Jax parked his bike next to Cleo's car in his driveway, hung his helmet on the handle and got off his bike before he walked over to his girlfriend, eyeing her up and down to make sure she was fine. The brunette insisted on driving home in her car and not leave it there⸻ she loved her car just as much as he loved his bike so arguing with her about that was pointless. But he made sure she was in a good enough condition to drive before he gave his final yes.

"Feeling any better?", he draped his arm around her shoulder and led her inside.

Since Angel was related to a nurse with a few other skills, the Mayans made sure Cleo was examined by her already so they didn't have to go to the hospital in Charming. His Old Lady was one lucky chick, her nose was still just bruised and didn't need big treatment.

"My head hurts more than my nose but otherwise I'm fine", she assured him with a weak smile.

It wasn't quite the truth, she felt like absolute shit. Her body felt sore from Adrian's beating and the fact she watched his body fall to the ground like a sack of flour haunted her, too. Not that she still had love left for her ex but his death could stir up some shit with her father.

And Jax was afraid his life would be too complicated for her. I wish, she thought to herself, letting out a brief laugh.

"What's so funny?", he raised a brow at her.

"Nothing. Just thought about what you said to me when we started dating⸻ that you were afraid your complicated life could scare me away", she smirked at him. "I'm pretty sure I have to be the one being scared my family shit gets on your nerves."

"Yeah, by now I'm pretty sure you can handle my life just perfect", he chuckled, meaning his words. Compared to her family his family almost seemed normal.

He shoved her towards the couch and forced her to sit. Once she did, he took off her shoes so she didn't have to bend down with her headache.

"You know I'm still able to move, right?", she asked amused but her love for the man just grew at how caring he was.

The first thing he did when he arrived at the Mayans clubhouse was to make sure she was fine, then he flipped and told her to never pull shit like that again and go alone. He didn't care Adrian was dead, her father was still out there and even more out of his mind than her ex.

Cleo knew she deserved a little lecture so she let him get it all out and apologize in the end for going alone. She meant her apology, it wasn't her intention to get anyone all worried about her but she couldn't just sit there and let Adrian ruin the peace the Sons and Mayans had because he was jealous.

"Got a problem with me spoiling you?", he asked with a smirk and got up, getting a beer and a coke for her from the fridge before he sat down next to her, motioning her to rest her legs over his lap.

"Not at all, you can do that anytime you feel like it", she chuckled softly and put her legs over his lap like he told her.

As he looked at her, his smile faded once again. There was a cut on her cheekbone, probably from one of Adrian's rings as he hit her. The skin around her nose was a mix of dark purple, blue and green and the right side of her bottom lip was split.

He brought a hand up to her not injured cheek and ran his thumb over her soft, slightly tanned skin. "You sure you don't need anything to numb the pain?", he asked cautiously.

Cleo put a hand on his wrist, slightly closing her fingers around it. She saw the struggle in his eyes, how his emotions changed from anger to concern within seconds. If Enrico wouldn't have killed Adrian already before Jax arrived, she knew her boyfriend would've done it.

"I really could use something for the pain but I can't", she muttered. Once again the shame was back. There was no reason for her to feel ashamed for her addiction, she was strong enough to get out of it with the help of her family and Jax, yet she still felt like a burden sometimes. Hell, she couldn't even take one damn pill without the fear of relapsing again.

"It's more than just the headache?", he inquired while tucking a few strands of hair behind the brunette's ear.

She nodded slightly and heaved a sigh. "Yeah, my whole body feels sore but I didn't want to worry you."

"I'm not stupid, darlin'", he looked at her urgently. "You need to take something."

The brunette sighed again as she leaned her forehead against his shoulder. She closed her eyes for a brief moment to think about this. There were only two options. Take a pill, be free from pain and able to get some sleep or stay away from them and not be able to do much for the next few days.

"You need to make sure to hide that shit from me", she muttered after a long moment of silence. "And if I beg for more, don't give in, even if I tell you it's for the pain."

"Got it", he nodded quickly, running his fingertips over her back. "Take one, then take a shower and after that we make sure you get some sleep. I have a long one tomorrow, can you stay with your mom?"

"Mh..sounds like a plan", she hummed before lifting her head to look at him again. "Yeah, I have to work anyway. Are there problems? You're busy since a while."

Jax shook his head and kissed the top of her head before he got up. "No, everything's fine. We're just trying to lead the club in the right direction and that takes a while and lots of work and conversations", he told her sighing.

"Means what exactly?", she asked a little concerned. Getting the club in the right direction didn't sound bad, but it was always complicated to get out of illegal business.

"I wanna get out of the gun business, the others, too. Working together with Nero showed me that it's possible to make good money with legal business only", the blonde explained and held out his hand for her to take it. "Come on, I hate seeing you in pain, babe."

The brunette laid her hand into his and was pulled to her feet gently and led to the kitchen. She leaned against the counter, resting her hands on the surface to her sides.

"I mean, it sounds good honestly", she said eagerly. "But isn't Nero in the escort business only? That's what you wanna do for the rest of your life?"

Jax gave her one of the painkillers and a glass of water before raising his brow at her with a slight smirk. "You don't sound too happy about it. Don't like it?"

Cleo rolled her eyes grinning. "I'm sorry that I'm not too happy about you spending so much time around a group of beautiful ladies who offer their skills to handsome men like you."

The blonde took a few steps towards her with his famous Teller grin, pulled her with a possessive but gentle grip around her waist against him to close the gap between them and captured her lips with his.

She wrapped one arm around his neck, pressing her body against his even more while deepening the kiss. His tongue asked for entrance which she allowed without hesitation. Their kiss got heated quickly and it was impossible to resist this man. It didn't matter how sore her body felt, she loved his possessive grip on her.

Before their kiss could led to further actions, he pulled back slowly and smirked down at her. "I'm all yours, babe", he winked and gave her ass a slight squeeze. "If we go into that direction business talks can be held somewhere else. Just because we're in the business doesn't mean we need to be there all the time. I thought about letting Lyla handle most of it, she can use a new job that doesn't include sucking dick for a living."

"I hope so, handsome", she smirked back and put her hands against his chest. That she was jealous was no secret but she was mature enough to seperate business from private. "It would mean less danger for the club, which is great. And honestly, I think you can make pretty good money with a Escort service or porn studio. Plus, it would be great for Lyla", she added eagerly.

Her and Lyla haven't spent lots of time together yet but when they did, they got along pretty good. The blonde was always polite and offered her help, it didn't matter she had three kids to take care of now and a full time job, she always helped out if needed.

"Why don't you invite her over? You could use some distraction in the next few days and I'm sure Lyla could use a good friend. You said you never had real friends, why not giving it a try?", he looked at her with curiosity.

"Yeah, I mean, why not", Cleo nodded in agreement. "I have to work at the diner tomorrow but the day after I could give her a call, ask her to come over."

She knew Lyla was important to Jax, especially after Ope's death he wanted to be there for the blonde and help her out with the three kids. From all the money the club made he always made sure to give her enough to get food on the table for her and the kids.

"Thanks babe", he said sincerely and kissed her once more, this time it was just a quick but gentle kiss. "Take it", he pointed at the pill she had put on the counter next to the glass of water.

The brunette sighed softly but did what he told her. The moment she swallowed it, she felt excitement rose inside her at the effect it would have. Sure, she wouldn't get high like she used to when she snorted about five of them at once. But it would take away some of the underlying nervousness and give her some comfort.