Promising Young Women | Sons of Anarchy Fanfiction | Jax Teller x OC

Chapter Nine: I Put a Spell On You

Tuesday, 3:32 pm

Grace sliced her gaze up from her computer screen to Luna, swiveled her eyes to Juice, and then back to Luna again. They'd been at this now for at least fifteen minutes, and she was at the end of her rope here. Back and forth, flirt and giggle, and then back and forth again.

"I mean, Juicey," Luna had herself practically draped like a cat over the reception counter. "When I read those new pages, I was like, damn, that is some hot-ass shit right there... and it's kinda romantic-like too, with that scene when they're in the tub. I don't even know how we're gonna film that, but it's gonna be hot."

Juice ran a hand over his mohawk a little sheepishly, as if he didn't know what Luna was really up to here, as if he didn't see the way her eyes glittered and sparkled at him.

Ugh. Get a room already.

"Yeah, uh," Juice swiped a hand over the top of his head again, glancing down at the counter as he spoke. Apparently, eye contact was too hard for him right now. "You know, when I was writing that scene, I was kinda picturing you as Mariana, actually."

Grace lifted her eyes to the ceiling, fighting back the urge to literally tip back in her chair to put herself out of her misery. While she would've liked to just make a clean getaway and excuse herself to the staff room or something like that for the time being, the problem here was that the club president who was currently holding court in her boss's office would probably be making an appearance any minute now. And while she'd normally cut and run just because of that, he also had a deadline to meet, and it was technically her job to help him meet it.

True to her word, Lyla had left a long laundry list of items for Jax to check off this afternoon, and for the most part, he was doing it without needing much of an assist from their shared assistant. Of course, Lyla gave him the softball tasks - like signing off on the production and marketing schedules, and giving some blanket approval to things like props, condoms, lube, and costumes - while she handled most of the more detailed and knowledge-intensive tasks, like most of the meetings with the marketing, writing, and pre-production teams. So, still most of the work.

But at least it was something because, just like yesterday, Jax breezed in through the front door today at around 1:00 with Maddie in tow, and after handing things off, Lyla and Maddie had left about ten minutes after that - with Maddie waving excitedly, See you tonight for Hocus Pocus, Miss Grace!

She gritted her teeth at that thought and dropped her focus back down to her computer screen. There was no point in arguing or making excuses or doing anything else that might get her out of this movie night tonight. Because, come hell or high water, Maddie was going to force her chauffeur to roll into her driveway sometime between 5:00 and 6:00 tonight, and they weren't leaving until she got in the car.

Somewhere, deep down, she knew she could just bail and go anywhere but back to her duplex once she was done with work today. She knew that. But she wouldn't risk that little girl's disappointment either - not with the epic disappointment and heartache that was probably headed her way. Sure, Maddie's parents were starting marriage counseling today, but Grace's parents had been in marriage counseling before too. And just because they'd stayed married didn't mean they'd stayed happy.

So, for Maddie's sake, she'd power through movie night and keep her distance from Maddie's uncle as much as humanly possible. Besides, that girl talked 100 miles a minute, and with her as a buffer between them, her solo interactions with Jax would hopefully be few and far between.

And all that being said, watching that movie with Maddie sitting on her couch on Sunday morning, listening to her chirp away endlessly, experiencing one of her favorite movies through the eyes of a four-year-old... it had tugged at something inside her. Something that she'd usually been better at ignoring and shoving back down into its place.

"I think you're gonna knock that tub scene outta the park, to be honest," Juice just kept right on going.

Jesus, did they forget she was even sitting there and able to hear every lame thing that came out of their mouths?

"Are you gonna be on set when I film it, Juicey?"

And that was the moment the office door behind her opened as Jax strode right through it, a pen tucked behind one ear and a stack of papers in his hands. He glanced up from the contracts in his grasp just once and tipped his chin to Juice and Luna with a bright smile.

"'Sup, prez," Juice grinned back at him as he rested his elbows on the counter, seizing this opportunity to shift an inch closer to Luna.

Luna just feigned nonchalance, wiggling her fingers at Jax in greeting instead. "Hey there, boss man."

Jax shot her a crooked grin before dropping his gaze down to Grace, his lips parting - but Grace decided to seize this opportunity too.

"You know what I think you two should do?" she swiveled her eyes back and forth between Juice and Luna, acutely aware of the exasperated huff coming from the other side of the reception counter. "There's this new, cute little restaurant over in North Charming that someone told me about..." she tapped her finger to her chin, pretending to think, "I can't remember who, but anyway -"

"Oh, I think I know which one you're talkin' about," Juice wagged a finger at her before snapping his fingers together when it came to him. "You mean, Salt?"

Sure.

And when she dared a glance at the blonde intruder to her right, he flicked his eyebrows high into his forehead as his blue eyes squeezed with annoyance. So, Juice's guess was spot-on.

"Yep," Grace grinned at Juice. "That's the one. But anyway," she shot Jax a victorious smirk as she spoke, "Once you guys are done here at the studio, you should totally go check that new place out - maybe get a drink or two, maybe some food, and then you can go over that super-hot bathtub scene and talk about all the scenes Luna's filming tomorrow too."

She let that sit there for a moment, winking at Luna just for good measure, and when her eyes darted back to Jax, she found him staring at her with a mirthless smirk curving up the side of his face as if to say, Well played, princess. Well played.

Yeah. She thought so too. While he'd have to drag her kicking and screaming into that restaurant, there was no reason, say, Luna and Juice couldn't enjoy it and use it to their mutual advantage.

Now, all eyes were on Juice. Would he step up or choke? Because, seriously, Luna shouldn't have to do all the work here - and Grace had practically handed him this golden opportunity on a platter. All he had to do now was reach out and take it.

He rubbed the back of his neck with some anxiety that might've been cute if it wasn't so damn annoying, and glanced at Luna out of the corner of his eye, "I mean... I think that could be fun. If that was somethin' you wanted to do, that is. But if you ladies had plans for a girls' night or somethin' I don't wanna -"

"Nah," Jax cut in with a sly grin as he tipped his chin right at Grace. "She's spoken for tonight. We have a thing."

Grace narrowed her eyes at the smirking biker cowboy across from her as she wordlessly brought her mug up to her mouth, and even as Luna cackled from the other side of the counter.

"He's right though," Luna added, sliding in just a touch to get closer to Juice. "So that means I'm free. And I'm game if you are."

Juice's dark eyes flashed wide with surprise - did he really think she would say no to that? But in the end, he must've known not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and he recovered from that little fumble just as quickly. "Uh... okay. Maybe we could leave right from the studio?"

"Sure," Luna nodded with a cheshire grin. "Can we take your bike?"

Grace fought the urge to yet again roll her eyes right up to the ceiling. Jesus, Luna couldn't have been any more obvious and Juice couldn't have been any denser. But given the way his eyes sparked and the excitement and anticipation creeping across his face, he was catching on a little bit faster now.

"A'ight," Juice's smile shifted on a dime, turning cocky and smooth all at the same time, when about two minutes before, he'd looked more like a teenager fumbling through asking a girl out for the very first time. Not so much anymore.

And that was all Luna needed to hear before she hooked her hand through Juice's arm and led him away from the reception desk, "Listen, Juicey, I need to head back to my dressing room, but you're more than welcome to hang outside while I change into my costume..."

Jax turned his head to watch them disappear down the hallway for a moment before shifting his attention back to her with a smirk.

"Aw," he hooked a thumb over his shoulder at Luna and Juice's retreating backs. "Look at you... bein' a little match-maker - you know, that guy has been in love with her for... years. Literal years. Or, at least as long as she's been with the studio."

Grace's eyebrows shot up into her forehead. "Really?"

"Uh uh," Jax leaned into the counter on his elbows now to get closer. "Someone swooped in and stole her away before he got up the courage, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," she started slowly, a little unsure of how to play this with him right now. Because while she knew exactly who he was talking about, Jax wasn't exactly privy to that information. "She mentioned she'd been seeing someone for a little while, but now she's not."

He tipped his head to the side, appraising her with some new interest now. "That's right. What else did she say about him?"

"That was pretty much it," Grace shrugged a little too easily, given the way that lie just rolled right off her lips. "But I could tell her and Juice were into each other pretty much from day one."

"Well, that's true. It's not like either of them do a good job of hiding it, but all that back and forth bullshit has really been gettin' on everybody's nerves anyway so I'm glad they're well on their way to finally doin' somethin' about it. But you know," he leaned just a touch, his blue eyes sparkling, "If you wanted them to move along just now so you and I could have a moment alone together, all you had to do was say so, princess."

