A/N Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! Your feedback is always greatly appreciated! Please let me know what you think about where this story is going - it's going to start getting a little darker so I want to know what you think before I post the next chapter! Thanks so much!

The Sons filed into the Chapel for their meeting, each dropping their phones in the basket before walking in. Jax made his way to the head of the table, his stress level up ever since his meeting with the Russians earlier that day. He called the meeting to order as soon as everyone had taken their seats and leaned back in his chair, surveying them all.

"We're still 50 grand short on our order for the Russians," he said, looking around at them all, "I tried to get them to give us more time – Lenevski says he needs it by tonight." Chibs whistled, shaking his head.

"How the hell are we supposed to get 50 grand by tonight?" he asked while there were murmurs of assent around the table. Jax shook his head.

"That's what we need to figure out," he said.

"I gotta guy owes me 5," Bobby threw out, "I can get it from him by this afternoon." Jax nodded.

"Alright, anyone else?" he asked.

"One of the croweaters runs a pawn shop," Tig said, "I take shit in there when I'm behind on my dues." Jax raised his eyebrows at him.

"We need 45 thousand dollars, Tig," he said, "Can you really get that pawning your sex toys?" Tig shrugged.

"Probably not, but we can all see what we've got, what we can live without for a month or two before we can get it back. And she doesn't charge Sons interest," he said. Jax nodded and shrugged. They weren't gonna get a no interest loan anywhere else.

"Alright. I invited Lenevski out to the clubhouse tonight. I figured we can get a croweater to keep him happy, maybe happy enough to buy us a little more time. See what you can get together and we'll reconvene at 5," he banged the gavel, signaling the end of the meeting and stood with the others, hoping they'd be able to pull this off.

SOASOASOASOA

Elle sat on the stool behind the counter of the pawn shop, staring at the clock and begging 5 o'clock to come sooner. She still had 3 hours to go. She got on the computer to try to pass the time when she heard the bell on the door jingle and she looked up to see Juice lugging several laptops in his hands. She grinned at him as he set them down.

"I need to pawn these," he said and she nodded, sifting through the equipment. As she was looking up the value of the laptops, the bell jingled again and Tig walked through the door, a giant box in his hands.

"I need to pawn these," he said, setting it on the counter and Elle walked over to it. She started to stick her hand in the box to sift through it before realizing what it was and jerking her hand out of the box.

"Jesus, Tig," she said, "Are these used?" She peered into the box full of dildos, bondage equipment, and several items that she neither knew nor wanted to know what it was used for. Tig shrugged.

"Not all of them. I haven't gotten to try em all out yet so I'm just pawning them," he said pointedly, "I'm gonna need them back eventually." Elle shook her head.

"What, no blow up dolls?" she asked jokingly. Tig's eyes widened as he shook his head slowly.

"Don't even joke about that," he said seriously, shuddering slightly. Juice leaned over the counter towards her.

"He's got a problem with dolls," he told her. Elle grinned, looking up at Tig, who just shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said. Elle looked at him curiously but shrugged as the door jingled again and she looked up to see Happy, carrying several medieval looking weapons. She stared at them all as they dropped them on the counter. Elle looked them over, and then looked back at Happy.

"Let me guess, you need to pawn these," she said, and Happy nodded. She looked back at the weapons, noticing what looked like blood stains on several of them. She swallowed hard, looking back at him.

"I don't think I can take these," she said slowly.

"Oh yes you can!" Happy said gruffly. Juice nudged him and Happy glared at him, then tried his best at a smile as he looked back at Elle, "I mean… please." Elle sighed but was distracted as the bell jingled yet again and Opie walked in, carrying a box of his own and setting it down next to the now extremely large pile of crap taking up most of her counter space.

"What the hell is going on?" Elle asked.

"We've hit a little… cash flow problem," Tig said, "We need 45 grand by tonight." Elle's eyes widened.

"Let me call Bex over here, she's going to have to decide how much she can give you. I can't hand out that kind of money without her," she said, picking up the store phone to call Bex in. While they waited, Elle tried to do what she could to find as much value in the items the boys had brought as she could, but wasn't coming up with near enough.

Bex walked in to the clubhouse several minutes later smiling broadly at the guys.

"Hello, boys," she said, bouncing around to the back of the counter, "What've we got?"

"From the stuff they've brought it, I can't get a value of more than 10 thousand," Elle said.

"We need 45," Tig told Bex. She nodded, frowning as she sifted through the items, pulling on a pair of gloves to go through Tig's box, while she took notes on a pad next to her. She played around with a calculator for several minutes before finally looking up at them all.

"I can maybe get you 15 with what's here, and I'm afraid that's being generous," she said.

"Perky," Tig started as Juice cleared his throat, whispering something in Tig's ear, "I mean…. Bex. Can't you do any better than that?" Bex put her hands on her hips, cocking her head at Tig.

