Chapter 6

"A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept."
Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I'm tucking the last few strands of my hair under the chin length blonde wig when someone knocks on the dressing room door.

"Come in" I say as I add the feathered headband to the wig and pick up a tube of deep pink lipstick.

I look in the mirror and see Jameson standing in the doorway.

"Hey Grace. You look beautiful tonight." He says with a smile.

"Thanks Jay. You're lookin' pretty good yourself, I like the new tie" I say as I slide the lipstick over my lips. I finish and rub my lips together. "But I'm guessing you didn't come in here fishing for compliments."

"No, no I didn't. I wanted to give you a heads up that the owners are going to be here again tonight. Not sure why, but I've learned not to ask questions. I didn't want you to be surprised if they ask for you to sing again" he says as he looks at my reflection in the vanity mirror.

I turn to face him. "Jameson, I told you the other night, I'm sorry I was a bitch about the performance. I really didn't mind singing. If I'm being totally honest, it was fun" I say with a grin.

"Alright, well I'll let you finish getting ready" Jameson says as he heads for the door.

"Hey Jameson?" I say and he pauses and looks back at me. I make my face completely blank. "Did all the motorcycles the other night belong to the owners?"

He narrows his eyes and looks at my curiously "Not sure, why?"

"No reason just curious." I say as I turn back to my mirror and pretend to double check my lipstick. "See you out there" I say with a wink.

Jameson nods and then leaves, closing the door behind himself. I lay my head in my hands. Why did I ask him that? What did I want his answer to be? I have got to get out of my own head, it is a dangerous place to be.

I walk to the closet and start getting dressed. Tonight is 1920s night and I'm wearing an emerald green and silver flapper dress that falls just below my ass. Lined panty hose, long strands of fake pearls, emerald green t-strap shoes with rhinestones and of course a green and silver mask. Theme nights are always really packed and high energy which makes them exhausting but great money makers.

I finish dressing and sit at the vanity to double check my hair and makeup one last time. I look at the clock and I have a few minutes before I need to head to the stage. Down time hasn't been good for me today, I just can't stop thinking about what I told Genesis last night. I know she thinks I told her a lot, but that was barely the surface. She says nothing I told her has changed our friendship, but could it? She doesn't know why I really left. She doesn't know what I did. If she did there is no way things could stay the same. I check the clock again, time to head out thank god because I can't handle much more time to myself.

An hour later I'm at the bar with a glass of moonshine in hand, Jameson always does drinks to match the theme for these nights. Genesis is on stage and she is on fire tonight. She just finished I Wanna Be Loved By You and the crowd is going nuts, good money night for her. My night was alright, but I definitely wasn't on my A game.

"Hey baby girl" Jameson drawls as he sits on the stool next to me. I must have been really lost in thought, I didn't even see him coming.

"Hey Jay" I say. "How's your night going?"

"It's been interesting so far. Yours?"

I raise one eyebrow at him "I'm guessing my night is about to get as interesting as yours" I say with a laugh.

"You always were a smart girl Grace" he chuckles.

"Do I need to change?" I ask.

"No, the costume is fine. But there is one other thing." I look at him questioningly and he continues. "They want you to sing in the private room tonight."

"Seriously? No fucking way, Jameson. I am not putting myself in a room alone with a bunch of, what did you call them, 'outside the law' men. Do you think I'm insane?" I look at him waiting for an answer.

"Slow down Grace, I wasn't planning to send you in alone. Declan will go in with you and you only have to do 5 songs. They are willing to pay you $1000 for your time."

"$1000?! For 5 songs? They must really want to hear some music." I laugh. "One question though, why me?"

"Honestly Grace, I have no idea. Like I said the other day the pres- um, primary partner has taken a liking to you. He says you remind him of someone he knew years ago and it makes him happy to hear you sing. Like I told you, these guys have their own set of rules and have enough money to do whatever they want to make themselves happy" Jameson says.

"As much as I don't get this at all, I could use the money. Declan stays the whole time?" I ask with more than a little nervousness in my voice.

"Absolutely, he won't be more than a few feet away at any time." Jameson says emphatically.

"Okay, let them know I will be ready in 15 minutes and send Declan over to me."

Jameson runs off to get things organized and I down my drink.

"Jerzy can I get one more?" I ask.

"Two drinks in one night, that's not like you" she says as she slides the drink into my hand.

"Looks like I'm doing a private show tonight and I need all the liquid courage I can get" I say with a smile.

"You performing for the owners again tonight?" I nod. "Just singing right?" Jerzy asks with narrowed eyes and I nod again.

"Only difference is tonight they want me to sing in the room instead of on stage. Declan will be with me the whole time" I say.

Jerzy looks at me with those narrowed eyes again "You keep Declan close sweetheart. Those men, they are not the usual types we get in here. You don't try to handle anything yourself in there, you let Declan do his job."

