Chicago Defiance Box Set Part One

by K E Osborn

  Equally terrifying is the fact I’ve never once given myself to a woman like I’ve given myself freely to Sass. I asked her to be mine, not an Old Lady, but a typical girlfriend, and that’s a damn huge step for me. I’ve never, not once been in a relationship, so I’m kind of winging this shit right now. But the fact that Sass’s willing to walk me through this new territory is enlightening. I’m glad she’s my first, as crazy as that sounds for a man of twenty-four. The idea of a relationship has never been on the cards for me. My training and the club have always been my priority, but Sass’s taking up too much space in my mind not to have her in my life. Plus, everyone in my life approves of her, so it’s time I manned up.

  I know it won’t always be easy. Hell, I’ve seen enough of my brothers with their old ladies and even my parents go through their battles, but I would go through that with Sass if it meant having her by my side. It’s all new, so fucking new, but for once I have someone I want to fight for, and now I understand what it’s all about. And fuck if I’m not going to fight with every damn thing I have.

  It’s getting late, another day done and dusted as we all sit around the clubroom drinking and mulling over another lost day of indecision and waiting around for Enzo or us to come up with a goddamned plan on how to get out of this gun shipment to the Ishikawa Yakuza. All I know is we’ve fast run out of time, our two weeks is up, and as I sit with Torque, Trax, and Chains, the bunch of us discussing another round of useless ideas, I shake my head.

  “It won’t work,” I murmur, and they all look to me.

  Torque groans and sits back running his hands through his hair in exhaustion. “Fuck, I know. You’re right. No matter how we play this shit, I can’t see a fuckin’ way out. We’re gonna have to give them the motherfuckin’ guns or face the fuckin’ consequences.”

  Trax groans picking up his stein and throwing it across the room, the glass smashing against the wall, splintering into tiny shards as everyone turns to look at the sudden impact point. “This is bullshit. We can’t start this shit with the fucking Yakuza, Torque,” Trax’s voice is hoarse like he’s on the verge of a full explosive outburst.

  Torque slumps and nods. “I know, brother, I fuckin’ know. I don’t like it any better than you do. But what the hell play do we make here? Do we just go after them? Guns-a-blazing, fire and brimstone, and take out as many as we can?”

  “Fucking yes! Now we’re talking,” Trax beams, his smile wide.

  I shake my head along with Chains. “That would be unwise—”

  My reply is cut short by the clubhouse door busting wide open as Zane comes in through the doors, he’s sweating profusely like he’s been running as he bolts toward us as if there’s definitely some shit or other going down.

  “Pres! You have to come now. There’s been trouble at Club Modesty,” Zane puffs out through his ragged breaths.

  We all stand up knowing the club girls were dancing there tonight.

  Torque tilts his head. “What kinda fuckin’ trouble?”

  “It’s Ruby, something’s wrong with her. We don’t know what’s happened. Maybe someone spiked her drink or something, but she’s at the hospital. Kline and Foxy are with her now.”

  My muscles tense, and I glance at Torque who nods to me. He knows Ruby’s a good friend of mine, she is to all of us actually, but she has been really good to me and my family lately. I need to know she’s okay. “Is anyone with her?” I ask needing to know she’s protected right now if someone’s coming after her.

  He nods. “Yeah, Lift and Vibe are with her and the girls. The other prospects are on their way back here.”

  Torque nods and tilts his head to me. “Go! I’ll be right behind you,” he instructs.

  Racing off toward my bike to ride to the hospital, I just hope she’s okay, and there’s nothing too seriously wrong with her.

  ***

  Rushing through the halls, I have no real idea where to go as my feet hit the tiled floor heavy and with purpose. I round the corner to see a tiny little nurse, her curly black hair framing her face, making her seem even prettier as she looks at me.

  Her eyes open wide while taking in my tall stature as she looks at my cut and then smiles. “Ah… hi, I was told a few more of you guys would be coming in. I’m Tiny. Nice to meet ya.” Her cute voice does nothing to calm my nerves as I look to her and let out a small huff.

