honor, taunting him with the evidence ever since he'd left it - a message that she wasn't afraid to out him if he pushed her to it, and it was a message that apparently he hadn't received.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Clay demanded.

"Nothing." Jax responded quickly as everybody began to ponder her cryptic words. Suggestion that he'd hurt her was one thing - but risking being outed for the Mayans was another, and he had vastly underestimated how far she was willing to go.

Sydney saw the surrender in his eyes, lowering the gun and taking a step back from the VP. "Give us a minute." She demanded to everybody in the room - not breaking eye contact with the blonde man.

Clay looked to Jax who ripped her eyes from her fiery gaze, nodding softly as he took a step back as well. He stood after a moment of hesitation - recognizing the signs of his stepson's submission as he signaled for everyone to clear out.

Tig was the last to stand, unwilling to leave her alone with Jax after what had just transpired, but the glare that he got from Clay told him that it wasn't up for discussion. He sighed, walking stiffly out of the chapel as the previously weathered storm began brewing in his mind once again. He had so many questions - questions that he would've had the answers to if he would've just fucking told her the truth. He knew that this had something to do with Jax trying to get her to lie for him, but he couldn't stop thinking about those damn bruises. She'd laughed them off when he'd finally asked - told him that they were just battle scars from her rough arrest, but something about what she'd said to Jax in front of everyone just didn't sit right. 'Or was the first one enough for you'

"I gotta give it to you, Jackson." Sydney began once they were alone. "You're real bold challenging me when I'm the one who knows your secrets."

"Could say the same to you." He scoffed back. "Maybe I'll let Tig in on your little date yesterday, I'm sure he'd love to hear about it." He mused with a cocky smirk.

Sydney snorted when he presented her with his leverage - the leverage that she and Tig had laughed about not more than a day ago. But she kept her mouth shut - if thinking that he had dirt on her would stop him from trying to dig up more, she would let him.

"Glad to see you took that note about laying your hands on me." She winked before pushing herself away from the table and stuttering out the doors.

;

Tig had reluctantly ridden along for the pickup of their refugee at Stockton after yet another long, whiskey-filled night of trying to ignore whatever was going on between Sydney and Jax - whatever it was that she couldn't tell him. He and Bobby rode alongside the van, guarding Half-Sack, Clay, and Jax from the potential threat of Henry Lin - which never showed. After making the equally uneventful drop to Laroy, they made their way back to the clubhouse to store their prize before they could finally head off to help Gemma with the fundraiser.

As they pulled into the busy lot of the middle school, they saw Kyle and his much younger girlfriend getting out of a lifted silver truck. The Sons glared at their former brother before Jax cut the tension, sending his companions to check in with Gemma.

Opie happened to arrive just after Kyle, climbing out of his rusty truck with Donna and his kids in tow - looking less than pleased to see that his former accomplice seemed to be doing just fine with his expensive ride and hot piece of ass. Jax gave him a sad smile, clapping him on the shoulder before he walked off to join his family with a nod - making sure that he was out of view before heading over to give Kyle the rundown on how today was going to play out.

"Ah shit." Gemma looked up when Luann nudged her once she saw the bikers finally trickling in. "You are late!" She scolded as she marched toward them.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get this into a helmet?" Bobby defended as he fluffed his Elvis wig.

Sydney chuckled, leaning back against one of the coolers while she and Tig watched the overweight man scurry backwards as the angry woman closed in on him.

"Havin fun?" Tig turned to face her with a smirk, looking around the booth where Gemma had commissioned her into serving her famous chili.

"I am now." She smirked, tiptoeing to kiss him.

Hale was walking across the parking lot to join in on the community event when that familiar white-blonde hair caught his eye, a smile coming to his face as he eyed Sydney behind the Sam Crow booth - but his smile faded as he watched her entangle herself with none other than Tig Trager. He grit his teeth, ignoring the chill that ran through his veins - it was what he should've expected all along.

"Is everything okay?" Tig whispered into her hair, running his hands down her sides as she hung off of his shoulders.

"It will be." She nodded.

"Syd…" He sighed. "You can't just-"

"I don't need you to tell me what I can and can't do." She pulled herself from his previously comforting grasp.

Gemma looked up from the money she'd been counting to see that her son was holding Kyle against the wall. She sighed, staring him down until he finally let up.

Sydney shook her head slowly with a smirk from where she and Tig stood beside Gemma, taunting the VP from afar. Tig watched the silent exchange between the two young blondes, and as much as it made his blood boil - it helped his tortured mind to see that at least their tension was hostile and not sexual. He kissed her on the cheek protectively, staring Jax down as he did so before making his way over to the Elvis booth in search of some good entertainment to lift his spirits.

