Author's note: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update this story. Life has a way of doing that though. I do apologize. Thank you to all the favoriters out there. They all mean a lot to me! I love each and every one of you! Thank you so much for sticking by me. I have more in store, but it might take me a while to get it all put up. I already know exactly what's going to happen in this story and the sequel!- Jinny
"We need to figure out how to handle this.." Clay looked around the table, earning nods from members of both SAMCRO and SAMTAC. "This bastard is going after an innocent teenage girl. And not just any teenage girl, my daughter." He took a puff off of his cigar, letting the smoke slowly roll out of his mouth. This needed to be over. He wasn't going to let some dirty, Irish bastard hurt his family. Enough damage had already been done and no one was ever going to lay another hand on his daughter. "And, I think I have an idea, but it may involve a little fed intervention."
"The last thing we need is the ATF crawling up our ass all over again." Glenn shook his head. "We have enough illegal firearms in this clubhouse to give every man at this table at least twenty years."
"That's why we're running it through you first. We've had a couple issues with a certain ATF agent by the name of June Stahl. She wants Jimmy O more than she wants this club. Her goal is to bring down the entire IRA, but what she doesn't know is that the Irish have exiled Jimmy stateside. If we hand Jimmy over to the feds, he's done. He'll rat and give up all the Kings." Jax lit a cigarette, running a hand through his hair.
"How do we know he won't rat out the club?" J-Bird asked, leaning forward. "I can't afford to go to prison again."
"I know, man… None of us can." Jax sighed. "But, don't worry about him ratting us out. We have that under control." He turned his glance to Opie.
"This is the only solution I see, but this vote has to be unanimous. I need all of your support. As for this principal, we'll take care of him." Clay cleared his throat.
"So how do we get the Russians to turn over Jimmy?" Glenn questioned. "We all know they won't just give him to us. Jimmy is probably providing some generous compensation." All the guys from SAMTAC nodded, agreeing with Glenn.
"We give them a little bit more generous compensation." Jax smirked, standing up. He placed a large duffle bag up on the table and unzipped it. Inside, was what looked like hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Where the hell did you guys get that kind of money?" Darren asked in disbelief.
Jax chuckled. "I knew you'd aks." Out of his pockets, he pulled out a plate for a $100 bill. "Counterfeit. All of it."
"There's no way they'll go for this bullshit!" Glenn rolled his eyes. "They're too smart for this shit."
"Here, look at this…" Jax pulled out a stack of hundreds and passed it to Glenn. The bills in his hand were almost identical to a real bill. "These things could pass anywhere."
Glenn looked the bills over, giving a nod of approval. "How much we talkin'?" He asked, passing the bills to J-Bird.
"Two hundred grand." Jax smirked. "We heard that Jimmy's only paying them one hundred. If we throw in a case of glocks, we'll be golden."
A few more heads around the table started to nod. "What about this fed? How is that gonna go down." Glenn put his cigarette out and chugged the last bit of his beer.
"We got that covered, boys." Clay chuckled. "Don't you worry about that.. Now, let's take a vote."
As they went around the table, they received a yes from every man sitting and standing. "That's it.." Glenn slammed the gavel down. "It passes. What about SAMTAC's assistance? You gonna provide compensation for that?"
"We got ya covered, man.." Bobby clapped Glenn on the shoulder. "Now let's go enjoy this party and the rest of our evening."
Clay stood up, giving Glenn a quick hug. "Thanks, brother. This means a lot."
"Harlie's like a daughter to me too, man.. I wouldn't let anything happen to her. You know that." Glenn nodded as they all filed out of the chapel.
Harlie was sitting at the bar beside her mom, her glass filled with Crown and Coke. Her new favorite addiction. "How are you, Mom?" She asked, a look of concern on her face. "Really… I know you and Dad have been fighting a lot."
"He's just under a lot of stress.." Krys insisted. "There's a lot shit going on with club right now." She sighed. "I mean, we haven't really fought in almost a month."
"Then what are those?" She aske,d pulling up her mom's sleeves. "Has he hit you?" She frowned.
Krys looked away, knowing better than to lie to her daughter. "Baby, we're fine. We have our ups and downs."
"If one of these guys ever laid a hand on me, you'd have them strung up from the ceilings by their balls." Harlie chuckled. "I'd do the same for you, ya know.. Even if it is Dad."
"I know, baby." Krys kissed her forehead. "Here comes your man.." She pointed over to Kozik as he walked out of the chapel.
"How do you know about that?" Harlie asked.
"Aimee tells me everything. Perks of being queen." She girnned. "She says he's been good to you… And that he's been taking things at your pace."
"Yeah, he's been great." Harlie's cheek turned pink slightly. She looked over and caught his eye. She blew him a quick kiss, urging him to come over. Though, in the pit of her stomach, she knew it was too good to be true.
"What about the Happy situation?" Krys asked, taking a sip of her beer.
"What about it? It's not happening.." She shrugged her shoulders, standing up as Kozik walked over to her. "Hey, you."
"Hey, baby." Kozik kissed her forehead.
"You two be careful, please…" Krys frowned.
"I'm always careful." Kozik grinned, taking a sip of Harlie's drink. "Let's play some pool.." He grabbed Harlie's hand.
