Of all places in the state of California, Catherine couldn't believe she was stupid enough to show up at the SAMCRO clubhouse. Parked down the street, she tossed her cigarette out the window before rolling it up and killing the engine. From her purse, she grabbed her phone and slipped it into her pocket while stuffing her purse under the seat. With a deep breath, she exited the SUV, locked it, and walked towards the blasting Rob Zombie.
This was far from her first Sons of Anarchy party. Brien and Padaric had invited her to plenty of the SAMBEL bashes in the past, but she wasn't sure her presence here would be received as warmly as it was back home. Even though SOA and the True Army had a well-oiled commercial partnership, the two groups typically didn't mix socially for many reasons. The possibility of law enforcement connecting them was the priority.
Crossing the threshold into the parking lot of Teller-Morrow, Catherine flexed her hands several times in an attempt to stop the nervous tremor. She was instantly greeted to a rowdy group crowded around a boxing ring. Even in the dark, Catherine recognized one of the Sons in the ring from their original meeting at the pub. Remembering how his raspy voice and uniquely dark eyes had caused her heart to nearly code, Catherine made a note to stay away from him. He had "trouble" written in bold letters right across his forehead.
Her plan to try and blend in quickly unraveled when Catherine slunk into the clubhouse. In a sea of scantily-clad women—most of them topless—she stuck out like a sore Provo thumb. Dressed business casual in Capri black pants and a cobalt blue sleeveless blouse, never in her life had Catherine felt so self-conscious. She was usually long gone before the SAMBEL soirées reached this level of raucous.
Hit with the pungent aroma of pot and sweat, Catherine ignored it as she worked her way further into the clubhouse. Thankfully everyone was too engrossed in their own preoccupations to take notice to her as she looked around. When she spotted a blonde on her knees with a cock deep in her throat, Catherine wondered if it was too late to head back to the house and attempt to make up with Jimmy.
At the bar, Catherine stood off to the side and kept her head on a swivel as she looked for her uncle. The pain from the deeper cut was beginning to throb more and she held her arm to her side in order to keep pressure on it.
"You must be the IRA princess Jax has been talking non-stop about for the last twenty-four hours."
Catherine's ear perked up when she realized the Hispanic man behind the bar with a short mohawk was talking to her. She turned to him only briefly to show she had heard him, but then quickly went back to scouting out Chibs.
"It's that obvious?" She asked over the music.
"The tattoo," he raised an eyebrow as he placed two glasses in front of her and poured a double shot of Jameson in each. "An' the accent ya got there, lass."
Realizing the arm she had casually resting on the bar showed off the fairly large shamrock tattoo on the inside of her upper forearm, Catherine dropped it to her side. She also couldn't help but laugh at his horrific attempt at a Dublin accent, which sounded nothing like her Belfast brogue.
"Catherine. I'm Filip…Chibs' niece."
She didn't know why she felt the need to throw that piece of information in. Maybe if they knew she was related to a patch member, they wouldn't throw her out.
"Juice," when he noticed the way her eyebrow shot up, he clarified. "It's a nickname."
Juice handed her the glass as she slightly nodded. They clinked and Catherine offered a "sláinte," before tossing the liquor back. Before she had a chance to fully swallow, an arm wrapping around her shoulders surprised her.
"Jimmy know yer here?"
Setting her glass down, Catherine wiped a droplet of whiskey off her chin with the back of her hand. It wasn't the alcohol making her mind swim, it was Jimmy's word echoing over and over.
"T'was Filip who destroyed yer family when he grassed on yer da."
Before she had the chance to open her mouth and answer, Juice piped to Chibs. "I don't see the resemblance. There's no way a woman this beautiful can be related to you."
"Do ya ever think before ya speak, prospect?" Chibs inquired.
Catherine decided it would be best to keep her nose out of that conversation but she happily took the compliment. The SAMBEL guys and the lads from Dungloe—with the exception of Scrum—were devastatingly afraid to even so much as look at Catherine, for they feared the wrath of Jimmy O.
To keep it between them, she asked Chibs in Gaelic if she could speak to him privately. The shakiness of her voice didn't go unnoticed by Chibs, and he set his beer down before quickly ushering her into a quiet room in the back of the clubhouse.
"Everythin' okay, a thaisce?"
Hearing him call her his treasure once again almost brought Catherine to tears. She never thought she'd see the day where that happened. Having been the first girl born after a long streak of nephews, Chibs, like Patrick, had been over the moon when a girl finally came into the bloodline, and thus she became their treasure.
