TORQUE
Leaving Heeley this morning was hard. But spending last night with her was the best time of my life. Sure, I’ve had a chance at love before. I’ll never forget or dishonor Zoey. She was my everything. But the emotions I feel for Heeley seem different somehow. I loved Zoey when I was young, we were juveniles.
This feels…
I don’t know.
I might be talking out of my ass.
It’s not love, not yet, it’s too fucking soon for that. But I know we’re definitely headed in that direction. She’s perfect for me, in every single way, and this time I’m going to make this last. I won’t let anything get in my fucking way.
As my brothers and I ride to meet with Enzo and the Andrettis in The Heart of Italy, a feeling washes over me that I haven’t felt in a long time.
I have something I could lose.
Someone I could lose.
And that scares me.
My resistance to work with the Andrettis is now being overshadowed by the fact I need to protect what’s mine.
Not only my city but Heeley too.
I saw a quote once that said, ‘Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands resistance.’
If the fact that my resistance to work with the Andrettis is all that’s keeping me, keeping my brothers from having a peaceful town, then I need to suck that shit up.
Having the Ishikawa Yakuza in town has rattled me, and as much as I fucking hate it, Enzo seems like the only devil I can dance with to try and bring these fuckers down.
So, with the devil, I will dance.
Even if it fucking kills me.
Pulling into the Italian restaurant, tensions are high. We’ve never met on the Andretti home turf before. This is all new to us. We’re breaking new ground. And I can honestly say I don’t know what I’m doing. But I won’t let that indecision show to my brothers. They have to think I’m in complete control of every situation.
So, I hop off my ride and place my helmet on my seat looking up to everyone. “Keep on your toes at all times. I don’t trust these guys as far as I can throw them. We’re here to offer them a deal. We need them as much as they need us. So don’t go doing anything fuckin’ stupid.” I purposely look to my brother, Trax, and he scrunches up his face in disapproval as we all head for the door of the pizzeria.
We walk in to see Andretti’s men sitting in the back smoking cigars and drinking. The room of the restaurant is filled with the stale smell of the tobacco. I cringe wondering how anyone can stand to eat a meal in here. Luckily, it’s morning and customers won’t be coming in until the lunch rush.
We stride through heading for the back. Everyone’s subtly looking around making sure no one will be stepping out from the sides as we head toward the rear of the place.
Enzo spots us and stands up with a bright smile. “Defiance brothers. So good to see you. Here, have a seat. You want a slice of pizza? Gio, get the boys some pizza.”
I tilt my head and chuckle. “Enzo, it’s nine in the morning.”
He nods like that means nothing to him, and then he tilts his head like he’s just realized something. “Oh, fuck, my bad. Gio, get some calzone, too. And some cannoli, extra custard on the side. I’m sure bikers love cannoli. Am I right?”
I glance to my brothers who all raise their brows wondering why Enzo’s suddenly being overly hospitable as we all take seats at a round table near the booth where he’s sitting.
As he picks up a slice of cheese pizza and shoves it in his mouth, he starts talking, “So…” he says with his mouth full, “… last night was fun, si?” A piece of dough flies out of his mouth along with some spittle, and I try not to laugh wondering how this guy is the same guy we’ve been fighting with for so long.
Shaking my head slightly, I start, “So that crew last night. They’re the assholes buying up fuckin’ everything. His name is Aiko Ishikawa. He and his… I guess you could call them family, are in town from Japan.”
“Ahh… okay. So what are we looking at here?” Enzo wipes his mouth with a napkin.
“Yakuza.”
Everyone stops dead still and looks to me.
Yeah, I knew that would grab their attention.
“You’re shitting me! I was thinking maybe Triads, but Yakuza?” Enzo questions, dropping his slice of pizza to his plate like his appetite just abandoned him.
I shake my head as Ace brings up a rap sheet on his screen and places it in front of Enzo. “This is what we have so far.”
Enzo looks down and scrolls through the information. His eyes light up. “Fanculo!” He rubs his chin. “So, how do we play this?”
