Chapter 12
Alice
“ W hat the fuck are you talking about, Jax?” I screech, and believe me, it is one that is likely to burst eardrums.
"Fuck!" I hear from all three of them. Beast and Black are giving Jax a deathly glare. Jax is holding his hands out in a ‘calm down’ type of motion.
Black grabs my hand and pulls me to sit next to him, where I’d jumped to my feet when I’d screeched at Jax. “Calm. We need to explain why Jax said that.”
“Okay, but it better be good, or all three of you are dead men walking.”
Black, who I’ve not called Papa as yet, takes a deep breath, looks at Beast who is his President to get a small nod of agreement about what he’s going to tell me. “Melody and one of the brothers have been helping a dealer get into town, selling bad drugs to the college kids. Three kids have died as a result so far. We have taken care of the brother, and we will take care of Melody, who has been buying, selling, and using the drugs…not those drugs, of course, because she knows they are dirty.
“Melody has also gotten herself an old man. His name is Sting, and he is a brother of the Death Dealing Dogs MC. We think she was a mole to get information about the Rampaging Rioters MC. She will be dealt with accordingly. She, by the way, was never pregnant. It was all a lie to get into the club.
“Now, our worry is Sting will come looking for his old lady, and will see you as the one to grab, being Sacks’ ex-old lady. He’ll try to grab you to hold you for ransom, to exchange for the disgusting bitch.
“We need to get you back into the club, with an old man of your own, and one of significance. Now you have options. One, it has to be an officer of the club that claims you. Two, you can leave town and come home with me. Three, swing in the wind and hope they don’t find you. Which is it going to be?”
“Come on, Alice, we’ve always gotten along well. I like, admire and if I’m honest, would be honored to have you as my old lady. You’d be the first lady of the club too, which means you’d be the one to put the club whores in their places. The old ladies will defer to you also, and if they don’t, they have to answer to me, as the president of the club.”
“I didn’t know you were president. What happened to Bolt? He’s okay, isn’t he?” I actually like Bolt and would hate to see him hurt badly, but a few bruises would be okay for how he dealt with things.
“He’s fine. He’s my VP now, and he’s happy about it too. I had to step up to be president of a chapter and with how things fell here, it was an ideal one for me to agree to.”
“Oh, okay. I understand what you are saying, and I don’t want to be snatched by another club. I don’t want to leave town either…” I give Black a ‘sorry,’ look, then continue, “I wasn’t looking to be involved with the club ever again. I like you too, Jax, and if you are okay to take things slow, then let’s call me your old lady for now. I will make changes at the club because the way things went down showed the family values are not strong enough, and a brother fucking up could get away with it with no consequences. I want nothing to do with Sacks.”
Beast smirks. “He’s coming with me when I leave. He’s going to be moved to another chapter. He’ll make a damn fine VP for one of the chapters, but I want him far away from you.”
“I can live with that, Beast.”
“Okay, so you got yourself an old lady. You got yourself an old man. Jax, you need to move in here with Alice, and remember you’re basically my son-in-law now, and you hurt my girl and I’ll bury you so deep not even your pops will find you.” Black gives me a hug, nearly pulling me off the chair in the process.
“I got myself a daughter. Who would have thought it? Always liked you from our first meet, Alice, and I’m more than happy to have you as part of the family.” Beast walks over and picks me up out of my seat, hugging me as hard as Black had. Jax is grinning like a fool at them both, and for some reason looks like he won the lottery!
I’m wondering what the heck I’ve done, and am I going to regret this in a big way. I’ve always been a risk-taker, and that’s what makes me so good at my job. I don’t shy away from losing. Now, I’m not sure how this is going to work, but I’ll give it a shot. I always fancied Jax but kept that fact to myself, even from myself, as I was with Sacks. But I’ve realized I was with Sacks because it was easy, no pressure. He mostly stayed at the clubhouse and I stayed at my apartment, except for odd nights. I’ve not missed him, and that is again, telling.
