Slasher: Devil's Rose #10

Chapter 26: Jax Easton

The car is quiet, except for the music playing, for about an hour before Iris speaks up again.

"I'm sorry for asking you to break tradition for me. That was wrong, and I should be more understanding," she announces, somewhat shocking me.

"I'm sorry it hurts you," I reply, "I want to tell you, but I don't know if either of us is ready for that step."

"I know, but I won't tell anyone. I have no one to tell."

Fuck, I can't take it. I can't take letting her feel like I'm intentionally leaving her out. I don't want her to hurt her. That's never what I have wanted. I trust her, but it's not about that. It's about the MC as a whole. It's about being able to protect everyone as best as we can.

"It's more than just that, Iris. What if someone tries to hurt you? You aren't technically affiliated with Devil's Rose, so we would have no basis to help you without getting in trouble with law enforcement. Yeah, we work with them, but we still have rules to do what we do. We can't start a territory war over a person an official member cares about. I'm trying to protect you."

She doesn't take her eyes off of me, lowering the music once again.

"What?" Iris questions in disbelief.

"Yeah. It goes beyond me just not trusting you. It's about protecting you and the MC. Right now, if someone were to try and get information from you, it would be up to the police to save you. We would all get arrested if we tried to save you ourselves. There would be in Devil's Rose MC, at least in Westmoor, anymore."

"Why didn't you tell me this?" she announces, throwing her hands up in the air.

"You're technically not supposed to know that," I shrug.

"Because it's an MC rule."

"Right," I nod.

She rubs her forehead, lacing our hands together.

"Iris, it's not supposed to hurt you to not know, it's supposed to keep you in blissful ignorance. I'm sorry that it does not feel that way, and I want you to know that I will tell you anything you want the minute that I can. Anything at all."

I love you.

She squeezes my hand in reply and leans her head against the headrest. We smile at each other before letting the music take over in a comfortable and way less tense silence. I want to make her my Old Lady, and I would do it right now, but at the same time, I'm not sure how ready we are for that. It's not like once she's an Old Lady that will be held hostage for the rest of her life. 

But what it does is change the way she's in and the way that she can live her life. People will know that she's mine. As much as I want that, it's a more complex decision than loving someone and doing it. Or just wanting more information about the motorcycle club. I want her to think about it before saying yes to anything.

For the rest of the drive, we chat, listen to music, and have some parts in silence, Iris reading her romance novels beside me. Along the way, we take a few stops to visit some pretty places along the I20 interstate and grab lunch and gas in Sweetwater, but besides that, we stay in the car, dying to get to our destination. 

The closer we get, the more excited she is to see her brother, Carter. When we get about twenty minutes away, he texts her that he's already sitting down at the restaurant, and her squeal fills the car. 

I'm glad that she has such a good relationship with her siblings, but it also makes me so much more nervous than I would be if she didn't like them. I talked to her other brother, Elijah, over Facetime, but that's different than meeting someone in person. Meeting in person is just so much more scary and personal.

Pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant, she points out his car, bouncing in her seat. We walk inside the restaurant, and she fast walks straight toward him, wrapping him in a tight hug. They look alike, their noses and eye shape the same, but his hair is more of a strawberry blonde than Iris' bright red. 

I shake his hand, and he eyes me up and down, making his initial judgments. We sit, chatting about how we're doing, and what we're in town for. Iris lets me handle that question because she knows that I know how to answer it better than she does. 

She actually lets me handle all of the questions MC-related. Carter can tell, but he also knows better not to question it, sensing there are some things that he doesn't need to know.

"How's the mechanic job search coming?" Carter asks Iris.

"It's good. I'm actually getting some instruction from a local mechanic right now to see if he wants to hire me. I've been doing that for about a week now, so that's been good. How's your job?"

"Good, super good. I've enjoyed being able to travel a lot and take pictures of pretty landscapes," he answers, referring to his job as a photographer who earns his living by doing landscape and other photography commissions.

"Have you met anyone at all? Or are you still single?" she continues.

"Still single but it's good for me. I don't feel like I need anyone right now," he answers carefully, and I can tell there's something he hasn't told her.

I keep myself out of his business though, trusting that if it was going to hurt her, it's better kept unsaid. For now.

After finishing dinner, we say goodbye to Carter, letting him have his night, and head to Dallas headquarters. They are fine with Iris staying there knowing that she isn't officially affiliated as long as she doesn't go near the offices or near any of the tech rooms. 

Which I think is entirely understandable, and Iris doesn't care that much since she only wants to see her brother for the most part. I think they are seeing each other tomorrow too and going on adventures around Dallas, so she won't be alone while I have to work. 

She shouldn't be around what we are discussing anywhere, not until I tell her about Max.

We wave at the camera outside of the headquarters door, and it's opened by Guardian, who is this chapter's president. We have a quick conversation with him and a few of the other members, but for the most part, we are just being guided through the hallways, and he's telling Iris which areas to avoid. 

She clings onto my arm, keeping me by her side at all times, and I can tell that's she nervous by how much she's paying attention. Guardian can tell too by the soft look on his face. He doesn't want to make her uncomfortable at all which I appreciate about him. I think he has an Old Lady of his own so he understands.

He opens the door to our room, and I allow Iris to walk in first, knowing that this place is safe, and no one is in there. She changes out of her clothes, brushes her teeth, removes whatever makeup she has on, and collapses onto the bed once she has her pajamas on. 

I thank Guardian and tell him that I'll meet him at his office around ten in the morning. He nods his head, not arguing since I kind of rank higher than him even though he's a president. I'm an official member under Alpha which makes me higher than anyone in other chapters.

"I'm so fucking tired, Jax. It's ridiculous."

I don't argue with her out loud because she would give me the "I'm going to kill you" look but she's correct. 

I'm the one who drove seven hours today, had to meet her brother for the first time, and dealt with meeting the president of an MC. She has some reason to be tired but not to the point of being so dramatic about it. I love her anyway though.

"It was a long day, flower, it's okay to be tired," is what I really say in reply.

She sighs, tucking her legs under the covers of the bed.

"Guardian was nice. Reminds me of Alpha a little bit. But Alpha is way less direct."

In the instances she's had with him.

"I can see that," I say, even though she's talking complete nonsense.

She lays her head down on the pillow, letting her eyes fall closed.

By the time I've gotten ready for bed, Iris is asleep, breathing softly. I get under the covers and curl my body around hers, falling asleep myself.