༄ The rest of the day was quiet at the clubhouse. Happy had talked to Ope, Juice and Piney as promised and they had a call with Clay and Jax about what they were going to do. It wasn't even up for debate that Happy would risk getting hurt again tonight. Opie made sure to tell their Pres in detail what happened and that Tara said Happy needed lots of rest before getting out there again.
They all decided together that a lockdown would be the best solution for now. Happy wasn't too happy about it, he wanted to get his revenge and put a bullet in Weston's head⸻ and not only Weston but also Ethan Zobelle. AJ seemed to be more brutal but Zobelle shouldn't be underestimated either. The sooner they would be gone the sooner everything would go back to normal, yet the SAA knew he needed that rest.
His mood wasn't at it's best and everyone tried to stay out of his way the moment he entered the main room but that only happened once after Chapel to make sure a Prospect and patched member were escorting his wife, Gemma and Tara to town.
The women insisted on going together since it would be safer than going alone. They needed to get lots of stuff since no one expected a lockdown for an unknown time would happen. Donna offered to watch all the kids around while they were out shopping.
The Winston woman wasn't too happy to see Stella join Tara and Gemma while being pregnant. A prospect and Juice was with them, yes, but she was still worrying about her friend.
While Donna and a few Croweaters kept an eye on the kids and already prepared dinner, the men sat together at a table next to the couch where Happy was sitting. He could barely sit up straight with the pain he was in but he still refused to take something strong enough that it could knock him out, at least not before his wife would be back. That's why the bottle of whiskey in his hand was his lifesaver at the moment⸻ at least it was easing the pain.
“Someone needs to get my Ma”, Happy's gruff voice said. “She's family, too.”
Opie finished his beer and got up. “I'll get her. Give her a call that I'm on my way.”
Happy gave him a quick nod and took his phone out of his pocket, grimacing at every move. Fuck, he hated those bullet wounds. The one's he had before were never this bad and it pissed him off. What also added to his foul mood was how Stella was ignoring him.
Sure, he knew they were grocery shopping and needed to hurry, she didn't have any time to reply to his messages but it was still driving him crazy. He normally wasn't the one sending many texts but with Weston and his crew running around in Charming his nerves were on edge and on alert.
With a grunt and suppressing a painful groan, he heaved himself up from the black leather couch and dragged himself back to his room, taking the bottle with him. Piney watched him from his seat and sighed to himself before turning his attention back to the children who joined him at the table.
⸻
“Let me help you, Miss”, a over friendly voice had Stella's attention. Turning to the side after a man took the two bags off her arms, she studied him suspiciously. “You shouldn't carry around such heavy bags in your position”, he added, nodding at her stomach. By now, it was obvious Stella was pregnant. She couldn't hide it anymore⸻ not that she wanted to, she was proud of carrying a child.
Juice and the prospect were still inside the shop helping Gemma out while Stella and Tara already loaded the first few bags into Gemma's car. The Matriarch had by far the one with the most space so they took hers.
“Thank you but I'm fine”, the raven haired woman tried to stay polite but something about this man was off. He was way too friendly and the smile on his face didn't reach his eyes. Honestly, that smile couldn't be more fake.
Maybe she was judging too soon. With a lockdown going on and the rest that happened last night she was more cautious what happened around her.
“I'm sure you are, I was just trying to help out. Two pretty women shouldn't have to do everything on their own”, he said with a wink, his body stiff as can be.
Tara was now by her sister's side and eyed the man just as suspiciously. She knew guys like him. Guys who seemed to be so polite and respectful but his eyes and body language told her something different. Her psycho stalker ex wasn't any different but just as manipulative, acting like he was such a polite man.
“Yeah thanks. But I'm sure our husband's will be out here any minute helping us with the rest”, Tara lied, a forced smile on her lips. “Have a nice day.”
The man's smile faded, his look turned cold and serious after he had put the grocery bags down. He simply ignored Tara's words and took a step forward, getting closer to the two women.
Tara protectively wrapped her arm around Stella's waist and pulled her back gently. This man wasn't a stranger, she realized that quickly but they had no idea who he was.
“I guess your husband pulled through”, Weston turned his head to look at Stella, watching Tara only from the corner of his eye. “You can tell him that next time he won't be this lucky. And if they don't stop selling guns to the non white's, they'll feel the consequences. Maybe not only them but also their pretty housewives.”
Stella swallowed dryly once she realized who stood in front of them. It wasn't hard to figure out who the guy was. Her feelings didn't betray her the moment she looked into his eyes. He was a scumbag and she felt nothing but hate for this racist asshole.
With power, she slapped him across the face. It came out of nowhere and no one expected anything like this. It was like Stella lost control over her body for a second but she didn't regret what she did. That man almost killed her husband, he deserved more than a slap in the face.
“Juice”, Tara called out before the man was even fully through the door of the grocery shop and waved him over as Weston reached out and grabbed Stella's arm. With quick steps the Puerto Rican walked over and came to a stop right in front of Weston and pushed the slightly bigger man away from his best friend.
“You better leave now”, the otherwise so happy and cheerful Juice growled dangerously low, his brown eyes dark and his hands clenched into fists. “Before I call the guy you shot and let him kill you for laying a hand on his wife. I'm sure he can't wait to take you out.”
Meanwhile they had the crowd's attention, that was the only reason Weston backed off and lifted his hands in defense.