Jax was almost glad when the weasel of a man presented him with an opportunity to let out some of the anger that he'd been holding in - slamming him against the wall the same way that he'd done to Sydney the day before when he tried to buy his way back into the club that he'd betrayed with a stolen parts gig and a bullshit sob story about how he just wanted to share in the pot as his way to make up for the damage that he'd caused. "Hey." He greeted his mother as he waltzed into the booth, helping himself to a tortilla chip.

"How are the guys handling Kyle?" Gemma questioned with a raised brow after witnessing the scuffle.

"Nothin to handle." He pursed his lips with a stiff shrug before his teeth cracked the chip in half. "Kyle's dead."

"Looks alive and kicking to me." Sydney responded cheerfully, swiping the half-eaten chip from Jax's hand and popping it in her mouth.

"Your boyfriend comin?" He asked cryptically, looking down at her with a menacing gaze. She may have had dirt on him, but he had dirt on her too.

Sydney scanned the crowd for the starry-eyed cop, smirking when her green eyes finally landed on him. "He sure is." She grabbed a bowl of chili and carton of chips before making her way over to him.

"He's not dead to Opie." Gemma lowered her voice as she observed the bearded man watching his enemy in envy from his concealed position behind the booths. Jax turned his attention to where his mother was looking - and she was right. He sighed, touching her shoulder by way of farewell before heading over to his conflicted brother.

"Hi Davy." Sydney greeted the blue eyed man with a grin. "Figured I'd return the favor." She winked, handing him the disposable containers.

"Thanks." He accepted the meal without making eye contact. "So, you're with Trager..." He stated as he stabbed a tortilla chip into the bowl of hearty soup that he didn't even think he could stomach.

"You sound disappointed. I didn't make you fall in love with me that fast, did I?" She teased with a smirk.

"What happened?" Hale was grateful to find a quick distraction from her question, nodding to the bruising across her chest that he knew hadn't been there before - because he would've noticed with the amount of times that his eyes had drifted to her cleavage during their breakfast. "Did he do this to you?" His horrified but hopeful eyes finally met hers.

"Are you checking out my rack, deputy?" She feigned offense, slapping her hand over her heart before dropping the facade with a playful smile. "Unfortunately, Mr. Hale - part of throwing a few punches is that you gotta take a few in return."

"You are full of surprises." Was all he could think to say in his flustered state, looking down at that chili a little more optimistically now.

"I pride myself on it." She winked. "I'll see you around." She squeezed his bicep before returning to her post.

Jax and Opie shared a smoke break while discussing Opie's inability to make things work with his family who was having all of the fun in the world across the school yard, without him. He had hoped that seeing Kyle be a miserable piece of shit would've helped him - but the exact opposite had occurred as he watched the slimy man radiating pure joy as he joined in on the egg toss with his daughter.

"Seems like I'm not the only one struggling." Opie looked to his friend knowingly before he nodded towards the little blonde girl standing among the old ladies of SAMCRO. "What's going on with that?" The quiet man had been witness to the tension between the reaper royals for weeks, and based on what he saw in church today - it was only going to keep getting worse.

"Ah, she's just a mouthy bitch." Jax brushed the question off with a smug smile and shrug of his shoulder.

"And you're not?" Opie retorted with side-eye and a smirk.

"Hey, come on man." He groaned, playfully shoving his friend before their attention returned to Kyle who had just been pelted by an egg - struggling to get his sweater off while holding his young daughter.

Their faces fell when they saw it; the identifying ink that he had been ordered to blackout after he was exiled, still splashed proudly across his entire back.

"He still has that tat..." Opie growled.

"Yeah." Jax whipped his half-smoked cigarette into the dirt, standing to walk over and handle the situation before he was stopped by a large hand on his chest.

"This is me." Opie nodded.

Sydney watched with a curious crease in her forehead as Jax and Opie stood angrily glaring at Kyle before Opie followed him and his son into the school's gymnasium and Jax walked over to Donna - clearly to keep her distracted. She snickered as the VP found himself on the receiving end of a few water guns along the way, watched as Donna grew angrier and angrier listening to whatever Jax was saying to her - although that didn't say much since Donna seemed to get angry anytime anyone spoke to her, and Jax seemed to piss off anyone he spoke to.

"You seen Jax?" Bobby asked as he and Tig approached the booth.