  “Tiny… it suits you. I’m looking for—”

  “Ruby Newberry, I know. Come with me. Doctor Kline and Heeley told me you were coming, though they said there would be more than one. But, hey, you’re more than enough…” Her eyes roam up and down my body like she’s absolutely ogling me, and I glance around unsure of how to take her, as she starts walking off toward a room. I let out a confused huff at this tiny little woman who seems not to care about blatantly looking at men like they’re her next meal.

  We round a corner, and I see Lift and Vibe standing in the hall. They tilt their head to me in greeting as I hear Tiny hum under her breath a sound of delight. A small smirk appears on my lips as she leads me toward them, and she points to the room where I see Kline and Foxy standing over a bed, and Ruby is in it asleep.

  My stomach sinks at how pale she appears, and I look back to Tiny and nod. She raises her brow while chewing on her bottom lip and shakes her head. “Damn,” she murmurs then turns around and marches off.

  Lift laughs and pats my shoulder. “She checked you out, too, huh?” he asks as I glance at him and sigh.

  “She was… interesting, that’s for sure. Now tell me… what the fuck’s going on with Ruby? Is she okay?” I ask and Lift grimaces.

  “I don’t really know, man. They were talking all that doctor-shit talk. All I know is Ruby was fine, then she said some guy bumped into her really hard, she told him to fuck off in her usual manner, and then he ran away, tail between his legs. After that, she started feeling really shit with dizzy spells, and she became incoherent then she collapsed. Fucking was convulsing, her muscles spasming and shit. Was fucking crazy, man.”

  Anger rolls over every muscle in my body as I grit my teeth. “The guy drugged her?”

  Vibe and Lift both nod. “Yeah, heroin. Kline found a needle prick on her arm. With the bump the guy made on her, she didn’t feel the needle go in,” Vibe tells me, and I grit my teeth, my hands balling into fists.

  “We have to tell Ace,” I suggest, and they both look at me like they have no idea why I randomly picked Ace of all our brothers to tell. “He can lift the video footage… figure out who the guy was.”

  Lift pulls out his cell and starts to walk off to make the call as I turn to look into the room holding Ruby. I need to see her. So I steady myself and walk inside to where Foxy and Kline are quietly talking to each other.

  They both glance up and watch me enter with a smile as I grit my teeth taking in Ruby’s pale face and lightly blue-tinged lips. I wince and look at her as she soundly sleeps. “Is she… going to be okay?”

  Kline reaches out placing her hand on my arm in a calming gesture. “She’s going to be fine. One hell of a headache, but we caught it in time before the drug could do any damage to her organs. She’s really lucky to have you guys watching out for her.”

  I step up to the side of the bed and grab Ruby’s hand. She feels cold, and I hate she’s even in here right now. Probably because of us. Foxy steps in beside me and wraps her arm around my waist, surprising me in a show of support from my best friend’s girl. She lays her head on my shoulder as Kline smiles and steps out of the room leaving us together. I wrap my arm around her shoulder holding her to me taking in her comfort.

  “I know she means a lot to you, Sensei. And I know you’re blaming yourself somehow for this. But the thing is, as women of the club, we know what we’re getting ourselves into the moment we agree to be a part of your lives. We also know the danger that comes with being involved with you guys. But we also know it comes with the fact that when that danger comes, you will all do everything in your power to help pull
us through and make it better. Like Ruby being in here… she’s in the best place, getting the best care. It all happened so damn quick. The brothers knew something was wrong, and they needed to act and take care of their own. Because that’s what you do, Sensei.”

  I exhale and nod as she cuddles into my side further. “So you’re saying the women know the danger, but it’s okay because we’ll help them out of it?”

  She looks up at me and smiles. “Exactly… Every. Damn. Time,” she says succinctly. “I have faith in that. Ruby does. Every woman in the club knows. Every woman coming into the club has information and will know they’re protected. When shit hits the fan, there’s no better place than with a family such as the club. There’s no need to be scared because our men will be there to fix shit up and protect us with everything they have in them.”

  I weakly smile and nod. “You have that much faith in us?”