Weston grinned smugly, standing there like a soldier with his broad shoulders. “If you still think you can beat us you're even dumber than I thought. Be smart and do what we tell you⸻”, he paused, his eyes wandering off to the two ladies in the back again. “⸻or there will be consequences, like we already said before.”
Juice let out a bitter laugh, tilting his head to the side with a mocking look on his face. “You better look over your own shoulder, we won't listen to scumbag's like you.”
“What's going on here?!”, Gemma asked bluntly and put her hands on her hips after giving the prospect her bags. Her eyes meeting Weston's. “Who the hell are you?”
“You'll find out soon, ma'am. Just like your former daughter in law and the assassin's wife”, Weston replied surprisingly calm. “It was nice to meet the three of you.”
His eyes met Stella's one more time, a smirk forming on his lips as he saw the hate and disgust towards him in them. He was sure she wanted to jump his throat but was too afraid to stand up to him again. Well, he wouldn't advise anyone to mess with him either.
Juice held the man's gaze until Weston turned around and casually walked down the street only to disappear in a cigar shop that belonged to Zobelle.
“He needs to die”, Stella scoffed and aggressively closed the trunk after the prospect had stored all bags in there. She felt overwhelmed and so angry that it was hard to hold back the tears brimming in her eyes. That always happened when she got angry but couldn't let it out. “Soon!”
“He will”, Juice assured her and ran a hand over her back to calm her down a bit. “You need to calm down, Stella.”
“Who was that?!”, Gemma asked again, this time much more demanding since no one answered her the first time.
“Weston. The one who shot Happy and is threatening our club and families”, Juice answered Gemma's question, earning a soft gasp from the older woman. At least now everything made sense to her.
“He's dangerous”, Tara found her voice again. “You guys need to be careful. The way how calm he stayed..”, the doctor shook her head briefly, not finishing her sentence. She had a bad feeling about this guy and he paid more attention to Stella and Gemma than she liked.
“You think he's planning something?”, Gemma frowned.
“You heard his last words, Gem, he threatened you subtly”, Tara retorted. “This guy won't back off until he got what he wanted or is dead.”
“We won't let him do shit. That bastard and his guys are dead before they can plan anything”, Juice told all three of them, one of his arms loosely draped around Stella's shoulder. Since he was suffering from panic attacks and depression on his own he sensed that Stella had drifted off, which was normal while feeling all overwhelmed. “We should get back now. None of you are leaving the lot again until the Lockdown is lifted.”
Gemma wanted to protest at first but Tara gave her a warning look. They weren't friends and wouldn't become anything close anymore in this lifetime but that didn't mean Tara wanted anything bad happen to her son's grandmother⸻ but with that guy running around it was possible something could happen.
⸻
“What's up with you, little girl”, Happy inquired, his eyebrows furrowed and a look of concern in his almost black eyes as he studied his wife. Stella had asked Juice not to say anything because she wanted to tell Happy what happened.
She sat on the bed cross-legged and hasn't spoken a word in the last twenty minutes, which was unusual for her. The young woman loved to share literally everything with him and now she was speechless.
“Spill, now”, he demanded with a sigh as he got slightly impatient.
“We ran into Weston”, she told him with a slight shrug and lifted her head to look into his eyes. Then she told him what exactly happened, which wasn't much at all, yet enough to get the SAA angry. “Juice made sure to keep him away from us.”
“He threatened and laid a hand on you?”, Happy growled.
“And Tara and Gemma”, Stella added meekly. “And he didn't have a chance to hurt me, Juice was there.”
“He's dead”, Happy seethed, the adrenaline rush he felt making it easy to get on his feet without feeling any pain. “You stay here!”
“No! We're not discussing that again”, Stella jumped up and almost tripped over her own feet on her way to the door. She blocked it for him and stared up at the man she loved. Of course he would be able to get her away from the door within seconds but instead he was just staring into her soul.
“Get out of the way, Stella”, he grunted. “I'm not in the mood for this shit.”
“That's too bad, guess you just have to live with it”, she told him firmly. “None of the guys will let you leave anyway.”
“If Clay finds out Weston threatened his wife he's the first one letting me leave to go after that bastard. You think I'll just sit here and wait until they're going to hurt you?”, he asked her, his voice raised to a point he was almost yelling at her. “You're carrying my child. It's my fuckin' job to keep you safe!”
“Right, I'm carrying your child, Happy! And that child needs a father. Could you please just sit down on your ass and be a bit more patient here?”, she growled at him, looking up with her big eyes that were filled with concern.
He wanted to stand his ground, stay serious and walk out of that door but her growling at him because she was worried was making him all soft. Fuckin' hell, he thought to himself. That woman would be the death of him one day.
“You know you're making things hard for me here, woman”, he growled back lowly and put both hands against the door next to her head to cage her in, his dark brown eyes still staring into hers. “You better think of something exciting to keep me in here, girl.”
“Suck it up. I rather have fights over this shit with you every day before I let you leave and risk loosing you”, she told him sternly, yet a soft smile made it's way onto her face. With her hands resting on his chest, she got on her tip-toes and pecked his lips. “I'll find a way to distract you.”
No matter how uneasy she felt because of Weston's threat, she gave her best to hide the fear when she was with Happy. It would only give him another reason to ignore Tara's serious advise and go after those scumbags.
⸻
authors note; wow, I haven't updated in a week and I feel horrible about it lol. But updates will come regularly again from now on. Still not sure if I let things with Weston happen like in the show or add my own twist to it. I really don't know who should get hurt to add some drama.