Chibs knew for a fact she never would have risked coming to the clubhouse unless something was the matter. He quickly noted the small scab beginning to form in the center of her neck, along with the faint finger-shaped bruises her hair failed to cover. Moving her thick copper locks to the side, Chibs nearly had a heart attack when he saw there were three more distinct marks. He damn near lost it when Catherine lifted her shirt to reveal the profound cut on her side. It was deep; bits of fatty tissue was visible along the edges.
"I'm gonna fuckin' kill 'im.
"T'wasn't his fault," Catherine was quick to defend Jimmy and Chibs wasn't surprised. He couldn't wait to hear the weak excuse she was about to make for the Irish bastard. "I attacked him first, he was only defendin' himself."
It didn't matter to Chibs if Catherine struck first. He could count of four hands the number of times Fiona backhanded him, but he never countered the hit. To him, there was never an excuse to respond with violence as unfortunately, the females in his life always went in for the kill when their emotions got the best of them.
Chibs eased Catherine on to the bed before heading straight into the en suite bathroom. He dug through the cabinets looking for a stitch of gauze but found none. Toilet paper and electrical tape would have to make due for now. He sat beside Catherine, instructing her to hold her shirt up while he applied the makeshift bandage.
"He do this often?"
"No, he's never gotten like this wit' me, before."
With her body flecked with scars as bad as it was, Chibs wasn't sure if he actually believed her. However, being in the True Army, getting banged up was just an occupational hazard. His own body told a thousand stories of near misses and mistakes he'd never make again.
"Ya obviously wanted me ta see this."
Catherine had forgotten just how forthright Chibs was and to some degree, she couldn't even figure out why she had come there in the first place. Maybe on some level, she had wanted Chibs to see what Jimmy had done to her, but she also knew of the risk she was taking by seeing him. There was only so much her uncle could do as he wouldn't be able to protect her once she was back in Belfast.
She knew for a fact she hadn't come to confront Chibs about the story Jimmy had told her but the words just spilled out of her mouth.
"Jimmy told me yer a tout. That yer the one who told the RUC me Da was back in Belfast the night before he was arrested."
Chibs physically recoiled as if Catherine had slapped him. Now, he was boiling with fury and he told himself to play it cool as he didn't want to explode on Catherine. She was nothing more than an innocent bystander in this entire mess, although her passionate relationship with Jimmy wasn't doing much to calm the situation. In fact, it was doing the opposite and only complicated things further.
Deciding the best play was to tread lightly as clearly she would run back and tell this to Jimmy, Chibs chose his words carefully.
"Well, Jimmy has his facts wrong." Chibs tossed the roll of tape onto the messy nightstand and stood up. He found an abandoned pack of Marlboros on the dresser and handed one to Catherine before toking up.
Smoking around Jimmy was the eight deadly sin so she enjoyed the heavenly nicotine buzz once it hit her bloodstream. "Then who the fuck was it?"
Chibs wasn't sure if he could bring himself to tell Catherine the truth as it would absolutely devastate her. The rat was closer to her than she thought. He had taken responsibility for letting it slip to Liam that Patrick would be coming home that night. The saying, 'loose lips cost lives,' had been a tough lesson for the eldest O'Toole to learn. Seeing as to how he was now in the True Army himself, Chibs knew Liam had made penance. There was no reason to make the deeply loyal Catherine privy to her brother's dear adolescent mistake. It also worried Chibs as to what she would do with that piece of information.
"The shite between Jimmy an' I's got nothin' ta do wit' yer Da. Don't let 'im tell ya otherwise. That's all ya need 'ta know."
"Does he really love Fiona?" Catherine wanted to slap herself for asking such a stupid question, and she wanted to take the words back the moment they left her mouth.
Of all things, Chibs couldn't believe that was the one thing she was hyper-focused on. He hadn't the slightest clue as to who the woman sitting in front of him was. The Catherine Mary, he thought he knew wouldn't put up with a man who sliced her body or left bruises around her neck.
What the fuck was going on in Belfast? Chibs thought.
"A thaisce, ye really can be such a stupid lass, ya know that?" He didn't mean it as an insult, he meant it in the sincerest way possible. "He's a dangerous man, an' ya need 'ta stay away from him."
There was no doubt his warning had fallen onto deaf ears, seeing as her only focus was trying to decode Jimmy's feelings about Fiona. Tomorrow morning, she would go back to Jimmy as if nothing happened and keep living in in the fantasy he had crafted for her. Chibs could never understand the fascination those two had for another and he wasn't sure he wanted any details on the life that followed after he left.
Not wanting to divulge any more for the night, Chibs laid out for Catherine how the next twelve hours would go. She protested his insistence on her getting a cheap room to spend the night in.
"I can't let ya stay the night here," Chibs said, combing his fingers through his hair.
"Oh, please let me stay an' have a few drinks. Nothin' I haven't already seen at the SAMBEL clubhouse."
