Clutching Abel tightly against her chest, Dani went back to the clubhouse after she had finished feeding him. Hoping to avoid Clay, she immediately sat down next to Juice, concealing herself behind a group of people who were standing in front of her.
"Everything alright?" Juice asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked at her.
"Yeah," Dani nodded, managing to force a smile on her lips. "Just tired, that's all."
She could never ever tell anyone what she had just heard. The truth would probably be the end of the club. Jax finds out Clay did this, even Dani didn't know how he would react.
"You wanna hold Abel for a minute?" she asked, partly to change the subject, partly because she needed a little alcohol in her system.
"Of course," Juice said, smiling softly.
Dani rose so she could hand him the baby more easily. She was still amazed by how tender and gentle the guys all were with a baby. Juice softly cradled Abel in his arms, softly hugging him back and forth.
"I'll be right back," Dani spoke.
She hadn't expected to run into Jax. He too was ordering a drink from the prospect, who just handed him his pitcher of beer when she came to stand next to him.
Dani leaned against the bar, trying to not look too nervous. But Jax saw right through her.
"Something going on?" he asked her, frowning.
"No," Dani said, shaking her head. Was she that bad of a liar? First Juice, now Jax?
"You can tell me if something is going on, right?"
He grabbed her hand, giving it a soft squeeze. Dani didn't dare to look behind her, knowing that was where Clay would be standing. She had a feeling she would be constantly watched for the rest of the night, trying to see if she would give anything away.
"I know," Dani nodded. "Funeral is just a bit much."
She didn't want to lie, but she had no choice. There was no way she could get killed. What would happen to Abel? How would Jax manage everything on his own without her there?
"We'll go home soon, okay?" Jax told her.
"Come find me when you are ready."
Dani gave him a kiss and watched him go back to Opie. It was hard for her to look at him, drowning in his sorrow, now that she found out the truth. Would Clay and Tig ever come clean about what happened, or would she have to be the one who would eventually tell him? Dani didn't know if she could keep a secret this big for so long.
Time went by fast when Jax came to pick her up to go home. The entire time she had spent talking to other old ladies, exchanging tips about how to change diapers and so on. Dani wasn't able to get Clay off her mind. He seemed to be lurking everywhere that she looked, keeping a close eye on her.
She was glad when she could leave. The funeral had worn her out plus Clay was really starting to scare her. At least in her own home she would be safe.
"How's Opie doing?" Dani asked when she climbed in bed next to Jax. Both of them had been really quiet on their way home up and until they were going to bed. They both needed a little time to process everything that had happened.
"As good as can be expected," Jax replied. He leaned against the headboard so Dani could lay next to him, placing her head on his chest.
Dani was wondering how long it was going to last. The feeling of being in constant danger. Clay knew that she knew, there was no other way. But she was going to keep her mouth shut. After a while, this whole thing had to blow over, right? There was no way she could ignore Clay for the rest of her life.
To be safe, she put her gun in her bag again, instead of in the cabinet in the kitchen. Putting it there made her feel a little uncomfortable, checking if the safety was on multiple times. But it was a necessary step. Dani needed to protect herself if Clay were ever to do something.
Not working every shift felt great. Today, Darren was handling the café all by himself. Dani had come in with Abel to enjoy a cup of coffee for once, instead of making it.
Her phone rang. Dani quickly retrieved it from her bag after having to dig through a pile of diapers she had brought with her just in case. The number on her screen was not a familiar one, but she took the call nevertheless.
"Hello?" she spoke, taking a quick sip from her coffee.
"Dani?" the voice on the other side of the line said. "It's Unser. I got some bad news for ya, kid."
Unser? Why would the police be calling her? Her heart started to pound, trying to think of every possible scenario what could have happened. Had Jax had an accident? Was there something with Gemma?
"Your former employee, Lana, she's pressing charges against you."
Dani scoffed. "For firing her? Good luck with winning that case."
"Firing her?" Unser asked. "No, she's pressing charges because apparently, you assaulted her."
She had almost forgotten about that. Dani had hit Lana, that was true, yes. But the reason behind it was sufficient for her to engage in an act like that. Did Lana really have the nerve to press charges or was this a sick joke?
"She stole money from the cash register. She had it coming," Dani fired back.
"You don't need to defend yourself to me. I'd rather you do it to a lawyer. She seems serious, kid."
After hearing the news, Dani had rushed to the clubhouse. This needed to get sorted. Never before had she needed a lawyer to defend her criminal actions. The club had a good lawyer who managed to get them out of pretty much anything. Besides, Jax would be there and she needed to tell him this.
With the car seat dangling from her arm, Dani took long strides inside. Once she laid eyes on Half-Sack who was cleaning the room, she immediately started to speak. "Where's Jax?"
