Tak: The A**hole Club Series

by Ivy Harper

  “I’m so glad aunty lets us play together,” he crooned.

  “Tak?”

  Coming back from the past, I looked down to find my hand held by Jazz. She looked up at me so earnestly I almost forgot she was there.

  “I promise, I’ll protect you.”

  “Huh?” I’d been completely lost in my memories of the past.

  “I’m saying that I’ll go with you. Since Mr. Kole is intent on having you meet with them. You can bring me, and I can make sure nothing stupid happens.” My nose wrinkled at what she called Kole. He wasn’t Mr. anything. He should be called snake. “I’ll make sure they don’t cross the line.”

  If they crossed the line, I wouldn’t need her to do anything. I’d take care of them myself.

  I had avoided thinking about it but seeing how they kept pushing Kole to have me meet with them, it looked like they no longer wished to ignore me and weren’t interested in letting me ignore them. Suddenly, I lost my bravado and fear grew inside of me. A fear I’d ignored since I’d left Bridge Lake.

  I tightened my hold on her hand as she continued to stare up at me. I couldn’t stand it if she looked at me and saw the weak kid I’d been fighting to hide all this time. Then again, she’d already seen me at my worst.

  Maybe I could actually meet them and prove to myself I wasn’t that scared of them anymore. I could finally be free from Takuya Nakamura—who’d prayed by his bedside for his parents to come home and that someone would believe him when he told them what happened to him.

  “I’ll do it.”

  She seemed startled. “What?”

  “I said, I’ll do it.” I gripped her hand tighter. “You’re the one to blame if I cause trouble, right?”

  She fluttered her lashes. “O… Okay.” I pulled her along behind me and reentered the building. “Where are we going?”

  I didn’t answer her, dragging her along as I walked back to where I’d left Kole. He quietly talked to Chelsea, the two of them looking over her tablet.

  “I’ll do it.”

  Both of them looked up at me in confusion. I lifted my hand that held Jazzy’s.

  “I’ll do the fucking dinner with the Nakamuras, but only if Jazzy comes. She said she’d be responsible for me.”

  The two of them looked from me to Jazz, who’d been trying to pull her hand from mine. I refused to let go, so she pulled at the back of my shirt with low hissed threats.

  “Is that true, Ms. Ryland?” Kole asked. I could see his doubt, not many could control me. “Are you willing to keep an eye on our singer, so he doesn’t do anything stupid?”

  “Yes.” Jazzy moved from around me and offered Kole a confident smile. “Yes, I believe it’s best someone accompanies Mr. Jensei, especially considering his clear dislike of their company. I can go as a date so that he’s not alone, and if they cross the line, I can stop them in their tracks.”

  I couldn’t help the excitement of the idea of seeing her in a dress. Fuck, and then I would have the pleasure of taking it off her.

  “And this works for you, Tak?” Kole asked me.

  “Why wouldn’t it?”

  Damn right, I was going to use this chance to go on a date with Jazz. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. I ignored the look of suspicion Chelsea shot me.

  I’m going to meet with the Nakamuras and tell them to stay the fuck out of my life. And once I was finished with that, I was going to celebrate by dragging Jazz home and fucking her into a coma. I mentally salivated at the thought of being balls deep inside her, with her sexy legs wrapped around my waist as I made her sing from taking my dick.

  Kole gave me a hard look before he finally seemed to get the fucking picture. This is my price for going to the damn dinner and for him not believing me about the attempted suicide from the beginning.

  “Fine, the dinner is tomorrow night.” He looked from me to Jazz. “I’ll be sending the limo by at nine thirty. Don’t be late.”

  “I’ll make sure we’re on time,” Jazz said respectfully. I would fuck that out of her. She’d be calling Kole a snake bastard before tomorrow night was over. I put my sex drive on that shit.

  “Good.” Kole turned his attention to Chelsea. “Make sure it’s done and make sure they’re both dressed appropriately for it.”

