Chapter 4
JAX
He ignored the jokes and teasing that came his way as soon as he sat down at Church, taking it all in stride. What else could he do? If he reacted, they’d only go on longer. He learned that long ago, though, admittedly, he was usually one of the instigators of the teasing and joking. Guess he couldn’t put up too much of a stink now.
Savage banged his gavel, silencing all of it and gaining their attention. He looked harassed. “Alright, let’s get this shit out of the way already. It seems we’ve picked up yet another pain in the ass woman, and though it’s supposed to be only for one night, I think we can all tell that it’s going to be longer. Right, Jax?” he asked with a pointed look.
Jax shrugged. “She’s running from something, and I want to know what it is. Makes it easier if she’s here.”
“Brother, just admit you want in her pants,” Ink scoffed. He was the club’s tattoo artist, and owned a small shop in town with one other person. He was six feet, covered in ink, with long dark hair and blue eyes that gave him that rugged charming look to the ladies. Though he was good and happy being single and able to fuck any woman that agreed. Ink was the biggest man-whore of them all, and he wore that title proudly.
Irritated that Ink was trying to make it all about using Saylor, Jax glared at him and warned him tightly, “Fuck off.”
Ink sobered and stared at him for a moment. Then he groaned and whined, “Not another one. Fuck. You all are dropping like flies and popping out babies so fast that this place is getting overrun.”
Jax didn’t correct him and turned back to Savage. “She’s running from something,” he repeated. “That car isn’t registered to her, and I saw a handgun in her bag. For a woman driving on her own, yeah, I can see that, but it’s in a bag she never lets out of her sight. Classic signs or she’s only got what she’s got and nothing else, and doesn’t dare risk it.”
“Or she robbed a bank and has the law after her,” Rogue countered. “If she does, we’re leading them right to our fucking gate with her staying here.”
The club was a 1%er club, and while they didn’t touch anything in the skin trade, they had plenty of shit around the property that the law would love to get their hands on. They couldn’t risk them showing up, even if it was to look for Saylor.
“You get her last name?” Steel asked quietly. Another big man, topping out at six-four, he was quiet and reserved, but rarely asked questions in a roundabout way. He was a blunt guy, thanks to his SEAL days. Half the time, Jax wasn’t sure that he remembered he wasn’t enlisted anymore, with how he kept his hair regulation short. His body was muscular and always in top shape, and he had icy blue eyes that could freeze you in your tracks the moment you pissed him off, unless you were a child, one of the women, or especially his Old Lady and son.
Jax shook his head at the question. “She didn’t offer it when I asked her name.”
“How many Saylors could there be?” Razor pointed out. “Code or Glitch could probably find her in a matter of minutes.”
“But do we want to take the chance that someone will be tipped off if we go looking?” Fury asked.
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just insult me or my Old Lady with that question,” Code sniffed, clearly miffed at that statement. Their resident hacker as well as the club’s security expert, he was six feet of lean muscle, dirty blonde hair, and green eyes. He didn’t look like a computer nerd, but the man was a whiz with anything tech. Though with the addition of his Old Lady, Glitch, he’d been picking up a few more tricks lately that definitely made their lives easier.
Fury rolled his eyes at him. “You and your Old Lady aren’t the only hackers in the world. And we always seem to find women with some of the biggest people around after them, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that whoever is after this one might have some connections.”
Code looked at Savage, ignoring that. Jax knew all too well how much Code’s self-esteem was tied to his abilities, and he was the sensitive sort when it came to his work. “If you want me to find her, I can have it within a couple hours.”
Savage looked at Jax. “It’s up to you, brother. While she’s here as a guest, you’re responsible for her. That means you need to decide if you want to take the risk of not knowing.”
Jax mulled that over. He never thought in this lifetime he’d ever be responsible for a woman. Hell, he never figured that he would want one. Being a confirmed bachelor suited him just fine, but right now, the thought of losing that status wasn’t as worrying as he would have thought. He also knew that what Savage was laying at his feet was a big damn deal. If she was running from the cops, or someone else that could cause problems for the club, that was something they needed to know. They looked into the other women when they arrived at the club, something that occasionally come back to bite them in the ass when the women found out, but considering they were all still here, it stood to reason that Saylor could get over it too. Still, he wanted her to tell him herself, and not read about it on a screen.
Finally, he replied, “See what you can find, but don’t share it with me yet. I’m going to check on her after we’re done and I’ll see if I can’t get her to tell me on her own. But if she doesn’t, by morning we’ll know what we might be dealing with.”
“If it’s bad enough, are you going to force her to stay?” Rogue asked.
“If I have to,” he confirmed.
“Alright. Code, do your thing; figure out who she is and what’s on her tail. For now, we operate as if we know nothing else,” Savage decreed.