"He's with Ope... Why?" Gemma questioned wearily - knowing that the reason was surely about to piss her off.

"Boss wants us." He held up his burner.

"You got two more hours in that booth." She sighed.

"Sorry, mother." Tig dismissed, nodding for Sydney to follow.

"Jesus christ, Clay..." Gemma sighed into the warm afternoon air that was beginning to take on a hazy hue as the day came to a close.

"Sucks bein boss, don't it?" Unser chuckled to his old friend.

"All that fried shit's gonna kill ya." She looked down at the half-eaten corndog that he was holding.

"Yeah, cause the cancer's keepin me fit and spunky." He joked before looking around to make sure there was no one in earshot. "You okay? After that raid?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She looked up to see Tara staring at the Charming PD booth where the officers wore yellow aprons and grilled sausages under the 'grilling suspects for over fifty years!' banner, looking startled before turning and walking away quickly.

"Who's that guy behind the grill?" She pointed to the silver haired man as he laughed with a customer - knowing that he could've been the only one who had drawn the reaction from her because he was the only one that she didn't know. Suddenly, the gun that she'd found in her purse when she'd reluctantly given her a ride home earlier in the week was starting to make a lot more sense…

Unser looked over his shoulder. "Oh, that's our new best friend." He rolled his eyes. "Agent Kohn - ATF.

"The fed looking into the club is grilling sausages?" She asked incredulously.

"Must be part of his special federal trainin." He joked. "Good chili." He nodded, holding up his bowl - although he'd already known that Gemma was the best cook in town.

"They're in the gym with Kyle..." Sydney nodded to the school where the three emerged - battered and bloody, making it clear that Opie and Kyle had been settling their differences and Jax had gone to intervene

"Are we okay here?" Bobby asked with a brow raised as all three men approached, side by side.

"Yeah." Jax nodded confidently, his eyes flicking to see Kyle - who was already on thin ice - taking a peek at Sydney. Tig ripped off his sunglasses, glaring at the light haired man with that threatening blue gaze that he was all too familiar with. "What's up?" Jax asked before the jealous Sergeant could blow their plan.

"We gotta go. Chow mein's ready." Bobby widened his eyes.

"Now?" Jax scowled - they hadn't planned to hit the restaurant until the following day when it was closed. The two men nodded their confirmation, not giving any details in front of Kyle about Clay's decision to get it over with so that they could get rid of Chucky. "Alright, I'll catch you guys back at the clubhouse." He nodded to the pair of enemies who walked off as if nothing had ever happened.

"You gonna leave them alone?" Bobby mumbled, side-eyeing Jax as they made their way across the school yard.

"I'll tell you on the way..." Jax watched over his shoulder until Opie had led Kyle far enough away before his attention was stolen by a familiar face staring at him from the Charming PD booth.

"Jax, who is that guy?" Tig asked when he noticed the staredown that was taking place. But before Jax could answer, his smug-faced distraction bought him crashing directly into yet another problem that he didn't want to deal with right now.

"You tell Clay that I'm pissed off!" Gemma scolded. "It's bad enough that his sorry ass isn't here, now he's taking all my manpower."

"Who's that guy with the cops?" Jax ignored his mother's complaints.

"That's your ATF guy."

"That guy was at the hospital last night watching me with Abel..."

Sydney's heart sank when she heard the words come out of his mouth. Obviously Tara still hadn't told him about Kohn's true intentions, and hearing that the man was getting bolder and bolder - hiding in plain sight - only meant that time was running out before someone would get hurt.

"He's dangerous, bro." Tig shook his head.

"Keep an eye on him." Jax nodded to Gemma. "If he follows us out of here or leaves at any point - you give me a call." He instructed.

"Prepay?"

"Yeah." He knew they couldn't take any chances on the record.

The VP led everyone over to the bikes before he explained the plan to his confused entourage. "Kyle never blacked out his ink. Earlier he was trying to pitch me some stolen parts gig. Ope used the beatdown as a cover to make him think that we're good - we needed something to get him to the clubhouse so that we can strip that patch for good." He breathed out as quickly as he could in the busy parking lot. "He's good to come to Clay with his offer, but I don't know how we're gonna get him to the garage where we can chain him up. We need-"

"A distraction." Sydney cut him off with that infamously smug smirk.

Jax bit his lip and shook his head before looking to the pavement. "Yeah..." He humourlessy chuckling at his own stupidity - he'd completely set the stage for her.

