A Princess in Charming

Chapter Twenty-One: Jax

TRIGGER WARNING! Violence against a woman takes place in this chapter.

When Jax pulled into the garage that morning, it was to find a familiar black cutless parked in the first bay.

"What are you doing here, Tara?" He demanded as he stomped into the office. It was a good thing that his mom wasn't coming in to work that day. Her and Kristina were going to his mom's storage unit to pick through Abel's old baby crap. "You know if my mom sees you she's gonna be pissed." That was a fucking understatement. If his mom saw her, the bitch was likely to die.

"I knew your mom wasn't working today," Tara shook her head. Had she always worn that look of permanent confusion and why was he just now noticing? He also couldn't help wondering just what the hell she had been doing in Chicago the past decade because while they were the exact same age, Tara looked to be in her late 30's instead of early. "I needed to get the oil changed in the cutless and I wasn't happy with the way we left things the other day."

"I was," Jax perched on the end of his mom's desk and took his pack of cigarettes out of his kutte pocket. He pulled one out and lit it before continuing to speak. "When you came to my home and talked down to my old lady all because of some sick need to tear open old wounds, wounds that you inflicted in the first place, you crossed the line, Tara."

"Jax," Tara whined, "we could get past anything when we were teenagers. We can get past this."

"This is my wife and kids!" Jax's temper flared to life. "They aren't fucking obstacles to overcome! They're my family, my life!" The bitch had to be delusional.

"The little girl you married because of her powerful daddy and her little bastard aren't your family," Tara sneered. "That baby isn't your blood, Jax!"

What. The. Fuck!? Jax dropped his cigarette in the ashtray on his mom's desk before stalking towards his ex-girlfriend like a lion after its injured prey. "Where the fuck did you hear that," he demanded, a dangerous glint in his eye.

"I...I...do...don't know," Tara started to panic. She obviously hadn't meant to say what she had. "I overheard some people at the hospital talking..."

The bitch was a terrible liar. Reaching up, Jax grabbed her neck and started to slowly apply pressure. "Last fucking chance, Tara. If you know me like you think you do, you know that I'm not joking when I say I'll kill you."

"Clay," Tara was genuinely terrified and had tears pooling in her eyes. "He called me in Chicago and told me you'd gotten in over your heard with the New York mob."

He was going to take his stepfather's head God damned head off. "No, darlin', you're the one who's in over her head." He gave her neck a little bit tighter of a squeeze and leaned in close. "I bed it fucking kills you that a beautiful, smarter and younger women has taken your place at my side. She's even better in bed than your frigid ass. It kills you to see my son calling Kristina 'Mommy' and not you. There's one thing that my wife and I agree on. Blood makes you a relative, loyalty makes you family. You wouldn't know what loyalty was if it slapped you in the face. Get the fuck out of here and NEVER come back. This is your last fucking warning, Tara." He gave her neck a final squeeze before using his hold on her to shove her towards the door. A door that she eagerly took off out of.

Jax had just picked up his cigarette and was trying to process Clay's betrayal when his cell phone started ringing. Looking at the caller ID, he saw that it was Kristina. "You have no idea how welcome your voice is right now babe," he answered.

"Jax, honey, you need to come home. Your mom and I found something that you really need to see."

Oh, come the fuck on...what now?