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After quickly washing up, I get out and wrap a towel around my waist. Walking back in my room, I pack a bag with several days’ worth of clothing and leave it sitting on my bed as I pull out a pair of grey sweatpants and a tee-shirt. Sliding my cut back on over my clothing, I make my way out of my room and lock the door behind me. No one needs to go in my room when I’m not here. I won’t be far and come back every day, but it’s not the point. Some of these women are brutal in going after what they want. I’m not going to be taking any chances for any reason. Not when we’re about to lay everything on the line for Jae.
Making my way to Zeus’ room, I knock and wait for him to let me in. He’s finishing up gathering the rest of what he needs so we can leave. I grab one of his bags as he takes two of them on his own. I’m glad I only have to pack one bag and not worry about bringing all the shit he has to worry about. It’s why he’s in charge of anything relating to a computer and I’m just the muscle.
“I grabbed her a burner phone. I’ll snag hers when we get inside the apartment and see what I can figure out from it. This shit really has me stumped. If they had cloned her phone, she’d still be gettin’ her calls and messages, someone else would be too. I don’t know what the hell someone could have done to fuck her over like this,” Zeus informs me as we make our way through the clubhouse and through the back to the row houses.
“I have no clue about any of that shit. I’ll take your word for it and we’ll go from there when you figure somethin’ out,” I respond, walking up the few steps to her door.
Jaelyn already has her door open and is waiting for us as we walk through and set our things down on the couch for now.
“We need to talk about a few things,” I tell her, as she closes the door behind Zeus and makes her way in the kitchen.
“Lash told me you’d be coming over. I started dinner. Pork chops, baked potatoes, and asparagus tonight. Is that okay?”
“Sounds good,” Zeus answers.
I take a seat on the new couch and close my eyes for a minute. There’s no way I can go to sleep with the talk we need to have. Or the amazing smells coming from the kitchen. I’ve never been around Jaelyn when she cooks on her own. I have caught her working among the ol’ ladies and Rebels in the clubhouse’s kitchen though. Jaelyn can definitely hold her own as she cooks. My mind shuts off as I just let the sounds and smells consume me. For now, there’s nothing else I can do.
BEING IN THE apartment with Jaelyn is not something I ever thought would happen. My plan, since she got drugged, has been to push her away and keep my life exactly how it is. No permanent woman, not sharing with Sabotage any longer so he can claim the girl we both want, and living my life for the club and doing what I have to in order to protect everyone in our family. Instead, I find myself drawn to Jae more than ever before. It’s not because her mom is threatening her or any of that bullshit. My reason is she handled herself like a fucking champ when she was confronted and barely showed an ounce of fear when it looked as if the sadistic fuck was going to go after her. Our little Jae Bird is stronger than she appears at first glance, and I know she can handle our shit. She’ll handle being an ol’ lady and she already fits in so good with the club.
“So, what do we have to talk about?” Jae questions us once we’ve eaten dinner and helped her clean up the kitchen.
“I’ve been lookin’ into your mom and the man with her at the diner,” I begin, looking to Sabotage for a second before continuing on. “What I’ve found so far isn’t good, Jae Bird. Not only is your mom up to some shady shit, but the club she’s hangin’ around is bad fuckin’ news. I know we don’t always walk on the right side of the law, but there are definitely things we don’t do. And never would. Nothin’ is off limits for these fuckers.”
“Like trafficking and raping women?” she asks, her voice wavering at the thought of something like that happening to anyone.
“Yeah, baby girl. I know you have a certain level of protection with your sister claimed by Lash. Weneedto offer you an added layer of protection. Zeus and I are gonna claim you. We’ve already told the guys in church and they’re on board with it. You’re loved by everyone here. Bein’ our ol’ lady gives you added security and the knowledge every single man in there would die for you,” Sabotage tells her, ripping off the Band-Aid in essence as I keep my eyes locked on the girl sitting next to him.
“No, you can’t,” she says, looking between the two of us as if we’ve each grown a second head. “Zeus can’t even stand to be in the same room with me for a long period of time. We don’t know one another good enough for you to make a claim on me. It’s for life and I refuse to tie you down like that. There are too many girls out there for you to choose from. I’ll just take the protection I’m offered by being Lash’s sister-in-law.”
“The reason I haven’t been around you has nothin’ to do with you, Jae. It has to do with what happened to you. So many fuckin’ memories were raised in me from that night and I’ve been fightin’ my own demons ever since Sab called me,” I tell her, taking a deep breath knowing now is the time to tell her my story. “Before I joined the club, I was just a guy who was doin’ everythin’ in my power to help take care of my family. It was my mom, a younger sister, and me. My dad was killed and without his income to help pay bills, things were rough.
