Jess sat on the counter in Jax's bathroom, legs crossed in front of her as she leaned close to the mirror, carefully applying her eyeliner. Gemma had organized family dinner for that night and for the first time in a long time, Jess was actually looking forward to it. Gemma had even extended an invitation to Rose, which Jess thought was surprisingly thoughtful of her and she was excited that her aunt would be spending some time with her other family.
Jax knocked on the bathroom door and stuck his head in, grinning at the sight of Jess sitting on the counter. She smiled at him through the mirror, shrugging as she held the mascara wand aloft.
"There's nowhere to sit in here," she said by way of explanation. Jax chuckled, shaking his head.
"We gotta leave soon," he told her, "You know Gemma and punctuality." Jess nodded.
"I'm almost done," she said, "Give me a few minutes." He nodded, about to turn away when Jess's cell phone rang and she glanced down at the caller ID, sighing and hitting ignore. Jax watched her curiously, raising his eyebrows.
"Who was that?" he asked. Jess shrugged.
"No one," she said evasively. Jax furrowed his brows at her and she knew he wouldn't let it drop. She hesitated for several moments before she climbed off the counter, walking over to him and leaning against the door frame of the bathroom.
"It was Tara," she admitted, looking up at him. His jaw set at the name and she knew he still wasn't past the kidnapping, but Jess had to try. She'd promised, and she really didn't want Tara to have to come through on her threat of calling the State, "She keeps calling… Jax, I don't know what to tell her. You've got to let her see Abel."
"I don't gotta do anything," Jax said derisively.
"He's been asking about her, too," Jess said, a pleading note in her voice, "You know he has. This is hurting more than just Tara. He thinks of her as his mom; he doesn't understand." Jax scoffed, shaking his head.
"Abel will be fine," Jax said, in a tone that clearly said this was the end of that conversation, "And you're going to stop talking to Tara."
"Jax, I can't-" Jess began, but he interrupted her, shaking his head fiercely.
"That wasn't a request, Jess," he said firmly, "This should be between Tara and me. I'm sorry she's gotten you in the middle of it, but Abel doesn't concern you."
Jess crossed her arms defensively, wanting to argue back. Wanting to tell him that she was the one that had found Abel, that she was the one who had made the promise that Tara would get to see him - the only thing that would have allowed Jess to take Abel home. That Abel did concern her, and it was unfair of Jax to say that he didn't.
But she could tell by his posture, by the tone of his voice, by the tension in his jaw, and by the fact that she knew him so well that he wouldn't listen to a word she said. They were finally in a good place, and Jess didn't want to ruin that by arguing about Tara.
"Fine," she finally, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss Jax lightly on the lips, "I won't talk to Tara anymore." Jax nodded, running his hands up and down her waist.
"Thank you," he said. She gave him a small smile and nodded.
"Let me finish getting ready and we can go to dinner," Jess said. Jax nodded, and Jess was relieved that the anger was gone from his eyes, but she knew that this situation wasn't over. She just had no idea how it would end, and that made her uneasy.
SOASOASOASOASOASOASOA
"You know, you've got money now," Jax commented as he loaded Abel into the back of Jess's '97 Camry, "You could get yourself a nicer car." Jess rolled her eyes, following Jax's lead at forgetting the argument they'd had inside the house.
"I like my car," Jess said defensively. Jax finished buckling Abel into the car seat and stood up, looking dubiously at her over the car and Jess shrugged, "It gets me from A to B. What more do I need?" It was Jax's turn to roll his eyes.
"All I'm saying is, Luann had that nice Corvette," he said, "It's yours now." They both climbed into the car and Jax started it up before looking back at her for a response.
"How are we going to fit Abel into a Corvette?" Jess reminded him, trying not to think of the car sitting in Luann's garage. She hadn't been able to face doing anything about the car or the house, and so both had just been sitting there while Rosen made the payments for her.
"You could sell it, get something bigger," Jax suggested.
"I don't want to sell Luann's stuff," she snapped, the words coming out more angry than she'd intended. She took a deep breath to calm herself, "It's too soon." Jax reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he pulled out of the driveway.
"I'm sorry," he finally said, "I didn't think."
"It's okay," Jess said quietly. They drove the rest of the short drive to Gemma's house in silence as Jess stared out the window, thinking about what Jax had said. Maybe it was time to do something about the house and the car. She'd have to face it sooner or later.
They pulled up to Gemma's right on time and both stepped out of the car. Jax grabbed Abel from the back, who immediately sprinted to the door as soon as his feet hit the ground, causing both Jax and Jess to laugh and lightening the mood immediately.
