Chapter 17
Jax
S itting in the office, I want to get everything sorted out before I take Alice home for the weekend. We are getting to know each other on a personal level, and I know we are going to make this work.
Alice is in the clubhouse kitchen at the moment and has all the women in there with her. I told Lethal to stand watch because I know he’ll crack down on any shit that may be thrown Alice's way.
Lethal gave me his report, and I was more than thankful all brothers checked out as clean. Teckie apparently has been running checks, not wanting us to have any more trouble with traitors within the club.
I think Lethal was disappointed as he’s been bored of late. It seems since we cleaned the chapters up and got them all away from illegal shit, he hasn’t had a need for his particular skills. I’m sure something will come up in the future, it always does.
Now, Gunner’s report was interesting, and it seems we have ourselves a petty thief, but she’s not as clever as she thinks she is. Here in the office, I have a box…in this box, I have a watch, fourteen thousand dollars in cash, a necklace, two bracelets, and an assortment of lingerie. Now, why lingerie I don’t know, as she hardly wears anything, anyway. But this is fancy shit that is not from a dime shop. It’s the good stuff that would look hot on Alice.
This will end today and both myself and Gunner are ready to show this bitch what the door looks like when you are on the way out of it.
Gunner and I walk out of the office and to the bedrooms the club whores use. Seeing Beryl packing her suitcase, I grin as I turn to look at Gunner. “You think someone is getting ready to run?”
Gunner chuckles in reply. “Oh, yeah, but as Sheriff Bowden is on his way, we’ll need to keep Beryl here until he arrives. See, the thing is, Beryl, we have you on CCTV taking the shit, plus of course we found it all in your room. That’s why you’re running now, right?”
“I did nothing. You are wrong.” Beryl tries to bluff.
“Yeah, well, we’ll let the Sheriff decide.”
Taking both myself and Gunner by surprise, Beryl runs past us and down the hall, through the common room, and toward the gate. Since we are right behind her Gunner shouts the prospect on the gate to stop her.
Oh, he sure stops her. He tackles her, and she bangs her head on the ground, knocking herself out. Standing, the prospect shrugs as he steps back to the gate and his duty.
It’s only a few minutes before the Sheriff arrives, and once she starts to come around, he drags her into the back of his cruiser. Taking the evidence along with him. Thank fuck, that’s the end of that thieving skank.
Bolt’s report on the shopping was interesting too. It seems the freezers were nearly empty, and the fridges were in the same state. Now I say freezers and fridges because we have two commercial ones for each.
Two club whores and one of the old ladies were the last to have shopped for groceries. My issue is where the fuck is the money they were given to do the shopping? Because they sure as shit didn’t buy any food.
That’s another thing that will need sorting out so Alice can stay on top of the women. I feel sorry for Bolt as he’s worked so hard, yet behind his back, the club as a whole has been sitting on their asses. Well, not on my fuckin’ watch.
Beast walks into the office and gives me a sorry smile. “Time for us to get back to the chapter. You know what it’s like, things to do, people to see! But we’ll be back often ‘cause Black wants to be a part of Alice’s life now. He is looking forward to grandkids and being called some stupid fuckin’ name.”
“Oh, like you won’t mind being called Gramps?”
A chuckle escapes when I see a red tinge hit his cheeks right before he smirks. “Gramps sounds damn fine, I have to admit. Black can be PopPop…” throwing his back laughing, he walks out of the office mumbling PopPop, and each time he laughs more.
Shaking my head, I follow him out and half an hour later stand with an arm around Alice who has a few tears in her eyes while we wave bye to Beast, Black and their brothers.
I had watched Alice hugging Black. She was crying gently, but he whispered something which calmed her, and then he kissed the top of her head, gave her a last squeeze before handing her to me.
Kissing the top of Alice’s head, I say reassuringly, “They’ll be back soon. You know your Papa won’t be able to stay away from you long. Now, let’s get this place organized so we can get back home and have ourselves some time.”
“Oh, can I have one of the prospects bring my older Camry to store on the compound? I don’t want to sell her. She means a lot to me,” Alice asks.
“Of course you can. I’ll arrange it, so consider it done.”
Alice kisses me quickly before heading to the kitchen. I sigh and walk back to the office, where I want to get this paperwork finished.
Alice
Walking into the kitchen, I notice Daisy is sitting at the kitchen table amongst all the dirty breakfast dishes. Daisy, Jodie, Candy, Ginger, and Lola, in fact, all the club whores minus Beryl, who was removed earlier today for stealing.
Feeling someone behind me, I turn my head and Lethal is leaning against the doorframe, giving me a slight nod of the head, which is his way of saying he’s watching out for me.
Taking in the roster on the wall, I see Daisy and Ginger were on kitchen duty today. Turning, I give them a look, place my hands on the table and lean forward.
“Daisy, Ginger, you are on kitchen duty today, so why are you sitting amid all the dirty breakfast dishes? In fact, it looks like dishes that have been here for days.”
“We’ve been too busy,” Daisy snarkily replies.
Throwing my head back with a false laugh, I snap back toward her, “Blowing a brother is not classed as being busy enough to not do your duties. Now you get showered and changed, and don’t let me catch you doing anything in this kitchen with any kind of bodily juices on your person…” I give every one of them a hard look. Lethal chuckling has them all realizing they have an officer watching what’s happening, so they keep their mouths closed. Well, it makes a change, I sarcastically think to myself.
