TORQUE
It’s getting close to four in the morning as I sit back in the main room of the club, beer in hand not so patiently waiting for Chains and Sensei to deliver my package. They’ve been gone for hours, and I’m getting antsy. The entire club is awaiting their arrival while the club girls try to keep us entertained. Their dancing and showing off is doing absolutely nothing for me tonight as I sip on my brew thinking through my plan of action.
The squeal of the main door opens, and everyone turns to see Sensei walking in holding a battered-looking Alfonso. He limps into the clubhouse, his eyes swollen, his nose bleeding, and his lip cracked open. I smile as I slam my stein to the table in front of me, slide my chair back, the wooden feet scraping on the concrete, and I move faster than I thought possible while Chains closes the door behind them.
Trax and Surge are by my side instantly as we storm up to Alfonso and Sensei.
“Alfie, so good to see you again,” I mock as he stumbles forward, his wrists bound together.
He takes in the clubhouse and curls up his split lip. “I knew you liked to play on the edge, Torque, but I never pictured you as stupid,” Alfonso replies, and I raise my brow at him as Trax lets out a small chuckle.
Snorting, I ball my hand into a fist, and without hesitation, I slam it straight into his already bleeding nose. My knuckles sting as I make contact, and he lets out a muffled moan of pain as an obvious crack resounds through the room. He drops to his knees and blood ripples down over his lip from his nose. His hands come up to his face as he tries to tend to his broken nose.
I shake my head. “Don’t ever call me stupid, or next time I’ll do more than break your fucking crooked fucked-up nose.”
He looks up at me as Sensei grabs the hem of his shirt, and it’s only now I realize Alfie’s wearing expensive looking pajamas.
I raise my brow with a smirk. “Get ya out of bed, did we?”
Alfie spits out a ball of blood at my feet deciding not to answer.
I shrug. “Shame, you’ll probably need a good nap once we’re done with you.” I raise my eyes to Sensei. “Take him to the Chamber.”
Sensei nods, yanking Alfonso up by his collar and dragging him along toward the hall.
Trax smiles wide cracking his knuckles and glances to me like he’s finally happy for the first time in a long while. “You’re going to let me be in there, right?”
I hesitate for a moment. Typically, I wouldn’t have any qualms about Trax being my right-hand man for questioning, but he’s too close to this, and he could easily get carried away. But if I don’t let him in there, it could potentially lead to worse issues. Fuck. I glance to Surge, and he subtly nods. So I take a deep breath and quickly answer him as I watch Trax’s bright smile falter slightly at my hesitation. “Yeah, you’re in. But you follow my lead. Don’t act out. Ya got me?”
He cracks his neck to the side, his smile back on his face. “Yeah, Pres, I got you.”
We turn and head down the hall past the sleeping quarters and Armory, then down the stairs toward the darkness of the dimly-lit Chamber. It’s always damp in here and smells of mold. Only top-ranking club members are allowed in this place and certainly no women.
This is the men’s room.
This is where shit gets done.
This is where men lose their minds to the madness of their demons, and their devils take hold. This is the Chamber, and this is carnage. This place holds the beast within, and we let them rage, we let them ravage. In the Chamber, all bets are off, and you don’t want to be the man sitting in that silver fucking chair. That man right now is Alfonso, and he’s going to wish he’d never crossed us.
Opening the heavy steel door, I walk in and a drop of water hits the top of my head as my foot drops from the bottom step into the dimly-lit room. The walls are all solid stone so no sound can escape. Moss grows through the cracks, and the smell is more than a little musty. The area is like an underground bunker of sorts.
Trax closes the solid metal door, while I move over to the silver chair now holding Alfonso. The industrial wall lamp flickers its amber hue through the room lighting Alfonso’s anxious face just enough to see the fear in his eyes. Although he’s trying hard to mask it.
Sensei, Trax, and I are the only ones in here, and that’s all the men I need to get my answers. I’ll do the talking. Trax will be used to scare the life out of Alfonso. And Sensei? He’s the one to bring a world of pain.
A trio of torture.
I squat down in front of Alfonso, his hands bound to the arms of the chair, his ankles tied to the legs. His swollen eyes follow my every move. Clearing my throat, I take a breath and begin, “So, my men obviously waited till you were sleeping like a baby to bring you in. Solid plan, I’m proud of them. By the looks of you, you didn’t come willingly, which can only mean…” I raise my eyes to the ceiling and then look back into his, “… you have something to hide. Right, Alfie?”
He tenses his muscles and shakes his head. “We had our words at your club tonight, Torque. I left without hesitation when you asked, politely. What more do you want from me?”
