It was two in the morning when I woke up from another nightmare. They were happening more often then not. I threw the covers off me and went towards the sound of cartoons in the living room. I smiled at the sight I found. Happy was asleep on the sofa with Tacoma curled up on his chest. Both of them snoring lightly. I smiled and turned off the TV before heading into the kitchen for a cup of warm milk.

"Get a grip Brianna." I said to myself as I watched the cup of milk slowly rotate in the microwave. I pulled open the microwave door before the timer finished counting down to avoid waking up my sleeping beauties.

"This better work." I took a small sip of the warm milk and spit it out into the sink. "Nasty." I poured the rest down the sink, wondering how people even drank the foul liquid, cold or warm it wasn't for me.

"Bri." The voice was a whisper. I turned around and found Kozik standing against the wall with Tosca in his arm.

"What?" I asked.

"Go to bed weirdo." He smirked.

"I just woke up, nightmare." I shrugged. "How'd you even get here without making a single sound?"

"I learned my ninja skills from Happy." He laughed. "I just came from hanging out with your sister."

"Oh lord. How was that?" I asked.

"She's cool, not as cool as you though." He smiled. "Good lay."

"Omg. Already?" I shook my head.

"She talked me into it, I said no the first two times she went to tug my pants off. She wouldn't take no for an answer." He laughed. "If only you were like her!"

"I am, just not with you!" I shook my head and smiled. "Now that you have her you can stop trying to get Hap to share me."

"Never going to happen. I firmly believe best friends should share girlfriends with each other. He's being selfish." He poked my forehead. "So selfish."

"He's entitled to be selfish." I smiled. "I'm his, he doesn't have to share."

"Yeah, yeah." He put the puppy down. "I'm going to bed, feel free to join me. I won't bite unless you're into that." He winked.

"I am but not with you." I watched him walk away before turning my attention to organizing the refrigerator's contents.

#

"Holy shit." Kozik said as he walked into the kitchen, Happy right behind him. "Did you not go back to sleep?"

I shook my head no as I started another pot of coffee.

"How long have you been up?" Happy asked.

"Since two." I bounced on my feet. "What time is it now?"

"Its noon." He said.

"Ohhh." I smiled.

"You need to relax and nap." He ushered me out of the kitchen. "Maybe a shower will make you sleepy."

"I had two showers already Hap. One after I spilled flour on me and then another after I realized I washed using your soap. So maybe that counts as one."

"No more coffee." He shook his head. "Your appointment is in a hour."

"I am not going to the doctor. I read online that this is normal behavior after a tragedy." I looked from him to Kozik and back again, my heart beating oddly.

"You're going to die from drinking so much coffee." Kozik said.

"Nope. It just makes my heart beat funny but it's ok." I smiled.

"That's not good Brianna." Happy looked mad. "I'm taking you to your appointment."

"I'm coming too." Kozik said as he picked up the puppies.

"Ugh, fine." I said.

#

"Hohrykova." The nurse called. I raised a hand and stood. Happy and Kozik behind me as we walked to the nurse.

"They have to come with me, it's the only way I'll be seen." I smiled.

"Ok." She said and led us back to an exam room. "Stand on the scale."

I pulled off my shoes and stepped on the metal scale.

"Very good. 130." She said. "You're how tall?"

"Last time I checked I was five foot nine." I shrugged and stepped off.

"Seems about right." She placed butcher paper on the exam table and I sat down on it. The crinkling irritating me. "I'm just going to ask you some questions."

"Alright. Go for it."

"How did you sustain your injuries?" She was starting off with the tough questions.

"Well originally I was smacked in the face with a metal sheet pan when I apologized to a friend's mom. My nose was broken from that. Then I got my face punched in by a guy who kidnapped me." I bit my lip and she looked at me.

"That's crazy. What about your back?"

"The kidnapper cut me up." I frowned. "I'm not sure if it's infected or what. That's mainly what I'm here for."

"I'll make sure the doctor looks at those and I'll draw blood to send to the lab." She smiled. "The doctor will be right in."

"She probably thinks we did this to you." Kozik frowned.

"Yeah." Happy said.

"But you didn't." I smiled. "You never would do this."

"Dr. Hohrykova, I'm Dr. Moore." He smiled as he came in the room.

