Page 19 of When Life Sucks!

“Now, our worry is Sting will come looking for his old lady, and will see you as the one to grab, being Sacks’ ex-old lady. He’ll try to grab you to hold you for ransom, to exchange for the disgusting bitch.

“We need to get you back into the club, with an old man of your own, and one of significance. Now you have options. One, it has to be an officer of the club that claims you. Two, you can leave town and come home with me. Three, swing in the wind and hope they don’t find you. Which is it going to be?”

“Come on, Alice, we’ve always gotten along well. I like, admire and if I’m honest, would be honored to have you as my old lady. You’d be the first lady of the club too, which means you’d be the one to put the club whores in their places. The old ladies will defer to you also, and if they don’t, they have to answer to me, as the president of the club.”

“I didn’t know you were president. What happened to Bolt? He’s okay, isn’t he?” I actually like Bolt and would hate to see him hurt badly, but a few bruises would be okay for how he dealt with things.

“He’s fine. He’s my VP now, and he’s happy about it too. I had to step up to be president of a chapter and with how things fell here, it was an ideal one for me to agree to.”

“Oh, okay. I understand what you are saying, and I don’t want to be snatched by another club. I don’t want to leave town either…” I give Black a ‘sorry,’ look, then continue, “I wasn’t looking to be involved with the club ever again. I like you too, Jax, and if you are okay to take things slow, then let’s call me your old lady for now. I will make changes at the club because the way things went down showed the family values are not strong enough, and a brother fucking up could get away with it with no consequences. I want nothing to do with Sacks.”

Beast smirks. “He’s coming with me when I leave. He’s going to be moved to another chapter. He’ll make a damn fine VP for one of the chapters, but I want him far away from you.”

“I can live with that, Beast.”

“Okay, so you got yourself an old lady. You got yourself an old man. Jax, you need to move in here with Alice, and remember you’re basically my son-in-law now, and you hurt my girl and I’ll bury you so deep not even your pops will find you.” Black gives me a hug, nearly pulling me off the chair in the process.

“I got myself a daughter. Who would have thought it? Always liked you from our first meet, Alice, and I’m more than happy to have you as part of the family.” Beast walks over and picks me up out of my seat, hugging me as hard as Black had. Jax is grinning like a fool at them both, and for some reason looks like he won the lottery!

I’m wondering what the heck I’ve done, and am I going to regret this in a big way. I’ve always been a risk-taker, and that’s what makes me so good at my job. I don’t shy away from losing. Now, I’m not sure how this is going to work, but I’ll give it a shot. I always fancied Jax but kept that fact to myself, even from myself, as I was with Sacks. But I’ve realized I was with Sacks because it was easy, no pressure. He mostly stayed at the clubhouse and I stayed at my apartment, except for odd nights. I’ve not missed him, and that is again, telling.

“We’ve got this, Alice,” Jax grins as he takes me out of Beast’s arms and taps me under the chin, lifting my face to look at him. “We can make a go of this, Goldie.”

Before I can even begin to wonder why he called me Goldie, he abruptly presses his lips against mine and engulfs me passionately. The moment his lips leave mine, I experience a dizzying sensation. My vision becomes foggy, and I struggle to remember what day it is. Holy moly, if he kisses like that, what’s it going to be like…no don’t go there, I think to myself.

“Be alert from this point, Alice. I don’t want Sting to get his hands on you. I’ll get a prospect on duty to follow you, then he can report back if he sees anything suspicious.” Black takes me from Jax, and I’m feeling like a parcel being passed around.

Looking up at Black, who kisses my forehead while giving me such a tender look, it makes me want to cry. All the years we’ve lost because of my mother has me wanting to smack her silly. Before I think about it I blurt. “Can I call you Papa?”

Tears fill Black’s eyes. “I would be honored, daughter.”

I can’t hold back the tears that fall, and as Black holds me tightly, I feel his body shaking as he cries. I allow my tears to fall alongside his as it feels cleansing. I never thought I’d have a father figure in my life, and here I am holding my Papa. It feels good, it feels right, and it has me feeling complete.

“You call me Uncle too. Either Uncle Ryan or just plain Unc would do,” Beast states as he grabs me for another hug, and as I’m nodding okay, I’m bursting with the emotions these three have given me. I giggle a little as no way would I call him Unc. It sounds like a pig grunting.

Jax is moving into the apartment next week, after we’ve made an announcement to the club members. I need to speak with Ronald and Jeffrey because if they find out from anyone else, it would hurt them deeply.

Monday morning and sitting behind my desk, I wait for Ronald to join me. I left a message with Sadie to make sure he appeared, because he has a habit of flitting from one thing to another and forgetting something or somebody waiting for him.

I check an investment that I’d highlighted and see it’s going in the right direction. I’m not putting any of my cash on it, as I’m thinking of purchasing a block of apartments, which I could lease out, or flip and sell. I crazily threw all my savings into a tricky investment two months ago and watched the figures carefully grow. I wanted to at least treble my stake, but in the end, I did twice that and came away with three-quarters of a million dollars. More than enough for this apartment idea if I decide to run with it.

Ronald walks into the office and gives me an enormous smile. Now the look on his face tells me he’s up to something, or done something he hopes I’m going to be okay with.

“I’m not sure what you’ve done, but before you confess, let me tell you about my weekend.” I quickly tell him about Jax, what’s happening, and why. My father and how Beast is now my uncle. The whole time I am talking, Ronald’s eyes get larger and rounder.

“Well, it seems you have a man, a father, and an uncle all in one weekend. Honestly, I don’t think even I could have managed that one.” Ronald giggles while flapping his hand around, which reminds me any minute Jeffrey will appear. Jeffrey is never far behind Ronald and knowing he’s in my office, he’ll want to be in the know.

Sadie walks into the office, giving Ronald a small smile before turning to me with a grimace on her face. “Your mother is here. She’s refusing to leave, and the security guy wants to call the cops. What do you want us to do?”

“Send her up. Ronald, you stay here. Thanks Sadie.”

“What the hell does she want?” Ronald snips, and I know he’s never liked my mother much, although I had tried to tell him we were close. He never agreed with me and said she was only using me for financial support. He may have been right in his assumption I have realized of late.

My mother rushes into my office missing the fact that Ronald is sitting in here with me, and opens her mouth, spilling all kinds of vitriol about my being an awful friend, a terrible daughter, and cutting her off financially, which is ruining her.

Both myself and Ronald wait for her to run out of steam. When she pauses long enough, I speak. “I have supported you since I was sixteen and working weekends and evenings. That was alongside making sure my schoolwork was done and done well. All that time you had men in and out of your life, giving you money to help you out. Do you know what that makes you, Mother?” I snarl, and when she remains quiet in shock at the tone of my voice, I continue, “A prostitute, that’s what it makes you. Nothing but a whore.”

Screeching, she rushes forward to slap me, but I get my slap in first. I was ready for her this time. She’s hit me three or four times previously and I know the signs now. My hand hits her face, and hits her hard. Her face shoots to the side, and the sound of the slap nearly echoes around my office. Ronald is on his feet and standing next to me, ready to deliver his own slap, I’m sure.

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