A/N: I want to thank everyone for the great reviews! Please keep them coming :). To demonicseer: This story will be 12 chapters. But there is a sequel in the works!
Later that night Juice looked over at Sara as they laid in bed together watching a movie. He said, "You've been quiet since you called home earlier. Is everything okay?" Juice lightly brushed her hair away from her face so he could see her eyes. One of the things he had learned about Sara in their short time together was that she had a horrible poker face. That just made her cuter to him.
Sara looked up and gave a half smile. "I am fine. I just thanked my mother for sending the clothes."
But clothes had not been on the only thing in that box. There were letters from Sara's ex-boyfriend. She went to school in Italy to get away from him. She couldn't believe the nerve of her mother sending along letters he'd written.
But Olivia Reed was a woman that marched to the beat of her own drum. Most of the time that was an endearing trait that Sara loved about her quirky mother. But other times it drove her to distraction. In many aspects Willie had destroyed a part of Sara's life that she could never get back. And although Olivia didn't know the truth, Sara's reluctance to reconnect with the man should have been enough to put her mother off of the idea.
Juice quirked an eyebrow at her response. "If you don't want to talk about it, then we don't have to, but... don't lie to me when it is so obvious that you are upset. You've barely said a word all evening and usually I can't get a word in edgewise with you," he said in a calm voice. He smiled at her as his eyes searched her trying to figure out what was wrong. "Did I say or do something?"
"Oh, Juan, of course not, baby. It isn't you. I promise." Sara leaned over to kiss him on the lips. She didn't want him thinking that her foul mood was because of him.
She stared at him for a moment. Then she frowned slightly and looked into his eyes. "I hate how well you know me. I hate how you can see what I am trying to hide from you."
Sara picked up his hand and lightly traced the outline of his fingers. Then she began to confess. "My mom thought that it would be a good idea to send letters from an ex-boyfriend. He doesn't have a way to get in touch with me so he periodically sends letters to my parents' house. I normally refuse to take them. But since she was sending my clothes she decided to slip them in. Push, push, push, that's what she does."
Juice pulled her closer to him and smiled. "So you have an ex-boyfriend pining away for you? First love?" There was something else there, but he didn't know how to approach it. Sara was cagey like she wanted to run, and he didn't want to spook her.
Sara nodded and said, "Something like that. There was a time and place for Willie and me... and that time has passed. I don't like to talk about him or think about him anymore. Some things from your past are better left in the past. Willie was a mistake that I made and someone else ultimately paid the price for that mistake. Getting away from Willie was the reason I took off for Italy. I could have gotten my Master's degree right here in the United States, but I needed to get away."
Sara snuggled in against Juice's body being careful not to hurt him. "I know that isn't enough of an explanation, but I hope it is enough... for now." She closed her eyes praying that Juice would drop this subject and let sleeping dogs lie.
Juice could see a range of emotions playing across Sara's face: sadness, fear, anger. He wouldn't press the subject. He didn't want his curiosity to cause her pain. But it was then that he realized there was a lot more to the woman he was falling for. A hell of a lot more. Juice caressed her back and laid with her until he felt her breathing even out.
About two hours after he was sure that Sara was asleep, he kissed the top of her head and then moved to get out of the bed. Juice struggled for a moment getting himself upright, but he finally managed to get onto his feet without waking up Sara.
He went to the kitchen and looked through the trash can spotting a small bundle of letters held together by a blue ribbon. He untied the bundle and counted a total of ten letters addressed to Sara. Juice's fingers flicked through them.
"Louisiana State Prison?" muttered Juice to himself.
Sara's ex-boyfriend was in prison? That was something he didn't expect.
He looked around the kitchen for a pen and paper and jotted down the information from the envelopes. He would have to do some quiet investigation of his own. His hacking skills could be helpful getting all of the information that he needed. Juice put the envelopes back into the trash can and hid them beneath the trash. He washed his hands and then walked into his living room where is laptop was sitting on the coffee table. Juice had a seat and started researching Sara's ex-boyfriend.
A couple of hours later, Sara woke up, looked at the spot next to her, and frowned seeing that Juice wasn't in the bed. She climbed out of the bed and walked down the hall toward the living room. She heard his fingers flying across the keys of his laptop. As she walked into the living room she saw that he was sitting in the dark.
"Juice?" asked Sara. "What are you doing up? It's 2:00 in the morning. Don't tell me you are looking at internet porn," said Sara laughing. She walked over to the couch and had a seat next to him.
