Chapter 14
I still hadn't moved from the front seat of my car. I still hadn't closed my door, I had left it open. I didn't even budge when I heard the roar of Harleys in the distance. I was still trying to process everything that had just happened and it wasn't working. I looked at my hands and they had stopped shaking as noticeably. Donna and Tara were talking quietly, they may have been talking to me but I hadn't noticed. SAMCRO pulled into the station. Why hadn't the station attendant come out to check on us or even help for that matter? I thought to myself. Tara and Donna both jumped out of the car and walked over to the guys. I just sat there. I couldn't make myself move.
"Where is she?" I heard Juice say in a panic.
"She's still in the car. She hasn't said a word since it happened. She is really shaken up." Donna said in response.
Before I knew it Juice was standing my car's doorway. "Ky?" I looked up at him. He knelt down next to me. "Are you okay?"
"Hmmm?" I responded, it was like couldn't comprehend what he was saying to me. I looked at him again, this time trying to focus on him. His stupid haircut and tattoos that made he look tough, his warm chocolate brown eyes, his soft light pink lips and his leather cut that reminded me of the smell of the first time that we rode on his Harley together…I felt the tears coming down my face before I even realized I was crying.
Juice took me out of the car and pulled me into his arms. "I'm so sorry baby. Shhhh." I started to sob now. Juice held me tightly in his arms and I finally felt are resemblance of safety. He ran his hands over my head while I cried into his chest.
Then it hit me, "I thought I would never see you again." I looked up at him. He wiped the tears from my eyes and face and then kissed my forehead.
"Shh, it's fine. You're fine." He continued to hold me close to him. He only let go of me when Happy and Jax came over.
"We need to get back to the clubhouse." Jax said. He touched my arm gently and gave me a warm smile. "Do you think you can drive? Otherwise Tara offered to drive back."
I took a deep breath and ran my hand through my hair. "I can drive. I feel better now." I looked over at Happy who had his normal hard look on his face. No emotions were giving away though his dark brown eyes.
"Glad you're okay." He said as he started back to his bike.
"Are you sure you're okay to drive?" Juice's voice was full of concern.
"Yes I am sure. I will be fine. Don't worry." I felt slightly better since I cried. I always felt better after a good cry. The drive back to the clubhouse was quiet. I finally broken the silence when we were just about there, "Thank you, Tara." I glanced over at her.
"You're welcome but think nothing of it. You would have done the same for me or Donna. I am glad you are okay."
"Still, I really appreciate everything that both of you did to stop them." They really did more than anyone else would have done for me. And Tara was right, I would have helped them as well. There is no way I would have let them be taken even if it meant that I would have to risk my life doing so.
"I wonder where they came from and what they wanted." Donna piped up from the back seat. I thought about the morning I found Juice's bloody clothes in our bathroom. I had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with why I was almost kidnapped. We pulled in to the lot at Teller Morrow and Juice was already walking towards my car before I had it in park. Great just what I need an overprotective fiancé. I thought to myself. I really hoped that he wouldn't push against my need to be free.
"See made it here in one piece…and look everyone else is still intact as well!" I said smartly to him. I did the Vanna White stance to show Tara and Donna to Juice.
"You can be such a smart ass at times." He smiled at me. "I don't know what I would have done if anything would have happened to you." We walked into the clubhouse, I wanted nothing more than a beer and maybe a shot of rum.
"Did this have anything to do with what happened a few weeks ago?" I quietly questioned Juice.
He thought about it for a few seconds and then responded, "I don't know." It was like he hadn't thought about that before. Does the club have that many enemies that it would not even make him consider that he may have been the one who caused this mishap?
Happy walked over to us as I was drinking a shot of rum that Phil had poured for me. He had it sitting there for me when I walked up. He was a good guy, knowing that I would most likely need that. "Do you remember anything about the guys who tried to take you love?" Happy asked me.
"Actually I do. It was a black escalade, pretty non-descript but I noticed that it had a huge dent in the left rear bumper and its plates were not from California, they were from Arizona. The men that I saw were both Hispanic. The one at the pump had a bouffant hair cut…almost like a Hispanic Elvis." I remembered the man at the pump. "He didn't have a cut on, but he was wearing dark colored jeans and a gray work shirt. There was an emblem on it that looked like a crown." I was surprised that I could remember all this. But if I would have seen the man again I would have known him. "The guy who grabbed me smelt like cigarettes and cologne…it was strong." The memory of that was burned into my nostrils. I gagged slightly at the thought of it and it felt like I had smelt it somewhere before.
"How did you remember all that?" Juice asked me, he was just as surprised as I was.
"I took in a lot before anything happened. I didn't want to miss any important information but I did miss the license plate number." I frowned.
Happy looked at me sternly, "Fuck, you remembered more than half of the members of this club would remember if that happened to them, so you missing the license plate is nothing. You provided us with some really good information."
