Penance

by K E Osborn

  “I think we’re on an uneven footing here, Torque. My men aiming guns at your men, but my men have full magazines. How many bullets are in your chambers do you think?”

  Torque grunts but still aims his weapon at Aiko. “I only need one bullet to make it count, and it’s going straight between your fuckin’ eyes.”

  Aiko chuckles as the door opens and Gunner steps in with a Glock and grabs the guy closest to him, which I think happens to be Aiko’s second-in-charge. Gunner wraps his arm around the second- in-charge’s neck aiming the barrel right at his temple.

  He stares at Aiko who raises his hands in surrender. “Lower your weapons, or I swear I’ll put a bullet through his skull,” Gunner calls out.

  Torque nods to him in reassurance.

  Aiko gives the nod to his men who all lower their weapons to their sides, but don’t drop their guns completely.

  “Who has the upper hand now?” Torque calls out cockily with a smirk.

  Aiko smiles. “You never learn, do you, Mister President? We always have contingencies.”

  My stomach falls as Torque’s brows crease together. “What does that mean?”

  Aiko nods to one of his men. He reaches into his jacket and we all turn our aim to him, he hesitates but then slowly pulls out an iPad. He spins it showing a split screen playing a real-time video. I narrow my eyes wondering what it is I’m seeing and then it hits me. It’s a sniper’s vision and on one screen is Foxy in the campus quad—the sniper’s sights are zeroed in on her. And on the other, is Sass at the garage—the other sniper’s sight is zeroed in on her.

  Torque and I move at the same time, both of us rushing forward to get to Aiko as Trax and Chains reach out grabbing us both and pulling us back. I grit my teeth and breathe harshly trying to gather myself as anger races over my whole body. That typhoon inside finally breaking free and raging like a wave of unfathomable torment.

  The thought of Sass being brought to harm by this monster only makes me want to kill him even more as he smiles at me. Not Torque, but me, and it shocks me as I wonder why he’s focusing his energy on me in this moment. It makes me wonder if he knows. If he realizes I am his son, and he’s just playing along like I am. Fuck! I stand down and take a breath as Trax gains control of Torque, and we both stand back trying to figure out what the fuck to do.

  “So you see, Torque, you will give me the guns I want because I have ways and means to easily get to the people you hold dear.”

  Torque shakes his head and shoves out of Trax’s grip turning up his lip at Aiko. “You hurt either of those women, and I will burn you.”

  Aiko smiles and nods. “Noted. I will give you two weeks, not a minute more, to decide on how you want to gather your guns together and deliver them to me. I am not a patient man, Torque…” His gaze turns to Gunner. “Gunner, was it? You can let my Wakagashira go now.”

  Gunner glances to Torque for confirmation. Torque hesitates but nods, and Gunner lets the man go with a shove, he falls forward, but then stands up and straightens out his expensive looking suit with a crooked smile.

  “Get the fuck outta my gun range,” Torque grunts and Aiko nods.

  “You could ask politely.”

  Torque smirks. “Get the fuck outta my gun range… please,” Torque mocks, and I smirk.

  Aiko cracks a smile and raises his brow. “You know, if you stopped fighting the inevitable, Torque, I believe we could be allies, you and me.”

  Torque snorts out a laugh and shakes his head. “Not gonna ask again.”

  He nods and signals for his men to leave. “Two weeks, Torque. No more. I want my guns.”

  Torque doesn’t reply or make any move in a gesture of response as Aiko turns to leave, and the Yakuza slowly exit the gun range.

  My stomach is rolling around in a swirl of uncertainty. I hope like hell they aren’t going to hurt Sass or Foxy, but if I know the Yakuza like I think I do, they will honor their word and our women won’t be in harm’s way now. When the door closes, a collective exhale is let out, and I look to Torque, but before I have a chance to say anything, Trax steps forward.

  “We’re not giving them any motherfucking guns, brother,” Trax blurts out.

  Torque rolls his shoulders. “Trax it’s not as simple as that.”

  Trax shakes his head, curling up his lip. “It fucking well is. We find a way. We talk with fucking Enzo. We work with those motherfucking Mafia bastards. We don’t want the Yakuza having more damn guns and taking our business from us.”

