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Chapter 95 Don't You Dare

Tig was facing a moral dilemma. Clay wanted him to come up with a way to stop Jax. He wasn't talking about killing him. He wanted him to come up with some maiming sort of garage accident that would keep Jax from riding and result in him losing his vote. Clay was going to work on Juice and Kozik to get them to change their minds about voting out guns.

If he could do that, Opie, Piney, Bobby and Chibs would vote against selling guns and he, Clay, Happy, Juice and Kozik would vote for guns. That would give them a 5 to 4 edge and SAMCRO would be back in the business of selling guns. Once they voted guns back in, even when Jax was able to ride and vote, he would need a majority of votes to get the club out of guns again. As long as Kozik and Juice held firm, the Sons would stay in the gun business.

Tig wasn't happy about this plan. Jax wasn't his favorite brother, but he'd had his back in some pretty dangerous situations. He could get behind crippling or killing someone for the good of the club, but he wasn't sure injuring Jax in some accident, even if he could come up with something, was in the best interests of SAMCRO.

Jax had a good point about them being under a microscope with the Feds. He'd voted with Clay because he was Clay's right hand and he didn't want to lose his right hand seat by voting against him, but the more he thought about it, the more what Jax said made sense; the MC was going to get locked up if they kept selling guns. The Feds were vindictive and catching them selling guns would make it look like Jax wasn't the innocent victim the documentary made him out to be. The ATF needed to prove that they had been right all along about Jax and the MC being arms dealers.

Tig was also doubtful that Clay could get Juice and Kozik to change their votes. Jax wanting to open a weed farm would provide a perfect tie in with Juice's dispensary. He didn't see him changing his vote. Kozik might be willing to change his vote, but Jax had done a good job explaining why they needed to get out of guns. Clay was just going to have to face the future and it was a future without guns.

Moral dilemma resolved. He wasn't going to arrange some sort of maiming accident that would prevent Jax from riding. Clay was on his own with this one. He wasn't looking forward to giving him the bad news though.

Jax returned to TB's to take a long hot shower to try to ease the aching in his body. Ava played nurse giving him his pain meds. She wasn't wearing her nurse's costume, but she definitely had the nurse attitude. He laid down and took a long nap.

When he woke up, he found Ava had already dressed for his party in jeans and a long sleeved shimmery purple top. It was dressy without being too much. She'd added more make-up giving her eyes that smoky look. She looked hot as hell and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it except fantasize.

"I was just about to wake you," she said.

"Damn, you look beautiful," Jax said, "and you're even wearing the ring and earrings I got you."

"I love the jewelry you gave me," she said. "Stay in bed and I'll put some arnica on your bruises."

"Yes, Nurse Ava."

She grinned. She liked it when he called her Nurse Ava. She got the arnica gel and gently applied it to the bruises on his ribs.

"The bruises are really fading," she said.

"Thanks to my excellent medical care," Jax said. "Lean a little closer to me," he said. He kissed her softly.

"That's enough of that," Ava said tartly in her nurse's voice. "You need to get ready for your party."

With Ava's help, Jax quickly changed into jeans, a long sleeved white T-shirt with Sons written across the front and his beloved white sneakers. Once he added his cut, he was ready to go.

"I know it's your party, but you're still healing. Just a couple of hours and I think you should sit in a chair."

Jax kissed the top of her head.

"Yes, Nurse Ava."

The more Jax saw of this tender side to Ava, the more he liked it. He was beginning to think that marriage might not be so bad especially if things stayed like this with her.

TB was waiting in the foyer for them. Dark Tower was taking them to the party in one of their SUVs. Most of the security staff was already at the party checking guests for weapons. Only a team of three remained at the house to keep out intruders.

"How are you feeling?" TB asked Jax once they were settled into the SUV.

"Getting better thanks to Ava. She's a great nurse," Jax said taking Ava's hand and giving it a squeeze.

TB liked seeing Jax and Ava together. Maybe their marriage had a chance. His disastrous marriage to Ava's mother had been enough to sour him on relationships permanently. He'd been with women since he had sexual needs, but he never made an emotional connection with any of them.

"Something's going on with Allie Lowen. She called yesterday wanting to change the place of the deposition from her law office. She doesn't have one anymore and she wanted to do it at my house office. She didn't bother showing up today. We called and got no answer. She may be stalling for time or she may never show up. Sometimes when attorneys know they are getting nailed, they don't bother showing up and just try to drag things out."

"What happens if she doesn't show up?" Jax asked.

"She'll be ordered by a judge to sit for the deposition and if she doesn't she will get held in contempt of court. It's an annoyance, but she will eventually have to sit for the deposition. Unfortunately, she may show up and then refuse to answer questions. It doesn't matter. She's going to lose the lawsuit. The real fun is going to be the lawsuits against the state and the Feds."

"My father loves to sue people," Ava said.

"Only the ones that deserve it," TB said virtuously.

TM was decorated with a large banner that said "Welcome Home Jax" in bright SAMCRO blue. There were balloons in red, white and blue in a subtle swipe at the Feds who worked so hard to frame Jax for selling an automatic weapon. The three food trucks were spaced out and TM was filled with people. Off to one side, Dark Tower had a security checkpoint that all the guests had to pass through. Dark Tower also had personnel walking through the crowd. They were easy to spot because they all wore black suits.