They walked through the back door into the kitchen to see Gemma busily preparing something in the oven and Neeta, Abel's nanny, chopping a salad. Both glanced up when they walked in and smiled.
"It's about time," Gemma said, closing the oven and bending down to scoop Abel into her arms. Jax rolled his eyes, kissing his mother on the cheek.
"We're right on time," he said, nodding his head at the clock on the wall that had just ticked over to 6:00.
"Well everyone else is here," Gemma said, nodding to the dining room. Jess looked over, scanning the crowded room for Rose and finally spotted her in a corner, holding a glass of wine and talking to Bobby.
"Rose!" Jess exclaimed, leaving Jax and Gemma and rushing to her aunt. Rose looked up at the sound of her name and smiled at Jess, hugging her.
"Hi, Jess," she said, "Robert here and I were just reminiscing about the good ol' days." Jess grinned, looking back and forth between her aunt and the burly biker. She'd forgotten that Rose had mentioned spending time with Bobby back when she and Daisy used to frequent the clubhouse, and that was probably because the thought made her slightly nauseous.
"Yeah, you know, Jess, your aunt was a pretty hot piece back in the day," Bobby said, grinning.
"Hey, she's still hot," Jess replied, shaking her head but smiling back at him, "But she's not a piece, so don't go getting any ideas." Bobby laughed, holding his hands up in a mock surrender.
"I got nothin' but ideas, darlin'," Bobby said to Jess, but he was looking at Rose, who blushed, shaking her head.
"Robert," she said warningly, but she was grinning from ear-to-ear and Jess raised her eyebrows, watching the interaction. Was her aunt flirting with Bobby Munson? This was too much for her.
"Okay, well, you guys have fun," she said, shaking her head. Rose smiled at her before turning her attention back to Bobby and Jess walked back to Jax, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"I'm pretty sure Bobby and my aunt are about to get it on and I'm not sure how I feel about that," she said, moaning into his chest. Jax laughed, grabbing a beer out of a chest on the counter next to him and popping the top, handing it to her.
"Sounds like you're gonna need a lot of these," he said and Jess took it gratefully, but she couldn't help but smile at the situation. It was nice to see Rose happy, and even more nice to see how accepted she seemed to be at this exclusive family dinner.
Tig and Lux were the last to arrive, attempting to sneak in through the front door at the opposite side of the house from the kitchen, but no such luck.
"You're late, Lux!" Gemma called to her as soon as Lux and Tig appeared in the dining room and Lux rolled her eyes.
"Sorry, mom," she said, untangling herself from Tig to walk over to Clay, "Hi, dad."
Clay smiled at Lux, giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek, but Jess noticed how cool he was to Tig, who had walked towards her and Jax to grab a beer. If Jess thought about it, she hadn't actually seen Tig and Clay exchange more than a few words to each other since Clay had lost his presidency. She'd never given it much thought before, what with everything that had happened since then, but she now wondered how she ever could have missed it.
"I'm going to say hi to Lux," Jess said to Jax, leaning up on her tip toes to kiss him before leaving him to talk to Tig. Lux grinned when she saw Jess and walked over to her, giving her a hug.
"How's it going?" Lux asked and Jess shrugged, smiling.
"Fine," she said. She motioned towards Rose and Bobby, still standing in the corner and laughing about something, "Check that out." Lux grinned, nodding.
"Yessss," she said, "Your aunt really needs to get laid."
"Ugh, Lux," Jess said, frowning, but Lux shrugged, unabashed.
"C'mon, you know it's true," she said. Jess shook her head, but couldn't help smiling.
"I know nothing," Jess replied.
"Dinner time!" Neeta announced, carrying in a large lasagna while Gemma followed behind with the salad. They placed the food in the center of the table and everyone crowded around and immediately started digging in.
Jess was about to grab another roll when her phone started ringing and she glanced at it, frowning. The number flashing on her caller ID was the county jail. She looked around the table, quickly accounting for everyone she knew and loved, wondering who would be calling her from jail.
"I've gotta take this," Jess muttered. Jax, who was sitting beside her, looked sharply over at her and Jess knew he was worried it was Tara calling again.
"It's not Tara," she said quietly, "Someone calling from jail." Jax frowned in concern as Lux looked up and down the table before looking back at Jess.
"You don't know anybody else that isn't here," she said loudly. Jess shrugged, standing from the table to take the call.
"Hello?" she said once she reached the living room.
"Jess?" a shaky voice said, "Oh thank God, Jess, you've gotta pick me up. Oh my God, I'm freaking out!"
"Ima?" Jess said, recognizing the voice instantly, "Ima, what happened?"
