SAMCRO's enemies band together to cut the head off of the snake, but an unfortunate miscalculation leaves multiple unintended targets dead, and one wounded.

General trigger warnings for this story: Language, smut, mentions of rape, abuse, drug use/overdose, violence/death, racism/gang activity.

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CHAPTER 47: LUCK OF THE IRISH

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Jax anxiously paced around the small hospital room, ignoring Gemma's inquisitive eyes as his heart seemed to beat faster with each second that passed as he waited to hold his son - and see the woman who was going to let him.

"Here we are..." Tara announced as she stepped into the room, a forced smile on her lips as she cradled the finally healthy baby boy in her arms.

Jax felt his entire face light up as he rushed over, brushing his hands against hers as he braced himself for the weight, the angle putting him close enough to her face that he could smell her cherry-flavored Chapstick. It had always been her favorite flavor, which had made it his favorite flavor, and suddenly his lips felt dry. But he snapped out of it once something more powerful took over, his son looking up into his eyes.

"Hey..." He cooed down at the nearly five-week-old baby that was still only the size of a newborn. "Hey..." A grin spread across his face as tears bit as his crinkled eyes.

Gemma watched the pair very carefully - and she wasn't looking at Jax and his son, walking over to stand next to Tara where she placed her hands on her hips. "I don't know how to break this to you, kid." Jax laughed as he sat himself back in the scratchy blue rocking chair, not noticing as Tara slipped out of the room awkwardly. "But I'm your old man..."

;

"You wanna go to bed, baby?" Sydney lifted her head from Tig's shoulder when she heard the soothing whisper of his smoky voice in her ear. She looked around the room through her sleepy haze, seeing that the party had died down significantly in the time since her social battery had drained.

She nodded, running her fingers over his hand which was resting comfortably on her thigh. Once the alcohol had taken over, her emotional clinginess had morphed into a physical one - spending the evening on Tig's lap, or tucked under his arm. Thanks to the negative experiences that they'd both had with hard liquor in the past days, they'd stuck to beer; pacing themselves enough to comfortably feel the effects without becoming completely inebriated.

The pair stumbled down the hallway clumsily, taking turns tripping over each other as they giggled drunkenly. Tig fumbled with the door, finally getting it open where he stepped aside for Sydney to enter first. She crossed the threshold, spinning around with her arms jetting out at her sides before falling back onto the bed with a smile as the cool blanket puffed up around her warm body, sending a radiant glow emanating from her pinkened cheeks. The night had gone much better than expected; she hadn't been questioned by any of the guys, things didn't seem to be hostile or awkward with Jax, and she was steadily returning to her 'no strings attached' relationship with alcohol.

"Nu-uh." Tig heard her whining from the bed as he tried to walk to the bathroom, turning around to see her holding her hands out for him. He chuckled, leaning down where he let her pull him to the bed.

"You tired?" He kissed her cheek as he wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling his nose into her hair.

"Yeah." She sighed with her eyes closed and a sleepy smile on her face, feeling the sides of her mouth turning down as his question reminded her... "You didn't sleep last night…" She probably wouldn't have brought it up if she was sober, but tipsy and on the topic of sleep, she remembered the few times that she'd discreetly woken during the night to find that he was still awake next to her.

"Couldn't." He answered easily with a shake of his head.

"Why?" She felt her lips turning to a pout.

"Didn't wanna wake up and realize I was dreaming." He nodded sadly.

She smiled at the purity of his vulnerable answer, running her fingertips over the cross ring on his middle finger while his hand rested over her stomach. "Well, you're gonna sleep tonight, right?" She rolled to face him, looking up at him innocently as her fingers danced across his chest. "Now that you know I'm not going anywhere…"

"Mhmm…" He hummed, catching her lips in a kiss as he rolled her onto her back. "I'm gonna sleep real good." He spoke with a sly grin, sliding his hand up under her shirt. "And so are you."

;

Sydney awoke early the next morning after the good sleep that she had been promised, to a wet heat engulfing her chest - a sharp contrast to the cold air that whirled around her naked body under the rapidly spinning ceiling fan. She felt her back arch, her body giving in to the touch, even though her brain was still too clouded with sleep to comprehend exactly what touch it was that she was giving in to. A smile formed on her face as she kept her eyes closed, languidly revelling in the pleasure that she quickly recognized as Tig's mouth.

