One Rule

Chapter 23

In all of the rush of the guys getting out of the country, and Gemma deciding to go with them, Tig ended up staying behind to give Jax, Clay, and Gemma a chance to get away from the feds and get to the plane.

Things were quiet for less than a day after our engagement. 

Kozik had been grumbling a bit about Tig, but no new bruises showed up...  until the day after we got engaged. The trouble started there and just got worse.

"What the hell?" I snapped when they came into the clubhouse covered in blood that afternoon. Admittedly, I was jumping to the conclusion that they'd beaten the crap out of each other again, but it didn't seem like it was that far out of the realm of possibility.

"We were at Lumpy's gym, and we're still trying to work out our differences," Tig replied with a grin, confirming my suspicions. He sat down at the bar, turning to face me. Kozik sat a couple seats down from him, also facing me.

"When is this going to stop?" I asked.

"When he lets me patch in," Kozik said.

"Which is never gonna happen," Tig replied.

"Is this still about the dog?" I asked, looking at Tig. "Missy?"

"Maybe," he said, looking away from me.

"It was an accident!" I snapped. "I know you loved that dog. I know how you are about your dogs. You love them more than the women you sleep with. I also know that he still feels bad about it." I jabbed a finger in Kozik's direction.  "It's been eight years, for Christ's sake! It's time to let it go and move forward! You know he'd be a good addition to this charter, and you're going to need him to stay whole if and when you guys go to prison for that shit at the church!"

They both sat and stared at me in stunned silence.

"You killed my best friend," I said, making sure he was looking me in the eye. "This is the least you could do to try..."

"That's not fair," Kozik piped up.

"No, I think it is. I've been fairly quiet about everything happened. Dammit Tig!" I tried so hard to keep the tears at bay. "If you don't let him patch in, we're both going back to Tacoma, and I really don't want to leave. I like it here. I didn't realize how much I missed my family while I was gone."

Up until that moment Tig had remained silent. "Why would you have to leave?" Tig asked, his voice cracking.

"We're getting married, so I go where he goes. I'm not going to be married to him and stay here while he's in Tacoma," I explained. "That's not how this works."

Tig looked over at Kozik, "Are you really getting married?"

"Yeah. I asked her last night and she said yes," he smiled. "What did you think the rock on her left hand meant?" he teased.

Tig took my hand and looked at my ring, "Not bad." He looked up at me, "Blink twice if he's holding you hostage," he teased.

"You're such an ass," I said, pulling my hand away.

"Look, I'll think about it," Tig replied. "I'm not making any promises past that."

"Okay," I nodded.

We all turned when the door to the clubhouse opened. It was Piney, followed by Chucky. "We've got a problem. Tara's been kidnapped along with a hospital administrator," Piney said. The horrible person in me wanted to laugh because we really couldn't catch a fucking break. "We have to kill Alvarez and get the two hundred and fifty k out of his safe to get her back."

"Alvarez is the president of the Mayans?" I asked for confirmation. I vaguely remember hearing that name thrown around before.

"We can't actually kill him. We're good with the Mayans. We squashed that beef," Tig said.