Page 48 of Bane's Beginning

She closed the refrigerator door with a beer in her hand and walked over to me and gave me a hug, squeezing me tighter than I wanted.

“Good to see you, too,” she said, flashing me a bright smile. “Get food and come sit.”

Of course, I listened. Taking a seat by Anna, I started eating my food, trying not to draw attention to myself.

“How are you feeling, hon?” Jane asked.

“I’m okay,” I accidentally said, a little too forced and she gave me a knowing look.

Taking a long sip of her beer, she said, “You don’t have to lie, hon. We’ve all been there. Well, except our baby, Anna.”

They all murmured agreements, except Anna who flipped Jane off. I laughed at their teasing.

“You decide what you’re going to do yet?”

“Do I really have a choice?”

“Fair,” she laughed. “You may be stuck here right now, but you do have a choice in choosing to be with Maverick or not. He wouldn’t make that choice for you.”

“He would if he wasn’t the president,” Alice chuckled. “That boy is so headstrong and I’ve seen and heard about the way he looks at you.”

“He’s a goner,” Serena chirped and I had to fight back my smile. Was it so easy for others to see?

“Now you’re not dumb,” Jane said, bluntly. “You know why we are here.”

“To convince me to stay,” I said.

“Well, not exactly,” she said as she bit the skin on her lip. “You’ve been here for quite some time now, but no one’s ever really told you much about the club. Granted, something tells me you don’t ask many questions either.”

She was right. During my time with Matteo, I knew it was a bad idea to question a man, especially one that had shady dealings, so most of the time I didn’t ask any questions about the club, even to the other girls.

“That’s beside the point,” she added. “Your brother also has kept you away from a lot of it, as well. But, now that you’ve secured aplace here, you have a right to know about some of the stuff that goes on.”

I went to interrupt, but Grace stopped me.

“Just hear us out before you go make a decision you regret.”

Choosing to not say anything, I just nodded in agreement.

“It’s easy to think the boys are just a bunch of criminals,” she said, and I grimaced as I heard what I said shot back at me. “We’ve all thought that at some point, too. But they are so much more than just outlaws. They’re brothers who take care of their own. Their families, their friends, and their women.”

She smiled and the girls nodded in agreement.

“But, what the club does and represents is crime,” I said.

“That’s true,” Grace added. “It started that way, but it’s not going that way. Most of the business the boys do is legit. At least here in this chapter. Other chapters are at different stages, but fundamentally they are the same.”

“Exactly,” Alice agreed.

“How did it start?”

Jane smiled and said, “Teller always says it's because of me, but I call bullshit.”

“It was for you, Ms. Golden Pussy,” Alice said and we all laughed as Jane rolled her eyes.

“Teller and I have known each other since we were babies, believe it or not,” she said. “His parents and my parents were best friends when we were in elementary school. But when his mom died, I didn’t see him again until we were sophomores in high school. He was different, came riding in from the trailerpark on a motorcycle with Pops, Old School and Sheriff right beside him. They quickly became the school’s mysterious bad boys, while I was the popular head cheerleader.

He was different when he came back, though. We were different. Teller and I used to argue a lot, but no matter what we’d say to each other or what jock I was dating at the time, we’d always find ourselves banging like rabbits in the parking lot.”