Sweaty and with blood all over his body, Happy eyed his work, making sure he let the man on the chair suffer enough. With an obviously satisfied smile on his lips, he wiped the blade of his knife clean on his white shirt, which was already quite covered in blood. Not his own, of course, but Jeffrey's.

He and James had taken turns when it came to making the man who had caused his club and especially Cassie so much suffering suffer as much as possible. Happy was quite proud of his future brother in law. Just like him, James had, without batting an eyelid, transferred all his anger onto the man who, had almost taken the most important thing, besides Callum, in his sister's life away from her.

Jeffrey was a bunch of misery hanging halfway off the chair, his head lolling forward while his legs fell sideways. His chest only rose and fell minimally and if no one would kill him, he would die on his own from the injuries and blood loss within half an hour at the latest.

The smell of sweat, blood and nicotine gave the room a stuffy atmosphere and since there was no window here it would probably stay that way for a few days before the smell completely dissipated.

“Get me some boiling water.” Happy was satisfied, but in his eyes Jeffrey hadn't suffered enough. He wanted to make the man's last minutes on earth as painful and agonizing as possible while looking him in the eyes.

James, who did raise an eyebrow now, turned his head in Happy's direction. He understood why he wanted revenge, why he wanted Jeffrey to feel pain. But the man was already finished anyway. Not that he felt sorry for Jeffrey, but he wondered if he would even notice if they continued to torment him.

“Is there something else I don't know about?”, the eldest Connor asked, his cigarette hanging between his lips, which was also red in some places due to his bloodstained hands.

“Cassie tried to kill herself when she heard I was supposedly dead. She could be dead now. And he'll feel that”, he growled dangerously low, grabbing a handful of Jeffrey's hair and roughly pulled his head back. A little more power and Happy would've broken the man's neck. “The bastard's gonna suffer 'til the end.”

James' eyes widened, suddenly a lot of emotions crossed his face after hearing this news. “Why in the hell don't I know about this?!”, he hissed, taking the cigarette from between his lips to put it out on Jeffrey's neck, causing the man to let out a strangled cry.

“It happened last night and Gemma wasn't sure if Cassie wanted everyone to know. Nero was the one who found her”, Happy explained, running the sharp side of his knife over Jeffrey's throat, cutting it open just enough for the blood to pour out but not enough that it could kill him.

Without another word James left the room and came back five minutes later with a pot of hot water that he placed on the small table where Happy's tools were spread out. He felt nothing but disgust and sheer hate for the man tied to the chair. His baby sister could be dead because of that bastard and a part of James felt guilty, too. Maybe he shouldn't have told her that night. But keep such a thing from her? That wouldn't have been an option. 

“Thanks”, Happy grunted, searching for something close enough to a cup. He found a mug on one of the shelves and filled it with the hot water before he poured it over the man's body. A loud, agonized scream pierced their ears. The SAA didn't waste any time and poured more of the water over Jeffrey's whole body. The smell of burned skin and piss quickly filled their nostrils and while Happy watched with a straight face, James had to cover up his nose with his forearm. Maybe he wasn't as tough as Happy was just yet.

Jeffrey's screams eventually turned into a low, pathetic whimper until he finally passed out. Only then did Happy put a bullet in the man's head and decorated the walls with Jeffrey's brain. The tarpaulin under Jeffrey was soiled with all sorts of bodily fluids from him, which a prospect was definitely going to clean up later.

“It's done, brother.” James slapped Happy's shoulder, trying not to take deep breaths or he would probably throw up because of the horrible smell.

“Bastard deserved a lot worse”, Happy huffed before spitting in the dead man's face.

James frowned, letting out an almost nervous sounding laugh. “I don't think there was a worse way to die, man. This little show here just reminded me to never piss you off.”

“You better don't.” A devilish smirk formed on Happy's lips before he started to clean up his tools, which he stowed away neatly in the small suitcase where they belonged. “And you better don't let anyone ever fuck with you, brother.”

Both men left the room, closing the door behind them to keep the smell from spreading throughout the clubhouse. The others had all been waiting at the bar, listening to the screams of the Rival Pres while sipping on their drink they all needed after that day.

“It's done. Tig and I are going to bury him in the woods later”, Happy informed the rest of the guys and Tig got up and walked over to Happy's side, more than willing to help his brother bury the bastard who had only caused trouble in the last few months.

“Fine, let's get this done right away. And then you go home to your family”, Tig said resolutely, glad himself if he could get some sleep in his own bed, and not on a hard floor in a cold, damp room.