  “Got it,” Chelsea said, her eyes going back to her tablet.

  Kole didn’t say anything else, leaving with Chelsea.

  “Well, that went better than I thought it would,” Jazz said as she pulled her hand out of mine.

  “Really, I thought for sure Chelsea would say no,” I said thoughtfully.

  “Why?” she asked.

  I decided against mincing my words. “Because she knows I want to fuck you and they basically gave me the green light. I mean, think about it, it’s our first date,” I said as I threw an arm around her shoulders and rubbed my chin against the top of her head. “I can’t wait for the meeting with the Nakamuras to end, then we’ll really have fun, love.”

  “Shut up,” she snapped, throwing off my arm before she walked off.

  I watched her go, noticing the flush at the tip of her ears. I didn’t know what was cuter, her trying to act professional after jerking me or the fact she thought she needed to protect me. Either way, it was nice having someone I didn’t have to share with anyone else.

  My smile dropped as I straightened and slowly followed after her.

  Yeah, it was nice.

  Chapter 37

  Who

  Jazz

  * * *

  “It’s a date,” Trisha said, sounding excited.

  “It’s not a date,” I said, killing her delusions. Chelsea had sent me a few dress options and I was going through them. “It’s an assignment, I have to keep him safe while he eats food with the family he apparently hates.”

  “Right, did you ever figure out why he hates his own family so much?” Trisha asked as she started loudly chewing her chips in my ear.

  “No, I’ve been a bit too occupied with trying to figure out who’s trying to kill him. Oh, that’s right, did Dutch get anything about that guy I ran into at Bradley’s place?”

  There was more crunching noise before Trisha answered. “Yeah, he found someone who closely resembled your attacker’s description. Also, note the guy who tried to smash Tak’s head in got bailed the same day he got arrested.”

  I tossed the third dress choice down on the bed. “And you waited till now to tell me?”

  “Well, Dutch wanted to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. With Bradley’s murder, he wants to make sure he checks everything thoroughly before he sends it,” she said.

  “Fine, send me the pictures of both of them.”

  “Okay. Hey, Dutch, Jazzy said email her both of their profiles.”

  I picked up my tablet, going straight to my email.

  “Did you get it?” she asked.

  “Yeah, just did.” Opening the email, I immediately recognized the two men. “This guy is one of the guys who knocked Tak out in Vegas.” The one who had the scar on his chin. I remembered because the light from his phone had highlighted it.

  I read his name aloud. “Tony Enson. Wait, he used to work for the label’s building security.”

  What sounded like a struggle reached my ear before Dutch came on the line. “Yeah, and get this, Bradley is the one who fired him.”

  “So, Bradley was over Tony. Bradley fires him and then Tony kills him. Something’s not adding up.” I walked back and forth in my room. “Was there a report written about why Bradley fired him?”

  “Yeah, it’s on the last page,” Dutch said.

  I scrolled down to the last page. “He was stealing and reselling the artists’ property?”

  “Apparently, but it didn’t feel right to me. So, I looked into it and found out something interesting. JS Records splits their security teams by floors, depending on their clearance.

  “So, for instance, floor one and two has your usual mall-type security guards. In fac
t, they aren’t allowed to go above floor two. And all the rehearsal rooms are located on the third and fourth floors.

  “How could a level-one security guard have access to the stars’ items on the third floor?” I asked.

  “The only way he could get access is if someone was helping him,” Dutch explained.

  I frowned. “How do you know what floor his clearance was on?”

  “I got my hands on the company’s personnel list and schedule for the workers. It took some digging since he’d been fired for a while, but I found out that Tony was a security guard on the first floor of JS Records. But his clearance never went above a level one. On the other hand, Bradley worked on the fourth floor in HR.”

  I chewed my bottom lip. “So, you think Bradley was the one stealing the items and giving them to Tony to resell? But it doesn’t give him motive to go after Tak.”

