༄. Two days had passed since Adrian got a beating from Carlos, his ex girlfriend's father. In his eyes, it should've been different. How could Carlos attack him instead of Jax Teller? The cocky prince was the one trying to keep his daughter away from him.

It angered him a lot that Jax made him look like a pathetic stalker with anger issues, which he totally was, yet he wouldn't say this about himself. Of course not.

After things calmed down it was Carlos who reached out to his right hand man. Just because he gave him a beating didn't mean he wanted him gone. No, he still wanted Adrian to work for him and get his daughter back⸻ now more than ever. He saw Jax as competition and Carlos never liked competition of any kind.

"You want my daughter back?", Carlos asked boldly, making the Latino nod quickly.

"Yes", he replied simply. "I want her back since I've lost her."

"You lay a hand on her one more time, you're dead next time", Carlos promised the younger man, earning him another nod, a nervous one this time.

"Good. Tell your club Teller did this to your face." Carlos pointed his finger in the man's face, a proud smirk on his lips as he looked at his work. "This will start some shit between the Mayans and Sons, which means Cleo has to choose. We both know she ain't a snitch and would never choose against Enrico. While she's going through her little heartbreak you and I will be there for her, show her she made the right choice. You get her back and I'll have my kid around again. It's a win-win situation."

Adrian raised a brow at Carlos' plan. It wasn't a bad one. Honestly, this could actually work and all he had to do was convincing his brothers that Teller did this to him. He was pretty sure they wouldn't doubt that a second. Maybe Enrico but not the others. At least that's what he hoped.

The conversation with Carlos happened yesterday. Now Adrian was walking into the clubhouse, putting on a overdramatic expression while he was holding his ribs as he walked towards a table most of his brothers sat.

"What the fuck happened to you?", Angel inquired with a frown.

"Teller. That bastard attacked me two days ago. Couldn't even walk 'til today. He was jealous because he spotted Cleo and me talking a few days ago at the hospital", Adrian explained and sat down on a free chair. "I swear I didn't start this shit. He threatened to put a bullet in my head next time."

"He really did that?", one of the other members asked, feeling the rage burn inside him already.

Enrico and Angel shared a long look. It wasn't that they didn't believe Adrian, but they had doubts. Things between the Sons and Mayans were great, Enrico couldn't believe Jax would risk that because he was jealous⸻ it made no sense.

"Yes. I swear I didn't do anything, I just wanted to see how Cleo's doing. Her nose was broken or at least bruised, I'm sure it was him", Adrian huffed. Inwardly he was proud of his little show.

"No, that was Teller's ex", Enrico clarified with a clenched jaw. It was either Cleo or Adrian lying to him and he couldn't imagine his sister would lie in such a case. She gave him a call right after it happened to explain the situation, she wouldn't have done that if Jax would've been the one hitting her.

"Oh yeah, you really believe that?", Adrian scoffed at Enrico.

"Why should Cleo lie to him,huh?", Angel raised a brow at Adrian and crossed his arms over his chest. "I swear, if you're playing fuckin' games here with us because you're jealous⸻"

"I'm not fucking around here", Adrian cut him off harshly. "That bastard threatened me and you just wanna do nothing about it?"

"That's not what we said", Bishop chimed in and let out a thoughtful sigh. "What if we sit down with the Sons and talk about this shit? I'm not starting a new war over a girl", he looked over at Enrico and raised a hand in defense. "No offense, brother."

"It's okay", Enrico assured his Pres, knowing this wasn't against Cleo. Everyone around here loved his little sister and saw her as family. All of them would risk their life for her if they had to. But Bishop was right, they couldn't start a war because of jealousy⸻ if it was even true.

"And you think that's gonna help? That's pathetic." With an offended scoff, Adrian got up and left the clubhouse to get some fresh air. Fuck, he thought it would go a different way. If they would talk to Jax, they'd hear a completely different version. If his brothers decided to believe Teller, then he was fucked.

⸻

A fuming Gemma stormed towards Cleo as the brunette got out of her car. The Matriarch didn't even give the young woman time to open her mouth.

"I tried, Cleo, I really tried but I knew you were trouble", Gemma seethed angrily with her hands on her hips. "What the hell do you want from my son?"

"What the fuck, Gemma?", Cleo asked, clearly shocked about the older woman's outburst. She tried to stay calm and find out what was going on, why the Queen around here was so mad at her. "What did I do?"

"Your brother just showed up a few hours ago. He wasn't alone. A few other Mayans were with him, wanted to talk to Jax. It ended in one big fight", Gemma spat. "You have any idea what a war between two clubs means?"

It would be an understatement to say Cleo was shocked, she was outraged and shocked at the same time. Why would her brother show up with the others and start a fight? And how would that be her fault?

"Of course I know what a damn war means", the brunette hissed. "But how is this my fault?"

"They fought because of you", Gemma let out a bitter laugh.

"Mom! Leave her alone", Jax yelled over the lot at his mother and walked straight towards them. His face was slightly bruised and a small laceration graced his eyebrow. "This is none of your business!"