His generous kisses made their way down, the softness of his tongue and the roughness of his beard sending goosebumps breaking out across her skin as her sensitive and hazy body writhed under his lips. She moaned softly as her eyes remained closed, too enthralled by the sensation to use her brain for anything other than indulgence.

Tig smirked when her body remained limp, letting him know that she was awake and willing by parting her legs slightly as he got lower between her hips. He kept up the slow and sensual smooches, down her thighs and then back up - dragging his hands in sync as he spread her legs completely. His eyes rolled back as her glistening slit came into view, even in the low light, flattening his tongue and licking a long stripe through her folds.

Sydney's back arched further, pressing herself against his tongue as he ate her out in the most gentle way possible - effectively driving her crazy as her fists dug into the mattress below her as she pulsed with need, forcing her spinning head back against the pillow as she felt her body growing hotter and hotter with desire.

Tig looked up at her as she squirmed uncontrollably, knowing that she needed more than just his tongue. He pressed a kiss to her hip bone before sliding a finger into her, eliciting a breathy scream from the back of her throat as her walls locked down on his digit instantly. He shivered, blinking a few times to try and shake off the electric shock that went straight to his dick as her arousal instantly coated his hand. He glanced up at her again, glad to see that her eyes were still closed and that his slip-up had gone unnoticed, spitting down onto her clit before going back in with his tongue, alternating between gently licking, and harshly sucking, all while his fingers worked in tandem.

"Mmm, Tiggy." She whined between her moans which were getting louder as it all became too much while simultaneously not being enough. "Fuck me…" She finally cracked her eyes open, the feeling of emptiness only increasing when she looked down at the erotic sight between her legs.

"I'm tryin' to be nice here, baby..." He pressed a sloppy kiss to her lower lips. "And you just wanna act-" He kissed her thigh as he pushed himself up to his knees. "like a little whore..." He smirked as he guided her propped up legs down to the mattress.

"Will you fuck me like a whore?" She closed her eyes as she stretched, her ribs sticking out as she dragged her hands down her body and brought her leg up his chest, re-exposing herself to him. "Hmm?" She pressed her foot against his peck, looking up at him seductively.

"You sure, angel?" He looked down at her white toenails, feeling himself growing harder and harder under the increasingly tempting conditions. He hadn't planned on sex - he was just happy to have the opportunity to please her again, but if she wanted to cum on his dick instead of in his mouth, he would let her.

"Yes, Sergeant…" She moaned as she dragged her foot down towards his erection.

"My perfect girl…" He rasped, leaning down as his large hands roamed up her sides appreciatively as he pulled her down to where he was now hard as a rock. She was soaking wet, making entry an easy task, but he guided her down his cock with some resistance - letting her take in every inch as slow as possible.

A hiccupped scream left Sydney this time as the intensity of the pleasure knocked the wind right out of her. Her eyes rolled back as her mouth fell open, feeling his hand tightening around her calf as he held it in place on his shoulder. "So fucking tight…" He groaned, resting his forehead against the ball of her foot as he stilled himself inside of her so that they could both adjust, the sensation almost being too strong for him at the early hour.

Sydney's knuckles went white as she gripped the sheets below her, rolling her head back and forth over the pillow as the sensitivity consumed her while he began a slow but steady rhythm, feeling her insides quivering with every stroke - the tickling of his overgrown facial hair on the sole of her foot only adding to the overwhelming pleasure that had every inch of her body desperate for more.

Tig felt himself losing control as her arousal took over, his grip tightening on her leg to try and keep her in place as she began to meet his thrusts and press her foot further against his face until he gave in, pulling her to rest in his lap as he pressed his lips against her sensitive sole.

Sydney felt a rush run through her body when he pulled her close, teetering on the edge of an eruption. "Flip me." She begged, out of breath with her eyes barely open as her orgasm continued to build hard and fast, controlling the imploring requests rolling off of her tongue.

Tig obeyed, pulling out and quickly flipping her onto her stomach, sliding his hand under her to bring her up onto all fours, but instead she laid back down on her stomach with her ass in the air. He felt a growl rumbling in the back of his throat as she presented herself to him so eagerly, running his hand over her ass appreciatively as he guided himself back inside of her, his eyes rolling back once again as her wetness slicked the tip of his dick and sent another jolt of sensitivity through him.

Sydney knew that she wouldn't last much longer, but she didn't want it to end - pushing her hips back to meet his long and agonizing thrusts as she chased the greatest pleasure that she had ever known. Her long moans swallowed every other sound in the room, reminding him that he was the only man on this earth who knew how to satisfy her.