Jax was greeted enthusiastically. TB had the entire team that had worked on Jax's case there. Jax made a point of thanking each member that helped free him. He made Ava feel good by introducing her to everyone as his wife.

They were sitting at a table just finishing eating hot dogs when Ava saw Tara slither through the gates of TM and get into the security line. She was dressed in a skintight denim mini-skirt and a low cut tank top. Her hair was wild, curly, teased and coated with hairspray. She had thick eyeliner and false eyelashes on and she looked more like she worked on a street corner than in a hospital. She was definitely trying to get Jax's attention.

Ava got to her feet and found the closest Dark Tower employee.

"You see that girl right there?" Ava asked pointing at Tara.

"Yes."

"She has a history of stalking Jax."

"You want us to watch her or remove her?"

"Remove her."

Ava watched as he walked over to the security line, used his phone to take a picture of Tara to send to all of Dark Tower protecting Jax, Ava and TB with the notation that she was a stalker and needed to be kept away from Jax. Two members of Dark Tower one on either side of Tara escorted her back out through the gates of TM. Tara turned her head and shot Ava a dirty look. Ava gave her an answering smile. That felt good. She'd never done anything like that before and she liked it.

She returned to the round table and sat down.

"Did you just get Tara thrown out?" Jax asked.

"I simply shared that she stalked you in the past. Your mother told me that. They must have decided she was a security risk."

"Uh-huh," Jax said skeptically. "You really think she's a danger to me?"

"I think she wants to do things with your body that would be inappropriate."

Jax chuckled. He liked that Ava had Tara kicked out of his party. That's what a proper old lady did; she kept other women away from her old man. It showed she cared. He'd seen Gemma take crow-eaters by the hair and kick them out of the clubhouse if she didn't like the way they were looking at Clay.

The ice cream food truck was a big hit especially with the kids. As the children left they were handed a bunch of balloons. Ava thought that was a nice touch. At least the balloons would be enjoyed a little longer. She'd loved getting balloons when she was a kid.

People began to leave once the food trucks left. The remaining party-goers were friends of the MC and the MC. Tig unlocked the doors to the clubhouse to move the party inside. TB and his staff had left a few minutes after the food trucks.

"We should start thinking about leaving," Ava said.

"Let's just go into the clubhouse and have a beer and then we'll leave," Jax said.

"OK," Ava agreed.

The MC and the friends of the MC settled in for a few beers and a louder more raucous celebration. Gemma kissed Jax on the cheek and she and Clay left. A duo of slutty looking blondes came into the clubhouse. One wore low cut jeans that displayed her hip bones and a crop top. The other was wearing a white dress so short if she lifted her arms she'd expose her crotch.

Jax was sitting in a chair when Ava walked up to the bar to get them beers.

"Who are the two blondes that just walked in?" Ava asked as Juice poured beers for her and Jax.

"The one in jeans is Lyla and the other one is Ima. They work at the porn studio run by one of our members' old ladies Lu-ann."

"How well does Jax know them?"

"You'll have to check with Jax on that," Juice said deftly evading the question. He handed Ava two large Red Solo cups filled with beer.

"Thanks," Ava said.

She turned in time to see Ima plop herself down into Jax's lap. He winced from the pain. Ava's eyes narrowed as she stalked over to where Jax sat with Ima still on his lap.

"Get the hell off my husband, you slut," Ava ordered before tossing a cup of beer into Ima's face sending her make-up running down her face in black streaks.

Jax had ducked and missed most of the beer. Ima jumped up sputtering with rage. Before she could reach Ava, two security staff from Dark Tower grabbed her and took her out of the clubhouse. Ava loved having security around to take out the trash.

Ava and Jax locked eyes and the entire clubhouse went deathly silent. No woman had ever stood up to Jax. The MC ruled over the clubhouse and a woman either followed orders or was kicked out.

"Ava, don't you dare," Jax ordered.

"Wrong thing to say," Ava said as she tossed the beer in his lap and dropped the cups to the floor. For a split second there was silence then the entire clubhouse erupted into laughter. Even the security personnel had to fight hard to keep from laughing.

Jax waited until the clubhouse got quiet and stood up.

"Thank you for coming to my party and thanks for all the support. It appears that I've pissed my pants. That means it's time to leave with my charming wife," Jax said. The clubhouse roared with laughter again.

Jax took Ava by the arm and led her out of the clubhouse.

"You're in big trouble with me," Jax said in a low voice.

"Somehow I'm not scared," Ava said.

"Wait until we get back to the house."

"Still not scared," she scoffed at his implied threat.

He couldn't really do much to her in his current physical condition or could he, she wondered.

Author's Note: Spent the last 3 and a half weeks fighting COVID so I was unable to write. I finally had enough energy to finish this chapter today. Hope I've turned the corner and I'm finally getting over this, but I've thought that before and been wrong. Fortunately, I haven't needed medical treatment and aside from extreme fatigue I haven't been that sick so I've been lucky.