I let out a stifled laugh and shake my head. “Well, for starters, why were your men waiting out back for my sister?”
Alfie shrugs nonchalantly. “You have a sister?” But his voice breaks a little giving him away.
I look to Trax, and he smiles wide, stepping forward, and looking down into Alfonso’s eyes. “You gonna play it this way, Alfie? Make it so we think you know nothing?”
Alfonso shrugs again. “I don’t know anything about no sister,” he pouts.
Trax nods his head and stands up straight turning his back to Alfonso and begins to pace in front of him while rubbing his chin. “So, if you didn’t know we have a sister, and you know nothing about what happened tonight, then I guess we have no real need for you then?”
Alfonso sits up a little taller, looking from Trax to me, all the while Sensei remains calm and collected—watching and waiting. Alfonso huffs and cracks his neck with the tension building up inside of him. “You know, if anything happens to me, Enzo will be on you.”
I nod and tilt my head. “Mmm… yeah. But you see… Enzo sent men after my sister while you distracted us inside the club. This not ringing any bells for you, yet?”
He turns up his nose, and I glance to Trax once more who smiles and takes the lead. “You know Sensei here…” he points to him, “… he’s trained in all manner of things. Meditation, jujitsu, the art of body modification—”
“You have a point here, pretty boy?” Alfonso blurts out.
Trax chuckles. “Oh yeah, I’m getting there. My point is… if we let him loose, I pretty damn sure his meditation techniques will not stop him. You know, bring him back into the Zen and all.”
Alfonso chuckles. “And this is what…” he pauses for dramatic effect, “… supposed to scare me? You think some little Asian with a bad hairdo is gonna make me talk? You don’t know Enzo. He’d kill me for talking out of turn.”
Trax smiles. “What makes you think we won’t do worse than kill you?”
He snorts. “What’s worse than a dishonorable death?”
“Oh… Alfie… there are things much, much worse than death. Shall we show you?” Trax asks, and Alfonso scrunches up his face and huffs.
“Look, I know you want to scare me into talking, but I’m not gonna budge. Enzo scares me far more than you do. And if you were fucking smart, you’d know hurting me is a bad move on your part, too. ‘Cause Enzo will only come after you.”
I look to Sensei, and he nods moving over to the cabinet in the darkened corner of the room. Alfonso’s eyes follow him, his body tensing as the room shifts to silence, and Trax smiles wide knowing what’s coming.
“So, what? You think you’re going to just tickle me now, and you’ll get what you want?” Alfonso asks turning to me and taking his eyes off Sensei.
I smile and nod. “Something like that.”
Alfonso grits his teeth, his hands balling into fists as he jolts about in the chair trying to wrestle free from his restraints.
He won’t break free. Those restraints are too tight. Alfonso groans in frustration.
Sensei walks over carrying a Tanto dagger. He brings it up to his eyes and looks down the sharp line of the razor-sharp blade. His thin eyes, squinting even smaller as he appreciates the steel. A small smile adorns his lips. “This blade was given to me by my father. I look at it as a step back to my heritage.”
Alfonso looks at Sensei and raises a brow. “That’s great and all… but honestly, I don’t give a fuck.”
Sensei smiles and steps up to Alfonso. “You should. My heritage is going to play a part in what happens next,” Sensei warns and brings the tip of the blade to his finger. He pricks it, and a single drop of blood forms on the end.
I shake my head. He’s a twisted fucker.
“You see, this blade is sharp. So sharp it can cut through tiny bones.”
Alfonso looks up, his eyes opening wider at that comment. He looks at me, and I shrug like I have no idea what Sensei’s planning, but I already know where this is heading.
“All you have to do is tell us what Enzo planned to do with Neala. It is such a simple question and so easy to answer.”
Alfonso swallows hard like his façade is cracking, but he shakes his head and breathes in deeply. “With who?” he answers.
Sensei chuckles. “Hmm…. I have done a lot of research on my heritage. You see my parents are Japanese, and my mom moved from Japan to Chicago before I was born. But she always liked to keep the Japanese tradition instilled inside of me. I wanted to know more about my country. About its traditions. About the people. Good and bad—”
“Your sob story is boring me sushi train… fucking get on with it,” Alfonso quips, and I shake my head.
He’s going to regret that little statement.
Sensei smirks and nods respectfully. “As you wish. And I was saying, I took notes on the people… good and the very bad. Like the Yakuza…” Alfonso’s eyes light up, and he looks at Sensei intensely. “Hmm… yes. I followed their traditions and their techniques. Learning all I could from an early age.” Sensei sighs dramatically and bends down looking Alfonso in the eyes with a cold hard stare. “If you will not talk, I think I might have to punish you with the Yubitsume as a form of penance… you understand.” Sensei smirks.