"This is my boyfriend and my best friend." I pointed at each man. "Here for support."

"Good, good. Your father filled me in on everything before you got here. I see he fears your nose is broken again. He told me about cuts on your back and you told the nurse the same. I want to take a look at your nose then at your back." He moved closer to me and started to feel my nose.

"Ow." I winced as he pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Definitely broken." Dr. Moore frowned. "I'm going to advise you to let it heal and not reset it."

I nodded my head and stood up and pulled off my shirt so he could look at the cuts.

"They look slightly infected." He clucked. " I want to give you antibiotics, and a tetanus shot to be safe."

"I hate shots." I laughed.

"Don't we all." He chuckled. "We can do it with them in here or we can send them out."

"They can stay." I smiled.

"Alright, I'm going to bandage up your back first. I don't want this cuts being irritated further by your clothing." He pulled on a new pair of gloves and quickly spread ointment on the wounds before wrapping me up with bandages. "Sit tight, I'll be back with the nurse to draw blood and to give you the shot."

"You're getting a shot in the ass." Happy smiled.

"I don't want to." I bit my bottom lip. "I hate shots."

"I know you do." He said. "You'll live though. You'll finally get a literal pain in the ass."

"I see what you did there." I smiled.

"I'm your best friend?" Kozik asked.

"Duh." I laughed.

"Well fuck me. I've been friend zoned." He poured. "Sad day."

"Sometimes friends fuck." Happy rasped.

"Hush." I said.

The door opened and both Dr. Moore and the nurse stepped in.

He quickly gave me the shot and she made quick work of taking my blood. "That wasn't bad." I said.

"We'll give you a call when the results are in." Dr. Moore said. "Have a good rest of the day."

"You too." I waved. "Come on let's get out of here. Got to get the prescription then we can go eat or something."

"Actually we have club business." Happy said.

"Aww. Fine." I pouted. "I'll see you at home?"

"Yeah." Happy kissed me and I watch them get on their bikes and ride off, half wishing I could go with them.

#

"You want to what?" Marcus looked at me with wide eyes.

"I want you to help me set up an MC." I smiled. "I want to take the Calaveras and make them into my own MC. I want them to work for me, you if you want to invest the effort in."

"That's loco!" He laughed. "I like it though."

"I was thinking we put your son Esai as a vice president over there if you can spare him."

"I can." He nodded. "I think he'd make a good fit."

"Me too. Him as V.P, we keep the current president and maybe recruit or get rid of some guys. Change up the name." I smirked. "I think it could work. Two big MCs with Russian backing, you would be more powerful than the Sons of Anarchy."

"I like the sound of that, but I thought you were cool with them?" He looked at me with raised brows.

"I was until I realized I was more loyal to them than they were to me when I needed the help." I pointed to my face. "Kidnapped and beat and the only people to find me were my dad and his men and Happy, Juice, and Kozik."

"Damn." He tapped his ring laden fingers against the table. "Let's do this, I'm ready for power to shift my way."

"Shake on it?" I extended my arm and he grabbed my hand and we shook. "I also have another venture to talk with you about. How do you feel about strip clubs?"

He laughed. "Love them."

"I have a club, it was a gift. Very successful and upscale. Would you be interested in being partners?" I tapped my nails on the table.

"Legal money?"

"All legal. Good front for prostitution as well." I smiled. "Think about it. Offered it to Jax but I never heard from them again. I don't think they even liked me."

"Fools. I'll take it to the table." He stood up from his seat. "I want to go forward with the Calaveras."

"Pretty soon they'll be the Aztecs. Mayans and Aztecs. Sounds pretty bad ass." I laughed.

"You sure you're not a Latina?" He laughed as we walked out. "You look it, you speak Spanish, got a thing for brown."

"I'm sure, I just got a really solid tan from all this sun." I laughed. "Be in touch alright. I'm going to sit down with the Calaveras and work shit out."

"Alright, stay well. Hope your face clears up."

"Me too." I laughed. "Me too."

I sat in my truck and watched them pull off before starting up my truck and heading towards my next meeting. Staying busy was the only thing keeping my mind off the kidnapping.

When I pulled into the parking lot of the park, the Calaveras were already waiting at the designated spot. I looked around for any sign of my dad's guy and waited awhile longer. I was getting out when the white SUV pulled in next to me. Aleksandr got out, and I met him at the front of the SUV.

