12 Rounds

Chapter Fourteen

Liv blew out a long breath before knocking on the room door in front of her. Well, this was a suite, not just a room, situated on one of the highest floors in the casino. Definitely a floor she'd never been on before. Her boss really had pulled out all the stops, and in light of the fireworks between him and Jax last night, she had a pretty good feeling Viktor was going to go well out of his way to try to make it up to them somehow.

It didn't help that she was dead on her feet. Exhausted and emotionally spent. She'd tossed and turned in bed all night as everything Jax's stepfather and club president had said to her at the afterparty ran through her head on repeat. It wasn't so much what he'd said - and nothing he'd said had really been that surprising or disturbing or threatening on its own. It was the fact that he'd said it at all and had seen the need to corner her the first chance he got that unsettled her the most.

In the moment, she'd made the right call. There'd been too much going on, too many people packed into that private party room, and already too much potential for serious trouble given the way Jax had already taken Viktor to task. That wasn't the time to drop it on him. It still hadn't been the time when they'd been in the parking lot because there was no doubt in her mind he wouldn't have hesitated to get in Clay's face, with the way he was already riled up and everything else that had happened that night, and even if they didn't come to blows, something would've gone down between Jax and his club president last night because of her.

But none of that meant he didn't need to know. Because he did. Clay was looking for a reaction, and he was counting on Liv to relay everything he'd said, word for word, point for point, and while giving in was the last thing she really wanted to do, keeping something like this from Jax wasn't the right call either, at least not long-term.

His voice echoed in her head all night... next time somethin' like that happens, Liv, you really need to tell me. If there's somethin' going on at the casino, anything that makes you feel like you're not safe, you gotta tell me.

He was going to be sitting down with his club tomorrow to tell them his plans, and if he was really going to do that, he needed all the facts.

This sleepless night had nearly torn her in two as she wrestled with the consequences of what might happen in that clubhouse today or tomorrow when Jax confronted Clay - because he would. If he wasn't afraid to get in Viktor Putlova's face last night on her behalf, there'd be nothing stopping him from doing it again with his club president. But somewhere around three in the morning, she'd stopped fighting with herself.

Still hadn't gotten much sleep after that though.

But when the door opened, all those worries and that sick sinking feeling in her stomach just evaporated. Jax swung the door open, biting back a yawn, scratching the side of his head with his free hand, wearing just a Samcro T-shirt and a pair of shorts, and he winked at her as he stepped aside, waving her in with a playful flourish.

"Morning, Liv," he murmured, trailing after her as she ventured deeper inside his swanky little hotel suite.

The suite's high windows gave way to the city's skyline, with its streaks of pink and purple peeking out from behind the mountains just off in the distance. And the whole thing was more like two separate rooms, with one section housing a cozy little living room area, with a plush couch and a TV mounted on the wall across from it, the wall serving as a divider between that section and the other one. Liv peeked around the corner, catching a glimpse of the king-sized bed just beyond the door, and turned her head just as quickly. No need to venture over there, where there was a bed and too many temptations.

"You can go in there if you want," Jax called out from behind her. "Not much to see, but I got nothin' to hide either."

"I'm not worried you're hiding something in there, Jax," she laughed, but since he'd given her permission, she tiptoed lightly inside the bedroom section of the suite against her better judgment.