  “I do. So does Kline. So does Ruby. We all do. You just have to believe it, too.”

  Smiling, I pull her to my side a little further. I wasn’t sure if Foxy was going to make it and be the Old Lady she needed to be when I first met her. But not only is she an Old Lady, she’s one of the best.

  “Well, shit! Never thought I’d have to take measures to break up my woman and best friend. Something I need to know?” Torque’s mocking voice booms from behind us as Foxy detaches from around me and basically runs to him. She loops her arms around his neck as she pushes to her toes and presses her lips to his, kissing him for all he’s worth.

  He pulls back and smiles. “Fuckin’ missed you, too, woman. How’s our girl?” he asks as he takes Foxy’s hand looping his fingers through hers, and she leads him further inside the room. Torque steps up beside me and slaps my shoulder. I nod to him.

  “She’s doing okay. We expect Ruby to wake up maybe in the morning once her body’s recovered enough. Kline administered a drug called Naloxone to reverse the opiate overdose. She said Ruby should make a full recovery, but she might have to spend some time here in hospital…” she pauses, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, “… because it’s possible to have some lasting effects from the drug. Depending on her body, she might have cravings for more heroin.” Foxy shakes her head. “We don’t want that, so we’ll keep her here until it’s completely out of her system.”

  Rubbing the back of my neck, I nod as Torque grunts out a scoff. “This is bullshit. Who’d do this?”

  Then it hits me. I tense all over and glance down the hall to see Lift is still there. “Lift,” I call out, and he pops his head around the doorway and then walks in as Torque looks at me questionably. “The man who did this, you see him?”

  Lift squints like he’s thinking and then nods. “Yeah, I think so.”

  Taking a deep breath, I glance at Torque and then back to Lift. “Was he Asian?”

  Torque’s face drops, and it’s like Lift has only now put the pieces of the puzzle together himself too. “Shit… yes. Fuck me. Why didn’t I put this together sooner?”

  Turning on my heels, I start pacing the room.

  “Sensei, you think this is a fuckin’ warning? Do we have something bigger coming?” Torque asks.

  With a shake of my head, I turn back to face him, dread filling my body. “If we don’t act soon, this is only a small nick in a very big wound.”

  “Fuck… is this Ishikawa’s way of saying our deadline’s up? Or just a polite reminder?” Torque asks, and I glance at the floor because I simply don’t know.

  I don’t know Aiko well enough to know how he plays. Other than if the Yakuza give their word on something, it’s gospel. It’s how they operate. It’s all about their strict code of conduct. But what I do know is he’s messing with our women, with our family. He’s fucking with the wrong people.

  I look back up taking a steadying breath. “I don’t know, but we need to find a way to take him the fuck out, and now, Torque. We need to end this,” I demand with vigor, and he nods.

  Foxy’s eyes widen. She looks from me to Torque and pulls him to her looking in his eyes. “I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, but you do what you have to do. Okay? Make them pay for what they’ve done to Ruby.”

  I half-smile loving that Torque’s woman is so supportive of our family. He really did score well there. Torque nods and leans in kissing her briefly before pulling back and caressing her cheek in a softer side I’ve never seen from him before. I keep watching him, and I actually smile this time as he presses his forehead to hers.

  “Be safe,” she whispers, but I catch it as he presses his lips to hers once more.

  Swiveling on my heel, I turn and start walking out but hear his footsteps follow mine as we all step into the halls of the hospital to ride back to the club to figure out what the hell we’re going to do about the fucking Ishikawa Yakuza invasion.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  SENSEI

  The room is silent as we sit around the table in church trying to figure out our plan of action. We know the Yakuza are tired of waiting for our answer of whether we’ll ship our guns with them or not. Seeing as the two-week deadline is up, we need to come up with something. A strategy as this affects the club’s financial viability more than anything. Preferably, we’re after an approach that will send them packing rather than send our weapons packing to them.

  “So we know for certain, due to the security feed, the guy who hit Ruby was Yakuza—he was Asian, he had the telltale suit, he’s definitely one of Ishikawa’s men. Plus, we recognize him.”