"God damn, babygirl…" Tig groaned as she took control while he enjoyed the ride - literally - watching her tight hole swallow his thick cock that was dripping with her juices.

"Tiggy…" She whined breathlessly, feeling her stomach coiling tighter, and her head getting fuzzier.

Tig snapped out of his own personal heaven, remembering that he had a job to do. He gripped her hip lightly, taking back control as he leaned over her and attached his lips to her exposed shoulder, keeping up the long and deep thrusts.

"I'm here, baby." She felt his lips on her ear and his hand underneath her, keeping her pressed tightly against him as her entire body tensed and curled under his touch, waves of hot and cold crashing through her veins. She tried to open her eyes, to speak, but she couldn't - all she could do was succumb to the pleasure as it took her prisoner.

"I'm-" She couldn't even get the full word out before her body gave into the rare occurrence, squealing as her orgasm hit her like a freight train, and sent her violently gushing around him.

Tig was no match for her on a good day, let alone when she was squirting around his cock, and screaming beneath him. He tried to hold on; let her ride out the high for as long as possible - but the excitement was too much. He buried his nose into her hair as he came, marinating in his own orgasm before his legs started twitching from the sensitivity that the extra lubrication provided.

"Jesus Christ…" He groaned as he rolled off of her, landing on his back with a dreamy smile. "I love it when you do that." He looked at her with stars in his eyes, her red cheeks only widening his grin.

"Yeah, yeah…" She rolled her eyes, burying her burning face into the pillow.

"Nah, nah. C'mere." He tickled her ribs, pulling her into his arms where he pressed his lips against her jaw, sloppily kissing her over and over. "It's so fucking hot." He whispered as he ran his hand between her legs.

"You know what's even hotter?" She asked in a low coo, looking at him over her shoulder.

"Hmm?" He raised a brow.

"You-" She whispered as she turned to face him, lightly touching her lips to his chest before dragging them up his neck. "Getting me a cup of coffee because I just squirted for you." She bit his earlobe playfully.

Tig chuckled, shaking his head as he obliged - standing from the bed where he pulled on some sweatpants. "You want anything else? Food?" He asked as he approached the door.

"Coffee's fine, I need to rehydrate." She mused, nodding to the soiled sheet.

Tig returned her playful smile, closing the door behind him as he made his way out to the kitchen where he found Happy, pouring a cup of coffee as he tried to forget what he had just heard.

"Got enough for two more?" The quiet man nodded curtly, stepping out of the way. "You're up early." Tig nodded as he pulled two mugs from the cupboard.

"Couldn't sleep." Happy grunted.

"Yeah..." Tig smirked as he reached for the steaming pot. "She's usually a one and done, but I, uh… I keep her going." The curly-haired man winked, sending Happy stomping out of the kitchen with his lip turned up in a wince. "I thought that was what you wanted?" He shouted after the Nomad, but the shit-eating grin on his face gave him away.

;

"Hey." Sydney turned around from where she'd been loading the washer with Tig's bedding, her heart skipping a beat when a shirtless Jax came into view.

"Hey." She returned the greeting awkwardly. "You wanna throw anything in with this?" She nodded to the half-full washing drum.

"Nah, you go ahead. I just wanted to check in." Sydney felt herself stiffen with the familiar discomfort of being coddled, forcing it down with a deep breath. It was better than the alternative... "You guys seem to be okay."

"Yeah." She nodded, still feeling like her actions weren't as natural as she wished they should've been.

"I'm glad." The VP smiled with sincerity behind his blue eyes, hoping to tell her that he wasn't putting any weight to what had happened between them. "Never thought I'd miss the sight of you two mackin' on each other." He grinned playfully.

Sydney rolled her eyes, but chuckled as genuinely as she could. "Did you get to hold Abel?"

"Yeah, I did." His face lit up.

"Was it awesome?" She felt his infectious grin widening the smile on her face.

"It was pretty awesome." He chortled.

"I've never held a baby... I don't know if I would know what to do." She blinked through what had turned into surprisingly easy small talk.

"I didn't either." He scoffed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Tara and my mom made sure that I got in line..." He smiled bashfully.

"Tara… And your mom?" Sydney raised a brow, thankful that her awkward situation had been eclipsed by something much worse.

"Yeah… I know." Jax grimaced.

"Did you two talk?" Sydney had been too preoccupied to think much about the doctor since she had unleashed the wild accusations on her, and she wasn't sure if she felt better or worse about the fact that not once during her tango with Jax, had she considered the brunette.