“I started workin’ two jobs while takin’ side work on a daily basis. One night, I got a call when I was workin’ in the factory from the cops. My baby sister had gone out with friends and some stupid fucker drugged her before rapin’ her. She was in bad shape. They rushed her to the hospital where she was taken into surgery. After the drugs, rape, and beatin’ she took, the monster also took away her ability to have children. It crushed my sister. Abso-fuckin’-lutely gutted her.
“I went back to workin’ as many hours as possible daily to help pay for the added expenses we now had with counseling and gettin’ her the help she needed to heal from the trauma and lastin’ effects of that night. It wasn’t long after the attack took place when my sister, Julianna, started takin’ drugs. Anythin’ she could get her hands on to feel numb and not have to remember what had been done to her. My mom and I did everythin’ in our power to keep an eye on her and get her into rehab. Time and time again, she relapsed. Julianna went from bein’ one of the strongest women I knew to a shell of herself.
“After about two months of her runnin’ away, disappearin’ for days on end, we got another call. I had been workin’ for sixteen hours and just got home. My mom answered the phone to find out her daughter was found dead in a motel room. The needle was still hangin’ in her arm. Jaelyn, I couldn’t save my baby sister. Not from someone goin’ after her or from her gettin’ so lost in her own emotions and pain. I failed the one person I swore to love and protect in the most fucked up way. If I hadn’t been workin’ and had been home more, I would have seen the signs. Would have been able to stop her from killin’ herself because of the decision of one fucked-up asshole.
“That’s why, when I got the call about you, I went back to that period in my life. Every single night I barely sleep because I’m filled with nightmares. Only it’s you in my mind and not Julianna. It’s made me believe I’m not goin’ to be able to protect you when you need me to just like I didn’t protect her. Didn’t save her from herself. I can’t go through that again, Jae Bird. Because while I loved my sister and would have done anythin’ for her, it’s nothin’ on what I feel for you. What I’ve been feelin’ for you. We’ve been gettin’ to know you with the intention of claimin’ you once you graduated and lived your life. That’s all changed now.”
For several minutes, the three of us sit in stunned silence. I never meant to tell her about me falling for her. Not yet. I guess I was on such a roll with spilling my guts, it just kind of came out too. I have no clue what Jaelyn is going to think of what I just told her as I keep my eyes pointed at the floor. There’s nothing more I can say at this point in time. It’s up to her and Sab to break the silence.
“Zeus?” Jae’s soft voice calls out to me as I don’t look up at her.
Jaelyn’s feet are suddenly standing right in front of me as I take in the bright red nail polish covering her toenails. Her soft hand rests under my chin as she slowly lifts my head until I’m looking her in the eyes. Tears are silently sliding down her cheeks as pain fills her eyes. There’s no pity or anger as she looks down at me. Just understanding and something else I can’t quite recognize. Or don’t want to see in case I get my hopes up.
“I’m so sorry your family went through that. And that your sister lost as much as she did as a result of what was done to her. However, you have to know, what happened to her and what she chose to do afterwards, isn’t on you. She made the decision to numb herself instead of getting more help. She made the decision to continue taking the drugs despite you trying to get her help. Your sister wasn’t ready to accept the help your mom and you desperately wanted her to get. If you had been with her twenty-four hours a day, you still wouldn’t have been able to prevent her from going out and getting her hands on drugs. Trust me, I know. I’ve heard more than a few stories about my mom and the things she did.
“What happened to me is also not on you. I understand why you would get taken back to that night. Those nights. There’s nothing you could have done. I’m the one who never once told anyone about what was going on at school. I’ve been getting bullied and taunted since Hartley and Lash got together. All of a sudden I was some big biker slut. When I wouldn’t have sex with anyone at school, I was called a tease. One guy decided to take matters into his own hands and try to take something I wasn’t willing to give him. That’s not on you, Sab, or anyone other than him. If you had been there, you wouldn’t have been able to stop him from trying to pull the same shit. Honestly, it’s my fault. I accepted a drink from him that was already poured knowing that’s not something I should ever do. Zeus, you can only do so much and you’re only fucking human. Not everything is on you to control or fix,” she tells me, her voice wavering with emotion.
This right here is why it was so easy for me to start falling in love with Jaelyn. She might be young, but she’s smart as fuck and understands shit a lot better than most people years older than her.
Pulling her into my arms, I wrap myself around her as Jae digs her fingers into the hair on my head. She rubs my scalp, offering me any sort of comfort she can. Something I didn’t even know I needed.
“We want to claim you as our ol’ lady,” Sabotage says, the sound of him moving closer to us from his spot on the couch. “Will you be our ol’ lady, Jaelyn? Be ours for the rest of time?”
“Are you both sure about this? I’m not dumb. Like I said, I know this is for life and there’s no getting out of it if we change our minds?” she questions again.
“I want nothin’ more than to be able to call you ours,” I tell her honestly. “Everyone has seen it since the first day you walked in here. I felt fuckin’ disgustin’ when I found out you weren’t even eighteen yet.”
