I sat outside on the swing set someone had constructed for Jax's kids. I watched the sun sink behind the buildings. I watched the m.c go about its day. I had called together a meeting and a vote. I stepped down as President of the club, but everyone agreed that when Im ready the spot will be open to me. After that, the girls left. Most of them didnt want to get swept up into the cartel deal either. I cant blame them,those mexicans do some drastic shit, and thats coming from me. I saw Chibs approach the fence, then lean on it.
"Gemma is holdin' a dinner tonight, expects us to be there." I smiled, thinking us meant the boys and him.
" Alrigh' have fun with tha'." I said, a little disappointed we wouldn't be able to get dinner.
"Includin' ye. She was very specific." He smiled. " I guess it makes it official. Yer apar' of the family now." I chuckled.
"Aye, I guess it does. When is she hostin' it?" I asked.
"Few hours, after the shop closes up."' He said. I nodded then stood, walking over to him, I kissed him lightly.
"I will be righ' back then. Do ye mind if I use yer kitchen?"
"Ye don' have ta make anythin'." He said.
" Its polite. Women 'ave a code. if I show up empty handed, I have a feelin' I'll no' be as welcome in the family." He frowned."It's unspoken, an' is very rarely spoken of. I'll jus' make some jalapeño poppers, the girls love them." I said. "Their quick an' easy an' they make a good snack." I told him.
"Ye really don' have ta do tha'." He said, catching my arm as I tried to walk away.
"Well, I wan' ta do somethin'." I insisted.
" Ye have done more than enough. An' with everythin' yer offerin' the club, I don' see a reason fer ye too." He said. I sighed, then relented.
"Yer a stubborn ass." I said. He laughed.
"I have a feelin' tha' ye'll ge' me back.'' My work phone rang.
"I have ta take this." I said, he nodded and went into the clubhouse.
" Aye?" I answered.
" Are you going to take the job?" It was the woman from earlier, she sounded skittish and afraid.
"I tol' ye ta call back tomorrow." I said.
" Please, he's beaten me. Im in intensive. I need him gone." She whispered.
"Shi' are ye alrigh'?" I asked. She sniffed.
"I will be when he's dead." She said with the most conviction I had heard from her.
" Im in North California, book a plane ta wherever you are under the name Calpurnia Holmes. Preferably one tomorrow mornin', I have business Im takin' care o' tonigh'." I said running a hand through my hair.
"How soon will it be done after that?" She asked.
"I'll need ta ge' him alone. It may take me a few days ta do tha'. Bu' I'll ge' it done." I said.
"For how much?" She asked.
" Are ye in the US or the UK? I need ta know yer currency."
"Im in New York, US."She said.
" Aye, fer the job it'll be $100000000, plus my travel and stay expenses."
"Consider it done." She said.
"The paymen' will be made in cash, half when I arrive, half when the job is done." I told her.
"Anything you need." She said. "Your flight is tomorrow at eight from Stanton. First class under the Name Calpurnia that what I should call you?"
"Call me wha'ever. I'll call this number when I arrive ta se' a meetin' place fer the firs' half o' me paymen' then job is done." I said hanging up. I walked over to the clubhouse.
"What was that?You looked stressed." Tig asked when I walked in.
"Work can sometimes be stressful lad." I said.
"Well whats going on?" Jax asked.
"I have a job in New York tomorrow. The target needs to be neutralized, beatin' his wife an' kids, it pushed things up a wee bi'." I saw Juice's jaw clench. "I've a fligh' from Stanton tomorrow morning at eigh'. I'll be back in a few days if more jobs don' turn mos' a few months." I said. They nodded.
"If shi' hits the fan while Im workin' an' ye need me. Fer god's bloody sake call me. Ye didn' call las' time an' a bunch o' ye ended up in county." I looked at each biker. " Yer all importan' ta me. I'll do wha' I can ta help. An' ye all know tha' I have money an' tha' I know people.
" This was a short visit." Bobby said.
" I wanted ta stay longer, bu' I gotta make a livin' man." I told him. In truth, my job, and my love for it was why I never settled became someone's old lady, popped out kids.
"You love it. Dont you?" Happy asked.
"Aye, I do. I love me life. Wha' I do, an' the people around me. I wouldn' ask fer it any other way. An' I wouldn' change a damn thing. If it makes me twisted, then I'm alrigh' with it." Chibs was leaning against the bar.