"Diosa was raided!" Ima shrieked, "They rounded up all the girls and it's really gross in here. GET ME OUT!"
"Jesus Christ," Jess muttered, "I'll be right there." She hung the phone up before Ima could annoy her with another word and walked back over to the table, everyone looking curiously at her when she returned.
"Everything okay?" Jax asked. Jess shrugged.
"That was Ima. There's been… a problem. I need to go pick her up," she explained.
"Ima in jail - that's a sight I've gotta see," Lux said happily, immediately standing up from her seat. Jess shook her head.
"No way, sit your ass back down," she said. Lux slowly and reluctantly took her seat and Jess's eyes followed her until Lux was firmly planted in her chair again before she turned to look down at Jax.
"I have to go," Jess said and he nodded, also standing from the table.
"I'm coming with you," he said firmly, and Jess nodded, relieved. She really didn't want to deal with Ima by herself right then, but she felt guilty pulling him away from dinner.
"Okay," she finally said. She walked around the table to hug her aunt good bye while Jax kissed Abel on the top of the head and told Gemma he'd be back later to pick him up before he and Jess took off to her car.
They arrived at the station and Jax pulled into the lot, shutting the car off. Before he could open his door Jess put a hand on his, grinning.
"Maybe you should stay in here," she said, "They might arrest you on sight just for fun." Jax smirked, shrugging.
"Alright," he said. She kissed him lightly before stepping out of the car and walking into the station to see Nero's hulking figure at the front desk. Jess walked up to him and leaned on the wall next to him. He looked over at her, shaking his head.
"How bad is it?" Jess asked quietly.
"It ain't good," he replied, "Who called you?"
"Ima," she said simply. He nodded, rubbing his face with his hands.
"I'm bailing them out," he said, "But I could use you to give Ima and Lyla a ride home if you can."
"No problem," she said. He finished signing a few papers at the desk and then nodded at Jess to follow him to the waiting area.
"After the raid I got a friendly eviction notice from my landlord," he said, "I gotta be out by the end of the week."
"Shit," Jess muttered, "What are you gonna do?" Nero shrugged.
"No clue," he said, "There's not exactly a whole lot of established options for me." Jess frowned.
"Well if I hear of anything I'll let you know," she said, "I'll talk to Jax. He might know of something."
"I'd appreciate that," he said, giving her a small smile as the doors to the waiting room opened and about 10 incredibly scantily clad girls filed out. Most seemed relatively calm but it was easy to pick Ima out of the group as she was sobbing uncontrollably while Lyla wrapped her arms around her in an attempt to calm her. Lyla rolled her eyes at Jess when she spotted her and Jess couldn't help grin.
"Oh my God Jess, thank God you're here!" Ima said through her sobs, "The benches are so dirty and there's a toilet in the middle of the room!"
"She acts like she's never been arrested before," Lyla said, which only made Ima cry louder. Jess was about 5 seconds away from slapping the crap out of Ima and telling her to stop crying out for attention, but she forced herself to focus on Lyla, who she actually liked.
"We're going to take you guys home," Jess said, and Lyla smiled gratefully at her.
"Thanks, Jess," she said. Lyla gave Nero a small smile before following Jess back out to the car, Ima still clinging to her, sobbing loudly. Just before they reached the car, Jess couldn't take it anymore. She reached her hand back, slapping the side of Ima's cheek.
"Shut the fuck up!" she shouted at her. Ima's cries instantly ceased and Jess felt ten times better. Ima and Lyla climbed into the backseat and Jess took the passenger seat, Jax grinning at her.
"You know, that was kinda hot," he said, leaning over to kiss Jess. She grinned, shaking her head.
"If only a slap to Ima's face solved all my problems," she said.
"I heard that," Ima grumbled from the back, but Jax and Jess ignored her as they pulled out of the parking lot and headed to Ima's apartment.
"So what's the story?" Jax asked. Jess sighed.
"Apparently there was a raid on Diosa," she said, "They arrested all the girls that were there and Nero's landlord gave him an eviction notice. He's gotta be out by the end of the week."
"So what's he gonna do?" Jax asked, looking thoughtful. Jess shrugged.
"No clue," she said. She glanced in the backseat where Ima had fallen asleep leaning against Lyla, "What do you think?" Jess asked Lyla. Lyla shrugged.
"No idea," she said, "I'm just worried about these charges."
"Don't worry about it," Jax said, "We'll take care of that." Lyla smiled gratefully at him.
"Thanks, Jax," she said. They pulled up to Ima's apartment a few minutes later and Lyla shook Ima awake before turning back to Jess.