Cleo gasped and carefully cupped Jax' face in her hands. Of course she had seen worse, but she hated to see him hurt even if it wasn't bad. "Why would you start a fight because of me, Jax?", she asked in a whisper.

"I'm fine, babe", he assured her as he draped an arm around her waist, eyeing her up and down to make sure she was okay. "It doesn't matter, okay? We're gonna handle that shit once things calmed down."

"You can't be serious, Jackson", Gemma snarled at her son.

"Stay out of this, mom", he turned to look at his mother, clearly pissed off that she was doing the same thing all over again. Wendy, Tara and now Cleo⸻ she stuck her nose into every relationship he had. "I'm not saying it again."

"I swear I didn't do anything", Cleo told Gemma firmly, hoping it would clam the older woman down a little. The brunette was pissed that Gemma talked down to her like this but she wasn't in the mood to start a fight with the mother of her boyfriend.

"Maybe it wasn't your intention to start a war but you did. And now this shit, whatever they're fighting about, is gonna cause lot of bad things to happen", the matriarch said surprisingly calm and left the two of them alone after another warning look she got from her son.

"Can you please explain what happened?", Cleo asked desperately.

Jax gently shoved her towards the picnic tables and sat down with her. Both had one leg on the right and one leg on the left of the bench so they could face each other, Jax' hand resting on Cleo's thigh.

"I already told you what your father did to Adrian when we were there. This Adrian guy thought it was a good idea to lie about this and blame me for the beating. Told his club I did it out of jealousy and even tried to convince them I was the one bruising your nose", he explained calmly. He was anything but calm, yet he didn't want Cleo to feel even more guilty about this than she already did.

"He did what?!", Cleo snorted a bitter laugh. "He can't be serious! What did my brother say? Did they even ask what really happened?"

Jax nodded briefly. "Enrico and Angel tried to clarify things in peace but Adrian knew what he was doing. Provoked the shit out of us until I swung. It escalated quickly, ended in a fist fight between all of us."

"What happened then?", Cleo wanted to know, her hand resting on top of Jax'. God, she felt absolutely horrible. It wasn't exactly her fault but it was her ex who caused this shit.

"After we had enough, Enrico tried to get things straight but Adrian stuck to his version. Their Pres made clear that this wasn't over", the blonde shrugged sighing. "I'm not giving Adrian the satisfaction of letting him win with his bullshit."

"I'm gonna talk to him. This shit has to stop, seriously. If that doesn't help I have no choice but to tell Enrico about Adrian's and my past, what kind of person he is", Cleo muttered under her breath. The brunette felt clearly uncomfortable and she really wasn't looking forward to a conversation with Adrian but that's the least she could do.

"You're not talking to that scumbag", Jax said sternly, his eyes staring into hers. "Who knows what he's gonna do with you. I'll find a way to reveal his lies but not this way."

"Babe, that's the easiest way. I won't let a new war happen because he's acting like a bratty child. At least let me talk to Enrico, okay? Once he knows the truth no one's gonna believe a word Adrian says anymore", she countered with a pleading look in her eyes.

Jax ran a hand over his face, slightly grimacing at the pain he felt. "Fine, but you're not going alone, understand?"

"That's totally fine, I just wanna get things straight", she nodded eagerly, her leg bouncing up an down so hard Jax had to hold it down.

All her muscles were tense and it felt like she had done a whole work out. Her jaw was clenched so hard it already hurt her teeth but she couldn't relax, not until this was over. She hasn't been sober long enough to stay completely calm in such a situation. Her body craved some substance that would calm her down, make her relax. But if she would give in now and take something, she knew a relapse was going to happen.

Jax wasn't stupid. He knew every little stressful situation could cause a relapse and he was afraid it would happen if he wouldn't be around her now twenty-four seven again. It only needed a small trigger to throw people back into old patterns.

"You need to calm down, darlin'. Things are gonna be fine, okay?", he said in a soothing tone as he rubbed his hand up and down her thigh.

"Your mom hates me", she blurted out. That was another thing that made her nervous.

"I don't give a shit if my mom hates you or not. She won't ruin another one of my relationships", the blonde replied firmly and lifted the brunette's chin with two of his fingers. "Okay?"

"But she's your mom", Cleo swallowed softly as she was forced to look at Jax. "She'll always be a part of your and the kid's life. I need her to like me!"

"Stop", he shook his head. "It's up to her. She has to accept you or stay out of my way, that's what I told her when we started dating, babe."

"You would actually choose me over your mother?", the brunette asked, slightly baffled about his statement. By now she knew why Gemma wasn't welcome in his house anymore for a long time. She stuck her nose into things that weren't her business and caused lots of damage to her family. It was about some weird letters.

"It may sound harsh but yes, without a doubt." There was so much confidence in his tone that Cleo believed it right away. He was serious about this⸻ about them and their future. And she wouldn't let Adrian ruin all of this.