TORQUE
I knock and soon after, the door opens. Mom stands there with a smile on her face. Her auburn hair falls down around her shoulders, already brushed, looking silky and smooth. Her freckles extra prominent this morning on her glowing face as her already make-up-adorned-face smiles at me wide. I look down seeing she’s dressed too, in her usual tight-fitting top and skinny jeans. Something a mom the age of forty-nine shouldn’t be wearing. The idea that my brothers here might consider her a MILF crosses my mind, and I cringe outwardly while she furrows her brows as she gestures for me to come inside.
“Torque, honey, are you cold? You’re shudderin’,” she asks her Irish accent which seems thicker this morning.
I shake my head and walk inside. “No, I’m good, Mom. So, ah… you’re up early.”
She heads over to her dresser and picks up her cell sliding it into her back pocket. “Oh Lord, I’ve been up since the wee hours of the mornin’, my love. Just spendin’ my time sortin’ out the mess of the bathroom. It needed a spruce up.”
I let out a laugh. “You’ve been cleaning?”
She nods. “Aye. Now I’m gonna go get me some breakfast. I hear Ruby cooks a mean fry.”
I sigh. “She does cook a great meal. But Mom, let’s get down to it, I know you’re annoyed about being here. Talk to me.”
She slumps her body and looks down to the floor. “Look boyo, comin’ into the club always brings me two emotions. This club brought me a new life. A new home. When your da and I fled the homeland and came to Chicago runnin’ from the Irish mob, we set out to start a new life. One free from chaos and carnage. And we did that. We had you three beautiful children. We started this club. And it was brilliant. Until Stefano Andretti came in with his bullshite and started a war. But, you know all this. The fact is, bein’ here reminds me that this is the place I settled with your da… this is the place I made a home with Guinness… this is where we made our family.
“This is also the place where I had to try and keep my family together after your da died. You fell apart. Trax was numb. Neala was so young she didn’t really understand, but the whole club was hurtin’ along with me. I had to keep you all together and try not to fall apart myself. Bein’ here, Rylan, reminds me of everythin’ I lost.”
I step up and grab her hands in mine, forcing her to look at me. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t know being here hurt you. But you do understand why I need you here? Why I need Neala here, right?”
“Aye boyo, I understand. I’ve been a part of the brotherhood since I was a gearrchaile. You know this. I know how it works. There be a threat on the club, I be here waitin’ it out till she passes. I know your drill. I’ve been here many a time, and I’ve been through much worse than a family lockdown due to some Italian Mafia wannabes. The Andrettis aren’t so bad, boyo. You deal with the Irish Mob, then you know real players.”
I chuckle and nod knowing the story of how Mom and Dad had to flee their own country to get away from the Irish Mob. They had to fake their own deaths in order to escape from their tyranny so they could start anew. I still don’t know how they pulled it off, but they did, and they never looked back leaving their Irish roots behind and started a new life in America.
“Still, I’m sorry you’re here when you don’t wanna be. Just know I’m gonna try to do everything to fix this fucking mess up with Enzo. All I know is we sent his right-hand man back to him, minus his right hand… and for good measure his left one, too.” Mom raises her brow at me with a sly smirk, but says nothing as I continue, “So he’s gonna be… pissed.”
“Hmm… well, best we eat our protein and come up with a plan then, eh? Because I don’t want you or Trax goin’ into the den of a lion with only a whip to tame ‘im.”
I chuckle. “What does that even mean?”
“It means… Enzo, while he’s a caged animal right now, he only needs one thing to make him roar. You just sent him a reason to ignite, and he’s an appetite for carnage. You can bet your bippy your next on his list, boyo.”
Nodding, I let go of her hands and walk with her out of her room down toward the main area. The smell of bacon wafts through the air as we enter, and Ruby spots us from behind the bar.
“Morning, Freckles. Full Irish breakfast?” Ruby calls out as she stands wearing a full-length apron and holding a pair of tongs in her hands.
“Aye, but hold the puddin’, extra soda bread and swap out the tea for coffee. I’m in need of somethin’ a little stronger this mornin’, aye love.”
Ruby bounces up on her toes with a smile. “Coming right up.” She spins to head off, and I chuckle.
“Ahh, Ruby,” I call out making her spin back to face me.
“Oh shit! Sorry Torque. You want breakfast, too?”