Juice closed his laptop as soon as she sat down. He smirked and said, "Why would I need porn when I've got you lying next to me? You want to watch a flick with me?" He gave her a lecherous grin.
Sara laughed and shook her head. "No, I don't want to watch porn at 2:00 in the morning. So, if not porn, then what?" She paused for a minute and then asked, "Or is it club business and you can't say anything."
It was strange getting used to the fact that there was this whole other side to Juice that she really just couldn't be privy to.
Juice nodded and said, "Yeah, I needed to do some work to see if I could find Darby. So far I'm coming up empty. But you can't mention that to anyone. I am breaking all sorts of laws with my brand of research."
Sara laughed and said, "Oh, you mean you're hacking. A computer geek hacker... that is so hot." She leaned in and kissed him.
Juice smirked and said, "What can I say... I am a Renaissance man, baby. Truth is with the world being such a digital place for information my skills are invaluable."
"Oooohhh! Listen to you talk," said Sara with a wink.
Juice chuckled. "Come on. Let's get you to bed. It is late. As a matter of fact, I'll meet you back in the room. I've just got a little more work to do."
Sara nodded and said, "Okay, I'll see you when you come back to bed." Sara got up and went back to the bedroom. She yawned tiredly and waited for Juice to come to bed but ended up falling asleep before he did.
Juice made it into the room about 30 minutes after she had gone back to bed. He chuckled softly when he saw that she was asleep already. Juice climbed into bed with her and put an arm around her body. He had all of the information he needed now on one William Rabeaux.
Meanwhile, Tig and Lola were back at his house after having eaten dinner at the cabin with Juice and Sara. Tig laid back against his pillows breathing heavily as he kissed her. "You were amazing. I think tonight is some sort of record for me." He smiled up at her and kissed her again. Tig held her body against him with one arm, and softly kissed her head.
Lola giggled and kissed Tig. She smirked and said, "I was feeling particularly frisky tonight. Apparently, so were you. You were a wild man tonight."
Lola laid her head against his chest as her breathing started to return to normal. She couldn't believe that she was so intrigued by a man she had only known for a week. But there was just something abut Tig that drew her in. He was nothing like she expected him to be and that just made her adore him more. She lied to him and herself saying that she was only sticking around because he had been shot. But in reality she was sticking around because she liked being with him.
Tig shifted underneath her, and pain shot through his leg. He grimaced but didn't say anything. The pain in his leg was a constant reminder of the night that he was shot.
Tig and Lola were just arriving at his house and as they were walking up to his house he heard heavy footsteps on the ground coming from the side of his house. The next thing he heard was rapid gunfire from an automatic weapon. He shoved Lola out of the way out of instinct and felt hot fire ripping through his thigh. Tig had fired back at the two men. He hit one man in the head killing him. The other man retreated down the block to a red Camaro and took off.
Lola quirked an eyebrow. "Are you okay?" she asked, quickly moving off of Tig. She sat up next to him in the bed and turned on the lamp next to the bed. "Do you need me to get your medicine or anything?"
She climbed out of the bed not waiting for his answer and pulled on a t-shirt. She walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. When she came back into the bedroom, she handed Tig the bottle of water and his pill bottle.
"It's been awhile since you've had any pain medicine. You are due," Lola ordered, sitting on his side of the bed. She curled a leg under her as she watched Tig sit up to take his pills. Lola gave him a peck on the lips. "Maybe we should lay off the sex for awhile."
Tig smirked and said, "Give me a real kiss." He could see the worry in her eyes. "Hey, I am fine," said Tig seriously. He reached out with one hand bringing her in closer to him. "I've had a lot worse," said Tig leaning in and kissing her.
Lola returned the kiss and pulled back with a small smile. "Okay..."
Tig chuckled and said, "Come on get into the bed with me."
Lola walked around to her side of the King size bed and climbed in next to Tig. She lightly ran her fingers over his chest. "Do you need anything else?" she asked, casting a worried glance.
"I could use a few more kisses," said Tig with a laugh. "And you could stop worrying so much. My recovery is going much faster with sex."
"A couple more kisses? I think that I can do that," said Lola. She leaned in kissing Tig. Afterward she rested her head against his chest and relaxed. "It has been a crazy week."
Tig nodded and said "Very crazy."
He paused a moment and said, "Your uncle is T.O. Cross?" It had been on his mind since Juice told him up at the cabin.