"Lead the way, stud." She smiled, squeezing his hand gently. At times, her nightmare still haunted her. She had the same recurring nightmare that she had in Charming about Tig, Happy, and Juice, but now, the pain was dull. It no longer throbbed when she looked at the scars on her wrists. Kozik being around and really caring for her had made a huge difference.
Harlie once again found herself sitting up at the bar. She had lost Kozik part of the way through their game of pool. She was a little tipsy and figured it was better to just sit down. She hated the way the ground was spinning underneath her. The party was now at a quiet lull with a few of the guys playing with and other passed out in various places throughout the club house. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Happy sitting over on one of the couches.
"What's the matter, doll?" Tig stumbled up beside, a half empty bottle of Patron in his hand.
"Nothing, Tiggy.. Looks like you're enjoying yourself." She laughed, taking a shot of whiskey or at least something that tasted like whiskey. At this point, it all started to taste the same. Her long hair that was once pulled up was now down around her face.
"I always enjoy myself." He laughed. "It's what I do."
"Shouldn't you be finding yourself a nice piece of ass?" Harlie asked, slurring her words a bit.
"I'm getting' there. The more I drink, the hotter they get." He chuckled, taking a seat beside her. "You sure you're okay, honey?"
"I'll be fine. Just lost track of Koz." She shrugged, looking around the clubhouse again.
"Last time I saw him, he was headed down the hall towards his dorm.." Tig said under his breath. "Uh… Haven't seen him."
"Say what?" Harlie asked. "Don't pull that bullshit with me, Tigger… What did you just say?"
"I think he was headed down the hall towards him dorm. Probably to pass out." Tig took another swig of the tequila.
"Was he alone?" Harlie asked, pouring herself another shot. She felt her stomach begin to turn. Would Kozik cheat on her? Not here, not in the clubhouse… On a run, possibly, but not here.
"I think so,s weetheart. You'll have to go check. I think he was just fucked up." Tig pulled out a cigarette.
"Should you really be near an open flame?" Harlie asked, laughing.
"Probably not, but I ain't dead yet.." Tig lit the cigarette and handed her the lighter. "Smoke a cigarette, relax.."
Harlie clutched it in her hand. She was trying to quit. "I can't, dude… I really need to go lay down." She started to stand up, stumbling a bit. "Whoa.. Okay. Yeah, time for bed."
"Night, princess.." Tig kissed her cheek, taking a hit of his cigarette.
"Night, Tiggy.." She chuckled, making her way down the hallway. She used the walls to hold herself up. She stopped outside Kozik's door, listening. Someone was definitely inside. Overtop of the music she could make out a female voice. She narrowed her eyes, hoping she was just drunk, and opened the door. She stopped in the doorway when she saw some girl with black hair straddling Kozik's waist. Her heart stopped and sank. She knew it was too good to be true. They hadn't seemed to notice she'd opened the door. Her stomach began to turn again and the ground beneath seemed to spin even faster. She slammed the door, hoping her got their attention. She rushed to the bathroom with tears rushing down her cheeks. She looked up in the mirror, seeing her black mascara sliding down her face.
This couldn't be happened, not again. She could feel her chest grow heavy. A few seconds later, she was emptying her dinner into the sink. The alcohol she had taken in burned her throat. She laid down on the cold tile floor of the bathroom, taking a deep breath. She curled her knees up to her chest, letting the hurt flow through her body. She was exhausted. All she wanted to now was sleep. She started to close her eyes as she heard the door open.
"Harlie, are you okay?" She heard a voice ask. She couldn't make it out in her drunken state but failed. She felt a pair of arms scoop her up of the floor. She clung to the white shirt they were wearing. That's when the smell hit her. It was Happy. She could smell the spicy scent of his cologne.
"Hap.." She whispered. "I'm sorry.." She leaned her head against his strong chest. Her mascara stained his shirt. "I'm sorry," she said again.
"It's alright… It's an old one anyway. We need to get you to bed." He sighed. This girl had been through enough. When would the pain end for her? He opened the door to a vacant dorm room, holding her as she sobbed. He couldn't stand seeing her in pain. She was too beautiful to be crying. He laid her down on the bed and turned to leave, but something stopped him. He couldn't leave her like this. He covered her with blanket and laid down beside her. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to his chest.
"Why?" Harlie asked weakly. "Why me?"
"Shhh, you need to sleep…" Happy whispered, kissing her forehead.
"I don't want to sleep.." She whispered, her hands slipping up his shirt. "I wanna fuck you.."
"Harlie, you're drunk… You need to rest." He frowned.
"Please.." She whispered, kissing his neck.
Tonight, the alcohol was clouding his judgment. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but tonight he didn't care. She kept telling him she needed him and it was getting into his head. He leaned down, kissing her deeply. He pulled her tighter, pushing off the blankets. She was so beautiful. He slid his hand up under her shirt and threw it to the floor. "Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yes.." Harlie whispered, sliding out of her jeans. She kissed him again, pulling him on top of her. She knew this wasn't a good idea, but tonight, she didn't care. She wanted to be held and touched. She wanted to rid herself of thoughts about Kozik. If he could have a good time, why couldn't she? He wasn't going to ruin her night.