"Until then. Le's go ta Clay an' Gemma's place an' have some dinner. I don' wan' none o' this somber shi' until tomorrow." I said smiling. They nodded and gathered their things. We got to the house and soon the mood did lighten. Old ladies and kids were there, soon the guys were wearing real smiles. We ate and dinner, we sat in the living room. Everyone was interested in me for some reason.
"So Jax was telling me you were an EMT at 18." Tara said.
"Aye, me high school worked with the college, I took classes with them before an' after me regular school. Go' me certification, then I was able ta ge' a job on an ambulance righ' after I graduated. Worked there long enough ta go ta Scotland, I moved there by nineteen." I smiled.
"What was the worst you saw?" Clay asked. I leaned against Chibs.
"Are we talkin' while I was with the ambulance, doin' back door surgeries fer the IRA or wha' I've inflicted?" I asked. There was a lot.
" Lets just work with the ambulance." Jax said.
"Bloodies' or mos' traumatizin' fer the responders?" I asked.
"You pick." Tig said.
" Well, the crazies' I ever saw was a plane crash. Everyone on board died, no' commercial, we found one lad alive, bu' his hear' was stuck in a cactus abou' five fee' bastard." There were some chuckles." Bu'the wors' I saw was a wee boy. No' much older than Abel." I said. I trailed off, remembering it was painful. I took a drink from my beer. " His older brother, senior by a year, found one o' the guns in the house. It was loaded. The boy blew off his brother's jaw. He was alive when we arrived on the scene, bu' died in the hospital." I stared at my hands wrapped around the beer. The room was silent. I shook my head a little.
"There has been plenty I've seen. Plenty I have done. Some of it good, mos' of it not. Bu' I take comfor' in the though' tha' I've rid this world of some evil bastards. An' I do have good memories from the ambulance. One o' me friends, Alan his name was, showed up at my apartment one nigh' piss drunk. I le' him in no' wantin' him to ge' in trouble. He stormed to the kitchen, grabbed a knife from the block an' demanded tha' I throw fruit at him." People started smiling. " I humored him, tossing fruit, he would slash aboo' wildly yellin' 'I am the fruit ninja! I am the fruit ninja!'" Everyone laughed.
"Was he any good?" Tig asked.
"No, he was so drunk he stabbed himself in the leg." I smiled, I could see the nods of approval rippling through the group. " Another friend was ou' drinkin' with me. He go' waisted, stood on the bar stool, turned airplane mode on his phone on, and chucked it across the bar. He ran over to it and chucked it again. Then he yelled " Damn it. Transform you stupid thing. Transform.' He threw it again, then slowly turned to me an' the bar keep, with the look of a sad dog, an' said. " Brònach, I think its broked.' Before he passed ou'." I had successfully lightened the mood.
"It sounds like the EMT's down in Phoenix know how to party." Gemma said, she was wearing the necklace I had brought her.
"Aye, they can be a wild bunch. Though I expec' these lads could pu' Phoenix EMT's ta shame." I said, looking up at Chibs. He smiled,
"Oh, Im sure we can." I laughed.
"I've gotta get Abel and Thomas to bed." Tara said a few minutes later, the conversation had moved on from me.
"Aye, an' I have an early start tomorrow." I said, standing. Soon enough,everyone had made their excuses and started filing out of the house.
"Thank you for coming." Gemma said. I smiled.
"Aye, thank ye fer invitin' me." She was a sneaky one. I could see how she worked, and I wanted no part of her schemes. I didnt know what her end game was, and that worried me. Chibs and I rode to his place.
"I can feel yer hostility towards Gemma." He said.
"Tha' is no' hostility. Tha's me bein' wary. I see wha' she does, she's manipulative, an' mean. All trai's I don' mind when I know the end game, bu' with her. I don' have a slightest idea wha' hers is." I said leaning against the doorframe.
"Shes like a mother to us." He said opening the door.
" Aye, I can see tha', an' tha's why Im givin' her the benefi' o' the doubt. "I said following him inside, I pulled off my jacket, and hung it on the back of the chair. I looked at him, mesmerizing his shape, everything. He walked over to me.
"I missed ye." I said, pulling him into a hug.
" I missed ya too burd." He said as he wrapped his arms around me.
"Tell me ye weren' par' o' the bunch tha' did time." I whispered, he looked down. "I need to know ye were safe. I know how dangerous the county prison is."
" The firs' time no, bu' Jax, Tig, Opie an' I go' arrested later. Opie didn' make it." I closed my eyes.