“Should we be leaving the women with her, if we’re not sure?” Ice pointed out grimly. Also a former SEAL, Ice was similarly quiet, reserved, and not known for being a gentle man. At six-two, with lean muscle covered in ink and blue eyes the hue of his name, he was their go-to for torture and anything that needed a sniper. Steel was just as sharp a shooter, but Ice had a quality that even made Jax uneasy at times; a darkness that simmered just beneath the surface, waiting to be unleashed if you pissed him off enough. Still, in some moments he could joke and banter like the rest, and right then, he seemed to be relaxed and unconcerned.
“Glitch and Karissa are there if there’s a problem,” Razor offered. “Those two aren’t going to let anyone get hurt or push them around.”
“I’m more worried that they’re going to give the woman pointers and Savage is going to get a bullet to the head this time,” Ink snickered, earning a glare from his President.
“She doesn’t strike me as the kind of woman to shoot unless she felt threatened,” Jax interjected. “And like you said, the women can take care of themselves. I’ll see what I can find out tonight, and if it’s anything important, we can decide what to do then.”
“Good,” Savage announced briskly. “Then we’ll consider this matter tabled for now and get on to other business. I need to get out there to help with the girls anyway, or Royal is going to have my ass.” Their identical twin daughters were about three months old, and had their Daddy wrapped around their fingers. They kept them busy, along with their five-year-old son, Ronin, who was enjoying being a big brother but still trying to navigate the jealousy of having to share the attention of his parents.
They covered the rest of their business quickly, talking about upcoming runs and deals that needed to be handled, as well as updates on their legal businesses, which were doing damn well and turning record profits for the year. It felt good to be in the black, and Jax knew he was going to add to his already flush nest egg. He didn’t have anything to spend his money on, but eventually he wanted to build a place here on the compound for himself. He was getting close; soon he’d talk to Savage about breaking ground.
Finally, Savage dismissed Church and they all headed out to the common room. Unsurprisingly, it was empty, which meant the women were most likely over at the apartment with Saylor. “Tell my woman to get her ass over here when she’s finished,” Code told him as he headed toward his inner sanctum, down the hallway near the stairs. “We got shit to do.”
“That’s Code-speak for ‘lock the door and fuck her brains out’,” Razor snickered. Code looked over his shoulder with a wicked grin before he disappeared into his office.
While some of the brothers spread out, Jax, Savage, Fury, Rogue, Steel, and Razor all headed out the door to find the women. As they walked outside and across the drive toward the warehouse, Jax joked, “Prez, I’ll make sure to go first, just in case.”
“Fuck off,” Savage replied drily, no heat behind his words. “I still say we should frisk every woman that steps foot on the grounds. Get rid of all weapons and we won’t have a problem.”
Fury chuckled. “They’d still manage to sneak something past us, and you know it. And you can bet your ass if they managed it, they would make you pay.”
Savage muttered, “Fucking hell.”
When they reached the steps on the outside of the warehouse that led up to the apartment, Jax could hear the laughter coming from inside even from there. He exchanged a glance with the other men, who looked resigned to what they were about to see. When he reached the top, he knocked loudly and called out, “We come in peace, don’t shoot!”
He heard some laughter from inside and grinned. After less than a minute the door opened, revealing Saylor. She had let her hair out of the low ponytail, and it was now hanging around her face and over her shoulders. An amused smile played on her full lips. “Enter at your own risk,” she told him, before turning around to walk back into the apartment.
Despite being a surprisingly large space, with so many people in the apartment, it felt a hell of a lot smaller, and he found himself standing close to Saylor, who was leaning against the counter beside Glitch, looking amused herself. “Your man told me to tell you that you have shit to do, and to get over there to help him,” Jax told her with a grin.
Glitch arched a brow at that. “He’ll just have to wait, won’t he?” she replied. She was only five-two, and her hair was currently a bright purple sexy bob. With a thin, lithe figure, you’d never know from looking at her that she was also a former mercenary. Sure, she was edgy, but until you really paid attention, you didn’t know that you were standing next to a woman that had the skills and training to kill you before you could take your next breath. She also had an attitude in spades and kept her man on his toes as much as possible.
“Feeling overwhelmed yet?” Jax asked Saylor, leaning against the counter next to her.
Saylor arched a brow and looked at the full room. “A bit, but I mostly see a bunch of people that are one big family. Which reminds me, I meant to ask, is there a rule about being hot to get into this club? I mean, all of the guys are sexy as shit, and the women are stunning. Hell, even the kids are clearly going to be heartbreakers.” She looked at Glitch for the answer.
Jax tried not to get annoyed that she thought all of his brothers were good looking, but instead focused on the fact that she had included him in that description. Women told him that for years, but until now he never really cared. With Saylor, he wanted her telling him, and only him, that. None of these other bastards, whether they were in relationships or not.