;

The majority of the club was sat in the van with Chucky who had his hands duct taped to the armrests of his seat to keep them out of his pants as Tig drove them to Lin's restaurant where the money was hidden. Sydney ignored the mindless chatter, trying to figure out the best way to handle the Kohn situation. She knew that she needed to tell Jax - warn him about the threat that Kohn really posed - but she also knew that he wasn't exactly her biggest fan at the moment, and she worried that if she told him and he didn't take her seriously, the consequences of his carelessness could, yet again, land on the entire club.

Sydney wasn't pulled from her thoughts until she realized that everyone was exiting the van, ready to move in as they shed their kuttes and readied their weapons - quickly climbing out after them.

"You with us?" She heard the soft whisper in her ear, glancing up to see Clay looking down on her with concern.

"Yeah." She shook her head and blinked a few times, refocusing herself on the task at hand.

"Why don't you wait out here with Tig, our friends in the Beamer shouldn't be too far behind."

"Okay." She nodded.

"We'll be ready." Tig confirmed to his President, placing his hand on Sydney's shoulder as they watched their President, Vice President, and liability - barrel into the chinese restaurant. "Baby... You gotta tell me what's goin on." He kept his voice low so that the rest of the crew in the van wouldn't hear. "I can't help you if you don't-"

"I don't need your help." She snapped, her eyes lingering on him before the anger behind them turned to guilt. "I got a bad feeling about that fed..." It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either.

"It got anything to do with this?" He brushed the back of his hand over her chest.

"No." She recoiled from his touch. "I told you yesterday. I was slammed against a fucking bar and spent a night in a prison cell. Sorry I didn't come out clean and perfect like you wanted." She stormed away to the opposite side of the van where she squeezed her eyes shut - she hated herself for gaslighting him when all he had done was care, but she knew that telling him where the bruise really came from would only make things worse. Right now, she needed Jax to trust her - not think that her goal was to turn his club against him.

"Our friends in the Beamer are here." Bobby announced from the side door, providing a much needed distraction as Clay, Jax, and Chucky emerged with the bag of cash.

"Another interested party's been takin laps in the silver Caddy." Tig nodded to the grey sedan slowly driving past them.

Sydney was impressed - she hadn't noticed shit going on around them while they had been talking and she didn't think he had either. She looked at him from the other end of the van, cursing herself for pissing him off while he was in full Sergeant mode and looking irresistible in his dark sunglasses and grey flannel - longing for the days when he was more interested in her pussy than her safety.

"Shit is on..." Jax pulled the gun from the back of his pants.

"Alright, let's go. Jax drives." Clay said calmly, walking toward the van slowly as not to alert their admirers.

"Oh we're fucked." Sydney scoffed as she climbed into the van behind Jax in the driver's seat, sighing when he revealed that his master plan was to attempt to drive straight out of the lot - quickly being cut off by the blue BMW. Definitely fucked. He put the van into reverse, hammering his foot on the gas before trying the other exit which was now blocked by the Cadillac.

"Shit! Hold on."

"What'd I tell ya?" Sydney shook her head, smiling when Clay looked back at her from the passenger seat with a smirk.

"Sunday would've been so much better!" Chucky whined while Tig held him in place with a wicked grin on his face. He thrived in chaos.

Jax rammed the Beamer in an attempt to push it out of the way with the size of the van, but he couldn't get enough speed in the short distance. "Well that didn't work..."

"No shit it didn't" Sydney scoffed as he reversed again, the men from the smashed Beamer beginning to shoot at the grey van that was trapped with no way out.

Tig grabbed Sydney and shoved her to the floor, shielding her body from the bullets while everyone else attempted to take cover - Clay diving into the back and Jax ducking below the steering wheel.

"Shit..." Jax cursed as Lin's men closed in. "What's the plan here, Clay?"

The President looked down into the bag of money that he'd landed on, happening to catch sight of... "Plates?" He held up the currency maker. "These are plates for a twenty..." He grabbed a stack, rubbing the bills between his fingers.

"This shit's counterfeit?" Jax exclaimed to Chucky with a glare.

"All we want is the bag!" They heard from outside the van.

"It's not shit, it's really good... These bills will pass anywhere." The squirrely man tried to reason with the pissed off bikers.

"God dammit!" Clay socked him before getting out, holding out the bag as a show of surrender. "I wanna talk to Lin!"

Henry Lin emerged from the Cadillac where Clay cut a deal with him - offering him the money, plates, and Chucky for sixty thousand. Sydney grinned when she saw what the President was doing - capitalizing on the shit situation and milking Lin for as much as he could get to put towards their Irish debt.