Lola looked up at his face and nodded. "Yeah, how did you know that?"
"Juice mentioned something about it tonight while we were up at the cabin. He said you went to him for information about the Sons..." said Tig looking at her.
"Yeah, after the drive-by at the garage, Sara was pretty freaked out. I told her I'd ask my uncle about the Sons. See what he thought of you guys. I figured he probably knew something about SAMCRO since his club is based out of Lodi."
"You went to find out just for Sara? Not yourself too?" asked Tig raising an eyebrow.
"I didn't need to know about you. I knew what kind of man you were the night you showed up at my hotel room. You're funny, charming, dangerous, and a little creepy. If I had to sum it up, I'd call you a sociopath. Lucky for you that happens to be a good thing in my book. Only someone fucked up is going to be able to truly understand me," said Lola.
Tig chuckled and tickled her side making her squirm against him. "Oh, you think I am a sociopath?"
Lola giggled when Tig tickled her. "Stop it! Do you deny that you are a sociopath?" asked Lola with a cheeky grin.
Tig laughed harder and kissed her forehead. "No, I don't deny it. I embrace it. Comes in handy in my line of work," said Tig being serious. The things he'd done in his life would give most people permanent nightmares and yet he slept like a baby most nights. He stopped tickling Lola and asked, "And that didn't scare you off? What I do for a living?"
Lola shook her head and said, "Not in the least. My mama tried to give me a law abiding life, and for all intents and purposes, I am a model citizen. But my past is as muddy as it comes. My mother has two brothers. T.O. is my uncle. I grew up hearing the whispers about what he did for a living. Hearing about him going in and out of prison. My mother's other brother, Chauncey, is doing 25 to life in Angola for murder. My daddy is a loan shark out in New Orleans. I grew up realizing that a lot of my possessions came from my mama's hard work. But I also realized a good chunk of my life was financed by other people's suffering. I knew that every time my daddy bought me a gift, paid for a school trip, or gave me money that - behind that - there was broken kneecaps, broken arms, broken hands, or just a family going without because the father was a degenerate gambler. I realized then that I lived in the gray. I was willing to profit from other people's suffering. I don't know what that makes me."
Tig listened to her talk and lightly caressed her back as she did. "You were a child. That doesn't make you anything. You didn't have choice in the life you were living. You do now. You close with your dad?"
Lola laughed and said, "My daddy isn't much of a father. He never could be bothered with that particular role. He's been nothing but a cash machine and a disappointment from the moment I was born. I never hear from him, but every once in awhile I'll get an envelope in the mail with a fat check in it and a note that says 'Love ya, cher'. And I deposit it in my bank. He makes his money the same way he did when I was child. He's just higher up the food chain. I know it... I just can't bring myself to care about it."
"I am guessing that you didn't mention me to T.O.," said Tig. He figured that he would have heard about it before now if she had.
"No, I told him that the information was for Sara, because she was seeing Juice. My uncle doesn't need to know what... or who... I am doing in my spare time. Is this a problem for you?" asked Lola, realizing for the first time that it might be.
"Could be. The Grim Bastards are an ally of SAMCRO and have been for years. We are good friends. But I have to think that he wouldn't be happy about the fact you are seeing a man older than he is," said Tig. He had a couple of years on T.O.
Lola laughed softly and said, "Age would be the least of his concerns. He's never wanted me with a man anything like him. He freaked when I visited one summer during college and started seeing one of the prospects in his club. But what T.O. doesn't know doesn't hurt your alliance right...?" She trailed a nail over his chest "I'd hate to think you'd kick me out of your bed because of who my uncle is..." Lola moved so that she was straddling Tig. "I mean... I'm not ready for this ride to end just yet. Are you?" asked Lola pulling her shirt off over her head.
Tig groaned looking at her taking off the shirt. "You aren't fighting fair. I can't say no to the twins," muttered Tig, moving his hands up to cup her breasts.
Truth be told, he wasn't ready to end whatever they had either. He enjoyed being with Lola. She was nutty, funny, sexy, and liked sex just about as much as he did. But more than that she was a genuine person. He saw that in the way she took care of him after he was shot. Tig let out a guttural growl when he felt Lola's hand take hold of his manhood. At that, his last shred of resistance went out of the window. He watched Lola seductively slide down his body. Tig opened his mouth to object, but nothing came out. He ran his fingers through her hair, "Lola." Was all that he could manage to say.