A soft purr trickled past my lips as JC combed his fingers through my hair and then ran his fingers over my spine. My left arm that was resting across his chest bounced up and down while he laughed at me. I didn't mind at all because this was the first time in over a week that I felt completely at ease.

"What are you thinking about, Beautiful?"

I had my head resting on his shoulder, so I turned it and moved it to his bicep so that I could see his face. "The first week that I was here and how much things have changed since then."

"Changed and you're happy? Or…?"

I pushed myself up on the mattress in a modified push up so that I could give him a deep kiss. I kept myself above him, so I could look him in the eyes as I replied, "Nope. Worst changes in my life ever."

He laughed as he hugged me against his chest so that he could flip me over onto my back. He was so quick and fluid that I barely had a chance to react before he placed a long, deep kiss on my lips. He kissed me until I was breathless and then he stared down at me and said, "Yeah, me too. This whole being in love thing is such a drag."

"Right?" I playfully agreed, pulling his face down to mine again.

We had travelled separately to JC's house because I had planned on going home at some point to get some sleep before work the next day. Now that I had spent over three hours naked in his bed, it was looking less and less likely that I would be leaving tonight. But that was okay because I had a change of clothes with me, so I could head straight to work from JC's house the next morning.

Not that either of us were in much of a hurry to get out of be the next day. But JC was more responsible than I was because when I woke up the next morning, I could smell fresh coffee brewing and I was alone in his bed.

In all honesty, I was going to get up. I swear I was, but before I could force myself out of the warmth and comfort of JC's bed, he returned to the room with a mug of coffee in his hand. Much to my chagrin, he had started to get dressed, so he had on a pair of baggy jeans and biker boots.

"Mmm… Are you serving me breakfast in bed?" I asked as I sat up to claim the mug from him.

JC let out a soft moan because unlike him. I hadn't started my day, so I was completely naked. After I had the coffee mug in hand, JC took a couple of large steps away from the bed. I swear he looked like he was almost in pain when he replied, "I wish that I was, but no. Unfortunately, I have to eat and run."

I perked up slightly then asked, "Something going on at TM?"

"No, club business. In fact, Jax and Gemma said to tell you to take today off. No one is scheduled to come in, so Gemma said that you should rest."

I took a drink of coffee while I mulled over that information. "Nah, I think I'll still head in to work on the Monte Carlo. Dad doesn't want me working after hours, so I need to work on it whenever I have free time at the shop."

"Are you feeling well enough to work?"

I smiled brightly answering, "Haven't you ever heard that sex it the best medicine? After last night, I think I'm ready to run a marathon." He raised a questioning brow at that comment causing me to laugh and almost choke as I finished my coffee. "Alright, I don't run. But you know what I mean."

"That I do. Why don't you hop in the shower? The sausage and eggs should be done by the time you're finished."

I walked on my knees to the edge of the bed and reached out for him. JC closed the distance between us with one large step forward. Once I had my hands on him, I ran them up his arms and wrapped my right hand around the back of his neck to pull his face down to mine. He resisted at first, but I could feel his resolve crack with every second he stared at my naked flesh.

Once he started to let me move his had forward, I pushed up onto my knees to make myself taller. I know he expected me to kiss him, but I instead moved my lips to his left ear and whispered, "I can't wait to get another taste of your sausage."

"Fuck," he groaned. "You're killing me, Mia."

"Not yet," I countered before I nipped his earlobe. Let's get you out of those pants and we'll see how much damage we can do."

"Fuck… Mia… I can't."

"Sure, you can," I retorted in a husky voice as I reached down and grabbed his belt with both hands. "All we have to do is get rid of this ugly belt and then your stupid pants will fall off. Nice and easy."

"MIA!" He barked out as he grabbed both of my hands in a crushing grip.

I sat back on my haunches as I remorsefully cried out, "Ow!"

I turned my eyes up to his face and let the crocodile tears start to well. This was the point when he usually pulled one of my hands up and kissed my knuckles as he moved away from me. It was usually the time he teased me back.

Apparently today wasn't a usual day because his face just hardened into an angry frown as he said with an audible growl, "I said that I can't."

There was zero playfulness in his tone or facial expression, so I dropped mine too. "Alright… alright…"

I tried to pull my hand away, but his grip was too tight. Instead of finding freedom, I found myself in a horrible form of tug-o-war with my hand playing the role of the rope. He had an unfocused look to his eyes and probably didn't notice my distress while I was trying to shake him off, literally. He should have let go of me by now, but his hand was acting more like a Chinese finger trap; the more I struggled, the tighter his grip became.