"Jerzy, I can handle it. I promise you I know their type, but I will definitely keep Declan close" I say as I finish my drink and stand. "See you after my private performance" I say with a smile and walk to the room.

As I walk away I swear I hear Jerzy mumble something that sounds like "You may know their type better than you think sweet girl" but when I look back she's with a customer so I keep walking.

Declan meets me at the door and places his arm in front of it before I can turn the knob.

"You ready for this Lady Grace?" He says with a wink.

"Ready as I'll ever be" I say with a nod and he opens the door for me.

The smell of beer, whiskey and weed fills the room. The lights are dim and the sound of desperate feminine laughter assaults my ears. I look around and see topless women in skimpy bikini bottoms draped across the laps of men, some 2-3 times their age. As my eyes continue to take it all in, I finally become aware of what I should have noticed first, all the men are in black leather vests. Some with patches showing rank or commendations on their chests, but all with patches on their back showing their affiliations. Nevada, Arizona, Washington, Oregon across the bottom, all with the last words I ever wanted to see emblazoned across the top, Sons of Anarchy. My breath catches and I sway on my feet. Declan's hands are on my shoulders in an instant.

"You okay Grace? You don't have to do this" he says with concern.

"Don't be silly, I'm fine. New shoes" I say with a smile and point to my feet.

He looks at me with doubt in his eyes and is about to speak when we are interrupted.

"The beautiful Grace" the man says and places his hands on my shoulders. "Thank you for agreeing to entertain us with your lovely voice. My brothers and I are extremely grateful." He is tall, with a grey beard and balding grey hair with blue eyes that appear surprisingly kind. I look at his chest and see a President patch, can't see the back to figure out what charter but I will in a minute.

"The pleasure is all mine" I say with as sexy a smile as I can manage. "Any requests?"

"Just to hear you sing" he says as he takes my hand and twirls me.

"Got some moves do you?" I chuckle.

"Maybe in another time, another place sweetheart, but in the here and now you just saw my only move" he says with a smile.

"I somehow doubt that" I say glancing up at him with a raised eyebrow. "I'm willing to bet you've got plenty of moves, just maybe not on the dance floor."

"Smart girl" he says with a nod. "I think I may like you for more than just your voice. Drink before you sing?"

I glance to Declan and he nods. The president and I head to the bar. He hands me a beer, grabs one for himself and raises his slightly so I do the same.

"To life in the here and now" I smile and we tap bottle necks before each taking a sip.

We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes until I work up my courage to ask what I am dying to know.

"Can I ask you something?" I say slowly.

"Sure, but I can't promise I'll answer" he says with a friendly smirk.

"Fair enough" I laugh. "Why me? I mean there are plenty of beautiful girls in here, a lot more attractive than me and we can all sing and dance, so why me?"

"That's a much bigger question than you realize" he says then takes a long pull from his beer. "The short answer, you remind me of a girl who used to make someone very important to me very happy. Probably the only time I ever saw this boy happy was when he was this girl and seeing you sing helps me remember happier times."

"I knew I reminded you of someone, but I figured it was a girl who was important to you." I say.

"Oh she was important to me, more important than she ever knew considering I never actually met her. I thought she was going to save him, but life just didn't seem to work out that way" he says and then drains his beer. "Well sweetheart you better get singing, my brothers are getting restless" he chuckles.

I walk to the mic and nod to Declan who starts the music. I run through the songs I planned, and the guys were all really great. I head back to the bar to get some water and notice the president headed my way.

"Sweetheart, that was amazing. You really made my night" he says and pulls me into a hug so unexpected I lose my balance. Declan starts toward us, but I put my hand up and stop him.

I look up at this unexpectedly sweet man "Thank you. I had a lot of fun." I step back and grab a bottle of water from the bar. We both sit on stools and I can feel him watching me.

"You're making me nervous" I laugh.

"I just can't get over how much you remind me of this girl. I mean there are obvious differences, but you even have the same smile." He says.

"I thought you said you never met her?" I ask.

"I didn't, but my nephew, he had her pictures all over his room and still carries one with him even today so many years later" he says sadly.

"Wow, she must have been something special" I say. I need to get out of here this conversation is starting to make me uncomfortable. "Well I think my time here is done." I say and stand to leave.

"Thank you again Ms. Grace, it was a great show. We just might have to do this more often" he says with a wink.

"I think that could be arranged Mr.-" I pause because I realize he never said his name. "Well, I guess I will just call you Mr. President" I say with a nod to his patch.

He laughs "I was so awestruck by you, I never introduced myself. My name is Jury White."

We shake hands and I work very hard to keep mine from shaking.

"Well I'll see you around President White" I say with a smile and force myself not to run from the room.

As I leave I hear the guys "Damn Jury that was awesome!" "We gotta get her in here again!" "I think we need to start coming here more often!" And Jury's laughter echoes as the door closes.

Shit. How much time can I spend with Jax's uncle before he figures out I don't just remind him of his nephew's old girlfriend, I am her?