"Thanks again for the ride," she said as her and Ima both stepped out of the car. Jax waited for the girls to walk into Ima's apartment before he pulled away from the curb and they headed back to Gemma's to pick up Abel.
"I told Nero I'd ask you if you knew of any places for rent that he could use," Jess said. Jax paused, clearly in thought.
"I know a place," he finally responded. Jess's eyes brightened as she turned to him, excited for the chance to help Nero out.
"Really? Where?" she asked. Jax paused again, clearly choosing his words carefully.
"I'm thinking about all the empty space upstairs at Cara Cara," he said, and Jess's heart immediately sank. That was not exactly the kind of help she was thinking about.
"I know you were planning on turning it into another bar, but it's just being wasted right now," Jax continued.
"So, what, you think I should turn it into a brothel?" Jess asked, scoffing as she turned away from him. Jax shook his head.
"No," he said, "I'm thinking… a high class spa." Jess practically laughed out loud.
"Like happy endings?" she asked, a giggle escaping. But Jax wasn't joking. He looked seriously at Jess.
"Think about it, Jess," he said, "You could rent the space to Nero, be his landlord. We could work the paperwork out with Rosen so if something like this did happen again, you'd have deniability of everything going on upstairs, and we could triple the income of the club. Maybe more."
"I don't know…" Jess said, her voice trailing off.
"It's not like you and Nero haven't already been working together," Jax reminded her.
"Yeah, arranging schedules," Jess said, "Not exactly the same thing as housing his whore house."
"I'm just saying… think about it," he said, "Cara Cara's not pulling in as much money as it used to, and this would help. A lot. Get you out of the red, for sure." Jess sighed, leaning back in her seat. The thought was becoming more and more appealing the more Jax talked.
But she didn't know how Luann would feel about her turning half of Cara Cara into a brothel. She'd been so against the girls hooking at the club… but if something didn't change soon, there might not be a club at all. Jess sighed, turning back to look at Jax.
"I'll think about it," she said. Jax nodded as they pulled into Gemma's driveway and stepped out of the car before walking up to the back door. They stepped inside to see Gemma busy cleaning the kitchen, the house much emptier than it had been before. Gemma put the dish in her hand down when she saw them come in, wiping her hands on a nearby towel.
"Everything okay?" she asked. Jess shrugged as Jax nodded.
"Everything's fine," Jax said, kissing her on the cheek, "Just your usual arrested whore situation." Gemma pursed her lips, shaking her head.
"Abel's asleep on the couch," she said, nodding to the living room and Jax and Jess left the kitchen to find Abel.
"Can you give me a minute to talk to your mom?" Jess asked. Jax looked curiously at her.
"About what?" he asked. Jess shrugged.
"Just… stuff," she said, "Luann stuff." Jax nodded.
"Sure, just come get us when you're done," he said. Jess nodded and walked back to Gemma in the kitchen.
"Hey, can I talk to you?" Jess asked, taking a seat on one of the barstools at the counter. Gemma nodded, walking over to her and leaning against the other side of the counter, facing Jess.
"What's on your mind?" she asked. Jess explained the situation with Nero, and Jax's suggestion that they open Diosa 2.0 on the second floor of Cara Cara.
"I just don't know what Luann would think about that," she finished, "She was always so against that kind of stuff happening at the club. I'd hate to think of her rolling over in her grave because of something I did." Gemma looked thoughtfully across at her before nodding her head.
"I don't think that's what Luann was talking about," Gemma said, "She was trying to avoid blow jobs in the bathroom, not an escort service. Remember, Luann started out in porn. She wasn't opposed to sex as a vocation, she just didn't want Cara Cara to turn into a place like Georgie's. She wanted to make sure her girls were taken care of better than she had been when she was starting out. From what I've heard, Nero treats his girls right. I think Luann would have liked him." Jess thought about that for several moments before finally nodding.
"Okay, thanks Gem," she said. Gemma smiled at her, patting her on the hand.
"It's nice to see you looking out for Luann's legacy like this, Jess," she said. Jess smiled at her, walking around the corner to give her a hug.
"Thanks, Gemma," she said again. Gemma patted her on the back and they pulled apart, "I'm gonna step outside and make a call. Will you let Jax know?"
"Sure," Gemma said. Jess walked out the back door and pulled her phone out, quickly dialing Nero's number.
"Hey, Nero,"Jess said when he answered, "I've got a proposition for you."
Author's Note - Thank you SO MUCH for reading! I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks to all our new followers and reviewers - we're excited to get back into this story. Please review! It really makes our day and makes us want to write even more when we get to hear what you thought!