When that realization hit me, I completely stopped moving. After taking in a couple of slow breaths, I very calmly said, "Fine. Let me go." His grip started to loosen, but not enough for me to get away so I tried again. This time I enunciated each word very carefully and with an eerie calmness. "LET. ME. GO. NO, JUICE."

I'm not sure what finally worked on him, my tone or my use of his usual nickname, but he finally let up on his grip with a soft, "Shit, Mia… I'm…"

"I know," I interrupted in a very low, controlled voice. "Let go of my hand or you really will be sorry."

He practically threw my hand at my leg as he said, "Mia, I… I…"

I rolled towards the opposite side of the bed from where JC was standing with my left hand cradled into my chest. "And I said OW," I stated firmly as I stood up off the mattress.

"Mia, I'm sorry. It's just… I need to get going because we're…"

I paused as I walked towards his ensuite and nearly shouted, "NO! We don't bring club business into the bedroom. It's your rule."

"I know. And I'm sorry," he continued as he rushed towards the bathroom door. "Honestly Mia, I didn't mean to really hurt you."

"I know," I replied without being able to look at him. "We both got carried away. I'm sorry for my part. Go… finish your breakfast."

"Mia…"

"You have business to attend to, so go… Just go, Juice. We'll figure this shit out later."

"You promise?"

"Of course," I replied as I slipped through the bathroom door and quickly closed it.

I stood with my back against the closed door while I tried to catch my breath. In the front of my head I knew that JC hadn't meant to hurt me, but he had and that scared the shit out of me.

While I was standing there, I heard and felt something hit the other side of the door. That was followed up by some muffled words. I pressed my ear against the door to try to hear better and thought I could make out some cursing, so I eased the door open to check what was happening.

I found JC sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. He was mumbling to himself while he massaged a spot on his forehead. I had to bite my bottom lip to keep from laughing at the scene that was playing out in my mind of hos he got hurt.

I slowly approached him and called out, "Mi Osito… What have you done to yourself?"

He looked up at me when he felt me stroke the back of his head. "I really didn't mean to hurt you, Mia."

"I know, Baby. Just like I'm sure you didn't mean to bash your head against the door."

"No, that I did on purpose."

I stared at him for a second, but before I could say anything else, JC wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me down onto his lap. I quickly made myself more comfortable as he engulfed my lips in a kiss.

"Please say you forgive me," he whispered against my hair as he hugged me against his chest. "Please, Mia."

I leaned back in his arms so that I could look him in the eye when I replied, "I forgive you."

"Thank God," he breathed out before he pulled me in for another kiss.

I went willingly and would have been happy to take his apology even further, but he quickly remembered that we couldn't. He pulled away from my lips and placed a gentle hand on each of my cheeks.

"I wish I didn't have to go to a meeting with the Irish right now," he admitted in a soft voice. "I wish we could just stay in bed together today."

"Me too," I agreed before I kissed him again. His hands started to explore every inch of naked flesh that he could reach while we kissed. I could have easily let myself get lost in his embrace, so I forced myself to stand up and detach myself from him.

"But you HAVE to be there… and I need to get to work." I took a couple of steps back, but I couldn't go far because JC was holding (albeit much more lovingly than before) onto my hands. 'Plus… you should get back in the kitchen. You don't want breakfast to burn."

"That's true." He stood and brought my right hand up to his lips. "Dinner tonight?"

I kissed the palm of his hand then answered, "It's a date."

I thought he was going to turn and leave then, but he instead picked me up off my feet. I didn't get a chance to make any noise of surprise because his mouth covered mine in a very enthusiastic kiss. With the way that he was holding me, all I could do was hug my arms around his neck while I tried to keep up with the pace he was setting.

JC's masterful lips turned me into jelly in his arms and I almost collapsed when he placed me on my feet again. I clung to his biceps for dear life as he huffed out a laugh at his effect on me.

Once we had both caught our breath, JC finger combed my hair out of my face and very reverently stated, "I love you so much, Mia. I hope I never give you a reason to doubt that."

"I feel the exact same way."

He smiled much more easily then said, "Good to hear. Now, you go shower and I'll finish cooking breakfast."

"That sounds perfect to me."

Today was another day of no new clients at work, so I was finally able to get some work done on Tino's Monte Carlo. I was hoping to get all of the mechanical and electrical work done before his trip down here. My attack and the ensuing aftermath had put my timeline in jeopardy, but today had helped a lot to get back on track.

I was sitting at one of the picnic tables having a smoke break when I saw Chucky rush out of the office to open the large sliding gate. It looked like he was getting ready for the guys to return, but that didn't make any sense. It was much too quiet for them to be close to returning right now.

