Roots Run Deep

Chapter 23

"She's great!" Luann spoke quietly to Jax as they walked out of her office, Katie moving behind them at a slower pace to let them speak in private.

"She is," Jax agreed with a grin. "Fresh ideas, a new look and I think you'll both be making more money."

Luann shook Jax's hand then she turned to give Katie a hug. "It'll be fun to keep the dicks outta your ass," she said with a wink.

"Oh, yeah, okay," Katie said awkwardly. "That's wonderful."

"I'll see you tomorrow, you'll get the whole tour and meet my girls."

Jax and Katie left the studio and immediately she began to laugh. "She's a fucking trip."

"I know," he laughed. "No more dicks in your ass, huh?"

"Oh no, I never allowed that but I didn't want to ruin her moment," Katie shrugged. "So am I a business owner?"

"Partner," he corrected her. "And an ex escort."

She raised an eyebrow and stopped him from getting on his bike. "I'm not interested sleeping with anyone else, for fun or money...If that was your concern."

"I'm not either, not since you got back." He placed his helmet on her head and winked.

"Okay." Katie smiled as he got on his bike, following suit seconds later. "What are we doing now?"

"I'm dropping you off," he said apologetically. "Clay's gonna find out real soon, Luann probably already called my mom, better if you're not there when shit goes down."

Katie pouted. "I love the drama though."

"Sorry," he chuckled as they took off down the street.

—

Jax was right. Before he even turned the corner on his way from Katie's, Clay was calling him. He didn't answer, he drove the speed limit with a smile on his face the entire way back to the clubhouse.

"Where you been?" Opie asked with concern when Jax finally arrived.

"With Katie," Jax shrugged. "What's up?"

"Clay's looking for you," he warned. "He's at the table."

Jax seemed unconcerned. "He say why?"

"Something about Luann."

Smirking, he made his way over and knocked on the chapel doors before poking his head in. "Heard you were looking for me?"

"You went behind my back and made a deal with Luann?" Clay growled as Jax stepped in and shut the door behind him.

Jax shook his head and took his usual seat. "No."

"Then what deal did she just make?"

"She made a deal with Kate Feldstein," Jax explained. "Luann needs more than just porn and Katie wanted to stop escorting. Perfect fit."

"You knew I had the votes," Clay said. "You knew the vote wouldn't go your way."

Jax had a feeling it wouldn't after hearing the bits of information Clay had been putting out there to particular members he felt he could sway. Mandatory STI testing, lawsuits, equipment and other potentially exorbitant costs scared some away but Jax wasn't concerned, he was going to prove it was the right call with Katie's help.

"I'm not scared of losing a vote."

Clay smirked and nodded. "Yes you are, you're too goddamn proud."

"And you're too goddamn stubborn, and old," he sneered. "I'm trying to move this club forward before we're crushed."

Unexpectedly for Jax, Clay wound up and punched him in the jaw sending him back a few feet but not knocking him to the ground as Clay had hoped. "I'm still at that gavel, this is still MY club. Remember that, VP."

--

"It was fun," Katie told Jax, over the phone, about her first day at CaraCara."Everyone was nice."

"Did you girls have a big naked pillow fight?" Jax joked, his jaw still sore from the day before.

"Oh yeah, then we all made out then pulled out the strap-ons," she laughed.

"I'm gonna have to come around more," Jax added. "Want me to come by?"

"Nah," she sighed, "I'm tired and tomorrow is gonna be crazy. You and Ope will be here early, right?"

"Yeah, 8 or 9," he said hesitantly.

Katie clicked her tongue. "You forgot to ask him?"

"Nah, I did," he said defensively with a laugh, "We're not really early risers though."

"Well, I'll need you to be," she said.

"It would have been easier if you had the shit delivered to the new place," he told her.

"Yeah but the delivery dates were so limited I didn't want to sleep on the floor for a week."

"Princess," he teased. "You ever hear from that detective again?"

"No," she had actually forgotten all about it.

"Good, if you do , you tell your dad."

Katie rolled her eyes at that comment, despite him being the reason the detective basically ignored the D.C. detectives true concerns. "I will."

"Get some sleep," he told her as he got on his bike to head home. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Jax," she said sweetly.

"Good night, Katie," he said, a goofy grin on his face.

--

Not long after Jax left the lot, Clay did too, but they were going in much different directions. Meeting outside the back gate of the house, Clay and Jacob Sr met.

"What is this?" Jacob asked, annoyed by the sudden need for such a hidden meeting.

"We have to do something about Jax and Katie," Clay growled.

Jacob cocked an eyebrow. "What now? She's pretty happy right now and after what happened in D.C. I'd rather have her here, no longer working as some prostitute, and with Jax than out there someone else."

"He's trying to undermine me," Clay huffed. "And if you don't help me break up whatever little powergrab they have planned, she's gonna all your little secrets."

Jacob looked at Clay, knowing he didn't have an immediate come back to defensive, and regrettably shook his hand. "She's moving out in the morning. Once she's outta the house we can meet, figure some shit out."

With a smug grin, Clay nodded. "I look forward to that meeting."