Glitch laughed. “Not officially, but it seems to work out that way. You’ll fit in then, because you’re gorgeous. I’d kill to have your figure,” she added with a quick, but pointed, once over at Saylor.
“Shorty, you’d kill to have the figure of anyone else, especially with those tiny tits of yours,” Karissa laughed as she came over, one of the babies in her arms. Razor followed her, a soft look in his eyes. It was no secret that he’d been trying to convince his woman to give the subject of babies more than a passing thought. Karissa and Glitch were the opposite in looks. Karissa stood at five-eight, with thick dark brown hair and equally dark eyes, and while she was still in shape, she had softer curves compared to Glitch, and the two women were constantly comparing themselves to each other. It was normal for them, and neither of them ever got upset.
“You still have some weight to lose in your ass, so I guess we’re both out of luck,” Glitch tossed back. She looked at the baby in Karissa’s arms. “Which one is that? I still haven’t figured out which one is which.”
“This is Eden,” Karissa replied with a soft smile. “Royal’s feeding Emerson.” She gave the sleeping baby a soft kiss on the top of her head. “She’s far easier to handle than her sister.” The babies were identical with red hair like their mother’s, along with her emerald green eyes, but their scowls were pure Savage.
“Your man is getting baby fever just watching you,” Glitch teased. “Better hand her over or you’re going to be pregnant before you leave here.”
Karissa glanced back at Razor, who didn’t deny anything as he stood watching them. Karissa turned back and said, “Nah, maybe in a couple of years. For now, I’m happy to play aunt. But if that’s your way of trying to hold her, go grab another baby since I just got her.”
Glitch rolled her eyes. “The only other baby is Harley, and he and I still haven’t come to an understanding about his need to poop on me whenever I’m holding him. Did the Poo-Mageddon once and now he thinks it’s his right.” Saylor let out a shocked laugh at that. “I’ll tell you about it another time,” Glitch promised. “Trust me, it’ll cure any baby fever you might be feeling yourself. Now, I need to get to my man before he comes and hunts me down and I have to hurt him. I have use for him later. Saylor, you need anything, text me and I’ll be over. Or, if I finish up early, we can head over to the bar for a drink.”
“Sure, that sounds good,” Saylor agreed with a smile. Glitch headed out with a call to everyone, and then Karissa turned to hand over the little bundle in her arms to her parents. Savage took his little girl instantly, expertly holding her to his chest and smiling down at his wife, who was bottle feeding Emerson. “I’m still figuring out names,” Saylor said quietly, drawing his attention. “Savage and Royal are the baby twins’ parents, right?”
“Yep. They also have the little boy, Ronin, who’s sitting next to the other boy. Ronin just turned five,” Jax said, leaning his head down to keep his voice low enough so that only she could hear him. “Want a quick rundown of who everyone is?” She nodded. “You know Esme and Fury; the bigger boy, Gabe, is their son, and he just turned nine. Rogue’s Old Lady is Scarlett, the other woman with the reddish hair; she’s a librarian in town. The twin teenager hellions are Wren and Winter, and they’re Rogue and Scarlett’s kids. And you know Razor’s Old Lady, Karissa. The final woman is Harlow; she’s Steel’s Old Lady. Their little boy Harley is the one with the giant set of lungs if you don’t give him attention right when he wants it.”
Saylor’s lips twitched. “Yeah, I heard those earlier. You guys have a lot of people in your life.”
Jax nodded. “Gets a bit overwhelming, huh?”
“Considering I don’t really know any of you, and come from a small family, yeah, you could say that,” she replied with a dry smile. “But everyone’s been nice so I can’t really complain.”
“Not much of a crowd person?” he asked casually.
She shook her head. “I’m happy to be alone. I don’t mind gatherings, but I like them in small doses.”
“That’s not going to happen in this crowd,” Wren drawled as she leaned against the counter on the opposite side of Saylor. “Everyone’s always doing something together. But you get used to it.”
“And if not, we have some really great spots to hang out where no one bothers you,” Win added with a smile as she moved to stand beside her twin. The two girls were inseparable, and Jax supposed that stemmed from the trauma they experienced and relied on each other to endure.
The girls were identical twins, with strawberry blonde hair, honey brown eyes, and cherub faces. They only stood at five-six, but Jax could have sworn they had grown a bit in the last month or so. He wouldn’t be surprised if they surpassed Scarlett’s five-seven height in the next couple of months. The twins weren’t biologically Scarlett or Rogue’s, so he was interested to see how tall they would end up. He also wondered if that meant their shenanigans would grow with their age too. It was a running joke with them and Rogue on how much they could push him and piss him off, and he wasn’t ashamed to say he gladly helped them when they asked for it.