  “So you’re on the Enzo train now? Suddenly, you’re fuckin’ okay working with him?” Torque blurts out, and I cock my head wondering the same thing.

  Trax groans and shakes his head. “No, I’m really not. But fucking hell, brother, if Enzo can pull us out of this shit and help us defeat these fuckers, then let’s beat these cunts at their own game… we’ll turn around and kick Enzo’s ass after that.”

  Torque lets out a sarcastic laugh. “You’re screwed in the head, you know that?”

  Trax nods. “I’m right, though.”

  Torque shakes his head. “You’re not, but we can’t give guns to the Yakuza. Letting them gain more power in Chicago, and us handing it to them on a silver fuckin’ platter is not happening. Let alone the fact our money train’s gonna dry up so quickly we’ll be outta business. Aiko has given us two weeks, so we’ll take it to figure something out. We’ll make a plan. If we can’t, we’ll get Enzo involved. Agreed?” We all nod and Torque lets out a long drawn out breath. “Okay, let’s get back to the club. Sensei, you and I need to check on our women. Once that’s done, and we’re back at the clubhouse, I’ll call Church so we can discuss.”

  As the rest of my brothers move to walk out, I glance at my best friend. “They must be following us or watching us if they know about Sass already, Torque. If he hurt her or Foxy…” I curl up my lip, shake my head, and he nods with a fierce look in his eyes. One that tells me he’s on the exact same page as me. I don’t care who the fuck you are, you do not mess with our women.

  A low grunt rumbles from his chest. “Go! Check on Sass, make sure she’s okay, but get back to the clubhouse as quickly as you can. Remember, though, Sensei, she’s not your Old Lady…” He raises his brow as if to remind me I can’t tell her everything.

  I simply nod in understanding, grip his shoulder in compliance, and turn to race for my bike. I waste no time in hopping on, my helmet slams over my head as I rev the engine then hammer down heading straight for the garage.

  It doesn’t take me too long to get there, the gravel driveway shifts and spreads beneath my tires as I pull into the main entry. I notice Heath look out from the garage to eye my approach. Then Sass comes bouncing out of the double bay doors, her coveralls splattered in grease, her hair tied up in a ponytail with her telltale red bandana wrapped around her head. She has a bright, gorgeous smile on her face, and she’s completely oblivious she had a sniper rifle aimed at her only mere moments ago.

  The thought sends an ache right through me as I subtly look up and around trying to scope out where the sniper was sitting. I see the tall building up and to the right where I think he was positioned. But I can’t see anything right now. No telltale signs of anyone watching or waiting. So I take off my helmet as Sass comes bounding up to my bike, and I put on a bright smile to welcome her as I slide off.

  “Well, visits during the day? I am a lucky little devil,” she chimes as she bops up on her toes and leans in giving me a peck on my lips.

  I hear Heath let out an audible groan as I chuckle wrapping my arm around her waist and pull her to me. I don’t care if she’s filthy right now, I just need to hold her, to make sure she’s okay. But I have to do it all without raising her suspicion.

  “I was just passing by, thought I’d call in on my way through… see my favorite woman.”

  She raises her brow blowing out a bubble of her gum. It pops with a loud bang as she draws it back into her mouth, chewing on it while she smiles wide. “Whaaat did you do?” s
he asks with a hint of doubt in her voice.

  I chuckle as I blurt out, “Nothing.”

  She narrows her eyes at me, pursing her lips. “Mmm hmm… why don’t I believe you?”

  Smiling, I sigh. “Maybe there is this one… small… thing.”

  Sass lets go of me, her hands coming out as she shoves me in the chest playfully. “Ha! I knew it. Sensei, you’re so easy to read. Okay, hit me.”

  My jaw clenches as I grab her hand and pull her to the side. Heath’s prying eyes are annoying me. He watches as I pull her around the side of the garage, but he soon shrugs and walks back inside to continue working. As I pull Sass to look at me, I face her and take a steadying breath. “You know I can’t tell you club business…” She nods, her face falling like she knows this is going to be a serious chat. “So, I can’t tell you much. You’re going to have to trust me.”

