Chapter 1 – Boys and breakfast

The day started just like any other Monday: get dressed into uniform, brush teeth, do makeup and hair, leave for breakfast. In the mess hall I found my best Gal-Pal Anya. We met a long time ago 10 years to be exact, back in third year, back when we were both wild in as many ways as possible.

"You'll never guess who I slept with!" Anya exclaimed to me in Russian across the hall.

"Bitch who?" I exclaimed back as I neared our table.

"Jack."

"As in… tic tac Jack?"

I laughed when she nodded with a grin.

"Is it really…"

I put my fingers an inch apart with an eyebrow raised suggestively.

"NO! More like-"and she reached over and pulled them apart by half an inch.

I howled with laughter drawing attention from the people nearest to us who had no idea what we had been talking about. I looked towards the other side of the hall where Tic-Tac Jack was sat with his friends pointing over to Anya and being all cocky (no pun intended) that he had slept with her. He had no idea that we were laughing at his micro-penis. I walked up to the breakfast buffet and grabbed myself some fruit salad. When I got back to the table I noticed that Anya was pouring me out a glass of apple juice. We sat discussing our master's degrees, final exams and essays; boys, girls, the general monotony of daily life at a private boarding school in southern England.

Mid-way through the breakfast the Announcer comes in and bangs his staff on the hardwood floor to get everybody's attention. I sighed and continued to eat.

"Emilia D'Arcy please rise." He boomed.

I shot a concerned look at Anya as the other students drummed on the table and made a low 'oooooo' noise.

"What have you done now?" She hissed as I stood up.

"Nothing," I said with a small shake of my head, "I promise."

I was telling the truth. For once.

"Please turn," Mr. Andes boomed again with another bang of his stick. I sighed and turned around to see someone that I haven't seen in a long time, "your family has arrived. Please follow."

He was looking at my suspiciously; even though I had grown used to my new name and appearance over the years, the last time he had seen me I was a little blonde child. He still looked exactly the same, though he had filled out and looked less like a skinny teenager and more like a dangerous man.

"S'up cousin!" Cousin Jax called from behind Mr Andes after a look of realisation took over his expression. His arm was raised in an enthusiastic wave and some people laughed at his cheeriness. Another man, that I didn't recognise, stood beside him pulled his arm down and said something to him quietly.

They looked threatening stood in their dark clothes and leather vests; a stark contrast to the beige stone walls and deep red velvet decorations. They were both unkempt with messy hair and beards, scuffed up and tough looking boots contrasting with the shiny shoes of the students and teachers that were all looking at them in curiosity. Most of the people sat in this room have never seen anything that wasn't designer brand or dry cleaned but it was hauntingly familiar to me.

I felt my heart racing as the last time I had seen him came rushing back to my mind. I felt like I was back there in that house being dragged away from everything that felt familiar and safe.

"Cousin?!" Anya exclaimed in shock, "You said you don't have any family. He's hot though. Can I meet him?"

I shot her a frustrated look before picking up my bag and walking over to them on shaky legs. Eyes followed me silently.

"I'll eat the rest of your breakfast just in case you don't come back! Give your cousin my number!"

I couldn't help but smile as she shouted to me across the deathly silent room.

"Thank you, my love, for your concern. Enjoy."

"English in common areas, Ms D'Arcy. It's respectful." Mr Andes said when I got to him.

"Relax Andy," I shrugged, "we were talking about boys and breakfast, not planning a terrorist attack."

Jax and the other man laughed at my comment. As soon as the door closed a frenzy of conversation started in the hall. That will be fun to get to later. Mr Andes walked away with his cane clicking on the rug that ran along the hallway.

"It's good to see you again, V," Jax said, "how long has it been? 10 years?"

"15." I corrected as he pulled me into a tight hug and held me there for a while.

I was completely bewildered but I wrapped my arms around him too; hugging him just as hard and shutting my eyes tightly. I could feel the back patches of his Sons kutte. He got patched in, I thought, I always knew he would.

When I opened my eyes they flickered cautiously to the rugged man just behind my cousin and he smiled at me. I managed a small smile back but my mind was on Jax. The latter pulled away but kept his hands firmly on my upper arms.

"They make the older kids wear uniforms too?" he asked as he took in my hideous clothes, "and your hair…"

I patted my long ponytail suddenly self-conscious of it. I hadn't had a hair cut in a good 9 years so I probably looked ridiculous. I smoothed down my clothes as I looked at him still in shock. Since I was an older student doing my master's degree, in the university sector of the school, they let us wear what we liked as long as we wore the shirt with the campus crest on it, a blazer or cardigan in the school colours and the tie. I always chose to wear a tight fitting, black pencil skirt (without stockings) and some black court shoes.

"Is there somewhere we can talk?" he asked after my silence.

I nodded and lead him to a closed off hallway, the other guy following closely. I hitched my bag higher onto my shoulder uncomfortably. When we were far enough away from the main hallway I turned back to Jax.

The two men looked at each other silently then back at me with eerily good timing. There was a fleeting look of apprehension in my cousin's eyes before he spoke.

"I- You need to come with us V," he said, choosing his words carefully, "you need to come back to the family."

