A/N - A huge thank you to my beta and bestie Jules on this one, just needed that extra pair of eyes on it! Enjoy...
What a goddamn waste of time. Jax pushed his hair back from his face as he got off the Harley at the club; now he was out, he might as well have a drink before he headed back to Tara and the boys. It was just like the Irish to rush them out and then not show. Nobody could risk getting caught, maybe they had a legitimate reason to keep their heads down.
"Beer," he demanded as he led the pack back into the clubhouse. The prospect nervously lined up the bottles on the counter, making sure they were cold as Tig had instructed.
Tig glanced up, not sure how best to broach the subject with Jax, but he gritted his teeth. He couldn't just not say anything.
"You, uh, got a minute, Prez?"
Jax tipped his head up and walked with Tig to the corner. Tig leaned his hand against the wall, staring at the doors to chapel. She had refused to move, despite his attempts, and was just curled up in the corner on the floor.
"Irish were a no-show," Jax said as he sipped his drink. "Waste of time."
"Fuck." Tig carefully looked over at Clay to see Clay focusing his attentions on other things. "Sorry man."
Jax shrugged, he was used to it. "What did you need, brother?"
Tig swallowed and looked at his palms. Jax could see from his erratic eye movements that he had taken something... extracurricular.
"I, uh, that girl." He choked a little. "Nero's girl. She, uh, came on kinda strong when you were out."
Jax groaned and looked around the club for her quickly, he already had an inkling where this conversation might be heading. "You didn't."
"She wanted to get high, we took some shit, it was just a bit of coke but she was out of it, man, just begging for it. She was all over me." Tig rubbed his hand over the back of his head, his eyes hardly flinched as he lied, straight out. He had spent an hour convincing himself that it was all on her, now he truly believed it. "So we, we fucked. Shit, Prez, I'm sorry."
Jax's nostrils flared in annoyance and he tried to refocus, this was not part of his plan. He tugged at the wispy hairs on his chin and looked around conspiratorially.
"Nobody knows about this, Tig. She tells anyone, you say it's just a lie."
"I wish it was that simple." Tig pulled him into chapel. Jax swore as he saw Nina on the floor, her face streaked with tears and a bruise forming on her left cheek. He dropped down to his knees beside her to try and tend to her but she drew back, tighter to the corner.
"What the hell did you do?" Jax asked. Tig shook his head.
"After, she, like, freaked out. Said she hadn't wanted to. Jax, she was high as a fucking kite, she was begging me for it until the second we were done." Tig looked at Nina, challenging her to disagree but she remained silent and withdrawn. "She, uh, she's a fucking mess."
Jesus Christ. Jax nodded and motioned for Tig to leave. "I'll sort it out, okay?" he said. Tig rested his hands on his belt buckle and rocked on his heels.
"Are you sure?"
Jax stood and gave him a rough hug. "Thank you for being honest. Let me sort the rest."
Tig, with no guilt whatsoever, nodded and scarpered out of the room. Jax settled on the floor again, reaching for her gently. He felt her flinch as he put his hand on her but she didn't move away.
"Are you hurting?" he asked, looking at her. She would barely look at him, her glances were fleeting and awkward, never for long enough to get a good read. "You're alright, Nina, you're just a little out of it. Don't take any of Tig's shit again, okay? You're just confused now, it's part of coming down."
He sounded so genuine, even though it was all false. She almost believed him as he urged her to stand up. Jax hissed as he saw the patch of blood on the ground and saw the red soaked through the back of her shirt.
"Oh, Jesus."
He moved to urge it up across her back but she reacted wildly, slamming him away fiercely. Jax grabbed her wrists tight and sat her on the corner of the table forcefully to see the damage.
"I'm just looking," he said firmly. "I don't want shit from you."
His tone made her believe him and she nodded just slightly. He eased her tee up and instantly saw the sinister sight of the reaper engrained into her skin. Tig was an animal, sure, but this was a step too far.
"You stay here," he insisted. "I'm gonna clean you up and this stays between us, okay?"
He slipped out for some ice and hot water before returning. He swallowed as he pressed the ice against her back, soothing her, and he pulled her top off over her head. He watched as she wrapped her arms around herself in fear, trying to protect her semi-naked body from him.
"Don't worry, darlin'," he said sweetly, trying to calm her. "You're beautiful but I'm not looking."
Somehow, the words made her relax a little as he wrung out the cloth and wiped the blood away from her back. He could see her flesh was broken and torn crudely, the mirror image of the emblem on the table would be a permanent fixture on her back. Most of her blood was dry now, caked onto her skin as he rubbed it gently, trying to take it off. He heard her moan, low and muffled by her own hand, the pain unbearable.
"That's it, Nina, you're alright," he promised her, pressing the ice against her again. The sudden flush of cold made her whimper and arch her back.
"Well this looks cosy."
Jax froze as he heard Tara's voice behind him. He hadn't even heard the door open, how long had she been there? He turned to see Tig in the door, trying to pull her back but she could only see what she thought she could see.
"This was your meeting? With the Irish?"
Tara paced around the table to look at Nina. She grabbed her face roughly and lifted her head to look into her eyes before she spat in her face.
"Tara, Christ, this isn't what it looks like, stop it."
Jax tried to move between them but Tara gave Nina a sharp slap before turning on him and pointing a sharp, bony finger in his face.
"You're a liar."
Jax looked at her with complete helplessness in his eyes. "Are you serious? We went to meet the Irish, I came back here for one goddamn drink and-"
"And some Mexi whore?"
Tara was incredulous and furious, mortified that she had thought she could trust him. She shook her head as she looked at Nina in disgust and stormed out into the clubhouse bar. Jax followed her quickly, not noticing Chibs slip into chapel, already taking off his cut to wrap around Nina's bare frame to protect her.
"She was hurt!"
"She was naked, Jax!" Tara screamed at him. "What, you going to tell me you just found her like that? That it was an accident, that it's not what it seems?"
Jax spluttered as he tried to interject at every opportunity but she was so unspeakably angry it was impossible. Tara shook her head, her hands in her hair as she tried to find some inner strength.
"I'm tired of this, Jax. I'm tired of not trusting you." She laughed, almost hysterical. "I'm tired of trusting you and walking in on this shit."
"I was helping her, you don't understand," Jax repeated. Tig blushed a little and stepped forward to try and help clarify his story but Tara waved her hand in his face.
"I don't need your shitty little guard dogs telling me crap to cover your back. A real man would own up to his mistakes, Jax, but you, you're always the first one to blame someone else and try and get out of it." She shook her head. "I'm not doing this any more. My lawyer will call you in the morning, I'm getting my boys away from here and away from you."