"Let's do this." He rolled his shoulders back and we walked toward the waiting men.

"Brianna." Reyes said.

"Hey Reyes." I smiled and sat down. "Let's just get right down to business no bullshit."

"I'm all for that." He smiled and at down across from me.

"I'm willing to offer both financial backing and weapons to the Calaveras under a few conditions." I started. "One, you let me secretly run the club, two you let Esai Alvarez become V.P and hug it out with the Mayans and become allies against the Sons."

"You want us to let you run our MC? That's crazy."

"I would be behind the scenes. You'll be able to make decisions on your own but I will just control the financial aspects. I just want to take the Sons out of power. I want to be in control without getting my hands dirty." I folded my hands on the table and looked at him.

"That's tempting. I'd still be president?" He asked.

"Yeah, the only thing changing is the vice president and the patch on your backs." I smiled. "Calaveras to Aztecs."

"I don't know." He shook his head. "People might think were a Mayans knock off."

"Maybe, but you can prove them wrong, align yourself with true powers. Russians and Mayans and we will push into black territory and control that. Let white and yellow battle it out and we push out whoever wins that battle."

"Sounds good. I'll have to take it to the table and see if my vice is willing to step down." He stood and I followed. "I like this idea of brown and brown partnering up."

"So do I. It's a good situation for us all." I smiled. "Be in touch."

"I will." He pulled me in and we hugged it out. "I'll let you know tonight."

"Oh for sure, sounds perfect." I smiled. "I have a gift for you." I gestured to the black duffel bag. "Agree to this and you'll get more than that."

He unzipped it and peeked inside. "Nice. I'll show these off. Thank you."

I stood and watched them all ride off with a smile on my face.

"If you accomplish this, you will have so much power Katarzyna." Aleksandr said. "I'm proud."

I hugged him. "Thank you. I'm proud of myself."

"You should be." He smiled.

SOASOASOA

Sitting in the clubhouse with Natalie was comfortable. She was warm and soft and smelled delicious. It was everything I wanted and everything I needed in life. I was starting to feel almost normal these days. The only time I felt abnormal was when I was completely alone, Bri's voice would swim around my mind and say 'don't fuck this up, treat her better than you ever treated me'.

"You ok baby?" Natalie whispered against my neck.

"I'm fine, just wondering what color Luna's room should be." I smiled at her. "I'm thinking black with glow in the dark stars and moons."

"No, not black. Unless you wanna do that to the ceiling. That'd be cool. Walls I want mint green or yellow." She smiled. "What do you think?"

"I like the idea of mint green." I nodded. "Black crib?"

"Black furniture since you're set on it. I think it'd look dope."

"I can't believe I'm sitting here talking about a baby's room." I rubbed my hands over my head. "Things are getting so much better. This right here, this feels so right."

"I agree. It feels so good." She kissed my neck. "I'm glad we're together. I've liked you since we met."

"Really?" I felt my cheeks burn at the size of my smile.

"Really and I was serious about the shower thing." She laughed. "So serious about it."

"I knew I should have taken you up on that request." I chuckled. "Would have gotten us started a lot sooner." I kissed her softly.

"Yeah. Things work out the way they're supposed to." She kissed me. "We gotta let things flow."

"I get that." I kissed her hard.

"Get a room!" Chibs yelled.

She blushed and pulled away. I held her hand and smiled at her.

"Church!" Jax yelled as he stormed into the clubhouse.

"I'll be back, if you get tired go lay down." I kissed her nose.

"Alright baby." She kissed my chin. "Hurry back."

I waved and walked into chapel. Sitting between Happy and Bobby with Kozik at my back.

"We have a huge problem." Jax said through gritted teeth. "Russians have sat down with Mayans. I think they're giving gun business to them. That affects our deals with black."

"Which Russians?" Asked Kozik.

"The Hohrykovas." Jax smacked the table with his hands. "I need Bri in here now!"

"No can do." Kozik said. "She's in no condition to deal with this."

"What are ye on about Koz?" Chibs asked.

"Um, if you don't remember she was kidnapped! Then she was beat by the guys who kidnapped her and to top it all off they cut up her back real bad." He shook his heads. "As her best friend I can't allow her to be dragged into this situation until she's both mentally and physically healed."