I nod and give her a smile. She chews on her bottom lip, winking at me, and bounds away off to the kitchen in her usual peppy manner. Shaking my head, I keep walking with Mom toward the wooden tables to take a seat. Sensei is still sitting contemplating life I suppose, and now Chains, Trax, and Surge are with him eating their breakfast.
Surge looks up to see us approaching, and he looks at Mom and nods his head. “Morning, Freckles, you’re looking mighty sprightly this fine morning.”
Mom snorts shaking her head. “Surge, you old fool, your charms never did work on me. I’ve known you for far too long.”
We all laugh as Mom and I take a seat—Mom next to Surge and me next to Sensei. “So, any news on what happened when you took Alfonso back to Enzo?”
Trax looks up from his plate and takes notice of the conversation.
“No. All I know is I arrived at Enzo’s compound. Knocked on the door. Kicked Alfonso to his knees and proceeded to…” he pauses, and the smirk on his face says it all, “… leave with haste. I did not feel the need to stick around. If they saw me, who knows how many of them I would have had to fend off in response,” Sensei answers, and I nod clenching my jaw.
I have no idea whether Alfie boy is still alive or not, but he gave us what we wanted, and in return, we took Enzo’s prized possession from him. We broke his right-hand man. We made him talk. We made Alfonso betray his master. That’s about as big of a punishment as Enzo could get without taking him out himself. Which is still on my list of things to do.
“So are we expecting repercussions from this, Torque?” Chains asks, and I raise my brow and exhale.
“You bet your ass we are,” Trax answers before I can even open my mouth.
Mom tilts her head and frowns. “It sounds like you’re excited about that, boyo?”
Trax looks to Mom and slumps his shoulders. “Mom, you don’t get it. They hit us. We hit them. That’s how this life is. Blood for blood. Vengeance is vengeance. It’s what we do.”
Mom shakes her head. “You know, Trax, I knew a man once, not that long ago who wasn’t so caught up in bloodlust. Sure, he liked the thrill, he liked the chaos, but he didn’t live for it. He didn’t breathe it. He didn’t crave it. You’re not the man you were two years ago. What changed in that time, boyo?”
I raise my brow. Why did she pick two years? Zoey and Dad died six years ago, that’s when Trax started going off the rails.
“Mom, don’t.”
Oh, now I’m interested. “What the hell happened two years ago?”
She looks at me and screws up her face. “The girl…” she waves her hands around, “… you know the one. The lassie he was spendin’ all his time with.”
Trax stands up abruptly and shoves his plate across the table so forcefully its contents spill everywhere. “This is not a topic for conversation. Mylee’s gone. She left. She’s not coming back. End of discussion.” He turns heading toward the sleeping quarters, and I raise my brow in surprise. I hardly remember Mylee. She came here only a few times with a brother club. She’s the daughter of Crest, the President of The Notorious Knights MC, but I never noticed Trax’s interest in the girl. But now I think about it, he was by her side the entire time she was here. Though, honestly, I thought she was more of a fling than anyone actually important to Trax.
I had no idea.
Mom sighs as Surge shakes his head. “That bloody girl meant so much to him. Why she up and left, I’ll never know. That woman was heading for Old Lady territory.”
Sensei, Chains, and I all open our eyes wide, and I let out a groan. “How the fuck did I not know this?”
“He was spending all his time at her place. She rarely came to the club. And he didn’t talk about her to the brothers. He didn’t want her forced into this life. She grew up in it, he didn’t want her to stay in if she wasn’t ready for it. She was sweet. Probably too damn sweet. I think that’s why she left. The times she did come into the club, it was rough for her. Especially because no one knew Trax wanted a claim on her, other than Freckles and me, of course,” Surge conveys, and I shrug.
“How come you knew, Surge?”
“Joys of being The Wise One in the club. Having that badge makes me the one the brothers talk to. You, of all the brothers, know that, Torque.”
Fucking hell! He’s making sense. His role as the non-religious ‘chaplain’ of our brotherhood is widely known in the club, and everyone turns to him for guidance and support. He’s been through so much but also knows the ins and outs of the biker life. He’s the only man to go to for advice and comfort, and so Trax turning to him is of no surprise. What is a surprise is that Trax didn’t tell me he was so invested in a woman. I thought we were close. As much as I hate to admit it, this stings.