"Hey, Chuck!" Clay called.

"Was there ever any real skim money?" Jax interrogated the small man while Tig held him down.

"No." He trembled. "I'm sorry!" He exclaimed when Bobby shoved him. "I needed protection and I figured you guys could still spend the money." Tig and Bobby hauled him out of the van, dragging him over to where Clay stood with Lin - making the hand off despite his desperate pleas for mercy.

Jax watched in conflict from the driver's seat as Chucky was shoved into the Cadillac, begging them to spare his life - oblivious to the fact that Sydney was sitting behind him with the exact same expression.

They returned to the clubhouse safely where Opie and Kyle were waiting with a very confused Piney. Clay rounded the bar, twisting the cap off of a Budweiser while Jax attempted to distract Piney by filling him in on the Lin situation.

"Clay, good to see you man." Kyle extended his hand with a grateful smile, but the older man ignored the gesture - tossing his bottle cap over his shoulder.

"So, I hear you got an offer that I can't refuse." He rounded the bar, taking a seat at the table where the former member joined him.

"Somethin like that." Kyle smiled with a nod.

"Well, I better get back to the fireworks or your mom's gonna be stuffin gunpowder up my ass." Opie announced once the plan was in motion, looking over his shoulder at Jax as he began walking towards the hallway.

"Yeah, I'm sure we're all on Gemma's shit list by now." Jax followed him. "Ope." He caught up to the tall man once they were out of view. "You sure you're okay with this?"

"Yeah." He nodded sincerely. "Look, about what I was sayin earlier... It doesn't mean I don't want this. I'd rather be dead than be that guy."

Sydney scowled as she listened to their conversation from her position around the corner, wondering what exactly it was that Opie had said earlier, and if it was a shared opinion - something that wouldn't have surprised her after witnessing both of their questionable actions over the last few weeks.

"I know." Jax nodded sincerely, nudging his friend down the hallway before looking to his right - giving Sydney her signal.

Sydney listened as Kyle pitched his bullshit scam to Clay who accepted, waiting until they all started drinking in celebration. She peered around the corner as the blonde man took a shot, waltzing out once Clay gave her the nod.

"Hey, Kyle..." The President got his attention, nodding towards the absolute dime of a woman that he'd seen with them at the event earlier who was now standing across the room, summoning him over with a smile.

"Oh, man..." Kyle groaned as he freely raked over her perfect body; blonde with big tits - just how he liked them. "You serious?" He looked back at his former superior.

"Hey." Clay smiled with a shrug. "If you're really gonna make me as much money as you say you are, then this is the least I can do."

"She's a good one man." Tig winked, knowing that he and the douchebag had always shared in their taste of women.

Kyle grinned, his eyes dilating as he walked towards his prize who took him by the hand and led him outside. "Damn, baby..." He watched as her hips swung in front of him, licking his lips. "They didn't have whores that looked like you when I was around..."

"Is that any way to talk to a lady?" She joked over her shoulder with a flirty smile as she led him to the TM office.

"I just call them like I see them, sweetheart." He shrugged smugly from the doorway before following her inside.

"That usually work with the girls?" She raised a brow as she slowly walked backwards through the door that led to the garage before turning her back on him again.

"Eh." He shrugged again. "I get by."

"You wanna get by with me?" She turned to face him, narrowing her eyes seductively as she leant against the blue beam of the car lift.

"Hell yeah I do..." His voice dropped as he approached her.

"Mmm, I bet you do..." She slid her hand up his chest, slowly pushing against it to turn him around as she reached into the back pocket of her denim shorts, positioning him so that his back was pressed against the lift now. "A lot of boys wanna get by with me..." She leant towards his neck, her breath tickling the sensitive skin.

"I can see why." He shivered, grabbing a handful of her ass and pulling her against him.

"But the thing about me? That makes them all want me?" She ghosted her lips over his neck as she spoke, sliding the back of her hand down his arm. "Is that I don't fuck just anyone. I'm selective."

Kyle smirked as she stroked his ego with the same enthusiasm that he was about to have her stroking his cock with - Tig had been right, she was a good one.

"I could never fuck somebody who turned on a brother." She breathed into his ear.

"What?" His face fell once he processed the words that had left her mouth. "What the hell is this? Who are you?" He demanded.

"The decoy." She smirked as the clicking of the handcuffs filled the empty garage, her eyes trailing down his body and to his wrist that she'd secured to metal structure.

;

This is still one of my FAVE episodes in the show😩