What Win said finally sunk in, and he arched a brow at her. “You girls better not be wandering around the property snooping,” he warned them. “You know the rules. You two get hurt or lost, and Rogue will have our asses before he kicks yours.”
The girls rolled their eyes at him in sync, and Saylor grinned, amused. “We know. And no, we don’t do any of that. But you all are exhausting sometimes,” Wren moaned. She looked at Saylor. “If you’re sticking around at all, just know they’re a kinky lot here. Always talking about spanking asses or tying each other to beds. It’s weird.”
Saylor’s grin widened even more, if that was possible. “I’ve already heard,” she assured her. That made Jax arch a brow. First, where had she heard that? And, secondly, is that something she was into? Because if so, he’d be glad to help her out. An image of her tied to his bed and at his mercy filled his head, and his cock jerked behind his zipper. Shit, he needed to stop thinking about that, especially with so many people around.
Wren and Win exchanged a look. “Not another one,” Win muttered. “It’s like there’s a sign painted on the front gate that says if you’re kinky, come on in.” Wren nodded. Then they moved away from the counter, leaving Jax and Saylor alone once again.
Jax chuckled and said, “Those two are hell on wheels. But it’s fun to mess with them, too.”
Before Saylor could reply, Esme, Royal, their men, and kids stopped to say goodbye before heading out. “It was nice to meet you, Saylor,” Royal said with a sunny smile, as she gently rocked one of the babies in her arms. “If you need anything, our house is next to Esme’s; just knock. But if you wake a baby, you’re on baby duty,” she added with a teasing wink.
Saylor smiled. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She looked up at Savage. “I’d say thank you for letting me stay, but since it was an order, I don’t think ‘thank you’ is the right expression.”
Savage smirked at her. “You didn’t shoot me, so that’s thanks enough,” he drawled. “Come on, woman, let’s get the kids home so you can have a bath and relax.” Then he ushered out his family. Esme again offered for her to come see them if she needed anything, and then headed out the door with her man and son.
“We’re staying in the apartment above the garage tonight,” Rogue told Jax when Scarlett also seemed ready to leave. He looked at Saylor and asked, “You good?”
Saylor nodded. “I’m good.” Then she smiled at Scarlett and the twins. “It was nice to meet you all.”
“You too,” Scarlett said with a warm smile. “Sorry if we overwhelmed you. We’re just like that around here, where everyone meets up.”
“We really need to come up with a name for ourselves,” Win remarked thoughtfully. “Something badass, that strikes fear into anyone who hears it.”
“Oh, yes, good idea!” Wren agreed. “We’ll have to give it some thought.”
“Jesus Christ, just go,” Rogue huffed. “You can plot world domination and shit in your room.” Scarlett chuckled and they headed out the door.
“What’s funny, is that they probably are,” Karissa remarked, coming forward since she and Razor were the last couple there. “At the least, they’re coming up with a plan to shake up Rogue’s world, since he’s the one they like to mess with the most.”
Jax and Razor exchanged knowing grins. Rogue knew that too, and they were convinced he loved it, deep down in that cold heart of his. As much as he loved to grump about the shit they got into, he was proud they were growing up into strong women that could handle themselves.
“Gonna be interesting when they head off to college,” Razor remarked. “I think I heard both girls are talking about going out of state.”
Jax winced. “That happens, and Rogue’s gonna be a bear.” Razor nodded grimly.
Karissa rolled her eyes. “He’ll get over it. I bet you anything him and Scarlett have babies before they leave, and it’ll keep him busy. Now, I could use a drink. Feel like going over to the bar?” Karissa asked Saylor.
“Sure,” Saylor said with a nod. “Since I don’t have to drive home, makes things handy that you have one right here. Let me get my wallet.”
“Nope,” Jax said firmly. Saylor paused and turned to give him a narrow-eyed look. “Brothers and their guests don’t pay for drinks at the bar,” he explained. “You can be mine, so you can drink to your heart’s content and not worry about the bill.”
“Not exactly a smart business practice if you’re trying to make money,” she remarked, clearly not buying it.
“We make all kinds of money from the public,” Jax assured her. “And most often, the brothers drink at the clubhouse, so us being there isn’t going to impact profits. Don’t worry about it.”
Saylor stared at him for a moment before she moved to where she had left her bag, and grabbed it. The same one she never seemed to be far away from. She reached in and pulled out her wallet, sliding the zipper closed before turning back and giving him a pointed look.
Karissa snickered. “I like you,” she announced to Saylor, which made the other woman smile. “Alright, let’s go. You two can argue over payment for drinks when we get there.”
There wouldn’t be any arguing, Jax knew. She could try to fight him on it all she wanted, but Saylor was going to learn she wasn’t paying for shit with him around. He was all for women’s rights and being progressive, but there were some things he wouldn’t budge on, and this was one of them.