The debauchery around the clubhouse wasn't what caused Chibs' guard to soar when it came to having Catherine there. Knowing just how stubborn she is, Chibs was confident she had left against Jimmy's threats and it wouldn't be long the streets within a fifty-mile radius of Lodi were crawling with Provo's looking for her. The SAMCRO clubhouse would be at the top of the search list and God only knew what hell would rain down if she were found out.
Even with Jimmy's threat of squeezing her neck with razor wire, Catherine couldn't bring herself to spend another minute away from Chibs. She wanted to soak up every precious moment, afraid it would be the last time she'd ever see him.
Catherine could tell by his body language that this wasn't a fight she was going to win. That didn't stop her from deploying the secret weapon she always kept stashed away for dire situations. Folding her hands in her lap, Catherine looked up at Chibs with those doe sapphire eyes, fluttering her lashes in a pleading way.
She melted him like butter with those puppy-dog eyes, but it was the shadowy bruising on her neck that solidified his decision. Reaching for a pen on the dresser, Chibs scribbled down directions to a Charming address on the back of an old receipt and handed it to her.
"Ya know it's not personal, a thaisce, it's business." Chibs cleared his throat in an attempt to keep tears at bay. Turning Catherine away when she was desperate was one of the hardest things he's ever had to do. That didn't mean he wouldn't do what he could to help her. "That's the address 'ta my place. There's a nurse at the hospital who owes me a favor, so I'll have her head over an' suture ya up. Stay the night there, but make sure yer back in Lodi early because he will find you."
Standing to her feet, Catherine clutched the receipt in her fingers. She closed the empty space between her and Chibs, wasting no time in wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. There was no grudge on Catherine's part as she understood his reluctance to have her there. It had taken quite a bit of time for the Keith McGee to warm up to the idea of having a Provo in his clubhouse and SAMCRO was no expectation. Chibs was still taking a monumental risk by sending her to his house and for that, she would forever be grateful.
Holding Catherine tight against his body, Chibs rested his cheek on the top of her head. The warmth she radiated, and the scent of her shampoo seared into his memory. He never wanted to forget what it felt like to have her in his arms and he prayed it wouldn't be the last time. To Chibs, Catherine would always be a little girl, not the product of war she turned out to be. Just as he would for Kerrianne, he'd crawl through Hell on his hands and knees to keep her safe.
"If ya ever get in'ta trouble, see McGee, or Maureen Ashby. They'll get word ta me an' I promise I'll make sure ya get here safe. But, Catherine, ya gotta promise me that no matter how afraid ya are, ye'll be brave an' keep fightin'.
Now it was her turn to choke back the tears. The painful knot in the base of her throat tightened even more. Her voice was thick and her words dripped with grief he had never heard from her before.
"I promise." After a few minutes, they finally pulled apart and Catherine a few rogue tears away with the pad of her thumb. "Ye've no idea how much I appreciate ya doin' this fer me. Ya have me word none of this'll blow back on the club."
Cupping her jaw in his hands, Chibs tilted Catherine's head and planted a comforting kiss on her forehead. "Ya should get goin' before Jimmy deploys the troops. Park the SUV in the garage so it's outta sight."
Sitting on the sofa in Chibs' living room, Catherine absently flipped through the pages of an old issue of Easyriders magazine. She rolled her eyes at the photos of half-naked women straddling motorcycles and decided at that very moment, to take up the kickboxing classes Jimmy had suggested for her stay in shape.
Glancing up at the clock perched on the mantelpiece, she tossed her long, straightened hair over her shoulders. It was nearing midnight and Catherine began to wonder if Chibs' friend planned on stopping by.
Having enough of the magazine, Catherine closed it, tossing it back on the coffee table as she let out a frustrated sigh. She thought about reaching for the television remote to find a show that would break the growing awkward silence, but the slightly intimidating presence of the man sitting beside her stopped her from doing much of anything. Annoyance from having been asked to leave the SOA party oozed from him and Catherine felt bad he had been pulled from his lap dance to be her babysitter.
Two days ago, his rough edges and peculiarity had dampened her panties but now that he was sitting silently beside her, Catherine wondered if he was too much bad-boy for her to handle.
"I'm really sorry about Chibs,"
Happy spoke, not allowing her to finish the sentence. "A brother asked a favor. I wasn't gonna say no."
When Chibs had told Happy to accompany her to the house, Catherine quickly declined, assuring Chibs she could watch over herself. No amount of puppy-dog eye batting would change his mind and both Catherine and Happy accepted the arrangement with defeat. Jax had been quick to volunteer to look over his Irish crush, but Chibs didn't have enough faith that Jax wouldn't make a move to bed his niece.