As Sensei stands back up cracking his neck from side to side, Alfonso’s eyes almost burst out of his sockets. “What the hell is that? I don’t understand your Japanese gibberish,” Alfonso rushes out in a state of panic.
Thank fuck! Finally, he’s taking this seriously.
Sensei curls his fingers around the handle of the dagger, his grip firm as he stands to the side of Alfonso. I steady my posture, folding my arms over my chest letting Alfonso know we’re not here to fuck around.
It’s time to get serious.
Sensei moves to Alfonso’s left side taking a stance beside him as Alfonso stares at him breathing harshly in and out of his nose waiting in apprehension of what Sensei’s going to do. “What the hell are you doing?”
Without hesitation, Sensei brings the dagger down on Alfonso’s pinky finger, slicing it clean off. It’s so precise, so clean, so meticulous, it feels like a surgical removal. Blood spurts out of the knuckle closest to his hand as Alfonso screams loudly, and I jolt from the harshness of it. Spittle flies out of his mouth as his chin drops to his chest in the agony of the moment.
“You sick fucking bastards. Li mortacci tua!” He insults us in his native Italian dialect, but I have no idea what he’s said.
Sensei grabs a man-sized handkerchief from his pocket and begins wiping his blade clean, and I smile at his clean-freak ways.
Trax steps in front of Alfonso dipping his fingers under his chin and lifts his head so Alfonso will look at him. “So… is your memory coming back now? Or are you still having douche-grade amnesia?”
Alfonso breathes harshly in and out of his nose while I stand back, arms still folded over my chest watching the blood seep from his knuckle, and wonder if he’s going to break or not. He shakes his head while gritting his teeth and clears his throat. “Didn’t need that finger anyway.”
I burst out laughing. “Geez man, you’re fuckin’ hilarious.”
Trax shakes his head while Sensei smiles as he turns and walks over to his cabinet in the dark corner. I hear the unmistakable high-pitched ‘zing’ sound of the samurai sword being withdrawn from its scabbard. The sound makes Alfonso’s ears prick up as he watches intently for Sensei’s form to reappear in the light, and when he does, he’s carrying his Katana blade.
Alfonso sighs and shakes his head. “No. You can’t. If you decapitate me, Enzo will hunt you all down.”
Sensei steps up to him placing the top of the blade on his shoulder and takes a deep breath. “Who said anything about cutting off your head? Your head holds your mouth. Your mouth does the talking. Now… tell us what we want to know, or…” Sensei tilts his head letting the unknown hang in the air.
Alfonso looks around to Trax and me dramatically like he’s searching for our help. Like he’s actually scared of Sensei.
I shrug. “Don’t look at me. You know the way out of this, Alfie. Tell us what we wanna know, and you walk… it’s as simple as that.”
He scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Simple as that, huh? Simple. As. That! I tell you what you want to know and you don’t cut off my head, but then Enzo kills me anyway. Or I don’t tell you, and I die now. Fuck me into the middle of next week… I lose either way.”
I take a step forward dropping my arms. “There is another way. You tell us what we wanna know, and we’ll help you find a way to disappear.”
His eyes light up, his brow raises, and I can see the cogs turning in his mind. He’s mulling this thought over, truly weighing up his options. “You swear you’ll get me away from Enzo. Keep me in permanent hiding?”
I nod. “I swear.”
He sinks into the silver chair and clenches his eyes shut before opening them again and shakes his head. “I was sent in to distract you while the others were tasked to take Neala. We knew once we showed up, you’d send word to get her out of there. So, we had men cover the back exit, and sure enough, right as we knew you would, you sent Neala directly into our hands.”
My nostrils flare, and I notice Trax clenching his hands into fists as I take a step closer. “Why were you taking her?”
He takes a deep breath and looks at the floor. “Enzo wanted her for a tradeoff.”
My body tenses and I grit my teeth. “A trade for what exactly?”
“You’d get her back if you agreed to stop distributing roids. He wants the whole market. He wants to be the chief supplier in Chicago. He doesn’t want scum bikers coming in and underhanding him every chance you get. He wants you guys out of the gyms. His end game is to buy up all your gyms and take them over.”
I look to Trax, and he shakes his head. “He tried to take our sister, stabbed our prospect, and invaded our club because he wants to overthrow our gyms?” Trax replies.
Alfonso nods. “Yeah, he wants to own Chicago. He wants it to be solely Italian owned and operated. Not run by bikers. You own half the gyms. You own the main club in town. You own the gun shops and ranges. He’s concerned you’re getting too big, taking over, and he wants it all.”