"Nah, not with my mom there. Shit was tense..."

"I bet." She scoffed. "You gonna try and iron it out?"

"Don't know yet." Jax bit his lip. He knew what he wanted to do - but what he wanted to do, and what he knew that he should do, were two completely different things. He knew that he should just leave Tara alone - let her live her life on one side of the law, while he lived his on the other; go on pretending like they're nothing more than old flames who benefitted from each other's lifestyles from time to time. But what he wanted to do was the opposite. Even though he knew how much drama it would cause, how much drama it had already caused, he still couldn't stay away. She had just as much pull on him as she had ten years earlier.

"You should… She's got a lot of wrong ideas going on in that pretty little head." Sydney mused, drumming her fingers over his bare chest as she brushed past him.

;

Sydney spent the quiet Sunday doing things that normal people did; she tagged along to Lumpy's Gym with Happy, Half-Sack, Juice, and Donut before the Road Captain set off back home, went grocery shopping with Gemma, washed her car at TM, and got her hair freshly bleached at Cara Cara. She finally rolled back onto the compound after the sun had set for the day, just in time to intercept Tig and Clay as they geared up to meet with Cameron.

"We heading out?" She called as she approached the two men as they mounted their bikes.

"We?" Clay raised a brow, looking to Tig who shook his head rapidly in a desperate display of innocence.

"Yeah." Sydney grinned. "You're going for inconspicuous, right?" She nodded to their missing kuttes. "Group going out for a drink is much more believable, no one would expect a business deal to go down in the presence of a croweater." She mused. "You know what they say, 'two's a suspicious meeting, three's a party'." She winked as she rounded Tig's bike, swiping the spare helmet.

"Uh… Yeah." Clay blinked a few times. "Yeah, I guess so." She had a point, and he may be in need of some of her negotiation skills at the meeting that he had yet to find out the purpose of...

Sydney smiled cockily as she pulled the helmet down over her freshly blown out curls. She was smug about her sway over them, but her intentions hadn't been quite as pure as exercising a pull. She wasn't lying about her presence helping them blend in, but she wasn't truthful about the fact that she was pushing it in case the feds were still watching them. She was also dying to know what this meeting was about, and why a simple phone call wouldn't have sufficed - she wanted to be able to work out a plan for Laroy as soon as the answer hit her ears, rather than having to think on her feet and risk showing weakness to the gang leader, once again.

Gemma pulled her Cadillac up in front of the bikes, rolling her window down as she scanned over the trio. She felt her heart rate picking up - a feeling that had consumed her ever since she'd seen Tara and Jax eyeing each other up the night before.

"Hey, baby." Clay greeted his wife with a smile as he approached her low vehicle.

"Plain clothes?" She raised a brow worriedly. "Where you goin'?"

"Meetin' an Irishman for a drink."

"Well, be careful." She thought that the explanation would've eased her nerves, but it didn't. For some reason, it only made them worse.

Clay smiled, leaning down and kissing her lips briefly before waltzing back to his bike, and taking off before she could try and stop him. He thought that she was overreacting, but he'd learned over many years together that it was better to indulge and assure, than to deny and deflect.

"Sydney!" Gemma called to the blonde. "Come here." She nodded.

Sydney shuffled over to Gemma as quickly as possible without scuffing the red soles of her Louboutins on the pavement. "What's up?"

"You watch them." The older woman ordered as she narrowed her amber-coloured eyes. "I got a bad feeling…"

"Yes ma'am." Sydney smirked as her ego inflated even larger.

Gemma nodded, her next breath coming a little easier now that she knew that she had sharp set of eyes watching their backs. "You talk to Tig?" She lowered her voice, nodding to the curly-haired man who sat against his rumbling machine, watching the two women with a smile.

"Um, kind of..."

"What does that mean?" She raised a brow. She knew exactly what it meant.

Sydney felt her cheeks burning. She had been quite happy that Tig hadn't felt like a long conversation was necessary. They had established an unspoken understanding that they both knew what they'd done wrong, and were now finally on the same page about what they wanted, and how to get there; they didn't need to discuss what had happened in the time that they weren't together.

"Look at me." Gemma softened her tone, regaining Sydney's attention from the hollowness that had clouded over her previously lively green eyes. "I know you, and I know Tig. I know you two may think that you've got it all worked out, but you don't."

"Gemm-" Sydney sighed, beginning to roll her eyes.