“We’ve got this, Alice,” Jax grins as he takes me out of Beast’s arms and taps me under the chin, lifting my face to look at him. “We can make a go of this, Goldie.”
Before I can even begin to wonder why he called me Goldie, he abruptly presses his lips against mine and engulfs me passionately. The moment his lips leave mine, I experience a dizzying sensation. My vision becomes foggy, and I struggle to remember what day it is. Holy moly, if he kisses like that, what’s it going to be like…no don’t go there, I think to myself.
“Be alert from this point, Alice. I don’t want Sting to get his hands on you. I’ll get a prospect on duty to follow you, then he can report back if he sees anything suspicious.” Black takes me from Jax, and I’m feeling like a parcel being passed around.
Looking up at Black, who kisses my forehead while giving me such a tender look, it makes me want to cry. All the years we’ve lost because of my mother has me wanting to smack her silly. Before I think about it I blurt. “Can I call you Papa?”
Tears fill Black’s eyes. “I would be honored, daughter.”
I can’t hold back the tears that fall, and as Black holds me tightly, I feel his body shaking as he cries. I allow my tears to fall alongside his as it feels cleansing. I never thought I’d have a father figure in my life, and here I am holding my Papa. It feels good, it feels right, and it has me feeling complete.
“You call me Uncle too. Either Uncle Ryan or just plain Unc would do,” Beast states as he grabs me for another hug, and as I’m nodding okay, I’m bursting with the emotions these three have given me. I giggle a little as no way would I call him Unc. It sounds like a pig grunting.
Jax is moving into the apartment next week, after we’ve made an announcement to the club members. I need to speak with Ronald and Jeffrey because if they find out from anyone else, it would hurt them deeply.
Monday morning and sitting behind my desk, I wait for Ronald to join me. I left a message with Sadie to make sure he appeared, because he has a habit of flitting from one thing to another and forgetting something or somebody waiting for him.
I check an investment that I’d highlighted and see it’s going in the right direction. I’m not putting any of my cash on it, as I’m thinking of purchasing a block of apartments, which I could lease out, or flip and sell. I crazily threw all my savings into a tricky investment two months ago and watched the figures carefully grow. I wanted to at least treble my stake, but in the end, I did twice that and came away with three-quarters of a million dollars. More than enough for this apartment idea if I decide to run with it.
Ronald walks into the office and gives me an enormous smile. Now the look on his face tells me he’s up to something, or done something he hopes I’m going to be okay with.
“I’m not sure what you’ve done, but before you confess, let me tell you about my weekend.” I quickly tell him about Jax, what’s happening, and why. My father and how Beast is now my uncle. The whole time I am talking, Ronald’s eyes get larger and rounder.
“Well, it seems you have a man, a father, and an uncle all in one weekend. Honestly, I don’t think even I could have managed that one.” Ronald giggles while flapping his hand around, which reminds me any minute Jeffrey will appear. Jeffrey is never far behind Ronald and knowing he’s in my office, he’ll want to be in the know.
Sadie walks into the office, giving Ronald a small smile before turning to me with a grimace on her face. “Your mother is here. She’s refusing to leave, and the security guy wants to call the cops. What do you want us to do?”
“Send her up. Ronald, you stay here. Thanks Sadie.”
“What the hell does she want?” Ronald snips, and I know he’s never liked my mother much, although I had tried to tell him we were close. He never agreed with me and said she was only using me for financial support. He may have been right in his assumption I have realized of late.
My mother rushes into my office missing the fact that Ronald is sitting in here with me, and opens her mouth, spilling all kinds of vitriol about my being an awful friend, a terrible daughter, and cutting her off financially, which is ruining her.
Both myself and Ronald wait for her to run out of steam. When she pauses long enough, I speak. “I have supported you since I was sixteen and working weekends and evenings. That was alongside making sure my schoolwork was done and done well. All that time you had men in and out of your life, giving you money to help you out. Do you know what that makes you, Mother?” I snarl, and when she remains quiet in shock at the tone of my voice, I continue, “A prostitute, that’s what it makes you. Nothing but a whore.”