She cocked a disapproving eyebrow at him. "Inappropriate, Mr. Teller. Inappropriate."

Jax's hands shot up in the air, his leather-covered shoulders shaking with laughter. "Alright. Alright. We're at work - my bad," and with that, he dropped the stack of papers onto the counter, "So, I think I'm done with these. I know they all need to get out in the mail by the end of the day, but do you think you could double-check everything for me just to make sure I didn't fuck anything up? I mean, I don't think I did, but that doesn't mean I didn't."

Very true.

And since her whole reason for being in this studio in the first place hinged on holding down this assistant gig, that also meant she had to do it well enough to not get fired. Which meant she needed to make sure the prez hadn't completely fucked up all the marketing and production contracts that needed to go out by five on the dot.

"Alright," she nodded to him begrudgingly. "I'm pretty sure I can handle that. What about the electronic contracts though? Did you take care of those already?"

Jax's eyes flashed wide. "What electronic contracts?"

"Are you kidding me?"

His lips parted to respond, but some buzzing from inside his kutte stopped him short. He held up a finger apologetically as he reached inside his kutte for his phone and flipped it open.

"Yeah?" Jax answered, listening for a few moments before adding, "Aw shit, man. I'm sorry... yeah, yeah. I know, I know. I'm on it... I'm just a little tied up right now, but... yeah, send it over and I'll take a look and get back to you."

By the time he snapped his prepay shut again and dropped it back inside his kutte, she was just about done with him today.

"Sorry," he flashed her a quick smile, almost as if he could read her thoughts. "That was my contractor. I was supposed to give him the okay on some shit yesterday and completely spaced," and when he must've seen the confusion written across her face, he jumped to explain, "I'm right in the middle of tearing apart my kitchen."

What?

None of that computed. How had they gone from talking about the electronic contracts he'd obviously spaced on to the kitchen renovations he'd spaced on too in the span of 30 seconds?

"You know, I, uh..." Jax's lips pulled apart in a grimace as he scratched the back of his head. "I do seem to remember - now that you mention it - some e-contracts or whatever the hell Lyla called them before she left today. I know she showed me where they were, but I have no fucking idea where they actually are. Any chance you might know?"

It would've been really satisfying to just feign ignorance - no, Mr. Teller, whatever do you mean?? - but seeing as how she did know exactly where those electronic contracts were because she'd saved the links in a folder on Lyla's computer herself, this was also kinda her job right now.

Fuck my life.

"Alright," she grumbled as she pushed out of her chair and headed for Lyla's office with Jax hot on her heels.

Once she moved next to the desk, she sliced a hand at the chair, gesturing for Jax to sit down. There was no way she was doing this for him - she'd show him, sure, but she wasn't doing his work either. He sank down into the chair, reaching for the mouse and prepping for her instructions before she even had a chance to say anything.

"So, all the links are saved in the H drive -" she stopped short when Jax glanced at her uneasily from the corner of his eye. "Do you know where the H drive is?"

"Um..."

So his name was literally on the shareholder paperwork for this place was one of the owners and he didn't even know where all their files were kept?

Fucking man-child.

Grace pushed out a rough sigh, yanking some stray hair behind her ear. "Okay. Click on the folder icon on the bottom of your taskbar."

He hesitated, his mouse hovering in the middle of the screen for half a second too long. "Do you think you could just -"

"No, Mr. Teller, I'm not going to just do it for you," she pushed out through gritted teeth. "The only way you're gonna learn how to do this is if you do it yourself."

And she wasn't really helping him - or herself, for that matter - if she just handed him the crutch he'd asked for just now.

Jax's eyebrows leapt into his forehead, his sky-blue eyes sparking with amusement and just a hint of fear, and he muttered under his breath, "Yes, ma'am."

"Alright. Click on the folder icon and scroll down until you see the H drive," she tried to frame her instructions in as light a tone as possible, but she kinda wanted to punch him in the face right now too. Just because. And then she walked him through the rest of the steps until he toggled right over to the folder that held all the links he needed. "So, then all you have to do is click each of those links, sign them, and hit confirm. That will send them off to wherever they need to go."

"Okay," Jax nodded, keeping his concentration right on the task at hand. "Quick question - how do I sign a contract like this electronically though? I mean, do I use a pen or..." he trailed off, probably because, when he glanced her way, he found nothing but fire in her eyes. "Nevermind. I'll figure it out."

"Sounds great, Mr. Teller. You do that."

"Thanks for your help, princess," he winked at her, and she was right in the middle of shaking her head when Lyla's computer chimed with a new email alert.

He didn't hesitate and somehow, knew how to get to Lyla's email but not the drive where they kept all their documents stored. After scanning the email, which looked like it was probably from that contractor he'd just been on the phone with a few minutes ago, and then he called out to her absentmindedly, "Hey, princess, what do you think of this?"

Before she could stop herself, Grace squinted at the email in question. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," he gestured helplessly to the mockups of two different kitchen layouts on his screen. "I mean, they both look the same, right? And I was supposed to tell him which one I wanted literally yesterday."

"Well..." she studied the mockups a little closer now. "One's got an island. The other doesn't. Looks like both have some room for a range and everything... there's more counter space with the one that's got the island too."

Jax tipped his head from side to side as he sifted through all that, before scratching the underneath the blonde scruff on his chin as he squinted at her through one eye, "So I'm guessin' more counter space matters?"

"Yes, Mr. Teller," Grace sighed exasperatedly. "It does. You're planning to cook in your new kitchen, aren't you?"

"Well, sure."

"Then I say go with the island and more counter space."

He nodded almost immediately at the screen, hitting reply on that email and firing off his selection. "Alright. Done. Thanks, princess. I probably woulda just picked the first one just 'cuz it was the first one."

Grace huffed out a laugh, shaking her head at him as she straightened to put some more space between them. "That's nice. Glad to see you're taking your home renovations so seriously."

"Hey, I said they both looked the same to me," he shot back with an easy grin before that grin faded just a touch. "And I don't know... the house doesn't really feel like mine yet anyway. That's why I'm doin' all these updates in the first place," he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and then jumped to explain, "It used to be my mom's house. She died six months ago and left it to me, so... now it's mine, I guess. Which is still kinda weird for me 'cuz that was the house I grew up in, ya know? Never thought I'd actually ever live there again, but..."

He trailed off there as he pushed out a rough sigh and ran a hand over his face. And for the life of her, Grace just didn't really know what to do. This had all taken a sharp left turn here into territory neither of them were obviously all that comfortable with, and then she found herself eyeing him with more sympathy than she really wanted to give him.

"I'm sorry about your mom," she told him softly. "Some people around here have told me a few things about her - all good things, for the most part."

Jax barked out a laugh, shaking his head at her with a wry grin. "I guess people have a tendency to look more like saints after they're gone, huh? Doesn't matter what they did in life once they're dead anyway."

"Yeah, I guess I know what you mean."

Maybe she really did know what he meant as her thoughts drifted to Dani and the life she'd lived, the choices she'd made. And when Jax turned his head to study her, it sent her reeling. His eyes were everywhere, seeing more than she wanted him to see, knowing more than she wanted him to know, and she took a careful step back - both physically and mentally - and swallowed back the burning in her throat.

"Well, um, I'm gonna go double-check that stack of contracts now. If you need anything else, just let me know, I guess."

"Thanks," he called after her.

But she was already long gone and closed the door behind her as fast as she could.

***

5:42 pm

How had this happened? How was she standing in her boss's kitchen right now, watching a four-year-old tyrant dictate the terms of pizza toppings with her exasperated uncle?

"Mads, maybe Miss Grace doesn't really want just cheese on her pizza, okay?"

"She told me that's what she likes, Uncle Jax."

"Maybe she just said that to be nice."

"No! You order the pizza she wants! You need to be nice to her!"

Jax lifted his eyes to the ceiling with his prepay in one hand - and ready to order some pizza - and his other hand perched on his hip with barely-bridled frustration. His gaze dropped to Grace just once, as if to say, Help me? Please?

But she just shot him a wide grin. Nah. He'd made his bed tonight.

"Well, alright, but there's no way you need your own pizza. If you and Miss Grace want to share, that's fine, but Ellie wants pepperoni and black olives, Kenny just wants cheese and onions and you know he gets all weird if other toppings touch his pizza, and I actually want something good - and I'm not ordering everyone their own pizza tonight."