"He hurt you. He needs to know that." Gemma cut her off. "You let him think that you were okay without him? Those same demons will come creeping right back in, will tell him that you only took him back because you liked the attention, and the same shit will start back up." She spoke the harsh truth to the sweet girl standing hopelessly before her. "Love is enough to keep him happy, it's not enough to keep him sane."

Sydney nodded along. As much as she didn't want to even consider reliving that awful night, Gemma's words - as usual - made sense. She liked living under the blanket of delusion that her and Tig could say everything that they needed to say without words, but that was what had brought their relationship to it's demise in the first place.

"Good luck." Gemma smiled, touching Sydney's face and pulling her down to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Sorry, dolls..." Tig called apologetically. "We gotta go." Sydney nodded to Gemma before hurrying back over to Tig where she wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face into the back of his black jacket.

Tig pulled his bike up alongside Clay's where the President was waiting outside of the dingy Irish pub across town, squeezing Sydney's denim-covered knee as he took her helmet. "You okay? What'd Gemma want?" He asked as he helped her to her feet, the pair following Clay inside.

"To make sure that I protect you." She smirked, side-eyeing him playfully where she saw that his curiosity had yet to be satisfied. "I'm okay." She nodded, turning her full attention back to whatever it was that they were there for.

"Hey." Tig nodded to Devon who was working behind the bar as Clay scanned the room, looking for the bald man - which was a harder task than one would think in an Irish bar - finally spotting Cameron as he sat by the far wall with his back to them. He walked up wearily, it wasn't that Cameron Hayes was a stranger - he was McKeevy's cousin, and local business partner - it was that he was walking into this completely blind.

"Boys." Cameron greeted them with a curt nod as he spun around in his seat, extending his hand. "Didn't know we had one more." He commented as he took a tentative glance at the little blonde.

"Sydney Harding. Part of our crew." Clay introduced her.

"Aye." Cameron nodded, motioning for Devon to bring over another beer. "Welcome to the cause." He shook her hand with a small smile, moving his barstool so that she would have room on his side of the table, while Clay and Tig took the opposite.

"Pleasure." Sydney returned the bald man's smile as she took her seat next to him, quickly deciding that out of the two Irishmen, she much preferred Cameron who seemed impartial to the fact that she was a woman.

"Where's McKeevy?" Clay cut right to the chase as he folded his hands on top of the table.

Cameron's face fell back into the frown that he had been wearing before they arrived, staring at the condensation on the outside of his glass while Devon set down the extra drink, and Sydney nodded her thanks. "He's dead." He answered quietly once the bartender left.

Shock washed over the table when he delivered the news. Sydney's mind began racing, wondering how this could have happened, if it was a message from the Mayans, what it meant for them moving forward...

"Jesus…" Clay winced as Cameron's eyes fell closed in grief. "How?"

"The Oakland Port Commissioner threatened to bust open the shipment that was supposed to come in today - wants to triple his pay off money."

"Hefner. Greedy prick." Clay sneered as Tig sighed. "Been riding roughshod over the ports for years."

At least it wasn't the Mayans. Sydney usually wouldn't have been glad to hear of an additional threat, but in this case, she would take it.

"Michael was pissed, went off on him for changing the deal. He got jumped by Hefner's port goons... They beat him, broke his neck, and left him for dead." His voice got thicker with emotion the more that he explained.

"I'm sorry..." Clay sighed.

"That's awful shit man, condolences." Tig added, Sydney nodding her agreement as she touched the grieving man's hand.

"Thank you." He squeezed her hand lightly, turning back towards Clay.

"Anything we can do to help with this?" The President shrugged.

"Aye." Cameron nodded, tipping his glass back. "I'll be your full-time contact from now on. I can get you your guns as soon as I find us a way around Hefner."

"You let us know if there's anything that we can do to speed up the process..." Sydney added pointedly.

"Lovely." Cameron smiled at her enthusiasm. "Glad we could work through this, Clay." He turned his attention back to the President.

"Me too, Cameron." Clay nodded with a sympathetic smile.

"How is, uh, the cause going?" Tig reached for his beer.

"Like any good war; slow and steady." Snickers rounded the table.

"Michael McKeevy." Clay raised his glass. "Good soldier, good friend."

"To a unified Ireland, that'll never happen with non-violence." Cameron added with a small smirk.

