Other Side of the Tracks

Chapter 20

*About Three Months After the Shooting.*

Watching with an intensely keen eye as Abel bolted through the tall grass toward the lake Jax called out after him with a fatherly warning. "Hey buddy, don't get too close."

"Ok, Daddy," the boy screamed back. Stopping just at the water's edge he looked back at Jax excitedly. "Can we go in?"

"Bet you didn't prepare for a swim, did ya, Daddy?" Julia peeked over her sunglasses at Jax with a smirk. She was stretched out on her stomach obsessing over the ledger and Diosa's finances for the month. 

He rolled his eyes and grabbed the Paw Patrol backpack Wendy had thrown together for the day. "Aha, here we go." With a smug chuckle, he pulled Abel's swimming truck from the bag. "Come here, Abel, we gotta get you changed."

"I know for a fact you did not pack that bag," Julia mused. "So don't be cocky."

"If I did there'd be beer and cigarettes in there not juice and snacks." He joked, poking her ribs teasingly and tickling her in the process.

She wriggled and laughed, sitting up as Abel arrived back at their blanket, and greeted the boy with a sweet smile. "You excited to swim?"

"I am" he answered enthusiastically. "Are you coming in Julie?"

"No, I don't think so," she frowned. "I don't have a change of clothes or a towel."

"Sun can dry ya off," Jax remarked.

Rolling her eyes, she laughed. "You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"I do," he knelt down beside her. "Stop with this, Jules." Slipping the pencil out of her hand he flipped the ledger shut. "I'll get Bobby to finish it."

"It's done," she sighed. "I'm just going over it again, and again, and again. I get so anxious at the end of the month."

Pressing his lips against her forehead, he kissed her and smoothed her hair. "I know," he said in a soothing tone. "It's fine, don't worry, it's gonna work out. We've been doing this for almost three months now I think we got it down."

"I'm still not going in." Her fingers crawled up his chest and wrapped around his chain, pulling him down to kiss her lips. "Sorry, Prez."

"No fun," he whined. Standing again, he pulled his shirt up over his head, tossing it playfully on Julia's, as he kicked his sneakers off. "We'll go without you."

"Have fun boys." She watched as he undid his belt, sucking in her bottom lip, and stepped out of his jeans. "Now I wish I was going." His scar from the shooting had healed nicely, fading a bit over the weeks, but she couldn't help staring for a moment, the guilt nagging at her. 

"Come," Abel said excitedly. "Please?"

Looking into his sparkling blue eyes she found it was almost as difficult to say no to him as it was to Jax, actually it was more difficult and that was clear when she quickly relented. "Fine. Just up to my knees, though."

They spent the rest of the afternoon at the lake, lying back in the sun to dry before heading home, and after cleaning up and changing the couple ended up at Diosa for a work meeting. Nero, Jax, and Charlie were gathered in Julia's office, the ledger open wide on her desk showing marginal growth, but nothing near what they were really making.

"We have to do something about this," Charlie tapped the book.

"I think part of it is you," she said reluctantly. "You scare people, you're high profile, and married men, a huge part of our client base, are worried about getting caught."

"Me?" He scoffed. "I've been clean for years," he boasted.

"That's not exactly true," Nero said with a knowing look.

"And just because you don't get caught doesn't mean all your ventures have been monumentally successful and completely without issue."

Nero eyed Julia and Jax carefully. "You want Charlie to step away?"

"Silent partner, maybe," Jax suggested.

"Retire, Charlie," Julia said flatly. "It's time, you'll still get a cut, and it'll help business. I know it will."

"No," he snapped. Snatching his cut off the desk he stormed out leaving Nero, Jax and Julia in an awkward silence.

"He won't ever let go," Nero told them. "Planning to let go and actually letting go, totally different beasts."

Julia nodded. "I knew this was a goddamn joke," she said bitterly. "All those fucking years of grooming and coaching me for nothing. I could have done what I really wanted to do."

"Alright," Jax leaned on the edge of her desk. "It's okay, Charlie isn't going to live forever. Eventually, you'll run the show."

"It's not the point," she huffed.

"I know," he sighed.

"I'm sorry," Nero frowned. "The old man is stubborn."

"Yeah, he is," Julia rolled her eyes. "Should have realized it."

While they continued to talk Charlie mingled downstairs, clearly annoyed, until most of the Sons who had come to the evening were shacked up with girls or had gone home to their old ladies. Clay was one of them who ended up ignoring the girls, too distracted to have much fun, and heading home.

"What is it?" Gemma asked as he dragged his feet into the kitchen where she sat with a joint.

"Jax is playing with Barosky and I don't like it," he growled. "He's going to screw this deal over pussy and it's going to blowback on SAMCRO, it's dangerous."

"I've been worried," she said darkly. "He's risking too much by lying; he hasn't been careful enough since taking the gavel." As he joined her at the table she reached over and stroked his hand. "It's almost like he didn't learn anything from you."

"We need to end this Diosa deal," he huffed. "Back out and let Nero and the others implode on themselves."

"Maybe you could talk to Charlie," Gemma suggested. "Keep Jax out of it and just...point him in the right direction. If we get rid of her everything will fall into place and even if we can't have you at the head of that table, we have someone we can guide. She's got too much influence over him."

Clay smiled deviously. "I'll pay Charlie a visit in the morning."

That wasn't the old seed planted that evening. When Clay got into the shower, Gemma text Nero secretly, as she did most nights, and got the final part of her plan rolling.

"I'm worried about Jax and Julia. Can we meet soon?"

"Where and when?"

"Not sure yet, I'll get back to you."

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