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Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 195 Twisty

Scarlett had been in a lot of tight spots when her life depended on quick thinking and her ability to talk her way out of a situation. This wasn't one of them.

When Clay asked her about Texas, she knew she would have to tell Jax why she lied. While he'd had a celebratory beer with his brothers, she'd had a lot of time to plan her next moves and get her story air tight.

"I don't know who my father is," Scarlett said, her voice soft. "I had my dad and when I was little I didn't understand the difference between bio dad and a regular dad. When I was old enough to understand, it didn't seem important.

"On my eighteenth birthday, my dad gave me a large envelope. Across the front of it my mother had written that if I wanted to know who fathered me, the answers were inside."

Scarlett looked down at her hands as though she were re-living that day. She'd learned little pauses in telling a story made it look like a memory was being recalled.

"When did you open the envelope?"

"At eighteen, I thought about destroying the envelope, so I would never be tempted to open it. I love my father. If I opened the envelope, it would be like telling my dad that he wasn't enough of a father for me. I didn't destroy it, but I didn't open it either. A few months ago, I decided to open the envelope, but not tell my father. My curiosity got the best of me. The contents of the envelope surprised me."

Scarlett took another pause, looked out the car's window for a few moments and wondered what it would feel like to be in a relationship where she could tell the truth. She'd lost herself in all the lies she'd been forced to tell to stay alive.

"I thought I'd see his name and that would be it. Instead, there was a list of three possible fathers. I should have known that it wouldn't have been that easy," she said a trace of bitterness in her voice.

"I used the internet to find the guys. The first guy smoked, so I waited until he threw some cigarette butts on the ground and took them. I got them tested with my DNA. No match. He wasn't bio dad."

"So either Clay is your father or it's the other guy."

"Or neither. If Clay isn't my father, I'll still check the other guy's DNA. My mother could have left a name off the list."

"What are you going to do if you find out that Clay's your father?"

"Nothing. I don't want to disrupt anyone's life or cause trouble. I also don't want my father to learn about my search for my bio dad."

"If Clay's your father, that means he cheated on Gemma."

"That gets back to the whole not wanting to disrupt anyone's life."

"So is starting a business in Charming a cover for why you're really here?"

"I need a business to launder the money my dad and I took from my psycho ex. When you showed me the town on the first day we met, I really liked the place. Everything about my business is real."

"Why did you lie about Texas?"

"I thought if I admitted that I'd lived in Texas, he might suspect I could be his daughter since my mother lived there about the time of my conception. I don't want him or anyone else to know my bio dad's identity."

"You didn't have to lie to me," Jax said with an edge to his voice.

"I know you were trying to help when you told me that if we can't tell the truth about something, we can just say that. I lied because I didn't want you to put together the truth. I didn't want you to know that Clay might be my father.

"Trust is hard for me. If Clay is my father, I'm afraid you might tell him. I don't think you would do it out of any bad intent. I think you might think it was for the best."

"If Clay is your father, it means he cheated on Gemma."

"That gets back to me not wanting to disrupt anyone's life. I just want to know for myself and I don't want my father real or bio to know."

"That makes sense. Do you want me to help you get some of Clay's DNA?"

"No, I'll figure it out. I don't want to put you in the middle."

That's how you play Jax Teller, she thought. It had gone flawlessly. When her father gave her what she needed to show Clay he wasn't her father, she might be able to use Jax to get that information to Clay.

Scarlett may have played Jax Teller, but karma is a bitch and Scarlett was about to get bitch slapped by reality and endure the most humiliating and embarrassing experience of her life.

Author's Note: In this story, Jax was a young child when JT died. It makes more sense to me that Jax was a lot younger and never got a chance to really know his father. The whole journal thing will have more meaning because it's the only way he can get to know his father.