I laughed in disbelief, "What?"

"There are people looking for you." he said in a serious tone.

"Who?"

He didn't say anything, just stood before me looking shifty, a look he had mastered when he was younger.

My mind was racing again, thinking of all the people I had pissed off over the years; the relationships I had ruined; the teachers I had got fired; the family I didn't have any more and then eventually, my mother and her husband. But what had I done that warranted them to come all the way over from California? I was frowning at him in confusion.

I was shocked out of my thoughts when I heard the flick of a lighter. I looked at the other man that had lit a cigarette and he was looking at me. His gaze caused my face to redden; I felt nervous and small. I crossed my arms across my chest.

"I'm can't go anywhere." I said, slowly looking back to my cousin, "This term is nearly done; I've nearly finished my exams."

"Your life is in danger V."

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Are you here for me or on Sons business?" I asked him seriously.

He was silent for a while and I scoffed.

"Both!" he exclaimed and grabbed my shoulders again, "I missed you, obviously, but I couldn't just turn up out of nowhere and see you."

"Why?" my voice had cracked embarrassingly.

"It's been a bit mental over there," the other man said; making me jump. Jax nodded in agreement while the other man looked amused at my reaction.

"For 15 years?"

"Believe it or not."

He was Scottish, I noted.

"Why? What has any if the Sons business got to do with me?" I asked them, "I don't have anything to do with it. We moved here to get away from the drugs, and the guns, and the danger. There is nothing and nobody here that can hurt me."

That's when I heard a voice that shook me to my core and brought out so many awful thoughts and emotions in me that I had kept to myself for years.

"We're trying to help you, Pumpkin."

I turned around, fury burning through my body. Clay Morrow. Last time I saw him he was stood talking to my uncle john and looking at me with a cold expression as I was being thrown into the back of a car while I screamed for his help. He must have forgotten about this though because he opened his arms with a wide smile. I walked towards him, my heels clicked on the hardwood floor, and before he could close his arms around me in a hug… I punched him square in the nose.

I heard the Scottish man make a sort of "oop" noise, cigarette still hanging from his lips, and grabbed my arm firmly before pulling me away.

"Don't fucking touch me," I hissed at him with a tug of my arm but he didn't let go.

"It's ok Chibs," Clay said with a small laugh and dabbed at his face to see if he was bleeding. Regrettably, he wasn't.

Chibs, which is a really weird name, I thought, let go of my arm slowly and took his place leaning against a wall and finishing his cigarette. I straightened my cardigan sleeve with a slight huff before training my eyes back on his face. He had gotten old; I thought smugly, his hair and beard were white. Instead of looking lean and muscular he had gotten fatter. I wanted to scream and shout and hit him until he bled but instead, I stood trembling with my arms crossed tight over me.

"Where's my hug Vivania?" Clay asked with something he probably thought was a genuine smile.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" I asked through clenched teeth.

He looked at me with something like regret in his shark like eyes. I know my mother had told him what was happening. I know that she had sent him photographs of me in the hospital when my stepdad had thrown me down the stairs. I know that Clay had never once cared about me, not even when we were in America and living just down the road.

"You are trying to help me now?!" I laughed incredulously, "better late than never, huh?"

"Look-"

"No, you look, Dad," I said sarcastically, "you don't have any right to be here. Jax I understand, he tried to help me; Chibs… seems nice? But you?" I scoffed, "you abandoned me. You knew what was happening over here and you didn't give a shit. Do you know what that tells me, Clay? This is a strictly business venture. Now that something is threatening to make you and your club look bad you want to come and help me. Not when I was lying in a hospital bed at 11 with cracked ribs and a broken jaw."

"Pumpkin-"

"Don't 'Pumpkin' me. I am going to get a first in my master's in modern and ancient languages, with minors in accounting and business management." I said in a superior tone that I couldn't help, "I'm going to be something, Clay. I'm going to go all over the world; I'm going to be important to someone. If I come with you, it's not going to happen and I refuse to stagnate in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere California."

Clay looked shocked and angry at my outburst. I shook my head and stepped away.

"If someone is really coming after me then let them. I've been taking care of myself for years, I'm sure I'll be ok."

I turned back to face Jax and stepped close to him; hugging him tightly again. I told him with muffled words that it was good to see him; that I had missed him and to please keep in touch. When I pulled away from him I had tears in my eyes and running down my face. I nodded to Chibs who had lost his amused expression.

"It was nice seeing you, Jax; nice to meet you, Chibs. I've got a future. I'll risk my life for that."

And I walked away from the one person in my life that might have loved me unconditionally.

Little did I know quite how much of a risk it would be.

Fancy a quickie? – the amount of times I wrote and rewrote this first chapter is embarrassing. I just couldn't get it to a way that I wanted it to be. I was conflicted about how she might handle the situation so hopefully I conveyed it in a way that didn't make her sound like a total bitch.

Also apologies for the lack of Chibs action in this one but there is more to come my dudes. Is anyone else getting a bit hot under the collar just imagining him leaning against a wall? No? Just me being thirsty? Lol

The second one will have more interactions between our protagonist and her future love interest so keep reading.

Lots of love,

From Doe xx