It's Hard Not to Hate - An Outlaw Love Story

Chapter Twenty-Five.

The blue car rolled to a stop, Jax parking it along the curb in front of the large, white home. It was a colonial style home, large pillars adorned the front, the lawn was bright green and perfectly manicured. A white Lexus sat parked in the driveway, the sun glinting off the shiny, silver rims. Taylor had told Jax that Henry had money, that at one point she had had money, but he wasn't expecting this. It was something you would see in a magazine, completely different than anything he had ever experienced in his world.

Taylor had almost forgotten how majestic the house was. It had been just that, though; a house. It had never felt like a home to her. For four years this had been her life: nice clothes, fancy cars, huge homes, more than enough money to go around. None of it had ever really belonged to her; it was Henry's money that bought all of this, that afforded them the life he wanted them to live. It was the never the type of life she had ever imagined for herself. She had loved him, at the time, and she allowed him to groom her how he wanted her to fit into his world. With the divorce she let him have it all; she didn't want to fight him for things she didn't really care about. She was left with what was in her savings account, which was enough for a cheap car and few months rent.

They exited the vehicle and she took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp, warm air. There was a sign situated right by where they stood, keep off the lawn. Jax kicked it with the toe of his white sneaker and traipsed through the grass, chuckling under his breath as he did. Taylor couldn't help but giggle too. She knew Jax was doing everything he could to make this less uncomfortable for her.

Taylor rang the doorbell as Jax stood at her side on the front porch. She looked around, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. The red front door swung open revealing Henry. He was just as Jax had imagined him, based on how Taylor had described him. He was tall and lean, though a few inches shorter than Jax. His brown hair was perfectly coiffed with gel. He wore black slacks and a button-up shirt, of which the sleeves were rolled up. He looked to be about ten years older than Taylor. His whole persona definitely screamed lawyer. He eyed Jax up and down, disgust clearly written over his face. His attention shifted to Taylor and he smiled, though she remained completely emotionless.

"Hey, Tay, thanks for coming. Who's uh-" He motioned towards Jax. "Bodyguard?"

"Boyfriend, actually," Jax said, taking a step closer to her. He held out his hand, however Henry's remained firmly in his front pockets as he snarled. All Jax could think about was how bad he wanted to punch this guy.

Taylor, ignoring her ex's unpleasant demeanor, smiled up at Jax. Boyfriend. My boyfriend. It had a nice ring to it. She directed her attention back to Henry and her smile was replaced with a frown. "Can we just get this over with?"

Henry shrugged and backed up, opening the door further as he did. He motioned them in and Taylor grabbed Jax's hand as they crossed the threshold. They stood in the foyer, an awkward silence surrounding the three of them. Jax looked up at the crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling high above him. The marble floors glistened below his feet, the white walls were mostly bare.

"The papers are in the kitchen, Taylor." Henry sauntered off towards the back of the house, leaving the two of them.

"I don't like this asshole already," Jax said, his jaw twitching at the thought of him.

Taylor squeezed his hand. "I know. Let me go sign real quick and then we can get out of here. I'll be right back." She let go of him and walked slowly toward where Henry had disappeared. Jax followed but waited just around the corner so he was out of sight. He didn't want to leave her totally alone with him just in case Jax needed to butt in.

"How was your appointment?" Henry asked when he and Taylor were alone.

"Oh, so now you care?" Taylor clapped back. He hung his head.

"I'm just trying to be polite."

"Yeah, so polite you couldn't even shake Jax's hand."

Henry rolled his eyes and ignored her comment. "You look good." Taylor scoffed.

"Yeah you always did like your women better with hair and boobs, huh?" Tears started pricking the backs of her eyes; she couldn't believe he had the audacity to even try to make small talk.

"You don't have to be such a bitch. I'm just trying to make conversation," he replied.

"I'm not here for conversation, Henry! I'm here to sign these papers so I can get back to my life and away from you for good." The first tear spilled over and she wiped at it quickly. In the hallway, Jax was fuming with anger.

"Get back to your life of being poor and slumming it with some criminal?!" Taylor's mouth fell open as she glared at him. "I saw his vest. He's with those motorcycle guys, like your sister was with."

"You know nothing about me and you have no right to talk about me, not anymore. Show me where to fucking sign so I can leave." Henry ignored her, continuing to stare at her with flames in his eyes. She turned to the papers stacked on the island, flipped through them and signed in all the marked places. She threw the pen down and pushed past Henry and back out into the hall. "Let's go, Jax," she growled. She stomped towards the door, Jax on her heels, and as she reached for the knob she could hear Henry's dress shoes clicking against the tile as he followed.

"You're gonna end up just like your whore sister. I hope you know that!"

Jax couldn't take it anymore, he was seeing red, his body shaking with anger. He turned on his heels and hurried towards Henry. He caught up to him quick and wrapped his large hand around Henry's throat, shoving him up against the nearest wall.

"Jax!" Taylor yelled.

"Listen here, mother fucker. I am this close to bashing your skull in; you've given me more than enough reasons to fuck you up. You keep Taylor's name out of your mouth, you keep Donna's name out of your mouth, and you keep my name out of your mouth. Got it?" Henry squirmed under Jax's hold, clawing at where Jax's fingers were digging into his flesh.

"Jax stop it!" Taylor hollered again, her hands desperately trying to pull Jax away.

"If you ever try to talk to her again, I will kill you. Don't test me." With that Jax dropped Henry, backing up and putting space between them. Henry rubbed at the red, raw skin on his neck, gawking at the two of them.

"You made a huge mistake! Do you know who I am?" Henry barked.

"Yeah. And now you know who I am. Stay the fuck away. I'm not kidding."