“Yeah. I know… anyway, enough of Trax and his drama. We need to talk Andrettis. We know we have some backlash coming our way. What do we do to prepare for it? Do we need to lock down in your opinion?”
Surge screws up his face rubbing his chin. “Hard call. Enzo is flighty. Sometimes he reacts. Sometimes he doesn’t. We can’t predict how he’s going to play out this crap. I say no lockdown but warn everyone to be on guard. Especially our women. Freckles, Neala, and your froyo girl all need to be watched carefully.”
My muscles clench, and I close my eyes thinking of Heeley and the thought they may come after her. I’ve already taken precautions to keep her safeguarded so I take some comfort in that. “Heeley’s being watched by Zane. I made sure of that this morning. Freckles and Lala are here, so that’s covered. Spread the word to our brothers that their women and families are to keep their guards up. We don’t want anyone falling victim to fuckin’ Enzo and his bullshit.”
“Yeah, good idea. I’ll have Ace keep a lookout. Watch and see if anything comes up in his world of technology. If Enzo’s planning anything, and it’s on the digital stratosphere, Ace’ll find it,” Chains advises, and I nod.
“Get him on it. Any shipments, any trading, anything that’s suss. Any camera movements. Anything that catches his eye, I wanna know about it. Whether it’s near our compound, in The Heart of Italy, or downtown Chicago, I wanna know fuckin’ everything.”
“Got it, Pres,” Chains replies standing from the table. He walks off to find Ace, who’s probably still asleep in his room.
Ruby strides over with two giant plates of food. The smell of bacon hits me first, and my stomach growls in appreciation as she places the overfilled plates in front of my mother and me. “Here you go. Coffee’s on the way.”
“Thanks, Rubes,” I call out, and she smiles, turns and sways her ass as she walks off. Usually that would do something for me, but not today. Not after spending the night wrapped up in Heeley.
“So, I didn’t see you come in last night…” Mom trails off with a giant grin on her face. Surge turns to me. I groan rolling my eyes and pick up a piece of bacon.
“We’re not having this discussion,” I murmur as Sensei chuckles to himself.
“All I’m sayin’ is… you never stay out. So if you did, she must be—”
“Not having this discussion, Mom,” I repeat, but with more aggression as Mom smiles so wide her eyes light up. She picks up her fork and knife and starts cutting into her pork sausage. I slyly glance to Surge, and he nods to me knowingly. I hate the idea of making him uncomfortable. Me, talking about another woman when I was married to his daughter, plays on my mind heavily. But I know he’ll be happy for me. He wants me to move on, we’ve discussed it many times. Or should I say, Surge explained his thoughts, and I listened.
“Stop overthinking, Torque. I’m happy if you’re happy, son. That’s all I want for you. You know that, right?” Surge conveys leaning across the table and slapping my shoulder.
His words mean more to me than he can possibly know.
Sensei says nothing while sitting here taking in the conversation. He’s my best friend. So him being here for this doesn’t bother me. He’s a part of my family, just like Surge is. “Thanks…” I let out a heavy sigh. “Heeley is…” my face lights up with a smile, “…. something fuckin’ else.”
Mom pulls her bottom lip in with her teeth and sinks into her chair. I think I even see her eyes well up as I glance back to Surge.
“You don’t know how happy this makes me, Torque. Seeing your face light up like this for a woman… fuck!” Surge beams, and I tense up slightly. It feels kind of weird. It probably shouldn’t, we’ve talked about this enough, but still, I married his daughter.
Shouldn’t he have reservations about me trying to move on?
After all, saying and meaning it are two different things.
“If talking about Heeley makes you uncomfortable, Surge, I can—”
“Will. You. Stop! You have my approval in this. I want you to move on, I need you to move on, for both our sakes. This Heeley woman obviously has you tied up in knots and honestly, seeing you like this is all I’ve wanted for the last couple of years. Torque, my boy, this is a great thing. No more questioning this with me, okay?”
Taking a deep breath as my chest fills with a sudden rush of excitement, I nod and smile. Knowing Surge is on board with me and Heeley, and I don’t have to worry about him being offended with the idea of me moving on, is a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. The one person in the world I don’t want to offend or hurt is Surge, and knowing I can step forward into something with Heeley, with his blessing, means everything to me.
“Just don’t screw it up, son.”
I let out a small laugh. “You know me.”
“Exactly.”