"Do you think that you would recognize them if you saw them again?" Juice asked me.
"Of course I could, I am sure that Tara and Donna could as well." I mentioned. "Why?"
"Oh, well we want to be sure that they are the right ones." Is all that Juice said just before him and Happy walked over to Jax. I could tell that they were talking about me because they kept looking over at me. I drank my beer and my nerves slowly became slightly less frayed.
I took a drink from my beer and looked across the bar and Phil was staring at me. I raised my eyebrows at him as if to say what? He looked worried or as if he was about to say something but didn't want to because he thought I would bite his head off.
"It would have sucked if you would have been kidnapped." I just about spit my beer across the bar at him.
"Yeah, it would have." I snorted. I thought of what of an understatement that was. I spoke with him for a few minutes about life in general and quickly downed my beer. I got up from the bar and walked towards the guys. Donna and Tara had left to be with their kids and I wanted to head home too. I touched Juice's shoulder. "I think I am going to go home."
"Not by yourself." He said point blank as he pulled me away from the rest of the group.
"Are you really saying that I can't go home?" I asked him. I started to feel defensive.
"No, I am saying I don't want you by yourself after everything that happened." There was concern in his eyes.
"So come home with me; help me take my mind off everything that has happened today." I smiled seductively at him.
"I can't." He had a look of regret on his face. "We are going to head to Stockton and find out if we can find the guys who tried to take you. I will send a prospect with you unless you would feel more comfortable with Gemma."
"Whatever." I waved annoyingly at him. I hated having a babysitter. "Just get me a prospect." I walked toward the door of the clubhouse. I was leaving with or without the prospect.
Juice followed me out of the clubhouse, "Hey…" He grabbed me lightly by the arm. "Please don't think that I am trying to control you." He kissed my hand. I didn't think he was trying to control me, rather I was just trying to get away from reminders of what happened today.
"I know. Will you send Phil over, I like him." I kissed him lightly on the cheek and walked with him to my car.
"I will call you, if I am going to be late, otherwise I will be home so I can help you forget about today." He kissed me fervently, like it would be our last kiss.
"Alright." I responded breathlessly. There was something about Juice's kisses that left me wanting more. They left me panting.
When I go home I was by myself for about 10 minutes, which I was surprised about because anything could have happened in those 10 minutes. Phil rapped at the door before walking in. I offered him a beer and chips before leaving him in the living room with the TV. I decided to take a bath to wash the smell off that was forever scorched into my brain. I had smelt that cologne somewhere before but I couldn't remember. While I was in the tub full of bubbles, I started doze off and then realized the cologne and where I had smelt it before. Jonah use to wear it. I jumped out of the tub and threw a towel around me and ran into my bedroom where my phone was.
"You know its super early right?" It was Trinity.
"I am so sorry but I need to see if you know something." There was silence on the other end which meant she was listening. "Do you remember what cologne Jonah use to wear?"
"Actually, I do, because I didn't like it." She was actually shocked that she knew what he wore, "it was Acquia, why?"
"I was almost kidnapped today. The guy was wearing the same cologne. I thought I has smelt it before and I was right."
"Wait a minute, you were ALMOST kidnapped? WHAT? Where was Juice, I told him that if he didn't protect you I would kill him myself." She had always been so protective. I am sure if she was here she would have reamed Juice a new one for not being with me.
"Shut up." I barked back at her, "He wasn't with me because I was dress shopping. That is one tradition I am not breaking Trin."
"Did you find a dress?" She asked backing down a bit.
"I did. It's a mermaid style, sleek and sexy." I loved my dress but I didn't relish the thought of going back to Stockton. I was happy that the subject had changed so quickly. "I've decided you and Kerrianne just need to find cute black dresses. I am also going to try to talk Juice and the guys into wearing suits. I mean how hot would they look?"
"They would look nice. I don't think I have ever seen any of SAMBEL ever wear a suit or a tie for that matter."
"I know. Well Triny, I will let you go. I am sorry that I woke you up."
"It's fine. I thought something was majorly wrong which by the way almost getting kidnapped is not okay." She sounded like a reprimanding mother.
"Yeah, I know. SAMCRO is taking care of it. I wouldn't want to fuck with them you know."
"Oh believe me I know. Bye Ky."
"Bye Trinity." I hung up the phone and changed into a pair of yoga pants and one of Juice's SAMCRO shirts. It smelt like him. He had called right after I got off the phone with Trinity and told me he wouldn't be home until later, I told him about the cologne. He said that it was helpful but they had a pretty good lead on the guys. The rest of my evening was filled with watching movies with Phil before I was almost passing out on the couch.
I awoke the next morning alone in bed and to snores coming from down the hallway. LOUD snores. Holy Shite! Phil needs an oxygen mask at night, I said to myself. I started to walk out into the living room but I heard male voices. I entered the kitchen to find Juice and Chibs sitting at the kitchen table with cups of coffee.