"I'm going to be five in this many months, Uncle Jax," Maddie held up four fingers, making sure to put some emphasis on it just so he understood. "I can finish a whole pizza by myself. Just you watch!"

"Uh, no, Mads, you can't finish a whole pizza by yourself. You literally can't. Besides, you and I both know you're just gonna pick the cheese off and that's it."

And that was Grace's cue to chime in.

"Actually, I don't mind if Maddie wants a pizza all to herself," she smirked at Jax as she leaned up against the island in Opie and Lyla's kitchen.

Jax pushed out a long sigh, tipping his head back as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Alright, alright," he rubbed his eyes now, his prepay still clutched in a vise grip. "So, I guess Maddie gets her own pizza, and Ellie and Kenny get their own pizza, and Miss Grace and I can just do half and half -"

"Oh, no," Grace grinned. "I won't be splitting anything with you. If Maddie gets her own cheese pizza, then I'd like one too."

His eyebrows shot into his forehead as his lips curled back into a playful snarl. "Oh really? Now you'll be splitting with Ellie whether you like it or not, princess."

And at that, Maddie scrunched up her face, tugging on his flannel sleeve to get his attention. "Uncle Jax, why did you call Miss Grace that?"

He cocked an eyebrow at Grace, his mouth quirking up in the sly smirk she was starting to hate with a burning passion. "'Cuz she acts like a princess. That's why, Mads."

But that didn't appease the little four-year-old hurricane who called herself a child. "That doesn't sound very nice. You can't be mean to Miss Grace like that! Don't call her names and let her have her own pizza too, okay?"

Jax's entire face seemed to contort as he struggled against the burning frustration he just had to be feeling at this whole thing - Grace, on the other hand, was biting down on her bottom lip so hard to keep from laughing she tasted some coppery blood. But after he squeezed his eyes shut one more time, he just shook his head, resigning himself to his fate tonight.

"Alright, alright. I guess everybody gets their own pizza tonight. Jesus Christ."

Maddie gasped, her little mouth forming an "O" and her bright blue eyes shining as she whispered, "Uncle Jax. You said a swear."

He closed his eyes, and by the time he opened them again, Maddie was already pointing to the clear, half-full container sitting on the counter, marked "Swear Jar," and he grumbled under his breath as he dug into his back pocket for his wallet. When he flipped out a dollar and tossed it into the jar, Maddie shook her head furiously.

"Nuh uh, Uncle Jax, you said two swears," she held up two fingers for him now. "The J word and the C word. That means two dollars, not one."

Jax just cocked an eyebrow as he jabbed a finger at her. "You said I said a swear. That means one," and when she tossed him a pretty epic stink-eye, he just waved her off, "Go get your blanket, hit up the bathroom, and then we'll start the movie."

And although Grace would never admit this out loud, the deft way he'd diffused this whole thing, from the pizzas to the swears, was actually kind of impressive. He certainly knew how to handle a four-year-old, which was kinda ironic, considering he could barely handle a computer. As she watched Maddie scamper off down the hallway, she chewed on her bottom lips absentmindedly as he called in the pizza order, grumbling under his breath about fucking $60 worth of pizza that's only gonna get half-eaten. The longer she stood in this kitchen, the longer something familiar tugged at her, twisting and turning and refusing to be ignored.

But she just shoved it down, which was great timing now that Jax flipped his prepay shut and dropped it into the front pocket of his button-up flannel. Seeing him without his leather kutte on was jarring, to say the least, if only because she'd never seen him without it before, but... he looked so normal. Not that someone as decadently sinful as he was could actually look normal, but he was at home here. Relaxed. Comfortable. Completely in his element as he stepped into this role of babysitter and caretaker of his best friend's children.

Maybe that was the most disturbing part of all.

"So how long am I gonna be held prisoner tonight?"

Jax huffed out a laugh, his lips curving into a knowing smirk as he leaned up against the counter across from her. "Oh, come on, princess. You and I both know you could've talked your way out of this if you really wanted to. I've seen you in action. I know you can do it."

"Uh, no. See, that's actually where you're wrong. Because that little tornado of a child down there," she gestured to the hallway as she spoke, "Never, ever would've forgiven me if I had. Besides, you and I both know the two of you would've been sitting in my driveway all night, just honking the horn until I came outside."

He just shrugged. "That's true, but to answer your question - Lyla told me the first appointment," now he glanced down the hallway again just to make sure none of the kids were headed their way, "is two hours long. I guess it's some kinda in-take thing where they deep-sea dive into all the shit or somethin' like that, and then, Ope told me he's gonna try to talk Lyla into doin' something with him after - like a drink or something, but I'm not optimistic he's gonna be able to swing that."

"Hmm," Grace nodded slowly, chewing on her bottom lip absentmindedly again. "Do you think the kids have any idea what's going on?"

"I think they all do, at least a little bit, even if they don't exactly know why. It's not like these issues just came outta nowhere, you know? This shit has been going on between them for a long time, and I know they've fought in front of the kids too."

Great.

Just great.

And, as she glanced at the clock on the microwave, all that meant she'd be stuck in this house for at least another two and a half hours or so. Just fucking great. And before she knew it, she'd settled into one end of the couch with Maddie to her left, a bowl of popcorn and a bag of gummy bears in between them, and Jax pushed all the way to the other end of the couch. Well, at least Maddie had kept her promise about keeping Jax far away so they could share her special blanket.

"Here you go, Miss Grace," she plucked up the edge of the blanket and draped it over the top of Grace's knees. "Now you won't get cold."

"Thanks, Maddie."

But as she smiled down at the little girl sitting next to her, she made the mistake of glancing over the top of her blonde head, colliding right with the bright blue eyes of the devil himself. His eyes weren't glinting with mischief though the way she might've expected - instead, they softened and warmed as his lips curled up into a gentle smile.

"Hey, Miss Grace? What's your favorite part of the movie?"

Thank God for small favors and a four-year-old's constant curiosity.

"Umm... you know, it's hard to say. But Sarah is my favorite character - you know, the blonde witch who's kinda goofy and funny? All her scenes are pretty much my favorite ones."

Maddie's mouth spread apart into a crooked grin as she popped a few gummy bears in her mouth. "Uh huh. I like her too. She is funny."

When a ringed hand reached across Maddie's lap to try to snatch a few gummy bears from the bag, Maddie just slapped his hand away with a little shriek. "Nuh uh, Uncle Jax. These are just for me and Miss Grace. Not you!"

"Well," he huffed. "What am I supposed to eat then?"

"I don't know," the little girl just shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess you can have some of my popcorn."

"Thanks, Mads," he grumbled, but he did as he was told and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl in between Grace and Maddie.

And everything was going just fine - it really was - through the first ten minutes or so of the movie. But it wasn't until after those Sanderson sisters met their maker, and the whole movie turned on its head, that Grace felt her throat starting to close. That itch to run and get as far away from this couch and this movie and this trap and never, ever come back.

Because that was the moment the little blonde girl in the witch's costume burst out of the closet, shrieking with delight at the way she'd just scared her brother.

Dani!

Ha ha! I scared you, I scared you! I'm Allison... I'm Allison. Kiss me, I'm Allison!

Mom said you were gonna take me trick or treating.

Not this year, Dani...

Grace sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Oh no... no, no, no. She'd seen this movie more times than she could count, but she'd completely forgotten that little girl's name. The Sanderson sisters were pretty hard to forget. Same with Binx the cat. But she'd completely forgotten about that little girl. Maybe she'd made herself forget.

How was she going to sit through this whole movie with that name said over and over and over again?

God, it stung. Burned raw. Scalded and cut right to the bone.

I should've protected her. I should've been there. I should've talked her into coming home when I had the chance...

"Hey, Miss Grace?"

She swallowed hard, blinking back the dampness clouding her vision, and glanced down at Maddie, who was watching her now with concern etched across her sweet little face. And once again, she made the mistake of glancing over the top of Maddie's head and found Jax eyeing her carefully, his forehead creasing ever so slightly into a frown.

"Yeah, Maddie?"

"Are you okay? You look sad."

And when her eyes dropped down again, there was just no way. She just couldn't bring herself to lie to this little girl's face. Lying to her uncle? No problem. Everybody else around her? Easy peasy. No harm, no foul. But... those crystal clear blue eyes filled with true and genuine concern? She was sunk before she even started.

So, before she could stop them, the words just flowed.

"Yeah, I guess I am sad."