Sensei chuckles and pulls his hands up in surrender when I turn to glare at him. “I am in complete agreement with Surge. You have not had a real relationship in an extremely long time. You are bound to fuck it up somehow.”
Mom scoffs and waves her hand through the air. “Bollocks, boyo. Don’t listen to these wankers. You’ll do just fine. I want to meet this Heeley lass. Bring her in, will ya?”
My jaw ticks, and I crack my neck to the side. “Ahh… eventually. I think I need to warm her up to the lifestyle a little more before I bring her to the clubhouse.”
Mom nods and smiles. “Aye, don’t want to scare her off, do we? But I want to meet her. If she’s captured your attention, then she’s captured mine as well.”
Surge chuckles wrapping his arm around Mom’s shoulders and pulls her to him. “Don’t be a helicopter parent, Freckles. Let the boy work his love life on his own.”
Mom snorts and leans into his side with a smirk. “And you’re one to talk about love lives are you, Surge?” Mom teases looking him up and down. He screws up his face like she wounded him deeply, and I chuckle shaking my head.
“You guys and your fuckin’ banter drive me crazy,” I joke and move to eat my breakfast, forking a piece of sausage.
“Surge loves my banter,” Mom replies still in his grip.
Surge leans down planting a kiss on Mom’s head. “I love everything about you, Freckles.” His tone is sincere, and I appreciate the friendship they have. They might mock each other as good as they get, but they’ve been friends for over a quarter of a century, and it shows. A friendship that deep seeps from their pours and oozes off them. It’s nice to know friendships can last even with everything they’ve been through.
It’s been a long day. The only thing keeping me going has been the few texts from Heeley letting me know how her day’s going. She had no idea I picked up her cell last night and rang my phone from it, so I’d have her number on hand. But fuck am I glad I did that because, by the looks of things around the clubhouse, I might not be able to get out to see her tonight. I’m glad Zane has had a tail on her all day. I’ve been checking in with him relentlessly too. He’s given me the all-clear as far as he’s concerned, and there’s been nothing to report, which sets my mind at ease.
It’s late, and I know Heeley will be heading into work at Fox Froyo Bar for another late night with her brother and Ari, and I can’t help but be a little jealous. I wish I was spending the night with her, but instead, I have to be here shoveling through the shit my family’s legacy has created with the Andrettis. Sometimes being in charge fucking drains. But, I suck it up because that’s what good leaders do and we are a family and families are there for one another.
Taking a chair at Ace’s desk in the chapel, he types away at his computer as Trax, Surge, Chains, and Sensei stand behind us looking over our shoulders. “So... what’s so important you called us all in here, Ace?” I ask as he continues to type away frantically.
Something random pops up on his screen, something I have no idea of understanding let alone comprehending.
He nods, his man bun bobbing with the movement of his head which makes me smirk. “Right. So it’s taken me all day to find something interesting. But there’s definitely something happening around the city that’s peculiar. Something recent and is making an impact.”
I raise my brow as everyone behind us steps closer looking at the computer while Ace brings up a bunch of business profiles on the screen.
“Okay, so these businesses in town, they have no relation to each other. I can’t find a link. No family ties, no gangs or outside sources or influences linking them to each other—”
“Is there a point to this, Ace?” I ask becoming impatient.
He nods while clicking on something which brings up another screen showing them all under business purchase agreements, and I tilt my head.
“They’ve all been sold in the last two weeks for a price lower than their market value. And from what I can tell, they’ve all been sold to the same person. But for some reason, that information is restricted, and so far, I can’t access it.”
Shaking my head, I chuckle. “Yeah, well, one guess as to who that’ll be.”
Surge shakes his head. “Andretti,” he almost spits out the word, and I nod.
“I don’t know what he’s playing at by buying up businesses which mean nothing to this town. But from what I can gather, he seems to be attempting to take over everything and anything he can. Fucking scum.”
Trax lets out a huff and turns to start pacing the room. “How do we stop him purchasing the whole town from beneath us?”
Shaking my head, I rub my chin and turn to look at Surge for guidance. He shrugs, and for the first time, we’re all left feeling clueless. This is something we need to work on. Something we need to put all our heads together to try and fix. Because if there’s one thing we don’t need, it’s this town being owned and operated by the Andrettis.
That can’t happen.
We need the power.
We need the pull, and we must stop him from purchasing everything in sight.
We just need to figure out how.