While Chibs knew there was nothing any of them could do if the True Army managed to track Catherine down, he had wanted another body there to make sure the lads didn't get rough with her. Another brother was his best option, as it would only bring more trouble for Catherine if she was spotted with Chibs.
The heavy knock on the front door startled Catherine. When she jumped up to get it, Happy blocked her path and told her to sit back down. A hand strategically placed on the pistol he wore under his kutte, Happy opened the door just enough to peek through. When he came face-to-face with a tired and frazzled woman, he let her in after confirming she was the nurse from St. Thomas.
Hearing the commotion at the door, Catherine stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in her pants. She was relieved to see the nurse had finally arrived, as sutures had quickly become something Catherine despised. She was ready to just get it over with.
"You must be Catherine," the petite blonde set her medical bag on the table before tearing into it in search of a pair of latex gloves. "I'm Ivy."
Snapping on the gloves, Ivy apologized over and over for running late, explaining they were short staffed in the emergency room and had a patient in cardiac arrest come in five minutes before she was supposed to get off shift. Suddenly, Catherine felt like the biggest asshole for having been annoyed with her being an hour late. Assuring Ivy there was nothing to apologize for, she found herself wondering how a soft-spoken woman such as her became tangled up with the local motorcycle enthusiasts.
Happy took a seat on the arm of the sofa and silently watched as Catherine lifted her blouse to show Ivy her wound. While she picked away at the homemade bandage Chibs had made, Happy couldn't stop himself from realizing how the cobalt blue top made the gorgeous hue of her hair pop. Even as she winced from Ivy poking around the tender skin, her rich eyes ever showed a single sign of distress.
"Do you want the good news, or the bad news first?" Ivy took off the bloodstained gloves before pulling out her suturing tools and a bottle of iodine.
"Bad."
Now he could see the nervousness start to set in.
"It definitely needs stitches, and I wasn't able to swipe any lidocaine so you'll have to do this with no numbing agent. Good news, it should only take about four stitches to close it, so it should go quick."
Catherine took a deep breath as she contemplated her options. She was already uncomfortable enough with the gaping wound sitting just below the strap of her bra. When she told Ivy the lack of lidocaine wouldn't be an issue, Happy strode into the kitchen and swiped the first bottle he saw off Chibs' counter.
He hadn't been expecting to find Catherine in her bra and pants when he arrived back in the living room. Untwisting the bottle, Happy told himself to keep his eyes on the ground and off her ample breasts.
"Thanks," Catherine smiled weakly as she accepted the bottle of Jack Daniel's.
Ivy dropped four capsules of an antibiotic into Catherine's palm. Happy watched in complete admiration as she tossed the pills into her mouth and washed them down with a sizeable swig. She didn't bat an eye as she pulled the bottle from her lips just long enough for a breath before taking another pull. The way Catherine drank, and how she positioned herself on the sofa without Ivy having to instruct her, told Happy this was far from her first rodeo.
Kneeling on the floor, Ivy swabbed the area around the cut with a cotton ball soaked in iodine before grabbing her tools.
"You ready?" Ivy asked.
"Aye,"
Catherine closed her eyes and held her breath in preparation for the first puncture of the needle. When the cool steel slid right through her skin, she steadily let out the breath but kept her eyes closed. Happy knew she kept them shut because if she opened them, he and Ivy would witness tears strolling down her face. She was the kind of woman who would never let strangers know how she was feeling and he respected the hell out of that.
Halfway done, Catherine finally opened her eyes. Her teeth clamped down on her lower lip in order to stop the scream that was welling in the pit of her stomach. All she could think about while watching Ivy maneuver the suture into an intricate knot, was all the ways she planned to make Jimmy's life hell for making her go through this. She absolutely hated him at the moment and found herself hoping he had made good on his threat to send her back to Belfast.
Seeing Chibs had made Catherine reanalyze some of her life choices. Maybe the answer wasn't as simple as transferring to the same battalion as Patrick and Liam. There was a small voice in the back of her head telling her it may be time to leave the IRA all together and focus her time on going back to school. She had put herself in a position where her bedroom window had been shot out a week ago, and now she couldn't even spend time with her uncle. A life of constantly looking over her shoulder, wondering who was going to attempt to kill her next, and restricting her relationships with Brien and Padaric wasn't a life she wanted. Most importantly, Catherine was sick of waiting around for Jimmy to pull the trigger and move-in with her like he promised he'd do nearly three years ago.
Looking down at Catherine, Happy could tell her mind was wandering but had no idea where to. He didn't care enough to ask if she was okay, but Happy even surprised himself when he extended his hand and placed it on top of hers. Curling his fingers around hers, Happy gave a tight squeeze, reassuring Catherine it was almost over.