"I jus' wish ye would have called me. I could have done something."
" It was Damon Pope's doin' ye couldn' have done something." He said. I looked up at him.
"Damon Pope, the gangster in a suit?" I asked. He nodded, and I laughed. "Ye crazy loon, Im more powerful than Pope. I have more money an' more resources than tha' dickbag. I take it Opie's death was his order."
" was." I swallowed, if they had called, or if I had kept a watch on them, I could have helped.
" I could have preven'ed it. I could have stopped the bloodshed." I whispered. " I should 'ave pu' someone on ye. I should 'ave kep' tabs. "
"Hey, no. Tha' was no' on ye." He said, holding my face.
"Aye, I know, bu' I could have fixed it. Lila would still have her husband, an' those kids would still have a father." I said looking up at him.
"Don' think tha' way. We all know wha' we were gettin' inta." He said.
"Promise me you'll call nex' time." I demanded.
"I'll do wha' I can." He said. I stepped away from him.
"Tha's no promise." I said." I care fer ye an' yer boys. If ye call me, I can help." He gave me a sad smile.
"Don' worry aboo' us lass."
"Ye guys are like family to me, I can' help it. I haven' had a family in a long time. Im goin' ta protec' this one the bes' I can." I told him. He smiled.
"Yer too protective doll." He said moving towards me.
"Im jus' used ta things dyin'. I don' wan' ta loose ye."
"Ye won' loose anyone." He said, grabbing my waist, and pulling me towards him. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"I'll hold ye to it." I said before kissing him. He leaned down into the kiss, I felt my knees go weak. It felt like it had been too long since he kissed me like this. I let him push me up against the wall, I felt his leg in between mine, trapping me there. Our lips danced as our hands explored. I worked at the buttons on his jacket as his hands slipped up my shirt. I pulled off the jacket, he pulled off my shirt. Then he stopped.
"Ye weren' kidding aboo' the new scars." He said, my stomach had two new knife wound scars and three bullet scars. I hadnt had time to get the tattoos that had been destroyed fixed yet. I watched him as he felt them. He looked at me. " I though' ye were the bes'."
"These arn' from work lad. Mos' people find me disagreeable. Few barfigh's an' street brawls give ye scars." I smiled.
"Yer a hooligan is wha' ye are." I smiled back at him.
"Aye, I won' deny it." I said, then I bit my lip."So are ye goin' ta kiss this hooligan or jus' leave her disappointed?" I asked.
"Only if she keeps bein' a troublemaker." He said teasing me. I let my hand slid from his neck, over his body to the waistband of his jeans. I ran my fingers along it lightly, tickling him. He raised an eyebrow.
"Someone go' bold." He whispered.
" A friend taugh' me ta accept myself, tha' I was loved an' tha' I should go fer wha' I wan'." I said.
"An' who was this friend?" He asked. I grinned.
"Why, ye jealous?" I asked. " A fellow scott, same scars as me, he's in a motorcycle club in northern California." I said. "Ring any bells love?" I asked.
"Aye, I know jus' the prick. I think I'll be having a cha' with him tomorrow." He said.
" Try ta avoid his face. I quite like it the way it is." I said laughing. He leaned down and kissed me again. He slid his hands along the waistline of my jeans, and stopped, he had found a knife. He pulled it and its sheath from the small of my back. I smiled.
"How did ye ge' this through the airport?" He asked.
"I know a lot of people. When I want to be, I can be treated as well as any dignitary from a sovereign nation. Tha's how I go' everythin' through." I said, smiling.
"Sounds like somethin' a trouble maker would do." He said laughing.
"I've never been known as the good one." I said stretching up to kiss him. I lifted up his shirt and he helped me pull it over his head. He picked me up, and carried me to the bedroom, without once breaking the kiss. He laid me down onto the bed gently and kept kissing me. That night was incredible, I didnt realise how much I missed him. How in those moments I realised I didnt want to be without him again. I woke early in the morning, Chibs was still sleeping, I watched him for a moment. He looked peaceful, content. Something that was rarely on his face in his waking hours. I quietly moved from the bed and showered, when I came out fully dressed and my bag packed, he was awake.
"Hey love, go back ta bed." I said quietly.
"An' miss givin' ye a ride?" He asked, then shook his head and stood. "No' a chance." I smiled and watched him as he dressed. I gave him the keys to my bike.
"I'll be coming back fer it. Ye can coun' on tha'." I said. I hated leaving so soon, but this guy needed to go.