by K E Osborn
“If I’m not mistaken, the name Hiro in Japanese can mean abundant, generous, tolerant, and prosperous… I think you are all of these things, Hiro. I know a man of honor when I see one, you ooze all of that. I know you’re looking out for Raiden, but I’m not the bad guy… I’m only here to keep him entertained, and by the sounds of it, you have some actual bad guys out there looking for you and the club, so please don’t throw me in the basket with them.”
Hiro finally cracks a smile as Sensei tenses beside me. I pick up a French fry from Mei’s plate and pop it into my mouth, the hit of salt smacking me in the face as I glance at her and smile. “Mei, lay off the salt, that much sodium will clog your arteries.”
“See, I told you!” Keiko points her finger in her sister’s face while Mei rolls her eyes and shoves some fries into her mouth not seeming to care.
Hiro raises his brow at me. “I see your point, Ayla, and I trust when you say you will be only a good influence on Raiden. He needs a yang to his yin. I believe you will be the light for his dark.”
I tilt my head. “Hmm… deep… deep, but I certainly get your point.” I chuckle as Sensei sighs.
“I think we have pestered you enough for one night. Mother, I apologize for how you first met Ayla tonight…” a blush creeps up on his mother’s face again as I grimace watching her, “… but we will depart now and leave you to your dinner, while we have some ourselves…” he looks at me, “… if you would like to?” he asks me using a different tone. Normally, I’d expect him to just tell me I’m having dinner with him, but I like that he’s asked me this time. It’s almost as if he’s asking me on a date, so I figure I’ll play that angle and tease him a little.
“You asking me out on a dinner date, Sensei?”
He looks at me while gritting his teeth with an intense stare like he’s annoyed with my mocking tone.
“Ayla, eat dinner with me.”
And there it is, his tone’s more demanding.
I let out a laugh and nod. “Aaand he’s back. The answer is… yes, Sensei. I will go on a date with you.”
“You guys are so weird,” Mei murmurs from behind me, making Keiko laugh as I giggle along with them.
“Jesus Christ,” Sensei murmurs standing up beside me as his mother tuts, her tongue clicking to the roof of her mouth.
“Raiden, Jesus may not be our Kami, but still, do not use his name in vain,” Shinobu berates Sensei.
He bows his head. “Of course, Mother… I apologize. Now, Ayla, kindly escort me to dinner?” His attitude has changed to a far more formal tone, and I can’t help but smirk.
“Why, thank you, kind sir, I would love nothing more,” I reply in a sickly sweet tone as I stand, but glance back to Mei and wink at her as she giggles. “Later, chicks,” I murmur, and they both wave as I look back to his parents and smile, giving a little wave to his mother. She smiles as Sensei places his hand on my lower back and ushers me away to another table.
I relax slightly against him, his hand on my back doesn’t lift up as we approach another table, and he gestures for me to sit down as I slide onto the bench. He follows, his arm now sliding around my waist, almost protectively, almost like ownership, and I like it. He pulls me, so we are side by side completely as I look up to him and let out a long sigh. “So, did I pass your test?”
His eyes soften as he looks into mine. “I wasn’t testing you.”
I grin and nod. “I know, but if you were, would I have passed?”
He chuckles. “Well… my sisters love you, of that I’m sure. I think my mother is in awe of your beauty, she seems fairly wrapped up by—”
“And your father?” I interrupt.
He pulls me closer and smiles at me. “You gained my father’s respect… that’s a fucking hard thing to do. You have a way about you, Ayla. You have the mouth of a teenage boy, but the sass of a fierce woman. I don’t understand you, but I am completely… enamored by you.”
I stifle a laugh and raise my brow. “A teenage boy, huh? Wow! Slick, that is sexy.”
He tilts his head. “Yeah… slick,” he mocks with a dose of extra-laced sarcasm. “It is.”
Bursting out laughing, I see his point. I guess my flair for the creative word does make me sound a little adolescent at times, but fuck, I’ve always talked like this. I’ve grown up around boys my entire life, so I was bound to sound like them. “Well, fuck it…” I shrug. “I am who I am.”