As I watched Chucky slide open the gate, I lit another cigarette and watched. An almost embarrassingly wide grin spread across my face when I saw the big, black panel van drive in. It was the van JC had been using to chauffeur Clay around town.

Gemma had tried to be careful to keep me away from Clay, but with all of the time JC had been spending with the ex-president, he and I inadvertently ended up spending a lot of time together. Even without my Momma Bear's influence, I tried to do everything in my power not to be left alone with Clay. There was just something about him and his aura that made me uneasy, but I tried to suck it up for JC's benefit. When I had questioned him about his loyalty to the older man, he had explained that Clay was like the father he had never known. Given that I had only really gotten to know my own further over the last decade, I could completely understand that sentiment and wanted to do everything I could to support him.

When JC was finished parking the van, I crushed my cigarette under my sneaker in anticipation of running to greet my man. Yes, I was at work and fawning over your boyfriend was generally frowned upon, but this wasn't a usual workplace. Gemma told me that JC and I could do all the over the top PDAs that we wanted so long as there were no customers around to witness it. And there were zero customers around right now.

My feet started moving before he had his door open, but I froze in my spot when I heard the sliding door be thrown open. And I men VIOLENTLY thrown open. Since JC and Clay were the only passengers in the van when they left for the meeting, someone riding with them meant that they probably went down when they were riding and probably had gotten hurt.

I diverted my course to the sliding door, but I stopped short of approaching when Chibs and Bobby jumped out of the vehicle. Neither of them looked hurt, so why the hell weren't they on their bikes? And where the hell were their bikes?

"Fucking Gobshite, spud fucking piece of shit," Chibs ranted as he walked towards the clubhouse.

JC walked over to me and gave me a quick kiss. I watched as Bobby hurriedly followed Chibs and asked, "I take it the meeting didn't go well?"

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and walked me back towards the garage replying, "The meeting was fine. But then Galen decided to have a 'who's is bigger' contest and show off for the cartel by shooting up our bikes."

"WHAT?" I cried out, stopping so abruptly I almost tripped him. "Are you okay? Shit! Where's Dad? Is HE okay?"

JC placed a firm hand on both of my shoulders to keep me from moving. He made very direct eye contact, but he didn't say anything right away. I, of course, started to fear the worst had happened and felt tears well up in my eyes.

"Mia, he just shot up the bikes. NO ONE got hurt."

A couple of tears fell as I let out the breath I had been holding. He dried the moisture on my cheeks with the sleeve of his hoody. Thankfully, he didn't try to get me to talk because I would have just turned into a blubbering mess.

As I tried to calm down, we heard another vehicle enter the yard. It was a flatbed truck with all of their bikes strapped down to it. Don't ask me how they got their hands on a flatbed truck so quickly because I really didn't care. All I cared about was seeing my dad alive and whole.

Seconds after the passenger door opened, I was running towards it tearfully calling out, "DADDY!"

I nearly knocked Dad over when I wrapped myself around him in an over-enthusiastic hug.

"Mia? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" I questioned in an exasperated tone. "You cannot seriously be surprised that I would be emotional after hearing some asshole shot up your bikes."

"We weren't close to them when he did it."

"I don't care! He fucking shot up your bikes! Who knows what else that psycho might do."

Dad laughed then. He actually fucking laughed at my concern, so I shoved at his shoulder, hard and angrily retorted, "It's not funny Dad!"

He pulled me in for a hug then said, "I know it's not. But we're all fine." He started to lead me to the back of the truck where Phil, V-Lin and Rat were unloading what was left of their bikes. "Think you might be able to revive them?"

"Holy shit." I stared at the bikes for a minute while my mind tried to process what it was seeing. "I'm good, but... what did he use? A machine gun?"

"Aye," Chibs answered as he approached us from behind. "He wanted to show the client how much damage the hardware could do."

I walked around two of the bikes then turned and looked at the cluster of MC members who had joined my dad and Chibs before I said, "I'm not even sure that I'll be able to salvage any parts, but I'll try my best."

Chibs moved over to my side and kissed my cheek. "Thanks Luv. Why don't we move this one into the bay and start on it? I think it has the least amount of damage on it."

"Alright. I'll move my tool box over to there."

He turned his eyes to the garage then softly cursed out, "Shit. You were working on the Monte Carlo, weren't you?"

"It's okay Chibs. I got more done on it than I thought I would. Now, I have to wait for Tino to look at it and discuss his options for the next steps."

"Really? You aren't just saying that to make an old man feel better?"

"Old man?" I questioned with mock confusion as I wrapped myself around his right arm and kissed his cheek. "I don't see any old men here."

He hugged me against his side then started walking towards the garage, "You are very sweet, Mia-Luv. Let's get to work."