  Sass raises her head like she’s listening intently as she holds her breath. “Okay.”

  “I want to put a protective detail on you.”

  Her eyes bug out of her head as she lets out a stifled laugh. “You wanna what now?”

  I tighten my hand in hers, my brows scrunching together. “This is serious, Sass. I want to have someone watching you twenty-four-seven—”

  “Whoa… hold up, what the fuck?” she blurts out a little too loudly for my liking.

  I grit my teeth and tilt my head. “I wouldn’t be saying this if it weren’t for a good reason—”

  “Then what the hell reason is it for?”

  Exhaling, I rub the back of my neck with a slight wince.

  Sass lets out a stifled laugh and nods. “Right, club business and all that. Sheesh man… I mean, fuck…” She sighs looking away from me for a moment as her body sags coming to the realization. Her head flicks back to me, her eyes open wide. “Is something going down? Am I in danger? Are my brothers? My dad, is he in danger?”

  I grab both her hands and look her dead in the eyes. “Sass, I won’t let anything happen to you. As for your brothers and your father, no harm will befall them. I promise. But it’s you I want to make sure is always protected.”

  She chews on her bottom lip. “So you’re telling me you want to bring in one of your burley bikers to stand guard here at the garage. To stand in the corner and watch me all day?”

  I smirk, tilting my head. “He’d be here to protect you from any harm.”

  “Sooo, you’re telling me he’s a voyeur, a creeper, leering in on my workday, annoying me constantly.”

  I can’t help the grin that forms on my face. This woman, she always has a way of making me smile. And honestly, the thought of me telling Tremor that he would be seen as a voyeur actually makes me want to put him on her tail even more. Just to see his reaction.

  “He’d be guarding you, Sass. Honestly, this really isn’t up for discussion.”

  She jolts back and smiles wide. “No, you’re right. It isn’t because it isn’t happening. Not at work anyway.” She throws her hands into the air in frustration. “I can’t have some broody, gruff biker stalking around the place scaring off my customers and making my co-workers uncomfortable, Sensei. I have my brothers and the other guys here at work, they’ve always kept me safe. They will always look out for me here.” She lets out a sigh. “If you want someone to follow me home, hell… if you want someone to guard out the front of the house, then fine, but not at work. I can’t have that. If you want my brothers and my father to respect you and the club, then you need to let my place of work be just that… a place of work, and not let it be brought into your biker problems…” she pauses and continues, “Sensei, I like you, I like what we have, I want it to keep going, but if you put a guard at my work…” she shakes her head, “… we’re gonna have issues.”

  My stomach rolls, a tight knot forming in it. I don’t like this. Everything in me is telling me that I need to put a guard on her garage. But if it’s going to be a deal-breaker for us, then she’s kind of giving me no choice here. I grit my teeth, tilting my head. “When you depart for the night, you fucking call me. If I can’t come and get you, someone else will, and they’ll escort you home. A guard will be at your home, and anywhere else you go other than work. This is a non-negotiable, Sass.”

  She exhales but gives a small nod. “Agreed.”

  Grabbing both her hands, I pull her toward me and then wrap my arms around her waist, her arms instinctively wrap around my neck as I look into her somber eyes and lean my forehead against hers. “I apologize, but it has to be this way.”

  She smiles with a shrug. “There has to be one downside to you, I guess. You can’t be one hundred percent perfect.”

  I chuckle, a sense of playfulness sweeping over me. “But still ninety-nine percent?”

  She opens her mouth wide and scoffs in shock. “Holy shit! Did you, Raiden ‘Sensei’ Maki just try to crack a funny?”

  I crease my brows. “I believe you misheard,” I tease.

  She snorts leaning in and plants her lips to mine, hard. That spark shoots through me as her soft lips touch mine, and it fills me with such relief that she’s here kissing me. This could be so different right now. With one pull of a trigger she could have been gone. She has no idea how much danger she was in. But knowing the Yakuza like I think I do, it was all for intimidation purposes.

  He would never have pulled the trigger.

  It was all done to scare Torque and me.