Sensei nods. “And I wouldn’t want to change any part of you, Sakura.”
My eyebrows crease at his mention of the wrong name, and I scoff folding my arms over my chest. “Ahh… that’s not my fucking name, Sensei.”
He laughs like he’s amused by my outrage. “Oh, it’s definitely your name, Sakura…” He pauses. “It’s Japanese for sass, and I’m going to call you Sass from now on.”
His words make me melt inside as I sink into my seat. “You’ve given me a nickname? That’s actually really sweet.”
He tilts his head taking my hand in his as a busty brunette waltzes over to us, her boobs almost seem too big for her tiny body as she steps up to us with a bright smile on her gorgeous face.
“Sensei, my sweet, would you and your company like some dinner?” she asks in a chirpy voice as she glances at me, her dimples make an appearance below her twinkling eyes. I like her instantly.
“Ruby… yes. Thank you,” Sensei replies not looking at her, his eyes not leaving mine the entire time.
I watch her watching him watching me. She bounces up on her toes like she’s the most happy she has ever been. I’m not sure what that’s about, but I decide I better say something. “Ahh… hi, Ruby, I’m Ayla. Nice to meet you.” I push out my hand for her to shake.
She slides her hand into mine shaking once with a firm grip. “It’s really great to meet you, Ayla. I hope you’re nice to my friend, Sensei, here. He deserves to be treated well.”
I smile as he groans.
“Everyone really looks out for you here, hey, Sensei?”
He looks at Ruby and raises his brow as she giggles.
“All I’m saying is he’s an uptight guy who needs a little… tender loving care.” She waggles her eyebrows suggestively, and I burst out laughing as Sensei groans.
“Ruby!” he warns as Ruby’s smile falters.
So I smile to liven the mood back up. “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to give him some real good tender lovin’. But maybe after dinner… I’m starving,” I suggest, and Ruby bounces on her toes again in happiness.
“Okay…” she giggles, “… you want something to drink with your food? You allergic to anything, hon?” Her joyful mood is back in an instant.
Sensei shakes his head like he’s living his own personal hell.
“No allergies and beer is fine. Thank you.”
“Beer for you, too, Sensei?”
“Anything. Just get me anything. If you. Please. Go. Away.”
Ruby laughs patting him on the back. “You love me, I know you do. Food will be here shortly. Have fun, guys,” Ruby beams as she rushes off, and I nuzzle into Sensei’s side wanting to be closer to him.
He wraps his arm around me, I smile up at him, and he shakes his head with a long, drawn out huff. “You’re trouble with a capital ‘T.’”
I smirk. “I invented the word.”
Sensei stifles a laugh. “I don’t doubt it… you’re going to have everyone here wrapped around your little finger in no time.”
“Even you?” I smile.
He leans in pressing his lips to my forehead softly, sending a wave of giddy butterflies through my stomach. “That’s a given, Sass.”
As I take a look around the clubroom, I cuddle in a little more. His brothers are eating and drinking, club girls are serving food or cleaning up the tables, and the room has quite the cheery atmosphere. I like this place. It seems cool, calm almost. I’m not sure if it’s like this all the time. Hell, I know it isn’t from the blood I saw stained on the pool table, but for now, at least, the club s
eems to be settled.
“So, Raiden Maki… what’s your job in this club? Tell me your mad skills.”
He grins. “I’m the Enforcer.” He glances to a man sitting by the pool table, his hair long on top, swept over, then shaved on the sides. A decent beard on his face, not overly long, enough for it to be manageable, but still in the realm of sexy rather than tatty. Though it’s his eyes—they’re so dark, so lost, so vacant as he stares off into nothing. There’s a length of chain strung between his hands as he mindlessly plays with the links.
“Chains over there, he’s our Sergeant at Arms. I answer to him… basically. I’m security along with him. He’s the lead, I am his second.”
Pursing my lips, I nod matter-of-factly. “Why are you the second and not first?”