  I scrolled to the next file. “Mitchell Rendon.” I was taken aback by how little information there was under this profile. “Why is there so little about him?”

  “I tried to find information on him, but there wasn’t a lot. I’m fairly sure he’s using a false identity like yours,” Dutch said.

  I thought over what he said, it was confirmed that Tony was the killer. The only problem I had was I couldn’t figure out why.

  “Okay, then let’s see if there are phone records or maybe bank statements that give us some clue as to why Tony decided to kill Bradley. I still can’t believe how fast Mitchell was bailed out.”

  The Vander City justice system left a lot to be desired. If one had the money, they could get away with a lot more than the average person. My dealings with my father had taught me that.

  I set my tablet on the side table and continued. “Let’s keep an ear out for them for now and do me a favor, Dutch. Find out what Julius has found so far. Clark has been desperately emailing me about coming to another meeting with the senator’s son. It’s getting to be a little much.”

  Dutch’s voice turned cold. “Is he up to his old tricks again?”

  “I think so, one way or another he’s always trying to take advantage of my family’s name.”

  “He should be grateful your mother’s name got him the money he needed to be where he is today. Dick should kiss your ass in thankfulness,” Dutch said.

  “I agree, but let’s put that aside for now. I’ll call you back if I need anything else.”

  “Got it, bye.”

  Once I was done with Tak’s business I would focus my attention on Clark Bennington since he wanted it so bad.

  Clark Bennington

  * * *

  “Dammit, it shouldn’t be this hard to meet with my damn daughter,” I shouted as I threw the file in my hands at the idiot standing in front of me.

  “How many times is she going to ignore my calls? Disrespectful bitch, just like her fucking mother,” I yelled, drawing in a harsh breath.

  “C… calm down sir,” Dilbert said desperately as he wiped his disgusting balding scalp with his handkerchief. “I’ve already arranged for some men to follow her to see where it is she’s been going.”

  “And you think that will work?” I said, my voice dangerously thin. “It won’t. Not with that fucking Liberiu in the picture. He might not be able to destroy me because of that little bit of blackmail we have on him, but don’t think that makes him any less a threat.”

  This shouldn’t be so fucking hard. I curse the day I had been late on doping her mother with the pregnancy pills. I’d hoped the child would be like me, but she’d come out like her mother. The only thing of mine that damn bitch had was my eyes. Which she enjoyed using to look down on me with.

  “Get out.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said, quickly backing out of my office.

  The phone rang. I flinched, feeling a cold sweat building on my back when I saw the number calling. “Fuck.” I reached down and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

  “Your daughter handed you an ace in the hole, have you thought about our offer?” The person on the other end said in a cold voice.

  “I’ve already told you to tell your client I’m not interested in your services.”

  I had no intention of working with the bastard on the other end. I’d rather put all my chips on Senator Harrison than some no-name stranger.

  “Are you sure you won’t regret this? Delivering Takuya Nakamura would be the answer to all your problems. Your company is already in the red and it’s only a matter of time until the Feds discover you’ve been embezzling money from the Roarke Foundation to keep it afloat.”

  “I’m sure,” I said.

  “Then I wish you luck, Mr. Bennington.” He hung up.

  I released a sigh of relief, placing my phone down on my desk. There were some monsters in Vander City that were better left alone.

  Chapter 38

  Date

  Tak

  * * *

  Looking at the clock on the wall, I pressed a hand to my stomach. I hadn’t felt this nervous since our band had won its first music award. Chelsea continued her annoying lecture about how I should act.

  Pretending to listen, I focused my mind on all the things I would do to my bodyguard after the dinner. I submerged myself in my daydream so that all the annoying thoughts about the Nakamuras fell to the back of my mind. Checking the time, I wondered what was taking Jazz so long.

  “Okay, I’m ready to go.” She sounded just as jittery as I felt.