Maddie's forehead scrunched up into a worried frown. "Why? Are you not having fun with me and Uncle Jax? Do you wanna watch a different movie instead?"

"It's not that," Grace smiled down at her with a light laugh, careful to keep her eyes trained on the little girl, and not her uncle, "I am having fun with you, I promise."

"Okay. Why are you sad then? I thought you liked this movie."

She couldn't believe these words were about to come out of her mouth, but here they went because she just couldn't bring herself to lie: "I do like this movie. I guess I'm just sad because I used to watch this movie with my sister all the time."

Grace squeezed her eyes shut the second she dropped that out into the open. Stupid. So, so stupid. You are fucked. You are fucked. You are fucked.

And even though there was no way Jax could possibly suspect, or even put two and two together about who she really was, she did not like the way his head tilted to the side to study her. Or the way his forehead creased in thought. Or the way his eyes just seemed to see everything she didn't want him to see.

"Do you not see your sister anymore, Miss Grace?"

She swallowed hard again, pressing a tight smile to her lips. "No. I don't. She, uh... she died, actually."

God, saying it out loud... all she wanted was for this couch to open up and swallow her whole. Maybe that would take her to wherever Dani was.

"Oh," Maddie nodded very seriously. "How did she die?"

Jax's deep voice rang out, "Mads," and he waited long enough to see her head turn in his direction before he shook his head at her with a firm frown, "That's enough."

Maddie shrank back almost immediately, like she inherently knew she'd overstepped, even if she didn't quite know why, and then she offered, "Ellie and Kenny's mommy died too. And so did my grandpa. And Uncle Jax's mommy. She was really nice and always had chocolate chip cookies at the clubhouse for me."

All Grace could do was smile and nod, biting back some more tears when Maddie held up the bag of gummy bears to her.

"Want some, Miss Grace?"

"Sure," she smiled softly as she grabbed a couple from the bag, and with one more quick glance over the top of Maddie's head, she shifted gears into safer territory. "Hey, Maddie. I bet you like Disney princesses, huh?"

Maddie's face split apart into a brilliant grin, nodding so hard and so fast she almost knocked the popcorn bowl off the couch. "I do! Moana is my favorite!"

"You know," Grace laughed lightly, grateful for the distraction from the movie. "That doesn't surprise me at all. But is Moana actually a princess? Or is she a queen?"

"Well, she's not a queen yet, Miss Grace. So I think that makes her a princess."

"Oh, okay. I guess you're right."

Jax just shook his head ruefully from the opposite end of the couch as he tossed some popcorn into his mouth and flung his right arm over the back of the couch.

"Who's your favorite princess, Miss Grace?"

"Hmm..." she tapped her chin, pretending to think it over. "I think I'm gonna have to go with Belle."

Maddie's face lit up with gleeful recognition. "Oh, yeah! I love Belle! She's really pretty and really smart too. And did you know the girl who played Belle was in Harry Potter too, Miss Grace? Kenny told me that, but I didn't believe him until he showed me."

"Wait a minute," Grace's eyes flashed wide. "Have you not seen the cartoon version?"

When the little girl just shook her head, Grace thought she just might slide right off the couch in shock. How was that possible? Who was raising this child if she hadn't yet born witness to the greatest animated Disney princess of all time?

"That's okay, Miss Grace," Maddie just rolled with it. "We can watch it next week when you come over for movie night again."

Everything seemed to happen all at once - Grace's lips parted in surprise but no words came out, Jax chuckled from his end of the couch, waggling his eyebrows at her smugly, and the doorbell rang, announcing that the pizza had arrived.

"Ooo! Pizza! Pizza!" Maddie bounced excitedly, almost knocking the popcorn right off the couch. At least Jax took his cue then and hit pause on the movie so he could get up and take care of the pizza, and just as Grace was about to peel herself off the couch too, a little hand closed over her wrist to stop her.

"Don't worry, Miss Grace. Uncle Jax will bring us our pizza and our napkins and our root beer. I told him to get a root beer for you too."

Grace just huffed out a laugh and shook her head. This little girl really was an evil genius - making her uncle wait on her hand and foot and everything.

"Hey, Miss Grace?"

"What's that, Maddie?"

"I wanna tell you a secret," she waved Grace in closer, glancing around to make sure no one else was within earshot, and then she cupped her hands around her mouth to whisper, "Uncle Jax likes you! He told me!"

Grace barely had time to react, barely even had time to bug her eyes out of her head before Maddie just kept prattling on, her face screwed up with frenzied excitement.

"Do you like him too, Miss Grace? 'Cuz I think you do!"

But she threw one right back at Maddie before she knew what hit her: "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

Grace waited long enough to see her head wobble up and down excitedly, and she glanced over her shoulder to make sure Jax was still safely out of earshot, and then she leaned in closer to Maddie.

"Does your uncle do this a lot?"

Jax's niece scrunched up her face into a cute little ball of confusion. "Whatdya mean?"

"You know... getting you to tell girls he likes them, bringing them over for movie night... how many times has he done this with you, Maddie?"

Because whatever game they were running here was a diabolical one. Pure and evil. Choreographed to absolute perfection. They had every move down to a T. A fucking T.

"I don't know what you mean, Miss Grace. You're the first girl Uncle Jax has ever told me about."

Sure.

"Oh, come on," Grace huffed a little because now her patience was really starting to wear thin here.

"No," she shook her head furiously from side to side, swinging her blonde curls back and forth. "I've never watched a movie with Uncle Jax and a girl before."

"Okay. But you've never, say, gone to get ice cream with your uncle and a girl before? Maybe gone to see a movie in the theater?"

Maddie just shook her head like she had no idea what she was talking about. "Nope, nope, nope."

Grace tilted her head to the side, appraising the little girl playfully. "Are you sure you're not lying to me, Maddie?"

"No way, Miss Grace! I wouldn't lie to you 'cuz I'm not supposed to lie, especially not to my friends and family. That's what Mommy says, at least. Besides, you're really nice and I think you should come to our special cookout on Sunday at Uncle Jax's house!"

Her lips parted to respond to that, but Maddie didn't give her the opportunity to have the last word.

"And you wanna know what else? You can marry Uncle Jax if you want 'cuz he likes you and you like him and he's a really nice uncle and he'd be a really nice daddy too and then I could call you Auntie Grace, not just Miss Grace, 'cuz then you'd be my auntie!"

Everything around her froze. That fog she'd just been dropped into swam up to her ears as Jax shut the front door with five pizza boxes in his hands, and she didn't move when he headed into the kitchen. She was barely cognizant when Ellie and Kenny trudged out of their bedrooms to grab their pizza, and barely aware of the little scuffle between the two sisters that followed.

"Come on, Ellie! Watch the movie with us while you eat your pizza!"

"No way," the raven-haired teenager just rolled her eyes as she made her way back toward her bedroom with a plate of pepperoni and black olive pizza in her hands. "That movie's for babies."

"I'm not a baby!"

"Yes, you are," Ellie called out, and then after a short pause, "Thanks for the pizza, Uncle Jax," before her bedroom door shut behind her.

"No problem," he called from the kitchen.

Kenny, for his part, glanced around the living room sheepishly, but at least he dropped down into the armchair a few feet away with his plate of cheese and onion pizza, happily chomping away like this was just all part of the routine. Jax materialized from the kitchen a moment later with two plates in his hands - Grace took hers without a word and without making eye contact, but when he handed Maddie her plate, she scrunched her face up at him.

"One piece, Uncle Jax? That's not fair. I have a whole pizza."

He lifted his eyebrows at her. "You finish that piece and then you can have another."

"Okay," the little tornado grumbled, and sure as shit, by the time Jax handed them each their own cans of root beer and their own napkins, and he'd settled back into the couch with a plate of supreme pizza, Maddie proceeded to pluck the cheese right off the crust and plopped it into her mouth. She looked over at him with wide eyes as if to say, What?

Jax shot her an exasperated glance before shaking his head as he hit play on the movie and took a big bite out of his pizza. But Grace just ate her pizza in silence and kept her eyes right on the TV. Under no circumstances could she let her attention drift to the left side of the couch... disaster was the only thing that waited for her. Because once Maddie finished her one piece of pizza, had a few more gummy bears and a handful of popcorn, the yawning started. And then came the rubbing of the eyes, followed by some more yawning.

And then, Maddie flipped her special cuddly blanket off her legs and proceeded to crawl right into Jax's lap. She rubbed her eyes again with tiny fists before burying her face into his flannel-covered chest. Jax didn't hesitate either, wrapping his arms around her waist to tuck her in even closer, but he kept his eyes on the screen, careful not to look Grace's way once.