Screeching, she rushes forward to slap me, but I get my slap in first. I was ready for her this time. She’s hit me three or four times previously and I know the signs now. My hand hits her face, and hits her hard. Her face shoots to the side, and the sound of the slap nearly echoes around my office. Ronald is on his feet and standing next to me, ready to deliver his own slap, I’m sure.
“How dare you hit me? I’ll have you arrested for assault.”
“Go ahead, try. Everything you’ve said is on the security feed. It will show you tried to hit me first and my reaction was self-defense. Now you either leave, and one day we may get our relationship back, or you continue as you are and we are fully done with no coming back from it.”
Turning, my mother storms out of the office, and Sadie pops her head in the door. “I’ll make sure she leaves the building.”
“Thank you, Sadie,” Ronald says as he grabs ahold of me and hugs me tightly.
The door opens again, and both Ronald and I giggle when we hear. “How many times do I have to tell you to leave my man alone?” Jeffrey, however, joins the hug before asking, “Why are we hugging? What’s going on?”
Taking our seats, I let Ronald fill Jeffrey in on all the information I’ve told him, and about the interruption of my mother's visit.
“You know, Alice. We always saw how disgusting your mother was, but you loved her and we honored that fact. But she is such a witch. You need to walk away now and let her grow up. She needs to support herself or find some schmuck to do it,” Jeffrey snarls.
“I know, and she has shown me her colors of late. She’s not been supportive over the Sacks thing, listening to her friend instead of her daughter. Hiding who my father was all this time, yet she has associated with a biker in the past, as I saw her with him. But anyway, let’s not dwell on it. So, what do you two need to tell me?”
“We purchased the building we told you about, and we’ll be leaving to set it up as an extra office for the business. You will be the manager here Alice, and the Camry will be here next week,” Jeffrey states and grins at the last.
“I had a feeling this was what you wanted to tell me. But if you are expanding the business, I understand why you are doing this. Maybe you’ll end up with a few offices and become tycoons.”
“You are not angry?” Ronald fidgets in his seat.
“No. I’m happy for you both, and I know you were thinking about doing this last year, then changed your minds. Go for it. I’ll keep the home fires burning.”
The rest of the day flies, and I answer texts from Jax, Beast, and Papa. They all three are doing so much to get to know me, and in turn, I get to know them.
Beast is possessive and proud. He’s worked hard all his life, and I know he had a hard time of it in the past after Jax was born, but he brought Jax up to be a good man.
Papa, I have a lot to learn about. He so far is showing me he’s a loyal brother to his club. A great uncle to Jax, and has lost a woman he wanted to marry. He admits he’s been a bit of a man whore but didn’t want to commit to anyone. Which makes me sad because he deserves to have someone to love him.
Jax…well, I don’t know too much about him, but I’m willing to learn. I’ve always fancied him, but now is my chance to find out if he was worthy of all my dreams, or if he’s going to be an enormous disappointment.
Later that evening, I’m watching a movie when I hear a bike outside. My heart speeds up thinking maybe Jax is visiting. Looking out of the window, I see a biker I don’t know sitting across the street studying my house. I duck away from the window, and now my heart is racing, but for a different reason. Fear is why it’s racing now.
Picking up my phone, I quickly dial, and Jax answers on the third ring, “Hi, Goldie, you okay?”
“There’s a biker outside my house. He’s across the street, but he’s watching my house.”
“Stay inside. Don’t answer the door. Lock any windows and doors you have open. I’m on my way.” Jax cuts the call, and I quickly rush around, checking everywhere is locked. Maybe I need to get a dog, a big dog that likes to eat people!
A thought pops into my head, which leaves me worrying. I was supposed to have a prospect watching me, and if I did, where is he?