“No, I have to do something before that. But you can put that piece of shit into the car with James”, he said to Tig and then took a few steps towards Jax, who only gave him a foreshadowing look. “Ring, now”, Happy said dryly.

Jax hit the counter with his flat hand, emptied his glass of whiskey and got up, knowing full well what was to come. Because of him, his club was in danger, because of him, two of his brothers almost died because he had let it come this far and was too busy with his own problems at home.

“Aight', I deserve that”, Jax nodded with a weak smile.

None of the others said anything, which said more than a thousand words. Everyone had noticed that the last few months were getting worse and worse, and that was precisely because Jax had slacked off, putting everyone in danger. But that would change from now on, the blonde had expressly said so, which the others believed him. Still, they all understood what Happy wanted, so everyone gathered outside the ring and watched as Happy and Jax removed their kuttes and their rings before stepping into the ring and having their little match.

It wasn't until Jax was swaying back and forth with blood dripping from his face that Bobby ended the fight and made sure the two shook hands. And only now Happy was satisfied.

⸺

Cassie just came back from picking up Opie from Lyla's when Happy got off his bike that he had parked in front of the garage, walking towards her with his sunglasses covering his eyes. He took them off and rested a hand on his Old Lady's hip, pulling her close after taking a look in the stroller to see if his son was awake, which he was.

“Hey buddy”, he smiled down at his son making the baby look up at him with curiosity in his eyes. Before he would get him out of there, he squatted down to scratch Opie behind his ears, who licked his face with excitement. With a deep chuckle, Happy got back up and cupped Cassie's face in his hands.

“I told you to stay inside, baby”, he sighed. The threat was gone, so that wasn't the reason why he wanted her to stay inside. He was just worried she was still too weak after the overdose and that something could happen if she didn't get enough rest.

“I'm fine, I swear”, she promised after returning his kiss, lifting a corner of her mouth. “I needed to get out of there and I wasn't sure when you'd be back. And I wanted to pick up Opie.”

Brushing the side of his thumb over her cheek, he eventually grunted softly and wrapped both his arms around her, just holding her for a long moment. He had taken a shower at the clubhouse since he didn't want her to see him all covered in blood, even if it wouldn't have been the first time. And it was in the middle of the day, he couldn't just ride his bike with blood all over him and risk getting arrested, which definitely would've happened.

“I'm glad you're okay”, he murmured against her freshly washed hair, which fell smoothly over her shoulders and. Be could smell the perfume he liked on her the most. “By the way, we're going to Tacoma tomorrow.”

Cassie inhaled his scent, realizing that he had recently taken a shower, probably to wash off all the blood and sweat before he got home. It didn't bother her when he came home like that, but today she was glad he had already taken a shower at the clubhouse and she didn't have to see more blood. It was enough that his knuckles were completely red and cracked open. She just wanted to enjoy the next few days without having to think or be reminded of violence, blood or death.

After inhaling his scent again, she lifted her head and wrapped her arms around his waist, a smile on her face. “Really?”

Happy lifted a corner of his mouth and nodded. “I thought that would be good for all of us. Besides, Kozik wants to get to know the little man before he can walk”, he grinned.

“He's only two weeks old”, the brunette laughed, stealing another kiss from his lips. “But yes, that sounds good. We can definitely use a break. Are you and Jax okay?”, she asked cautiously.

She was mad at Jax too, no question. But she didn't want the two men to avoid each other all the time, it wouldn't help anyone.

“We sorted things out”, he told her, pushing a few strands of hair out of her face and behind her ear to see more of her beauty. There were still spots at the corners of her mouth that were slightly red, which was always a sign of an overdose.

“Well, that's good because all I want is peace. We've had enough stress over the last few months. First the thing with Kyle, Tara and Kayla, then the pregnancy and the Rivals. That's really enough”, she murmured and snuggled up to him for a moment until Callum started to cry.

“You'll get your peace, little girl”, he promised her seriously and finally broke away from her to get his son out of the stroller and placed him in his arms. With a look full of love, he looked down at the little boy and rocked him gently.

Cassie's heart filled with even more love as she watched Happy with their son and the sight almost brought her to tears. She almost lost him and would have been alone with Callum, so the sight was all the more beautiful now. “Come on, let's go inside. I'll pack some things for us and you can sit on the sofa with him and just do nothing.”

The Little Family went back into the house and Happy first made Callum a bottle which he gave to his son in the living room and waited for Cassie to sit down with him after he called for her. They could still pack bags later, right now he just wanted to have his old lady and his son with him.

⸺

a

uthors note; to all my non followers but readers, I just published a new Happy story. If you're interested feel free to check it out. It's called GOD AND MONSTERS and the first two chapters are already up! 🖤