That familiar tug yanked and pulled at her chest, but she couldn't make herself not look. As if her eyes had a mind of their own, they drifted to the left, slowly but surely ignoring the warning bells going off in her head. Her gaze landed on the scene to her left, and that tugging twisted like a knife right in her heart.

Fuck Jax Teller and his emotional warfare.

How dare he buy everybody their own pizza and be so adorably almost patient with his four-year-old tyrant of a niece and babysit his best friends' kids so they could go to marriage counseling and sit here and cuddle with that little girl like it was the most natural thing in the world.

How fucking dare he.

He wasn't fighting fair. And he wasn't even really fighting at all because he was having a four-year-old fight all his battles for him.

So she did the only thing she could do: she ran. Or, at least as much as her current predicament would allow.

"Hey," she whispered, hating the way Jax's head turned immediately at the sound of her voice. "I'm gonna step outside for a minute."

Grace didn't wait for him to respond, setting aside Maddie's blanket, peeling herself off the couch, and headed into the kitchen to grab her purse. By the time she'd settled back onto one of the cushioned chairs on Opie and Lyla's patio, she tipped her head back to blow out a long stream of smoke. Seeing as how she'd already spotted two ashtrays out here, she wasn't doing anything out of line by smoking in her boss's backyard.

This whole thing had just completely spun out of control.

Granted, she'd relinquished said control the second she got in the passenger seat of Jax's truck, with his niece kicking her feet out from her car seat in the back like the energizer bunny. She should've just said no. Should've just made a run for it after her shift ended at the studio today and been anywhere but at her duplex. This had been disastrous from the start.

Fucking quicksand.

That's what this was.

And she'd said the one thing she absolutely couldn't say in front of the one person she absolutely couldn't say it in front of. All because she couldn't bring herself to lie to the sweetest little girl she'd ever met in her life.

So stupid. So, so fucking stupid.

Maybe it was inevitable that the door behind her slid open and shut a few moments later, just as she smashed her spent cigarette in the ashtray next to her and lit up another one. Jax dropped into the chair a few feet away from her, already bringing an open flame up to the cigarette in between his lips, and then he tossed his lighter and cigarette pack onto the little table situated on the other side of him.

He kicked his feet out on the concrete patio, crossing his ankles casually, leisurely, nonchalantly, and he didn't even turn his head as he murmured, "Mads is passed out on the couch."

But Grace kept her eyes out in front of her. That charge she'd felt with him standing outside the clubhouse last Friday... she felt that again. Looking at him was too dangerous right now. Risky in a way she didn't typically take risks. Precarious and self-destructive. Completely reckless.

There was no good reason why she couldn't go back inside right now. No reason why she couldn't put an end to this and just call herself an Uber. Jax wouldn't like that, but she didn't care. But here she was, sitting out on her boss's patio, smoking a cigarette next to the club president she needed to avoid like her life depended on it.

Because it did. It literally did.

"I'm sorry about your sister," Jax's voice called out to her, just a ghost of a whisper, low and husky, dripping with sincerity and inherent danger.

Grace squeezed her eyes shut - there was just no way he could possibly know what he'd just said to her and who he was really talking about. But fuck, the irony... she didn't know whether to cackle like one of the Sanderson sisters or turn on "If I Die Young" and bawl her eyes out. But the problem now was that neither of them said anything else. Jax just sat there in his chair, blowing smoke up into the air in silence, waiting for her to make the next move.

And the longer they sat there in silence, the more she felt like she needed to say something. Just... anything that would fill in the blank. Keep him from wondering. Keep him from asking questions.

Maybe in the end this wasn't the worst thing in the world - the last thing she wanted to do was pretend Dani never existed. To pretend she'd never lived, never died. Never mattered. And as it turned out, just like she couldn't bring herself to lie to the little blonde angel passed out on the couch right now, she just couldn't bring herself to lie to the blonde devil sitting out on the patio next to her. Not about this. Not about Dani.

"We don't really know what happened to her," Grace started slowly, quietly, and she blew out a heavy sigh when his head immediately turned at the sound of her voice. But he didn't speak. She could feel his eyes on her, sharply focused, prepared to hang on to every word. And so she gave him just enough truth to feel like she wasn't slapping her sister's memory in the face, and just enough lies to cover her ass.

"She... she had this boyfriend," she took a hard pull from her cigarette to keep the way those words stung at bay, and a bitter laugh rumbled in her throat, "We didn't exactly like the guy. My dad really hated his guts - didn't want his little girl mixed up with a criminal."

Grace paused there to gauge his reaction and found him watching her with his head tilted to the side, his eyes trained thoughtfully on her with his eyebrows lifted into his forehead.

"I'm pretty sure he was a drug dealer," she explained.

Drug dealer. Gunrunner. Same difference.

And she dropped that there until Jax nodded and pushed out a rough sigh, like he already knew where this story was going.

"I don't know how much she knew. I'm sure she really didn't want to know, even though she had to have seen and heard things. But anyway, my parents started begging her to leave him and move back home, but she wouldn't listen. She said she was happy with him, said she loved him and wanted to stay with him - and then my dad started putting pressure on me to try to convince her to at least drop the boyfriend, maybe move in with me, or something like that, but I didn't do it."

What do you mean, you won't tell your sister to come home? Are you really that selfish? Don't you care about the fact that that guy, that those people... they're goddamn dangerous, Grace. She doesn't belong with people like that.

How would you know, Dad? You barely fucking talk to her.

She squeezed her eyes shut at the memory, and when she opened them again, Jax's blue eyes were soft oceans, glittering with understanding and more sympathy than she was comfortable with, but she went on anyway.

"I told her what my parents wanted, but that was as far as it went. I never judged her. Never wanted her to feel like she couldn't talk to me, you know?" Grace glanced at Jax, and his lips quirked up at the corners in reply. "Besides, she said she loved him, and who was I to argue with that? And then one day, I got a call from my dad. He told me that my sister had been found in their apartment. She was dead, and her boyfriend was nowhere in sight."

Tears stung her eyes but she only let herself sniff once and shoved that shit back down where it belonged. She gave herself a moment, chewing on her bottom lip and flicking some ash into the tray next to her.

"Maybe it was a deal gone wrong. Maybe he killed her. We don't really know."

She didn't need to elaborate on how, exactly, Dani had died. He wouldn't ask, and she didn't want to have to lie.

Jax nodded with tight, staccato movements, probably more to himself than anything, and then he tipped his head back to blow out a long tendril of smoke before she heard his voice again.

"So where's this guy at now?"

"He's in prison," Grace offered easily, especially because that answer was 100 percent true before she threaded in another lie to cover all her bases. "Not for anything to do with my sister, but at least I rest a little easier at night knowing he can't hurt anybody else."

Jax's head might've dipped into another tight nod, but he kept his eyes trained on something just beyond the edge of the patio as he took a long, thoughtful pull from the cigarette in between his lips.

Then he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he flicked some ash from his cigarette. "How long has it been?"

"A little less than a year," Grace just shrugged.

It was a stretch, but it worked. But now, his focus hit her right in the eye, and she sucked in a sharp breath as she braced for the impact.

"She younger than you?"

"Yeah," she heard herself whisper. "My little sister... I should've protected her. Should've been there. If I'd just fucking been there, I might've been able to stop it. I might've been able to save her."

Jax shifted uneasily in his chair, uncrossing and then crossing his ankles again before smashing his spent cigarette in the tray. But saying it out loud... she'd thought it before, the few times she really let herself go to that dark place. God, the release and the truth of those words... she hadn't expected how good it felt just to say them. To live them. To set them free.

"Maybe that's all true, Grace," he turned his head toward her again, a sad smile playing on his lips. "But if you'd been there, if you'd tried to stop it, you'd probably be right where she is too."

And he was right, but that didn't change the way she felt. And it also didn't mitigate the sharp tug she felt at the way he said her name. So soft and careful. Gentle and tender. She didn't know what to do with that.

"If I could trade places with her, I would," she whispered. "She had her whole life ahead of her, and someone just... took it from her. And nobody cared. At least not enough to actually do what needed to be done to bring justice to whoever was responsible. It's not fucking fair. It's just not."

In the end, the truth had set her free. Mostly. She'd framed this story in enough vague half-truths and carefully-worded fibs to keep him off the scent. Besides, she'd never given him, or anyone else connected to the club, any reason to believe she was anything other than exactly what she said she was.