  I couldn’t stop the happiness that came from knowing she seemed nervous about going out with me. As she entered the hall, I completely ignored the reason we were going out. I had to bite the inside of my mouth to keep in all the dirty words I wanted to say to her.

  She wore a slinky gold number that the light bounced off with every step she took. A slit on the right side exposed her leg. It was a glorious sight, especially in the black strappy heels she wore. I whistled, ignoring the look Chelsea shot me.

  I wondered how Jazz made her skin look so smooth, it looked like it had been kissed by light. Her hips swayed, the heels forcing her strides to be long and seductive. Completely different from her athletic stride.

  Naturally, I had the urge to kiss her. Her lips looked so inviting. I could feel Chelsea’s eyes boring into the side of my face.

  “How do I look?” Jazz asked, completely unaware she’d turned my dick to stone. She turned in a circle. Her dressed revealed the top half of her back. I wanted to lick it. “Is this good enough?”

  “Yes, and fuck yes,” I nearly shouted.

  She bit her lip at my praise. Glancing at Chelsea, she asked, “What do you think?”

  “You look good, are you interested in modeling?” Chelsea queried thoughtfully.

  “Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said. Blocking Jazz from Chelsea’s shark eyes. “It’s time we got on our way.”

  Chelsea smiled at me with a knowing look. “I can take a hint, I’ll let it go for now.” She gave Jazz a meaningful look. “We can talk later.”

  I gave her a tight smile. “No, you won’t. Jazz?”

  Jazz looked up from where she’d been fussing with her dress. “Yes?”

  “Time to go.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her along behind me. “We don’t want to keep the lounge of lizards waiting.”

  “W… wait, Tak,” she called to me as she followed me. “Bye, Ms. Chelsea, I’ll text you when we get there.”

  We quickly left the house and approached the limo that was parked outside. I waved away the driver who stood by the door. I gently slung Jazz forward, moving her so she stood in front of me and grabbed her waist.

  Reaching around her, I then opened the car door. Completely ignoring her protest, I smoothly guided her inside.

  “Tak, stop. Wait.”

  I waited until she’d situated herself and the end of her dress was inside the limo before I shut the door. Turning around, I gave Chelsea the finger before moving to the other side and getting in. That witch was trying to get my bodyguard to show off he
r beautiful body to the masses.

  The very idea of some fucker panting over a picture of my Jazzy made me violent. No, we wouldn’t be letting that happen. Fuck no.

  Even as she lectured me for not letting her speak to Chelsea I couldn’t take my eyes off the globes of her breasts. They looked swollen, like they needed me to rub them better.

  My fingers weren’t only good at strumming a guitar. I could tease and flick her nipples until they were little peaks. Then I would suck on them until both were swollen and ripe.

  Surely a woman who could make her skin glow would taste as delicious as she looked. Thinking about her caused a pop song to fill my head, I grimaced.

  “Tak, are you listening to me?” she asked.

  “Absolutely not.”

  She poked out her bottom lip as she moved back. I had this theory that she did it on purpose. She purposely showed up looking like my favorite treat to torment me.

  This was all her devious plot to have me ruin her contract and then I’d be forced to keep her and treat her like the goddess she was. I needed to think over why the idea didn’t bother me. She released a small huff of annoyance and turned her attention to the window of the limo.

  Which gave me a delightful view of her long neck and beautiful collarbone. I never once thought a fucking collarbone was sexy, but here I was getting turned on at the idea of my tongue tracing it.

  “Could you at least tell me where it is we are going to eat?”

  I averted my eyes. I wouldn’t be able to think straight if I met her gaze head-on.

  “It’s a small spot in the hills, it’s called Farmer,” I managed to say through the cloud of lust clouding my mind.

  “Farmer?” she repeated, sounding alarmed.

  Curious, I looked at her. “Have you heard of it? It’s a pretty exclusive spot with private rooms. They don’t have a main chef there but switch them out every month. They always run out of reservations pretty quickly.”