He grins. “Chains has been here longer… simple as that. We’re both good at the job, and while Chains flexes his muscles out in the field, I use mine more… underground.”
Jolting my head back at that, I wonder what he means. “Underground?”
He smiles at me. “Club business, Sass… I can’t divulge any more.”
“Do you mean like in the underworld?” I can’t help but ask.
He lets out a breath. “No, not the underworld… underground—”
“What like literally under the ground? Like a basement or something—”
“Sass!” he berates while looking into my eyes with a stern glare. It sends a shiver down my spine, and I draw my lip in by my teeth and stop talking immediately.
“Got it! You can’t say.”
He nods, his hand gently running up my back in a soothing way. I relax back as I chew on my bottom lip assessing him. “You’re the torturer, aren’t you?” I blurt out.
He stiffens. “Sass!”
“Okay, okay,” I bring my hands up in surrender. “I’m just saying that… if you were, and you tortured the really bad guys… I would be fine with it because they’re bad guys, and they deserve it.”
He raises his brow. “What would you know of torture?”
I snort, it’s very unladylike, but then again so am I. “I grew up with a widower father and two snotty-nosed brothers. I’ve seen every torture movie and horror flick ever made. Blood and gore doesn’t faze me, Sensei. You don’t scare me. This club doesn’t scare me. Your brothers don’t scare me.”
He raises both his brows in a look of appreciation as he lets out a long breath. “There’s more to a club than blood and gore, but if you can handle that… it’s a damn good start.”
“I can handle anything you throw at me, baby.”
A smirk forms on his face as he assesses me up and down. “Baby?” His eyebrows squeeze so tightly together they almost form one single line.
My face falls as I realize how bad that sounded. Honestly, sometimes my mouth runs away with garbage before my brain thinks—stop!
Think about what you are going to say, Ayla.
“Shit! I didn’t mean that as in a baby. I meant it like…. babe, as in a pet name. You know… like babe as in like how I say slick and shit. It just came out. I’m not getting all cutesy on you or nothing…” I keep ranting, digging myself deeper and deeper into my crazy. “Give me a break.”
Sensei smiles so wide the brightness of his teeth almost blinds me, and he’s holding back a laugh. “You’re cute when you’re embarrassed, it’s a rare sight.” His cocky tones seep through, and I purse my lips as Ruby walks over with a tray of food and plonks it down in front of us. There’s two giant plates each with a massive burger, fries, and onion rings.
Hell, yes!
I pick up a fry and shove it in my mouth. “Thanks, Ruby,” I express, but it comes out more like a mumbled murmur through my mouthful.
She giggles. “I like this one, Sensei. Keep her around, will ya?” Ruby bumps into his shoulder and then walks off.
Sensei shakes his head while glancing at me, and rolls his eyes as he turns toward his meal to dig in.
“You and Ruby good friends?” I ask picking up my giant homemade burger, a sliver of ketchup running down my hand, but I don’t care as I let it drip and take a bite.
He shrugs. “Yeah. She’s always been there to lend an ear… her, Torque, and Surge.”
Swallowing the mouthful of the delicious food, I nod. “Torque’s your Pres, right?”
He nods and glances over to the corner where he’s sitting with a few other men, and an older woman in very tight clothes, her red hair framing her pale face. There’s a younger brunette, who seems completely occupied by another biker who’s sitting next to her.
“I’m guessing the one in the middle is Torque?” His shoulders are broad, his posture strong. He gives off the appearance of strength, power, toughness like he could carry the weight of the entire club on his shoulders and not blink. He looks exactly how I would picture a president should look.
Sensei nods. “Yes… to his left is his blood brother, Trax, he’s our VP. To his right is Surge, he’s the oldest member of our club and an Original Nine. Next to him is Freckles, Torque’s mother. Then Neala, Torque and Trax’s sister, we call her Lala. It’s been her nickname since she was a kid. And next to her is Tremor… a prospect.”
My body warms that he’s taking the time to tell me about his club members. To me, it means he actually wants me around. He wants me to get to know these people, his brothers, his family, and you know what? I want that too.