But here she was, spilling half-truths and carefully-worded fibs to the one person she shouldn't be spilling to, and... some kind of gathering storm brewed within her, churning and twisting and picking up speed with each second that ticked by. Being this close to Jax Teller felt like standing right on the edge of a cliff. She was safe just as long as she didn't venture out too far.

And that was the thing that was so disarming about being this close. He made her feel safe. He made her feel out of control. He made her feel calm. He made her feel insane. None of that made any sense, and yet it made perfect sense all at the same time. And they barely knew each other. All the more reason to excuse herself and go back inside the house... if only she didn't already know that he'd just follow her anyway.

"I had a little brother," Jax's soft voice rang out, cutting right through her frantic thoughts. "He died when I was 12. Heart condition. Fought pretty hard too... through all the surgeries, all the hospital visits, all the doctor appointments, but I guess his little body could only take so much, you know?"

In spite of everything, her lips curled up into a sad smile. "I'm sorry about your brother."

He just lifted a shoulder as he lit up another cigarette. "It was a long time ago," and now he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he settled back into his chair, "and I'm not tryin' to say it's the same thing - what happened to your sister versus what happened to my brother. I guess I'm just sayin' I get it. What you're feeling... wishing you could trade places with her. I get that."

Jax's eyes dropped to his feet, almost like he couldn't bring himself to look at her when he spoke again.

"Sometimes I feel like if Tommy was still here, if I'd been the one to get sick and not him - sometimes I think he might be a little bit better at this president gig," he huffed out a laugh, shaking his head as he wrapped his lips around his cigarette again and took a long, hard drag.

Right about then, the truth of his situation hit her square in the chest - he'd lost his little brother when he was 12. She knew his dad had died when he was 15 from the background check she'd run on him. His mom had just died six months ago. Jax Teller was, at the basest level, an orphan with no real living blood relatives to speak of. The club was really all he had left.

And while it was right on the tip of her tongue to ask what he meant about feeling like his little brother would be a better president than him, this had all gotten too real too fast, and they were due for a much-needed shift in gears here.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I think you're doing a pretty good job with this babysitting slash uncle gig you've got here."

Jax's head tilted to the side, his lips spreading apart in a victorious smirk as he shook a finger at her. "Was that actually a compliment from you, princess?"

She just shot him a wry grin. "Not anymore, it's not."

"Ah. My bad then. Here I got all excited that I was actually makin' some headway with you, and then I had to go and ruin it all, huh?"

"Looks like it."

"Well," he smirked. "It's not like hangin' out with the kids is exactly a hardship, and at the end of the day, all I really want is Ope and Lyla to figure their shit out and do what's right for those kids, ya know?"

"And what's that? What's right for those kids?"

Jax threw a glance over his shoulder just to make sure the little firecracker currently passed out on the couch was still fast asleep. "I guess I don't know. I just want them to figure it out... whatever it is, they need to pull it together and do it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "So you don't think they should try to work it out for the kids?"

"Do you?"

"I asked you first."

With a light chuckle, he shook his head, an amused smirk curling up the side of his stupid gorgeous face. "A'ight. If you want my honest opinion, here it is: I think what Ope did is fuckin' unforgivable, okay? There. I said it. Lyla's well within her rights to kick his ass to the curb and never speak to him again if she wants, but the problem with that is that they've also got three kids livin' in this house too."

"So you think they should try to work out it for the kids, even though what he did is fucking unforgivable."

"I didn't say that," he wagged a ringed finger at her playfully. "Don't go putting words into my mouth now, princess. That's not very nice. I said the fact that they've got three kids to think about is a problem. That's it. Speaking from experience here, I think it's possible Lyla could find a way to move past it, but only if Ope is willin' to put in the work to prove to her that shit will never happen again."

"Hmm," Grace cocked her head to the side, pinching her eyes ever so slightly - just enough levity to be playful and just enough bite to scald him. "What kind of experience are you talking about here?"

He lifted his eyebrows in amusement. "Ya mean me and Wendy?" and when she didn't respond, he kept right on going, "I know someone told you 'bout that. Don't get shy on me now."

"Fine," she pushed out an exasperated sigh. "I was aware you've been married and divorced."

"See? That wasn't so hard. And to answer your not-so-subtle question, princess, Wendy and me got divorced because we're better off as friends, not 'cuz one of us pulled a dick move like Ope. Do I still love her? Sure, I do. She's one of my best friends and I'm grateful she's still in my life - honestly, I think the only reason I've made it through these last six months is 'cuz she kept me standing. Made sure my clothes were clean and I had food in the house when I couldn't get out of bed. But none of that means we ever should've gotten married in the first place and that the love we had - and still have - is the kinda love you have for a brother or a sister, but that's as far as it goes."

When her lips parted to ask that next inevitable question, if only because she just couldn't help herself, he beat her to the punch.

"The last thing I'd ever do is mess around on someone, especially my fucking wife," he murmured as he flicked some ash from his cigarette. "Just because shit's not workin' out the way you thought it would... that's no reason to do what Ope did. No reason to hurt someone like that, especially someone you've promised to love and protect for the rest of your fucking life."

He shook his head, a hard line ticking down the side of his jaw now as he tipped his chin up to the California sky and exhaled some curled tendrils into the air.

"My dad messed around on my mom every chance he got. In the clubhouse, on a run, any opportunity he had to get some play on the side - he took it. Never hid it from anybody either. Kinda like he was sending a message to my mom, ya know? I can do whatever I want 'cuz that's what I want. It got worse when Tommy got sicker and sicker and they started fighting more and more until... it just stopped. I don't really know what happened or who said what to make somethin' stick, but the fighting stopped. The messin' around stopped. They were happy - hugging and kissing and all that shit you never wanna see your parents do in front of you. And then things were better than they ever were."

Grace took a hard pull from her own cigarette in thought, sifting through everything he'd just tossed out so easily and so freely. "And then what happened?"

"He died," he just shrugged. "Look, I'm not sayin' Lyla should do what my mom did. I'm just sayin' it's possible is all and that it's possible for Ope to get his shit together if he puts in the work and if he can prove to her that he means it. And if me keepin' an eye on the kids helps them get the time and the space to figure out if it's possible for them - or not - then that's what I'm gonna do for as long as they need me to do it."

"That's all fine and good, but in my personal experience, a man that cheats once will cheat again. And again. And again and again for as long as you let him and until you kick his sorry ass out where he belongs."

Jax didn't miss a beat, tilting his head to the side as he appraised her with a wry smirk playing on his lips. "So. Your dad or your ex-boyfriend?"

"What?"

He huffed out a laugh, and that knowing smirk just spread even wider. "The one who cheated. Was it your dad or your ex-boyfriend?"

Inevitably, this conversation was always going to lead them right here, which was also probably exactly where he'd wanted to go ever since they'd had a similar discussion outside the clubhouse on Friday night. Besides, she'd already spilled the most dangerous detail there was to spill to him tonight. What difference did the rest make anyway?

"My dad."

His eyes softened as he tilted his head to the side again, but this time, all the snark and smugness had disappeared. And now she felt like she needed to explain.

"I'm not quite sure how long he was doing it before my mom caught him, but she caught him in their bed with one of his co-workers. They did the whole thing where he said he was sorry and that it would never happen again and she believed him. Then she walked in on him in his office with his assistant. After that," she laughed mirthlessly as she smashed her cigarette in the ashtray and promptly lit up another one, "they went to marriage counseling."

Jax eyed her carefully, nodding slowly and thoughtfully, taking this new piece of her in without any hesitation. "And what happened after that?"

"After that, he got better at hiding it. Started going to hotels and all that - but he was an idiot and put the rooms on their credit card, so she figured it out. And then he opened up a second card that she didn't know about, and the only reason she found out about this mystery card was because his assistant - this was a new one, mind you, because the one he banged before that was smart enough to quit after her boss's wife walked in on them in the office - but anyway, my mom had popped in to pay him a visit because she started doing that from time to time for obvious reasons, and his new assistant, not knowing any better, handed my mom some mail that had been delivered to the office in my sister's name. And low and behold, it was a credit card statement with my sister listed as the cardholder."

The cigarette he'd been bringing to his mouth froze in mid-air, his eyebrows hitched high into his forehead. "Really? Shit... that's fuckin' diabolical."

"Yeah, I thought so too. My sister was 11 at the time, by the way, and suddenly had $2,500 worth of hotel rooms charged in her name."