  Thing is, what the hell do we do now?

  We need something on them. Something to send them on their merry fucking way.

  “My thoughts, we take one. Gain as much fuckin’ intel as we can, and see what we can come up with using that information?” Torque suggests.

  A slow smile creeps up on my face. I’ve been feeling a little itchy, and I need to scratch it. Torturing a Yakuza family member is the right way to go about it.

  “It’s about time you got on board with my way of thinking, brother,” Trax beams with excitement.

  Torque curtly nods. “It’s not how I wanted to play this shit, but sometimes when they push, you gotta shove right back. Sensei, Trax, go find us an Ishikawa to question.”

  We both stand and nod. “With pleasure,” I reply.

  Trax cracks his knuckles, and we head out of the chapel and straight for the armory. He slaps my back and grins. Trax likes a challenge more than most men, but I know he’s ready for this. “You going to take him easy, so he can still talk?” I quip, and he chuckles.

  “Naww… why’d you have to go and ruin my fun, brother?”

  As we walk into the armory, I smirk. Trax heads straight for the weapons while I make my way to the cage for my ninja stars and daggers. I do grab a Glock, though. I’m not stupid, when it comes to being sensible, bullets are best.

  We step out and make our way to the front door noticing our brothers are still in church. We can hear raised voices, but we continue to stride out, our mission foremost on our minds.

  “Trax…” I murmur gaining his attention. He looks at me and raises his brow.

  “If Aiko sees me… if this goes bad… if I get captured… tell Sass—”

  “Fuck off! This is a simple snatch and grab, brother. No one’s going down tonight except for a Yakuza underling. You got that? You and me, we fucking got this.” He slaps my shoulder trying to send me some sort of comfort, but for the first time, I feel what it’s like going into something but having someone worth dying for. Sure, I’ve had my family in the past who I would lose it all for them, but now I have something more, something special. Something I would kill for. And if it means killing Aiko tonight to get my way, I will do it without a moment’s hesitation.

  No indecision.

  No apathy.

  Blood or not.

  We march to the van with one thought in mind. But what I want more than anything right now is to jump on the back of my ride to feel the wind licking at my face, but I ca
n’t. We need the van to carry the Yakuza underling back here to the club. And we need the quiet only a van can provide us. Bikes don’t tend to give off a hushed sound. So we slide into the van. Trax drives as Gatekeeper pulls open the gate, and we drive off out of the compound and onto the road.

  We know where we need to go—Whiskey Row. It’s where the Yakuza are based by the flea market. We have to figure out a way to find and capture one of the Yakuza underlings and bring him back with us.

  The drive doesn’t take long. We pull up and park at the flea market, but by the left-hand side, closer to the rail yard rather than in our usual spot. It’s pretty fucking dark and deserted seeing as it’s almost midnight. The parking lot’s practically empty making our van too damn conspicuous for my liking, but it’s in the shadows, so hopefully, it stays unnoticeable.

  We slide out and begin our walk down the edge of the rail yard, stealthily. Both of us draw our Glocks as we tread carefully trying not to make any sounds on the gravelly surface. The echoes of laughter filter through the night letting us know the men we seek are not too far ahead of us. The faint glow of lights glimmer up ahead from the rail yard.

  As we duck behind a carriage, I glance over to Trax and start taking our steps feather light as we step closer and closer to the frivolity we can hear filtering through the night air. We move behind the carriage, the light on the other side as we step up, the laughing continuing as my tension escalates, nerves flowing through me at getting caught in fucking Yakuza territory. There’s only two of us, and an entire Yakuza army here.

  If we’re caught—we’re dead.

  No questions asked.

  No going back.

  I glance through the break in the carriage to see Aiko—for all intents and purposes, my father—sipping on Saki and eating what looks like wasabi peas as he sits around a poker table with his men like he’s having a merry old time. My lip turns up, my stomach knotting in the pure hatred I harbor for this man. But I keep it contained—we have our mission. Guards are posted all around his men, but we’re behind the back side of the carriage of the train. The guards are all on the other side surrounding the Yakuza family.