“Well, I can’t wait to get to know everyone…” I take a small bite of my burger. “But after this burger,” I say through the food in my mouth.
He laughs and shakes his head and starts eating his meal.
CHAPTER TEN
SENSEI
Tonight’s a good night. While the ever-present threat of the Yakuza is still in the back of our minds, for the moment we’re gathering ourselves and trying to come up with something, we just have no idea what that something is. So tonight, we’re having a night off, and while Sass’s here, I figure she may as well meet everyone seeing as she did a pretty good job of impressing my family—they are the hard ones.
My brothers, however, have taken to her like candy to a baby. Scratch already loves her. So while everyone’s in a semi-decent mood, we’ve done the rounds.
There’s no party atmosphere, it’s a typical Tuesday night at the club, and everyone went about their business while we mingled. But Sass is certainly a hit. She seems to get along with everyone. The guys love her, the girls worship her, and I stand back in awe at how she manages to work a room without batting an eyelid.
The confidence flows off her. She’s a real people person without even trying to be, and even though everyone’s different and has their own unique set of interests, Sass is able to keep conversations going. Because beneath all that talk and attitude she has going on is a really smart girl, who knows a lot about everything.
When she was talking with Ace about how they’ve each hacked into high-security government facilities, one-upping each other, it was like watching two nerds going head to head. I learn more and more about her every day, she’s so goddamn smart.
Foxy came in after work, she works with Doctor Rebecca Kline at Northwestern Memorial. Kline has taken her on to teach Foxy the ropes about all things medical, while Foxy’s in her third year of pre-med. Once she finishes, she can go on to med school to become a fully qualified doctor, and with the help she’s getting from Kline, she’s going to ace everything that’s thrown at her.
As Torque and I sit back watching the two women talk endlessly like a pair of long-lost friends, it feels almost like they have met before tonight.
I turn to Torque and raise my brow. “Are you as dumbfounded by this as I am?” I question, and he chuckles.
“Brother, the thing I’ve learned about women is they will always band together generally toward our damn downfall.”
Letting out a small chuckle, I nod. “Yes… I believe you may be right.”
Torque turns toward me more, his face taking on a more serious look. “Sensei, I�
��ve never seen you ‘bring home’…” he uses air quotes, “… a woman to meet everyone. The girl… you’ve known her how long?”
Letting out a long puff, I shrug. “Couple of days at best. Honestly, I hardly know her. I know how this looks… believe me, this isn’t my typical style, Torque. I don’t… delve into anything remotely serious with a woman, but Sass… there’s something so inherently different about her. But a little heads up would have been nice.”
He stifles a laugh. “She’s definitely different, man. The background checks we did on Smokin’ Joe were years ago. Sass was just a kid. Smokin’ Joe kept her well-hidden. Guess we know why. But I like her and how different she is…” My stomach swarms with warmth, a feeling I’m not used to. “In a good way, brother. She’s like one of the guys, and she’ll fit in here… if that’s what it comes to.”
We both sit back in a comfortable silence as I let his comment sink in. I know what he’s saying—
Sass could be Old Lady material. But it’s way too early for that, and with everything that’s happening with my family right now, I can’t even contemplate thinking about my future. All I can think about is the present, and how the fuck I am going to deal with Ishikawa. And more importantly, what the hell is going to happen to my family if he finds out who we are.
Sass and Foxy race over with bright smiles on their faces along with Neala a step or so behind—a trio of trouble by the looks of it.
“Oh, fuck, here we go…” Torque calls out as they step up to us.
“Sooo…” Neala says.
Torque sits up taller and lets out a long huff as Sass glances to me with a sly smirk. “What? What hair-brained scheme have you three troublemakers come up with?” Torque queries.
Foxy slides down onto his lap for extra sugary sweetness as she wraps her arms around his neck and cuddles into him. He shakes his head as Neala giggles, and Sass laughs.
“So, babe… we were thinking…” Foxy bats her lashes at him, buttering him up making me know they’re definitely up to something.