  It worked.

  As I pull her closer, just relishing in the fact that she’s okay, she has given in, if only meeting me halfway to have a guard on her half the time makes me feel better. Knowing while here at work she is surrounded by a swarm of fit men, bar her father, Smokin’ Joe, makes me feel better. Sure, they aren’t armed like Tremor would be, but there’s a hell of a lot of them here, so if something went down, I know they would all step up to fight for her. That makes it easier to give in to her demands.

  But it won’t stop me from sending Tremor around on ride-bys, just to check.

  And she doesn’t even have to know.

  As I walk into the chapel, I see all my brothers already sitting and waiting for me. Torque’s at the head of the table looking weathered. He looks how I feel. Knowing that your girl is on the other end of a potential bullet and there’s nothing you can do about it—well, it scares the shit out of you. And because he’s our leader, and he has to keep his cool in front of us at all times, all while going through the mental torture of his girl being threatened—I don’t envy him.

  I take my seat between Surge and Scratch as I slump into the chair. Torque looks at me raising his chin. I nod in return to let him know that Sass is fine, and he weakly smiles. Leaning forward, gathering his gavel, he bangs it hard on the desk.

  “Brothers, we all know what happened, I don’t need to rehash it. I will tell you that Foxy knows, she’s aware she was targeted as was Sass. Sass has been given protection but isn’t aware of what happened as we all know she’s not in the fold… yet.” He looks at me as a warmth runs through my chest at the thought. “Sensei, you know more about the Yakuza than any of us. What are we dealing with?”

  I sit forward, my hands knotting together on the table in front of me. “Aiko gave us two weeks. So, we have the flexibility of having two weeks grace. They’ll allow us that time. But, be warned, Pres. When they say two weeks, they mean two weeks. If we go a couple of days over, there will be consequences…” I exhale and tilt my head. “Though they gave their word, so if they are true to form, we will have the full two weeks to issue the guns, or… find a solution.”

  Torque nods and sits back in his chair. “Then we have time to figure this shit out. Because we do not want to get into bed with the motherfuckin’ Yakuza… time to think boys!”

  AYLA

  A Week Later

  The last few days have been hectic. The garage’s been busy as usual, but Vince has been acting a little different. After Dad had a word with him, he’s been more distant, but I don’t miss the looks he sends me an
d the constant innuendos he spouts when I’m around. Heath and Bowie are starting to notice it too, and have commented on it to me. But I’m trying my best to ignore him. The last thing I want is my workplace becoming sour.

  Sensei has been tied up in club business for the past few days, so his head is all over the place right now, but I let him know I’m here for him if he needs me. Especially after seeing him at the garage the other day. He’s been to collect me after work, but he’s had to leave after dropping me home to go back to the club leaving a prospect to watch over our house. I know they have something going on. I’m not privy as to what, but I know it can’t be good. It’s taking up a lot of his time.

  Tonight, though, I get to see him, so hopefully, I can make him feel a little better, even if from afar. We’re having our girls’ night with the ladies of the club, while the guys hang back watching us like creepers. I smirk as I apply the last line of mascara to my lashes and stand back from the mirror looking at myself. It’s summer, so it’s a good excuse to put on my shorts. I’m wearing my super short denims which are frayed on the hem, and the left leg is embellished with rivets giving them a punk feel. The rips on the other side show a worn look. My top is a simple black drop armhole racerback tank. I paired it with my black stilettos which have inserts of black lace in a pattern around the sides, and then the front is laced up with leather ties finishing at my ankles. They’re sexy-as-fuck, and I know Sensei is going to have a coronary when he sees me in them, either that or a permanent hard-on for the entire night.

  I walk over to my bed and grab my clutch as the unmistakable sound of his Harley barrels down the street. I smile as I walk down the hall toward the living room where Bowie and Heath are sitting eating the rest of the pizza from dinner. Heath lets out an almighty belch and Bowie is scratching his balls. I laugh as I walk in and they both turn around to look at me and simultaneously raise their brows, looking like twins, though they’re three years apart.

  “Who the hell are you, and what have you done with our sister?” Bowie asks, and I roll my eyes.