Clearing my throat, I shake my head. “That’s the thing, I’m not sure, yet. The only thing I do know, is we need to be together in whatever we do. I’m pretty sure they’re gonna try to pit us against each other, but we need to stick together to take them down.”
Enzo nods in agreement. “Agreed. It’s fucking weird to say… but agreed. We have to work together. But we also have to be equals in this, Torque. I need to know your plans, and you need to know mine, or this shit won’t work.”
I nod and stand up, walking to him, and place my hand out to him for the second time.
He chuckles shaking it. “This is becoming a damn habit.”
“Fuckin’ tell me about it.” I turn and lift my head to my brothers in a signal for us to leave.
“Oh… and Torque?” Enzo calls out, so I turn back to face him.
“Thank you for coming to me rather than siding with the Yakuza to bring me down. Shows balls. You’ve earned respect.”
Nodding, I turn and signal again for my brothers to head out of the restaurant and notice Sensei looking disheveled. He’s been so fucking quiet since last night, and I have no idea what the hell is going on. I’m going to have to pull him aside to see what his problem is.
Everyone exits the restaurant including Sensei, and I pull him to the side as the others move to their rides.
He looks at me and raises his brow. “Everything okay, Pres?”
I cock my brow and lower my voice. “You tell me?”
He huffs and looks around as the roar of engines echo through the parking lot blocking the others from hearing us.
I grip his arm and look him in the eyes, his are definitely distant and foggy. “Sensei, you’re my best friend. I’ve never seen you like this. You’re the calmest, most collected man I’ve ever known. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Sensei grits his teeth. “Torque, I know more about my past than I let on.”
Shrugging, I shake my head. “Okay?”
“My mother told me the story when I was old enough to understand. Coming from this background has turned me into the man I am today, Torque.”
“You’re not making any sense, Sensei.”
He looks down to the ground and exhales. “My mother was born in Tokyo. She was set to be in an arranged marriage to my father. Her family was trading her, to get their family out of a… tough situation. You see, the man she was marrying had a high ranking in Japan. But my father was a horrible man to my mother. He would treat her like a slave along with some brutality as well.
“She soon fell pregnant, and she knew her baby would grow up in a life full of crime, extortion, and bad deeds. Though she found solace in another man, Hiro Maki. You know him as my father, but he is actually my stepfather. He took pity on my mother, and together they forged an escape plan and fled to Chicago.”
Screwing my eyebrows together, I let out a small puff of air. I had no idea Sensei’s father wasn’t his actual blood father.
“On their way out, they had another guard find two bodies…” I can see it pains him to tell me, “… a pregnant woman and a man the same stature of my stepfather. The guard shot them. Placed them in a small hut and set it on fire, where my real father could find the bodies and assume they were dead.”
I shake my head at this news while Sensei continues, “My mother and Hiro made it to America and started a new life. They were constantly looking over their shoulders… wondering when my father would come… but he never did. Mother and Hiro raised me together, and then had my two sisters, Keiko and Mei, and we have never given it another thought…” he pauses, “… until now.”
Raising my brow, I wonder why he’s telling me all of this. “It’s great you feel like you can tell me all of this, and I hate that your family had to go through that, but why exactly is this relevant?”
He looks into my eyes, steadying his posture, and grits his teeth. “Because I think Aiko Ishikawa of the Ishikawa Yakuza… is my father.”
in
Penance: The Chicago Defiance MC Series Book 2
to be released on
26 July 2018
BLURB
I'm not sure how it happened.
The way the cord of life can splinter and snap without warning.
My family—in hiding from the Japanese Yakuza.
My club—at war with the very organization my family are hiding from.
Though, amidst the chaos, there is one shining light.
A Spanner in the works.
A woman who’s not only the complete opposite of me, and everything I stand for, but a woman who my parents should frown upon.
She’s brash, where I am guarded. We shouldn't work.
This story isn't about a dynasty reuniting and mending old wounds—it's betrayal, deception, conflict and turmoil.
Bloodshed—it's coming.
Who will pay the ultimate penance?