I watch as Daisy and Ginger flounce out of the kitchen, but at Lethal’s murmured, ‘ Move it, ’ they increase the speed of their walking, much to his amusement.
“Jodie, Candy, you are on cleaning duty, so get your asses out of here and get the common room cleaned before starting on the rest of this filthy place.”
They both must see how serious I am, and seeing my First Lady cut, they know they have no option but to make a move and do as they are told.
“What do you want me to do, Alice?” Lola asked meekly. Now I’ve seen this woman in town and she scurries around, keeping her head down, never causing trouble. From what I heard when I was here previously, she is saving all she can to move away and improve her life.
“You are supposed to be having a day off, Lola. But do you think you could go with a prospect and get groceries? I have a list ready. I’ve employed a cook who starts on Monday, and these are the basics that he wants in the pantry, fridge and freezer.” Now it is one heck of a long list and will probably need the prospect to take the truck, which has me grinning to myself because this is not going to be a quick shopping trip.
“I can do that.” Lola gives me such a sweet smile that I am going to make sure she gets a pay rise.
Passing over the shopping list, which I had tucked in my cut pocket. I also hand her the club’s card that Jax gave me for the groceries. “Get everything you can, pay with the card and when you come back, I will try to be here to help you put everything away.”
“No, I’ll put away with the woman.” Turning, I give Terry a huge smile. He’s the new cook and he’ll whip this place into shape in no time. He’s prior-military and used to giving orders. Lethal and Terry do the man-bumping shoulders thing, but I smirk when Daisy and Ginger walk back into the kitchen looking like they are going out on the town, even with four-inch heels on their feet. I look at Terry and as he starts to rip strips off them for what they are wearing I sneak out of the kitchen with Lethal behind me chuckling to himself.
The old ladies I’m ignoring for the time being. But, I’m positive I will put them in their place and ensure they do as I ask, or they will be banned from the clubhouse. Belle keeps trying to speak with me, but I only answer what is required and do not engage in any kind of general chit-chat with her, or any of the others. They will learn a new ‘girls’ code given time, but not yet!
Walking towards the office, my phone rings in my cut pocket and taking it out, I see its Sadie. Now that is unusual that she contacts me over the weekend.
“Hi, Sadie, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m okay, thank you. But I wanted to let you know Lester Bradbury contacted the office last night. It was late as I was packing up my desk to leave, and I was an hour later than normal. Anyway, he wanted us to know that his wife’s treatment has resumed, and it looks promising. He was so grateful to Ronald and Jeffrey for not throwing him out of the workplace and making sure the insurance helped pay for the treatment.”
“You would have to be very callous to do that sort of thing, and they may be our bosses, but they are decent human beings. I’m thrilled to hear that things are looking up for them.” I feel like she’s not telling me everything, but before I can ask, she gives a little cough.
“Um, I’m going to take a week off soon. I’m going to visit Ryan.”
“Ryan? You mean Beast Ryan?”
Giggling a little at what I can hear is a touch of embarrassment. “Yeah, that Ryan. We are going to get to know each other.”
Laughing loudly, I must shock Sadie. “Well, remind him to wear a condom.”
“For goodness sake, Alice, I’m too old for that sort of thing now.”
I giggle because I know Sadie well enough to know she’ll be blushing and her face will be bright red. But if anyone deserves happiness, she does. She’s been on her own for far too long. It’s also time ‘Ryan’, got himself settled down once and for all.
Later that evening, sitting up in bed with Jax’s arms around me after a round of loving, I grin when Jax asks, “How many kids do you fancy having? After we get married of course.”
“Maybe one.” Turning on my side and pretending to sleep. I’m going to tease Jax with this, as it’s going to be funny watching him squirm.
The next day at the clubhouse I’m watching Terry scold Daisy for entering his kitchen looking like a slut. I can’t help but think he’s going to be good for the club and whip these women into shape while he’s at it.
“Alice, your Papa has been talking to me and he wants to know if he can be Gramps instead of Beast, because he’s not keen on being called PopPops.” Jax is smirking and I know he’s trying to push my buttons.
Now I’m wondering why he didn’t speak to me, but when I see the twinkle in Jax’s eyes I know he is in cahoots with my Papa and more than likely Beast.
“Hm, maybe after you build a house in the compound, we can get married. We could have a kid or two, or four. He could be Gramps. I suppose but that’s up to him and Beast to get it sorted out. I’ve been thinking we could have a horse, dog, or even a pig, we could collect an animal farm with mini goats. Oh, what about having a rescue program within the compound?”
Turning my head to look at Jax, he has a look of horror on his face, and when I can’t hold the laughter back, he growls, but I take off running, laughing as I go. It doesn’t take long, of course, for Jax to catch me, throw me over his shoulder and shout to everyone that we are going to check out his room.
It's not that long ago that I was thinking, ‘Life Sucks!’ But it is what you do with it afterward that counts. Do you sink or swim?
I may have lost some people out of my life, but I gained many more. Time will tell what is going to happen in the long term, but one thing is for sure, I’m not going to worry about it.