"I thought Natalie was her best friend." I said as I looked back at him and then at Happy who just shrugged.

"Well, I can't wait on her. I gotta make things right." Jax ran a large hand over his face.

"Sit down with her dad." I said. "He's the gun guy, not Bri. Bri was a friend who helped us, not the gun person."

"Why are you three protecting her?" Tig asked. "Something we should know?"

"Yeah, actually there is." Happy said. "You guys didn't help look for her she took that as an insult and the guys who kidnapped her said there is a million dollar bounty on her head, some Irish dude wants her but only if she cuts ties with the Sons. So she's stuck with a decision cut ties and be hunted down by an Irish guy or stick with the Sons and hope she doesn't get fucked over again. She's gotta pick one."

"Jesus. Irish?" Chibs asked. "No good."

I gave Happy a look, no one gave a damn about Bri, all they heard was Irish. I tapped my knuckles against the table.

"I want to sit down with Brianna." Jax said. "I have no other choice but to sit down and explain why the club didn't help look for her."

We all just stared at him with a blank look.

"Can one of the three musketeers call her?" He looked our way.

"I will." Kozik said as he stood and pulled out his phone. He dialed her number and placed it on speaker and set it down on the table so everyone could hear.

"Hey H." Her voice filled the room.

"Brianna Banana." He said.

"What do you need?"

"I'm here with the club, Jax wants to have a sit down with him." He said.

"I'm not free right now for a sit down, I'm handling Russian business." She said.

"Bri, it's Jax." Jax started. "I want to sit down and explain my piece to you, we can't afford war and giving a Mayans guns isn't good for my club."

"I just rolled my eyes." She laughed. "I'm doing things that are good for me and my family. I can't worry about what's good for your club Jackson."

"Happy, Kozik, and Juice are in this club." He said. "What about them?"

"They're more than welcome to jump ship and become part of the Family." She said. "I can't help you if it doesn't help me. This isn't how life works, I can't do things without getting something in return."

"I gave you the favors I owed you." He boomed.

"Yeah, and we're even now." She said. "I got something from that, I got the Mayans on my side and I got a hard lesson, that if I'm not Tara or Gemma I'm not worth the whole club's effort to look for."

"It's not like that." Jax smacked the table. "Just come in and let me explain myself to you."

"Alright, but I'm bringing my colleagues, Jackson." She said. "We'll meet in a neutral place. A park."

"Sounds good." Bobby said.

"Don't bring Bobby, Chibs, or Tig. I don't like them and I know they don't like me." She cooed.

"That leaves me with Happy, Kozik, Juice, Quinn, and Montez." Jax said. "I have to bring Chibs. He's my V.P."

"Bring Chibs. If I see Tig or Bobby my snipers will shoot." She said.

"You have snipers?" Jax asked.

"Bring them and find out." She said.

"Ye can't make orders lass." Chibs said.

"Fine bring the whole damn club and I'll bring mine, let's see who out mans who." She said and the line went dead.

"Shite." Chibs said as he puffed his cigar. "She is coming full force."

"What was our decision on the strip club?" Bobby asked.

"We didn't decide after she got snatched." I said.

"Damn." Jax said. "I fucked up."

"Yes you did." Kozik chimed.

"Talk to her and hope for the best." I said. "All you can do is talk and hug it out. She's a forgiving person."

"True Hap?" Jax asked.

"I don't know, I never fucked up with her. I'm golden." He smirked.

"Not even on a run?" I asked.

"Nope. She's too good for me to fuck over. Treats me like a fuckin' King so I treat her like my Queen." He leaned back in his chair.

"What about the strippers at her club?" I asked remembering all the females surrounding him.

"I looked, I didn't touch. The ones who cornered me try to fuck me. Not the other way around." He said.

"Good for you." Tig smiled.

"We'll meet with Bri and talk it out and hope she forgives us." Jax said. "We also need to see if we can get the club deal."

"Agreed." We all nodded.

"Church is out." Jax banged the gavel. We all slowly filed out and split off different ways. I found Natalie sitting with Lyla and talking about babies. I didn't interrupt, I listened in and wondered if Lyla would help me put together a baby shower for Natalie.