"I can maybe do 15, 5 – but that's it," she said. They nodded, taking the 15.5 grand as they heard the loud roar of a truck pull up to the shop. Miles, the prospect, walked in, carrying a set of keys.

"Jax is pawning his truck," he said, setting the keys on the counter. Elle jerked her head up at the sound of Jax's name, but didn't see him making his way into the shop.

"Why didn't he bring it by?" she asked. Miles shrugged.

"Didn't say," he replied and Elle frowned. Was he avoiding her after they spent the night together? She shook the thought from her head. Why would he avoid her? She was just a goddamn croweater to him, he had made that much clear.

"That truck is a piece of shit," Bex said to Miles. Tig leaned over the counter, grinning at her.

"C'mon," he said flirtatiously, "The club needs you." Bex looked sternly at him and he leaned closer towards her.

"C'mon," he urged and she finally smiled at him, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, okay. I can maybe give you 10 for the truck. Normally I wouldn't even give you 3 for that thing. That's as high as I can go," she said. When Tig looked at her pleadingly she added, "I'm already basically paying you to store your shit. There's no way I could make back even a third of that from the crap you brought in." Tig shrugged.

"Alright, we'll take it," he said. Bex cashed them out and set their stuff aside as the guys turned to walk out.

"Hey, um, I had to drive Jax's truck over here," Miles said as they headed towards the door, "Can I double up with one of you guys?"

"Not unless you grow tits," Tig said. Miles looked to Happy and Juice, who shook their heads.

"Big tits," Happy replied.

"Enormous tits," Juice said. He turned around before walking out the door.

"Make sure y'all come out tonight!" he called. Bex nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh we'll be there!" she said as the door closed behind them. She turned to Elle.

"What do you think all that was about?" Bex asked. Elle shook her head.

"Nothing good, I'm sure," she replied, starting to gather up the boxes to bring in to the back room.

"Yeah… I've never seen them all come in here like that before. They must really need the money," Bex commented. She looked over at Elle, "Don't you still have all that money from the ring? You could lend them some, I'm sure they'd pay you back." Bex suggested. Elle looked over at her.

"That's all the money I have in the world," she said, "I can't just give it away. I'm sure they'll figure something out."

SOASOASOASOASOA

Jax sat at the bar alone in the clubhouse, throwing back a beer as he waited for the guys to get back from the pawn shop. He knew a miracle was going to have to happen to get all the money together by tonight and hoped his back-up plan would be good enough to get him a few more days. Wendy walked through the doors of the clubhouse, heading straight for Jax.

"Hey, you made it," he said, slapping on his sexiest grin as he swaggered towards her. She smiled back at him, wrapping an arm around his neck.

"Of course, baby," she purred, a finger traveling down his chest, "What can I do for you?" He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"The club needs you to do us a favor," he said, looking into her eyes. Her eyebrows raised slightly in surprise.

"Of course!" she said, "I mean… what do you need? What can I do?"

"We've got this business partner coming to our party tonight, I'm trying to keep him happy," he began, rubbing his hands along her back.

"Jax…" she started, frowning slightly.

"Come on," he said, his voice low and sexy, "You're the only one I trust that's good enough to keep him company." Wendy grinned at the compliment as she ran her hands over his chest, deciding. Finally, she grinned mischievously and turned around, walking towards the back to the dorm rooms. She casually pulled her shirt off over her head as she walked back, pausing to look at him over her shoulder.

"You do me, I do him," she said. Jax chuckled softly, grinning.

"Fair enough," he said as he followed her into the back.

SOASOASOASOASOA

At the party that night, Wendy sat wrapped around Ohotnik Lenevski, a tall, broad shouldered, dangerous looking man and the leader of some Russian gang. She was really wishing she had not agreed to do this favor for Jax and silently cursing that charming fucker. Ohotnik, or Nik as he told her to call him, was not a pleasant man. He seemed to have a permanent frown and his bright blue eyes were the coldest she'd ever seen.

Nik was pretty much ignoring her, letting her grind up on him, sucking on his neck slightly while he drank a beer and surveyed the room. His eyes landed on a dark haired woman standing behind the bar with the most beautiful face he'd ever seen. His mind was already imagining the horrors he could do to her tight body that would slap that innocent look right off her face, feeling his jeans tighten around his crotch. Wendy ground into him a little harder, whispering in his ear.

"You like that, baby?" she murmured. He pushed her back for a second, looking between her and the girl behind the bar. This one was hot, but she looked a little used up. The girl behind the bar looked fresh.

"What do you know about that girl?" he asked, his accent thick, pointing her out. She turned her head to look at who he was pointing to, her eyebrows raised and a small smile on her face.

"What do you want to know?" she asked. He smirked maliciously.

"How does she like it?" he asked. Wendy grinned a little wider, leaning into him.

"However you like it, baby," she said.

"She can take it rough?" he growled, his eyes roaming over the bar girl's tits. Wendy grinned like it was Christmas morning.