Shaking my head, I snort. “So his ego’s a little dented?”
Alfonso raises his brow. “Torque, he’s not joking. He wants it. And he’s willing to do anything to get his way.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and my forehead crinkles. “What does that mean, Alfonso?”
He sinks into the silver chair a little more and cracks his neck to the side obviously uncomfortable with the line of questioning, and with what he’s about to say. “Look, don’t shoot the damn messenger.”
“Spit it out, Alfie,” I almost yell.
He groans, gritting his teeth, his eyes avert from Trax and me. “The idea was to treat Neala like any of the other women coming through Andretti doors. If she isn’t one of our women, then she’s…” he pauses with a concerned look and then continues, “… worth nothing to us, and we treat her as such.”
My body tenses as anger flashes over me. Trax grunts and begins pacing the floor, his anger seething off him in waves, his muscles taut and tense, and I know I’m going to have to watch him in the next few minutes. An explosion of massive proportions is imminent.
My voice lowers and is full of disdain as I grunt at him, “Go on.”
His breaths come in short and sharp as he continues to avoid our gaze. “She was going to be under my supervision. She would be… tended to until you arrived.”
My stomach churns, and Trax lunges forward, forcing me to have to grab him and hold him back as he pants for staggered breaths. I grit my teeth while holding onto Trax and stare cold hard daggers at Alfonso while keeping everything I have in me and trying not to cut loose on the fucking asshole myself.
“Let me be very clear with you right now, Alfonso. Were you gonna…” I pause as bile creeps up into my throat, “… rape my sister?”
He slowly looks up, his eyes finally meeting mine. His eyes are glassy. They look distant and broken. A man defeated, but I don’t care. He swallows hard licking his bottom lip and simply answers, “Y-yes,” but his voice cracks.
I turn away, letting go of Trax, and he lunges forward without hesitation and lands a punch straight into Alfie’s already broken nose. Alfonso’s head flies back and smacks into the metal of the silver chair making him grunt out in pain. Trax lands a second punch to his face for good measure.
Trying hard to gather my thoughts, I pace the room. My heart’s racing a million miles a second, and as I think to Neala, sweet innocent Neala who’s sleeping soundly upstairs, the thought that if they had gotten away with her, right now this fucker could be doing unspeakable shit to her. It’s fucking with my head. I’m a man of my word, but right now I can’t be that man. I have to be a brother, a president, and I must have vengeance on the man in front of me who wouldn’t have had a second thought in violating Neala.
He has to pay.
Severely.
I turn to Sensei and give a simple nod. He grins at me and steps up to Alfonso. Trax steps to the side, shaking out his hand from a volley of punches and tries to walk off his anger. I reach out placing my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. He looks to me and curls up his lip, shaking his head. I give him a curt nod, letting him know I’m not letting this asshole get away with the thought of touching our sister.
I turn to Alfonso and take a centering breath. “Alfonso, I know I said I would give you safe passage. I swore it. I am a man of my word—”
“What the fuck, Torque?” Trax interrupts me, and I hold up my hand to stop Trax’s tirade. He stops with a huff as I turn to look at him with a sly smile. He visibly relaxes as I turn back to Alfonso who’s trying to look at me with a very swollen face.
“But, with this new information, I’m afraid there’s only one course of action I can grant here.” I give a curt nod to Sensei, and he steps in front of Alfonso, whose eyes light up in pure terror as Sensei brings the Katana blade up to his eye level while taking his stance.
“No, you can’t chop off my head, bastardo. I gave you the information you requested,” he yells at the same time Sensei swipes the blade downward. It slices straight through both his wrists and his hands drop from the sides of the chair in one fell swoop. Alfonso’s screams echo through the room as snot runs from his nose, saliva runs from his mouth, and he begins to fade in and out of consciousness from blood loss.
Sensei takes a step back and again takes his handkerchief and begins to wipe off his Katana making sure not to leave any grossness on his precious steel. I step up in front of Alfonso, not caring my boots are being covered in his blood. I bend down to his eye level and turn up my lip as his unfocused eyes slowly stare at me. “Now your filthy hands can never touch a woman again.”
His bottom lip trembles as he coughs and splutters trying to stay awake through his immense agony.
“Sensei… get his stubs wrapped. Then deliver him to Enzo with a message… ‘You come after what’s mine, I come back even harder.’”
Alfonso’s head snaps up, and he shakes it with what little strength he has left. “No. No. You can’t. Don’t take me back to him… please. Torque, you promised you’d protect—”
I turn with Trax by my side, and we head for the stairs. “That was before I learned the repugnant news that you were gonna rape our sister. Deal’s off… Enzo can have you.”