He shook his head ruefully as he closed his lips around his cigarette now. "So what did your mom do?"

"She paid the bill and closed the account," Grace just shrugged, even as Jax huffed out a bitter laugh next to her. "Made excuse after excuse for him 'cuz he said he was sorry, just like he always did, and 'cuz he said it would never happen again, just like he always did. But then he started doing it again. And I knew it. And she knew it. But she refused to do anything but make excuses, so I went looking for the evidence I needed to prove it to her. I just wanted to force her to see - to make her realize who he really was and what he was really doing to her and to me and my sister."

"Alright," his lips curled, impressed and amused all at the same time. "So what'd you do, Nancy Drew?"

In spite of everything, a hard laugh burst from her throat. God, he had no idea what he was even fucking saying to her right now. Was it so bad that this was almost a little bit fun right now, just because he had no idea what he was even fucking saying?

"I followed him," she chuckled when his eyebrows bounced into his forehead again, clearly impressed, and so she gave the rest of this very true piece of her personal history. "It wasn't that hard. I just borrowed a friend's car and tailed him after he left the office. Waited until he went into the hotel. Followed him in - and then I told the front desk people that I had a family emergency and needed to know which room my dad was in. I got the waterworks going and everything, and I think I scared the shit outta the poor girl at the front desk. And sure enough, he had the room in his name, and I got the room number about a second later."

"So that asshole was actually still putting the rooms in his own name, even after he'd been caught a bunch of times?"

"Yeah," Grace laughed, tipping her head back to blow out some smoke. "See, the thing about my dad is, he thinks he can do whatever he wants 'cuz that's what he wants."

"Huh. Sounds familiar."

"Right. So, I found the room, knocked on the door, said I was room service, and he opened the door in his underwear. Oh, don't worry - I was all ready with my camera and everything."

Jax's shoulders shook with laughter, but he bit down on his bottom lip to keep some of that at bay. "That sounds about right."

"And my mom just sorta... set the hard evidence aside, told me not to follow my dad anymore because it would lead to nothing but trouble, and that was the end of it. Long story short, they're still together because my mom's a doormat who's too afraid to call my dad on his shit and grow a fucking backbone. So he gets away with it, over and over again, because she lets him."

"He still messin' around on your mom?"

"I don't know," Grace just shrugged before flashing him a tight smile. "I try to speak to my parents as little as possible."

Jax rubbed a thumb over his bottom lip in thought, nodding to himself. "That makes sense. I'm sure I'd do the same if I was you. Well, for what it's worth, your dad sounds like a real piece of shit."

Yeah, she thought as her lips curved ruefully around her cigarette, you've met that piece of shit too. Shook his hand at my sister's funeral. The same funeral you went to and I couldn't.

Saying all that to his face was probably something she'd dream about tonight - among other things too - but that was as far as that could ever go.

So, Grace offered instead: "He sure is."

Jax nodded, a knowing grin playing across his face, and he wagged a finger at her again. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that not only are you on Team Lyla, you're firmly in the camp that she should kick Ope's ass to the curb and never look back?"

"I think she should do a little more than kick his ass to the curb, but yeah. And those kids... I can tell you from experience that they're not any better off if their parents stay together just because Lyla feels like she needs to for their sake, or if she's just not strong enough to leave than if they have to deal with the alternative. Staying together doesn't always mean people worked it out and it doesn't always mean they're happy."

"I suppose you're right. But I guess it's like I told you last Friday, whether a man holds monogamy in high regard and treats his woman like a queen depends on the man. Some men do it wholeheartedly, and some choose not to."

And since they'd already ventured into territory neither of them had any business stepping foot in, the question that had been on her mind since yesterday just slipped right out.

"Did you really take Ima out to lunch on Saturday?"

Jax frowned her way as he shifted in his chair to flick some ash onto the patio. "Where'd you hear that?"

She shot him an exasperated glance. "Come on now. Don't play dumb with me, Mr. Teller. You know exactly where I heard it."

"A'ight," he nodded, even though that hard line ticked down his jaw again when she called him Mr. Teller, "I did take her out for lunch. I guess I just felt like she needed more closure than what I gave her, and I wanted her to have it so we could both move on."

Huh. Interesting.

"Hey, listen," he scratched underneath the scruff on his chin now and blew out a heavy sigh. "About what happened to your tires yesterday - I know there's nothin' I can really do or say now that's gonna make much of a difference, but I'm sorry you got pulled into all that shit with her. She shouldn't have taken it out on you, but it sounds to me like you taught her and everyone else around you a pretty valuable lesson."

"Oh yeah?" Grace shot back with more playful sass than she intended. "And what's that?"

Jax's lips curved into a cocky smirk with just a hint of pride. "That you are not to be fucked with. Nice job, by the way. That could've all gone downhill pretty quick, but you kept it civil while still gettin' your point across."

"Yeah, well, Lyla pretty much told me to give her a beatdown, but that didn't seem like the right way to handle it, especially on company property."

He barked out a laugh and shook his head. "Thanks for saving us the HR nightmare, by the way. But..." his sharp eyes flicked to her, studying her, inventorying her, seeing her, "You handled it well. Probably better than anyone I know."

While she wanted to ask why that even mattered, she also didn't want to hear the answer to that question either. And just as Jax's lips parted, a sweet little voice rang out from inside the house:

"Mommy, Mommy! You're home!"

"Well," Jax shrugged as he smashed his cigarette in the ashtray and pushed up to his feet. "Looks like that's our cue to head back inside."

He held out a hand, his lips curling with mischief, but Grace just batted his hand away and ignored his light chuckle as she stood up and snatched her cigarettes and lighter from the table. Somehow he managed to beat her to the patio door and slid it open with a flourish.

"After you, your worshipful."

Grace just shook her head at him ruefully and eyed him with exasperation as she passed through the patio door to head back inside, where Maddie was already nestled in her mom's waiting arms.

***

8:33 pm

So he had a few options here. He could just drive the rest of the way to Grace's duplex in silence, like she seemed to prefer. Music was always an option. Something to fill the void that had settled between them since he'd put Maddie to bed - at her request of course - and after they'd gotten in his truck so he could take her home. Or he could try to talk to her some more.

He was kinda inclined to try that third option. It'd been working out pretty well for him so far tonight, and the things he'd learned about her, the things she'd given him so freely, so openly... he almost couldn't believe it. Part of him didn't want to press his luck. The other part wanted to see just how far she'd let him go.

So many things about her made perfect sense now. Her snark. Her bite. Her general belief that all men were evil and potentially dangerous and cheaters. Her reason for needing to start over and move to a new city. Her strength. Her animosity. Her sarcasm - that now seemed more like a defense mechanism than anything. It all just kinda clicked into place.

And Jesus, given what she'd told him about her parents, it was no wonder she just assumed he'd cheated on Wendy, and probably Ima too. No wonder she thought Lyla was better off dropping Ope like a bad habit and moving on with her life - she'd seen too many times over what happened when a woman stayed in a relationship that she'd needed to leave years ago.

And given what she'd told him about her sister, that haunted look glimmering in her eyes when she thought no one was watching - he'd recognized it the moment he saw it... that made sense too.

Grace Ross was nothing but layers and layers of intrigue and wit and tragedy, and the more layers he peeled back, the more he wanted to know. The more he wanted to see.

So option three was worth a shot.

"Thanks for comin' tonight," Jax turned his head just a touch to glance at her out of the corner of his eye. "I think you really made her night. She's gonna be talkin' about watching Hocus Pocus and eating pizza with Miss Grace all week."

"Well, Iike I told you before, I knew she'd never forgive me if I bailed. I didn't wanna disappoint her, especially since she's in for enough disappointment the way it is."

And now, all that made more sense too. While he wasn't dumb enough to believe Grace had agreed to go along with this tonight for his sake, he'd also assumed it had more to do with just how fucking cute and how deviously manipulative Maddie could be when she wanted something. Maybe some of that was why Grace was sitting next to him in his truck right now, but it was more than that too.

She'd done it because it was the right thing to do. Because she knew exactly what it felt like to be in Maddie's shoes. And all of this, everything he learned about her tonight, that just made him want to know more. To spend more time with her. To show her that he wasn't any of the things she obviously thought he was - that he could be more than what she thought he was.

Nero was right - she had some old lady in her. A whole lot.

Grace could run all she wanted. But this charge between them, this spark, this connection... he knew she felt it too. That's why she was running in the first place. And sooner or later, he would catch her. It was as inevitable as breathing.

