[21] The talk

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"Jex, I thought we were talking," Bella giggles, as I walk her backwards towards the bed.

"What, we can't talk in bed?" I smirk, as I gently push her down.

"You and I in bed never ends with talking and you know it," she grins up at me.

"Well I promise this time it will," I lay down next to her and let out a deep breath. "So we're going to do this once right? I'll tell you everything, you tell me everything, then we'll never talk about the Vipers and Cobras again?"

"After this, you're just Jex and I'm just Bella," she says, as she rolls onto her side looking down at me.

I roll over to my side and place my hand on her hip, looking down at her. "I take it I'm going first though right?"

"You know what? I'll go first, I think your story will be more interesting than mine," she takes a deep breath. "My name is Bella Ricci and my father is Andre Ricci, the leader of the Cobras. I was born into the crew, I didn't have to earn my place, nor can I lose it. I'm an heir to the throne, although I don't want it and thankfully it'll never be mine, as it'll go to my brother Abel," she begins, sitting up. I follow suit.

"I don't have a lot to do with the crew, in the way of working alongside them. I know how to fight, shoot, protect myself and if they really needed me to join them I could. I'm more in the background of everything, I just run the hotels and make deals on the sly every now and then," she shrugs with a soft smile.

"And aside for that, what's your family like?" I question.

"My Dad and brother are extremely over-protective, but I'll never question how much they love me," she gives me another smile, a real one this time. "They can be a little over the top sometimes and they both have big heads. They tell everyone how good looking they are, but they're really nice and kind people under it all. My Mum is the best, she's not really part of the crew either, but she knows about everything that goes on. She gives really good advice, everyone turns to her when they have a problem. Now your turn."

"Well," I clear my throat. "My name is Jex Shelby and I'm the leader of the Vipers," I shake my head feeling silly. "Shelby is my legal last name, it's my mother's maiden name and she kept it when she married my father for her own protection. When I came along it only made sense to do the same for me. Whilst growing up I wasn't really a part of the crew, I spent most of my time at home with Mom when I wasn't at school. When I did hang out with Dad, it was the same as you, he taught me how to fight, shoot and protect myself, but that was as far as it went."

"When I got to my teenage years I started to have a little more to do with the crew, but only as far as knowing them all and being good mates with a few of the guys, I still wasn't an active member of the crew. Even as a teenager I spent most of my time with my Mum, I used to help her around the house with the cooking, all of that kind of thing," I think for a moment and rub the back of my neck. "Uh, other than that I used to work on my cars, which is why I'm still into fixing my own cars and bikes now I guess."

"I don't want to upset you but, w-what happened to your Mum?" Bella almost whispers.

"She uh, she passed away," I hang my head. "She had a weak heart from the moment she was born, and one night while she was sleeping it just stopped. There was no warning, she wasn't in any pain, it just stopped."

"Oh Jex," she wraps her arms around me and kisses the side of my head. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I wrap my arms around her. "Don't feel bad, it's a normal question and something we've never spoken about before."

"We don't have to keep talking if it's becoming too much for you," she says softly and presses another kiss to my head.

"I want to," I assure her, as I loosen my grip and she moves back from the embrace. "After she passed away I decided I wanted to open my own bar. I wanted to do something with my time, have somewhere to go each day and so that's how V came about. I saved all of the money from my part-time jobs and with the share of everything that was hers (that my mother left to me in her will), I had enough to build the club from the ground up. I had something to be proud of, of course, that's all gone now."

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