"Hey." I smiled sleepily at them as I poured myself a large mug of coffee. "When did you guys get back?"
"A few hours ago, I figured I would have woken you up if I came to bed, plus Chibs showed up a few minutes after I got home. How did you sleep with all that noise?" I sat at the table with them as Juice pointed towards the back of the house.
"I didn't even hear it until I got up. He's fucking loud. I hope he lives by himself otherwise the poor people who live with him." Chibs laughed at me and started to get up from the table. "I can get you more coffee." I took his mug from him.
"Thanks love." He smiled, "I bought Kerri's ticket to come to the wedding yesterday."
"I told you, you didn't have to do that." I scolded him.
"Aye, I know love but I wasn't going to have the bride pay for my daughter come to Charming."
"Speaking of brides." I placed his steaming cup of coffee back down in front of him. I had been wanting to talk to him about this for a while but hadn't found the right time or time alone with him. I had spoken to Juice about it already and he thought it was a really good idea. "I was wondering if you would walk me down the aisle when we get married since Kip and my dad are no longer around. You have become my father figure and taken me under your wing pretty much since the first day I visited Charming."
At first Chibs sat there and contemplated what I was saying to him. He rubbed his beard and then a smile came across his face it touched his eyes. "Of course love. There is nothing that would make me happier." I felt a huge sense of relief when he said yes. I didn't know what he would say when I asked him to be a part of our wedding. It was a huge request for me to ask him especially when I wasn't his daughter.
"Thank you, Chibs!" I smiled broadly at him and then at Juice. "So did you guys figure out who was behind yesterday?"
"Yes. It was Calaveras." Juice was going to leave it at that. I couldn't leave it at that.
"Juice you need to be honest with me. You can't just say it was Calaveras and leave it at that." Chibs could tell that we were going to have a pretty in depth talk so he drank from his mug and got up.
"I am going to take that as my cue to go. Cheers." He then squeezed my shoulder as he waked by me. "Love I am honored that you would ask me to walk you down the aisle at your wedding." He leaned in closely and whispered in my ear, "Go easy on him." Then left.
Juice and I sat there in silence for several minutes before I looked at him and said, "If we are going to be married, we need to be honest with each other. You can't always keep me in the dark even if you think that I might not like what you are going to tell me. I love you, Juice and I want to bare your burdens with you. I know you are trying to keep me safe by keeping me in the dark but obviously that isn't working. We learned yesterday that the hard way."
"Where do I start?" He said. "I killed a member of Calaveras a few weeks ago. Clay sent Tig and me to deal with some business with the Mayans. Calaveras must have heard of the business and came in guns blazing. I don't know how they found out you were my old lady or how they knew what you looked like. The man I killed was one of the leaders, I don't know why they wanted to go after you but they did, normally they go after the one who did the killing." He stopped for a moment and then went on, "How does one tell the person he loves most in the world that he had killed someone hours before seeing her again? You never once asked me where the blood came from. You do not know how much I appreciated that. You just accepted it and cleaned my clothes like it was no big deal. It kind of scared me that you were so accepting. I know I shouldn't hide things from you. And starting now I will share those burdens that you want to know…however hard they are for me to share." He got up from the table and kissed my head. "I am going to see if I can get some sleep, but I don't know if I will with Filthy Phil snoring like he is."
"Juice?" He turned back and looked at me. "Thank you."
"For what?" There was a confused look on his handsome face.
"For being honest with me. For telling me. I have never had that trust with truth like that before." I said solemnly, thinking about how Liam never trusted me with anything. He never thought enough about me to tell me what he had done. I only learned through listening when I was in a room with him and his associates. I knew what sort of business they were in. I knew he had killed a countless number of people and he felt no regret for it. He actually thought it made him more god like the more he killed people. I remember hearing him say that he liked to have the choice of whether people lived or died. I think the only person he ever regretted was his first kill. He was the only one he felt remorse over. But I am sure as he continued to change and become more course he didn't regret it anymore. I didn't know if Juice felt remorse over the death of the other club member or if he thought of it more as self-defense which it pretty much was. However the other club didn't think that way, the obviously wanted revenge.
"You were right though. I needed to trust you with this. I put you in danger by not telling you." He said sadly. "I love you more than anything I have ever loved before including the club. If anything ever happened to you I would go to the ends of the earth to help you or hurt whoever hurt you." He was very matter of fact about it.
"Well I am in one piece right now." I got up and walked across the room to him where I embraced him. "I love you so very much, Juice. Now go to bed." I shoved him toward the bedroom. Phil's snores had quieted down so I knew he would be up soon and Juice would be able to sleep soundly. I knew that finding out all the truths could possibly break my heart but I wanted there to be nothing between Juice and me. I would accept him, his flaws and his mistakes all the more. I would always be completely honest with him even if it broke his heart as well. It was the only way that we would make it in this world that we lived in.