All he needed was some time and some patience and some opportunity.

"You planning to come to the clubhouse again Friday night with the rest of the girls?"

She shifted just enough to shoot him a wary glance. "Probably. Why do you ask?"

"Just making conversation," Jax shrugged with a smirk. "Should be an interesting night - Half Sack's gonna get patched in, so it's gonna be more of a party for him than anything. He doesn't know it yet, so don't say anything to the girls about that, okay?"

Grace's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Why would I say anything to anybody? It's none of my business."

His smirk just twisted his lips. Yeah. Definitely some old lady in her. Not that he was intentionally trying to test her, but she was passing with flying colors at every turn.

"So that does mean Friday's gonna be rowdier than last time?"

"Probably," he tipped his head from side to side in thought. "Why? That gonna be a problem for you?"

"I never said that," Grace shot back. "I guess I just expected last Friday to be a little rowdier than it was."

He huffed out a laugh as he rolled the truck up to a stop sign. "What were you expecting? Stripper poles and body shots?"

"Something like that, yeah," she just shrugged. "Maybe an orgy or two."

Now, it was his turn to narrow his eyes at her, his lips twitching just to let her know he was playing. "You ever been in a clubhouse before last Friday?"

"Nope. I've just heard stories. Made some assumptions. You know what I mean."

"Sure," he nodded. "But we've toned it down in the last few months - it's just easier to keep track of everyone when there are less people and when there's less partying going on. So, now if someone wants to partake in an orgy or two, they gotta take it to a dorm and keep it behind closed doors."

"Ah," she laughed. "Got it. That explains why I didn't see any orgies on Friday night then."

"Yeah. I run a pretty tight ship around here, ya know."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and pushed out a sigh, like she didn't like what she was about to say, but was going to say it anyway. "The little shuttle service you've got set up for the girls is... it's a good thing you're doing. Keeping them all as safe as possible, making sure they all have a ride home, taking the names at the door so you know who's there and who's not... whether you're doing it just to make them feel safe so they keep coming back or not, you're keeping everybody safe and I guess that's all that matters."

That surging in his chest just couldn't be ignored. Compliments from her were rare and few and far between. He'd made the mistake earlier tonight of joking about it, and then she'd snatched that compliment back as quickly as she'd handed it out. He'd learned his lesson, and he wasn't stupid enough to make the same mistake twice - especially not with her.

"Thanks, princess," he smiled at her. "That means a lot. I'm just trying to do right by them is all."

But Grace went silent after that. Wouldn't look at him either. So he couldn't see her eyes, couldn't read her mood, so he just shut up and let her be. It wasn't until he pulled into her driveway that, after a moment or two of sitting there with the truck idling, he finally heard her voice again.

"Look," she murmured. "I know what you're doing here, okay? Using the cute niece against me, biding your time, plying me with Hocus Pocus and pizza... I'm not stupid, Mr. Teller. And I can see right through you. So just stop. I'm not gonna sleep with you. Just move on to the next one and let's be done with all this back and forth shit, okay?"

He draped an arm across the steering wheel and rubbed away some amusement with his free hand. "Aw. That's all you think I'm after here, huh? That hurts me, princess. That really does."

"Of course that's all you're after here," Grace turned to face him now, her eyes glowing bright blue. Ah. So at least he knew to tread lightly now. "And we both know exactly what's gonna happen if I give you what you want. You'll drop me and move on to the next girl that's unlucky enough to get fooled by you, just like you did to Ima."

"That's fair," he nodded with an easy smile. "And I can see how you'd think that. I'm sorry you feel that way, princess. Guess this means I'm just gonna have to prove you wrong."

"No, that wasn't an open invitation to -"

He held up a hand, and surprisingly enough, that shut her right up. "I know this might seem like some kinda game to you, Grace, at least right now, but it's not a game to me."

"That's nice, but let's be honest here. I mean," she huffed out a laugh, and kept her eyes straight ahead. "We both know all you see when you look at me is a challenge. And that's fine, so lemme save you the trouble: I'm an anti-social, chain smoking, cynical bitch with unresolved daddy issues, who's basically of the opinion that men are pretty useless, especially since going down any kind of road with them typically ends with them cheating on you, abandoning you, or killing you. There. Mystery solved. Time to move on now."

Jax rubbed at the amusement creeping across his lips, careful to train his reaction into something as neutral as possible. "I disagree with the anti-social part, just so you know."

"Okay, fine. Anti-social is my natural state - anything else is just for show."

Well, he couldn't exactly stop himself from chuckling at that, so he didn't. "That's fair, princess, but the rest of it... sure, I can get behind that. And I get it. But seeing as how I happen to be a chain smoking, cynical asshole with unresolved mommy issues, who's basically of the opinion that women, just in general, run the world and I just get to live in it, I'd say that makes us pretty perfect for each other."

"You don't think women run the world," she laughed bitterly. "You let them - and only the parts of your world that suit you. Like letting Lyla run your business for you so you don't have to. And like letting your ex-wife run your other business for you so you don't have to."

Maybe all of that was true, but since they were currently sitting in his truck and in her driveway at the moment, this didn't really feel like the time and the place to have this conversation. And while it would've been easy to point out that she'd carefully side-stepped around that little idea of them being perfect for each other - especially since he had a pretty good feeling they both knew it was true - he decided to take the path of least resistance instead.

"You don't scare me, princess," he shot her a cocky smirk just because he could. "If anything, you just made me like you more."

Grace huffed out a laugh, shaking her head like he was the dumbest person she'd ever met. "You wanna try to get to know me, Mr. Teller? Try to figure me out? Once you start... trust me, you'll wish you never did."

He wagged a finger at her playfully, "That sounds like a dare. And it's Jax, by the way."

And in a flash, her eyes burned and then shifted on a dime into impenetrable shards of frozen crystal clear ice. Looked like their date night was officially over. Her purse was in one hand a moment later, and she was reaching for the door handle with the other.

"Good night, Mr. Teller," Grace bit out as she pushed the door open and slid out of his truck.

But he didn't miss a beat, and kept his truck idling as he opened the driver's side door and followed her out onto the driveway. Did she really think he wouldn't follow her? Did she really think he'd let her walk away from him this easily? She only glanced over her shoulder once, narrowed her eyes into tiny, fiery cobalt blue slits, and then kept moving right toward her front door.

"Rules are rules for a reason, princess," he called after her. "If the prospects have to walk you to your door, then so do I."

By this point, she already had her key in the door and turned the knob to let herself inside the house, but she still managed to shoot him an exasperated glance from over her shoulder.

"I had a good time with you tonight," he pushed on. He couldn't have cared less that she couldn't get away from him fast enough. "Same time, same place next week, huh?"

She whipped around, her hand clamped around the edge of the door, and although her lips parted - probably to say something sharp and witty like she always did - he opted not to give her the chance this time.

"Sweet dreams, Grace," he lifted a hand to wave at her with a smirk curling up the side of his face. "See ya tomorrow."

And then something fascinating happened - her bright cornflower blue eyes shifted to seafoam green for a flicker of a second. If he'd blinked, he would've missed it. They morphed back into their usual sharp blue in a flash, at least when he was around, but in that second... that was enough. All he needed to see. And what was it - his gentle tone? The absence of teasing? The fact that he'd actually called her by her name? Maybe all of the above? Whatever it was, he obviously needed to do it a little more.

Just be nice to her, Uncle Jax, and then she'll like you too. Maybe that little shit was really onto something here.

Yeah. Maybe.

And just as quickly as that moment came, her expression shuttered and she closed the door right in his face. Didn't slam it though, so that was something.

You think you can scare me away, princess? I'd like to see you try.

The more he saw, the more he learned, the more he talked to her, the more he liked her. And it was with that thought that he shoved his hands in his front pockets, jumped off her front porch, and headed back to his truck with a bounce in his step.

End Credits: "Alone" by Halsey

A/N - Look for chapter ten late next Sunday! Next week, Grace bonds with some of the girls at the studio and diffuses a crisis, Jax makes preparations to cross a suspect off the list, and Grace finds herself backed into a corner.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on this update! Grace definitely revealed more than ever should've, but to be fair to her, I think Jax really lulls her into a sense of safety that she's not used to feeling - and she's feeling a lot of things around him that she's not used to feeling.

Thank you for reading! I'm always looking for more beta readers, so if you're interested in getting all the chapters early, just drop me a line in the replies or feel free to send me a message!