Sydney giggled, clinking her glass against theirs in the toast, making to tip it back before her focus was drawn to Devon who was yelling at the door. "What the hell do you guys want?" She slammed her drink down as her head whipped around to see what had caused the ruckus, feeling everything around her slow down and blur into the background, any noise instantly being replaced by the sound of her own heartbeat when she caught sight of the two hooded men, staring right at them. It was like she was watching the scene in slow motion as their arms clasped in front of them began to raise, revealing the guns that they were holding.

"Get down!" She screamed, jumping out of her chair where she yanked both Cameron and Clay to the ground as shots began ringing out, shattering the glasses where they'd been sitting just seconds ago.

Tig saw it coming half a second after Sydney did, dropping to the ground where he reached around for his gun as the shots began to get closer and closer as the shooters approached - the only thing separating them from death by ambush being a short wooden partition that separated half of the tables in the small bar. He took a deep breath, waiting for the moment between bullets when he popped up from behind the makeshift shield, firing three rounds right into the chest of one of the men while Devon took down the other with a single bullet from a shotgun that he'd had behind the bar.

Sydney remained on the ground, laying protectively over her President, but something wasn't right - it was no longer the world moving slow around her, it was her moving slow in the world. The gunfire had ceased, but her ears were ringing so loud that she didn't even notice as she continued to try to reach for her gun. Her head was spinning so fast that she couldn't even look down to see what the problem was as she struggled to move, feeling as if she was trying to move through water. Eventually she recognized the sound of Tig's voice, which, even muffled, was able to bring her back up to speed, but when she tried to lift her head to see what it was that he was saying, she couldn't. She blinked a few times, trying to gain her bearings as she took a deep breath before trying to move off of Clay, but she couldn't do that either. All she could register was her heartbeat getting quicker.

"Are you okay?" A worried Tig repeated from where he stood over both his President, and his old lady - both of whom hadn't responded the first time that he'd asked.

Clay began to panic for the first time since the attack when Sydney didn't respond, remaining over him with her dead weight. He was okay, but he could tell that she wasn't. "Yeah." He finally answered after peering up to see that she was alive and breathing. "Hey." He patted her bicep, trying to pull her back down to earth from whatever panic she'd succumbed to. "It's okay." But that didn't work either. He turned his body under her, grabbing her arm and gently guiding her onto the ground.

"Oh shit…" Tig's face went white when he saw it.

Clay's eyes trailed down to where Tig was looking, and his worry that she had just been startled by the attack was washed away by the reality of something much worse as he watched her blue jeans quickly turn red from the blood that was seeping out of the wound on her thigh. He pressed his fingers against the opening, feeling that the bullet was lodged deep in her muscle.

The surge of pain overtook the shock and sent Sydney straight back into reality as she cried out in pain. "Stop!" Tig yelled, racing over to her.

"Sweetheart…" Clay shook his head as he placed his large hand against her paling cheek. "This is bad, we need to get you to the E.R."

"No." She shook her head firmly. "Not from here. Feds will connect it to the Irish. This happened at the clubhouse - driveby." She choked out, clenching her teeth as she tested her steadily declining strength. She couldn't feel any lingering pain, but her mind was clear enough that she could feel her body shutting down.

"I'll call the guys." Clay stood, letting Tig take over. He knew that she was right - they couldn't risk the feds drumming up the conclusion that this attack had something to do with the Irish, but he also knew that they didn't have enough time to wait for a car to get her to the clubhouse where they could call an ambulance. They needed to get her to St. Thomas, fast. "Cameron, you get out of here."

"I'll lock the doors." Devon grabbed a handful of rags from behind the bar, tossing them to Tig before scurrying after Cameron.

"I'm sorry..." Tig winced as he pressed the heel of his hand against her wound, eliciting another awful cry, which brought tears to his closed eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay." She assured him shakily, placing her hand over his where she used her remaining strength to press her fingers against the cold metal of his rings.

Clay stomped over to one of the bodies, lifting the limp arm where the identifying ink stared back at him. "Mayans." He sneered, spitting onto the assassin as he threw the limb to the ground.

Tig went from visibly distraught, to so angry that he became calm as the word left Clay's mouth. The Mexican scum had fucked with him one too many times. Keeping him from Sydney, trying to kill his best friend, and now shooting his old lady. "I guess it's on." He spoke eerily as a murderous look came over him. This wasn't business, this was personal.

"And this war ain't gonna be slow and steady…"

;

Honourable mention to my sister who I suggested that I name this chapter 'Fire in Australia' because "it's a bullet through Sydney" 💀

Song for this chapter

Nate Growing Up - Labrinth