"In chapel," Half-Sack replied.
Dani walked toward him, handed him Abel, and continued walking towards the room where they always met up to discuss whatever it was that SAMCRO was doing.
"Wait, Dani!" the prospect continued. "You can't go in there! You're not allowed!"
But she didn't care whether she was allowed to head in there or not. This needed to be fixed right away.
With her blood boiling, Dani swung the doors open. The entire room started at her, a blank look covering their faces.
"What the fuck, Dani?" Jax asked. He pushed his chair backwards so he could stand up.
"You better get over here unless you want me to go to jail," she spoke.
Dani turned around and left the room. She waited for Jax to come, while the prospect looked at her concerned, probably hoping he wouldn't get in any trouble for not stopping her.
"You can't just come in here, Dani."
Jax stood before her, closing the doors behind him so the rest could continue without him. He looked her straight in the eye as he spoke.
"But wait a minute – did you just say jail?" he continued, puzzled.
Dani nodded. "That bitch I fired. Well, she's pressing charges for assault."
"Jesus Christ, Dani. How hard did you hit her?"
"Not that hard. I don't know why she's doing this to me!"
"I'll get Lowen on the case," Jax said. "I'm not going to let you go to jail. You'll get away with this, maybe you'll have to pay a fine but this will be settled."
"I can't go to jail," Dani spoke. She was getting really stressed. How could her best friend press charges against her? Maybe she shouldn't have hit her, but right now she was overreacting.
"You won't go to jail," he reassured her, his hands on the sides of her arms. "But please, in the meantime, try not to get in any fights."
When Dani was about to drive away to head over to the police station to check out the charges herself, someone appeared outside of her window. By the blinding sun it was hard to make out who it was, so she rolled down her window.
"Everything okay?" Clay spoke. He leaned forward so he could face her.
Dani's heart skipped a beat. She had completely forgotten about Clay being here. So much for avoiding him until it would blow over.
"Not really," Dani replied dryly.
"Yeah, I heard about Lana. Shame that it has to go that way."
"Yeah," Dani nodded, frowning slightly. Where was he going with this?
"Apart from that, no problems? Nothing I should worry about?"
Dani knew what he was doing. He was trying to figure out what she knew, what she had heard from his conversation with Tig. But she was not as stupid as he thought she was. This was a game that could be played by two people.
"No, should I be worried about anything?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "If there's anything with Jax I'd like to know."
"No, Jax is fine," Clay replied. "He told me the funeral was hard for you?"
"Yeah, you know. With what happened to my parents and everything," Dani answered. "Look, I really gotta go, okay?"
Clay nodded. "Oh right. I didn't realize I was holding you up. If you see Gemma tell her I want to speak with her."
"Will do," Dani said, before quickly driving off.
Unser already spotted her heading in the police station and moved towards her. In his right hand he carried the file that contained a report on her assault. Dani wasn't sure if he was allowed to show it to her, legally, but she was glad he did.
"Come to my office," Unser spoke, taking her arm.
Dani had left Abel with Jax, so she could find out what exactly had happened. She opened the file and started to scan the report, laughing when she read the words.
"This is bullshit," she spoke. "This says she had a broken nose."
"She did have a broken nose, Dani. The report isn't lying," Unser replied. He had sat down behind his desk, watching her closely.
"I didn't hit her nose. I hit her cheek," she continued.
Dani tried to recall what exactly had happened. She was fairly sure her fist had collided with her cheek, not her nose. Had she really punched Lana that hard? Everything had happened so fast that Dani couldn't even remember all the details anymore.
"Well, either way it's bad," he spoke, taking the report from her again. "If this goes bad, you could be facing time in jail."
"But you are not going to let it come to that," Dani said. "Right?"
"That's the job of your lawyer. There is not much I can do, Dani."
She sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers. There was no way she could go to jail. Besides, she had faith in SAMCRO's lawyer, she would get her out of this.
"But I have a good reason. She stole money from the café."
"Stolen money you never reported," Unser said.
"I have proof she did it. The day she worked the money disappeared. She admitted it to my face."
"I suggest you get your lawyer in on the case. Because she has a good one. I don't know what exactly has happened between you two, but one thing that is for sure is that she is really bitter about this."
Dani shook her head, still not sure what to make of the whole situation. It was amazing how fast friends could become enemies. It had taken Lana only a matter of days. "I will take care of this," she said determined. "I will win this case."
A/N: Another plot twist! I like incorporating these little side stories into the main story. This way, this fic doesn't revolve around what happens with Jax only. Only a few more weeks to go and then my finals are finally over! To celebrate, I'm thinking of doing a week where I upload a new chapter every day. What do you think? Please let me know if you would like to see something like that happen. Bye guys :D