"Oh yeah, she likes it real rough," she said, "You should ask Jax to set it up for you. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Nik nodded curtly, pushing her off his lap and standing to find Jax, leaving Wendy to bask in her own good fortune. Not only had she managed to get rid of the crazy looking guy, but now Jax was going to treat Elle like the croweater she was and prove once and for all that she was nothing more to him. She patted herself on the back and went to get a drink.

SOASOASOASOA

Jax was sitting in his usual corner booth, a croweater thrown across his lap running her hands along his chest. He tried to remember her name. Amanda? Alayna? Something like that. His eyes couldn't help but travel over to Elle, standing behind the bar laughing at something Bex said, several hang arounds standing around her, hanging on her every word.

Jax had gone through several croweaters since his night with Elle, hoping to expel her from his mind. It wasn't working. He looked back at the croweater on his lap, about to just take her back to his dorm room, when he saw Nik stride up to him.

"Shit," he muttered, "Disappear," he added, looking back at the croweater. Looking extremely disappointed, she pulled herself off of his lap and went in search of another patch to bang that night. Nik slid into the booth across from Jax, his cold blue eyes staring into Jax's.

"Hey man, we're still about 20 grand short," Jax said, "We're trying to get a few things together, but-" Nik held up a hand.

"I'll give you more time with the money," he said, "If you bring me that one." He pointed at Elle and Jax's heart nearly stopped. He looked back at Nik.

"What's wrong with Wendy?" he asked. Nik shook his head.

"I want that one," he responded. Jax's eyes narrowed as he looked between the laughing, smiling Elle and Nik, whose face was set hard. Jax ran a hand through his hair.

"Look man, you can have any other girl in this place, I'll set it up, but-" his voice trailed off. But, what? Why wasn't this an automatic okay? She was just a goddamn croweater for Christ's sake.

"How about this," Nik said, leaning farther over the table, "I forgive you the extra 20 grand if you set it up." Jax's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Look man, we can come up with the money if you give us more time," he said slowly. Nik's eyes narrowed.

"You're really going to let 20 grand go for some pussy?" he asked. Jax glared at Nik, at a standstill. He knew there was no way he could make a decision about that kind of money without bringing it to the club first, but he dreaded what they'd decide.

"I'll bring it to the club," Jax finally said, "Let you know if you can have her tonight." Nik shook his head slightly.

"Not tonight, I want her tomorrow," he said.

"What's wrong with tonight?" he asked. Nik's lip curled.

"I want to take my time with her," he sneered. Jax looked back at the girl and his blood started boiling at the thought of this fucker putting his hands on her. He resisted the urge to punch him in the face.

"I'll bring it to the club," he finally said. If he had to do this, he at least didn't want it to have to be his decision alone. Nik nodded curtly and stood up.

"Anyone with a patch in the chapel, NOW!" he called throughout the clubhouse. Several of them looked up and followed him into the room while a few went to let the others who were outside know. When they had all congregated around the redwood table, Jax looked at all their faces, knowing that since becoming president, this was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever done.

"Nik's terms have changed," Jax said, sighing as they all continued to look at him, "He's said he'll forgive the extra 20 grand completely, if we give him Elle for the night." Murmurs spread throughout the room.

"Which one's Elle?" Tig asked. Jax rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"Perky's friend," Juice said.

"Ah, fuckin Snow White. Damn I knew she was hot, didn't know she was worth 20 g's," he said, grinning. He turned back to Jax, "What's the problem, brother? He wants the croweater, give him the croweater!" There were several murmurs of agreement.

"Just do it," Clay said, "Send her over to him."

"Can't now - he wants her tomorrow night," Jax said.

"What's wrong with tonight?" Juice asked. Jax sighed, not able to withhold the grimace from his face.

"Says he wants to take his time with her," he said. Opie looked over at Jax's twisted face and spoke up.

"I don't know, brother," Opie said, "That sounds a little off. This could turn bad." Jax caught his eye and Opie read the concern in them that he couldn't hide.

"Who cares?" Happy chimed in, sitting low in his chair, "We're still short 20 grand, and the club cannot lose this connection."

"I don't even know if she'll do it," Jax said.

"She'll do whatever we need her to do," Chibs said to Jax, "Just talk to her. She won't say no to you."

"I mean, she is just a croweater, right?" Tig asked Jax pointedly. Jax stared stonily back at him, refusing to answer the question.

"Alright, we'll put it to a vote," Jax finally said, going around the room. He skipped himself and looked at Tig.

"Aye," Tig said quickly, "Why do we even have to vote on this?" Jax ignored him and moved down the line as one after the other they all said aye. He looked at Opie.

"Naye," Opie said gravely.

"The ayes have it," Jax said, banging his gavel as they all stood up. Jax remained at the table for a few minutes while he reminded himself this was for the good of the club and he had to do it.

A/N Please review!