Chicago Defiance Box Set Part One

by K E Osborn

  “Fuckhead,” she murmurs under her breath with a hint of a smile, and I relax a little more. Maybe they do have a good relationship. She might be a hardass, but I think she does have a soft spot for Brody.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Brody affirms turning and heading for the door with Grier in tow.

  “Keep your head down,” Ace calls back, and they both nod as they leave.

  I look to Torque and let out a long exhale wondering if we’ve made the right call or just dumped ourselves in the biggest pile of steaming shit known to all of mankind.

  Only time will tell.

  ***

  The Next Day

  After our late night, the club’s moving slow this morning. Even though it’s late morning, we’re all still sluggish and not our usual energetic selves. It might also be the fact that we’re up to our eyeballs in shit, and we can’t see a way out. The unknown about whether Brody and Grier are on our side or not is something we won’t know until it all folds out. It’s eating at me, and even worse, all I can seem to think about is Sass.

  Father steps up to me placing his hand on my shoulder, and I turn to him and smile. “Raiden, you seem tenser than normal.”

  I let out a heavy sigh. “Nothing for you or Mother to be concerned over.”

  He half-smiles and nods. “This Ayla girl… she on your mind?”

  “Constantly.”

  “Ah, the joys of the beginnings of a new relationship. Enjoy it. The butterflies don’t last forever, but the enjoyment of seeing her face every morning does. Be good to her, son.”

  I nod as he turns and walks off to go and sit with my mother. It’s fantastic that they’re still so in love, especially after everything they have been through. Fleeing another country to get away from Aiko, just so they could be together, it’s a true romance story.

  As I move over to the wooden table, Torque looks at me and raises his brow. “You look like shit. You not sleeping, brother?”

  “It’s difficult to sleep with so much on my mind. My blood father in town trying to take over. Not knowing if he’s aware we’re here. The fact that we just spoke to the cops, who may or may not be on his payroll. The fact we have Andrettis coming to the clubhouse soon. Plus, Sass. Dragging her into this fucking mess…” I let out a heavy breath, and Torque nods.

  “Yep, I can see why you’re stressed. But Sensei, all of this is outta your control. You need to let shit play out the way it’s gonna. And as for Sass, she’s one strong-as-fuck female so she can take anything that’s thrown at her.”

  “That’s just it… I don’t want anything thrown at her… I want her fucking safe.”

  Torque nods in understanding. “I get it, I do, trust me. With Foxy, I don’t want her around this shit either. Why do you think we’re getting a house away from the club?”

  I nod as Tremor whistles from the doorway gaining our attention. “They’re here.”

  We both stand, and I glance at Father and nod letting him know to take Mother back to their room. The girls are at school with a prospect on guard, so I don’t have to worry about them which is good. But this is new territory for us, this has never been done before. Torque figured we’re making new ground with the Andrettis, and we’ve been on their turf, we have to show the same respect to them by allowing them on ours. We don’t like it. We’re prepared for anything that may eventuate from this meeting.

  Chains and Lift escort the black pinstriped suit-wearing Mafioso through the clubhouse doors. We all walk up to them, and Torque smiles as Enzo looks around the clubhouse with a satisfied grin.

  “Enzo, welcome,” Torque gestures shaking Enzo’s hand as Enzo nods and shakes his hand back energetically.

  I smile at Torque’s obvious discomfort as he pulls back, and we head over to the wooden tables. “Ciao, Torque, and all the bikers. This place is better than I imagined. Honestly, I thought it would be a dive!” Enzo chimes as we all take our seats, and Torque raises his brow at Enzo’s honesty.

  Enzo’s come out of his shell since our ‘friendship’ with them has grown, and now it’s like he feels free to say whatever he wants, good or bad.

  “Well, we’re glad you approve,” Surge replies.

  Enzo nods to him as everyone settles into their positions.

  Italians on one side.

  Brothers on the other.

  “So, I’ll catch you up real quick. Last night, one of our club girls was drugged by the Yakuza, and she overdosed. This was obviously a warning for taking too long to give them a response. We need something. Or we’re gonna have to do something drastic, which could go one of two ways… massive loss of lives and we win, or we’re fuckin’ wiped out completely,” Torque offers.

  Enzo holds up his finger as if to stop Torque from continuing. We all sit up taller as Enzo gestures for one of his men to slide something forward. “We found something. It’s taken a hell of a lot digging, but my tech guys are good. No offense.” He glances to Ace whose entire face scrunches up as he takes in the insult. “It seems the Yakuza are dealing dirty money to pay for the businesses their conglomerate is buying up in town.”

  I smile. “They’re fucking money laundering?”

  He nods. “Exactly, as well as a heap of other shit. Pretty sure they’re into some sort of heroin trade. The word on the street is that a new seller is making it big time in Chicago, and my bet is that it’s the Yakuza making their mark.”

  “That’s the drug they used on Ruby,” Trax grunts, and I nod.

  “So how do we get these fuckers to take the fall for all this?” Enzo asks, and Ace sits taller.

  “Can we have this folder?” Ace asks.

  Enzo cracks his neck and shrugs. “I suppose, but what are you going to do with it?”

  Ace wracks his jaw from side to side and then blurts it out, “Give it to the cops.”

  “Fanculo. Are you stupido? You’re out of your godforsaking mind!”

  Torque lets out a heavy sigh and raises his hand to placate Enzo. “Enzo, I know it sounds laughable—”

  “Laughable? You, dealing with the cops? We don’t deal with the fucking cops. Fucking hell, we’re out of here. You were always pussies, so I guess nothing changes with you guys—”

  “Stop!” Torque’s deep baritone voice booms through the clubhouse making everyone turn and stare.

  Enzo swallows the lump in his throat seeming to calm down as he looks at Torque and nods like he’s listening.

  “We have a fuckin’ cop on our side. His name’s Brody. We had him here last night discussing our situation. He’s cool. Ace can vouch for him.”

  Enzo looks at Ace and seems to soften as he nods. “Okay… if you think taking this to the cops is the only way to bring them down without us all getting riddled in bullet holes… then, I’m listening.”

  Torque nods. “I’d rather go in and light the fuckin’ place up. Trust me, I would, Enzo. I’d love nothing more than to burn that fuckin’ train yard to the ground. But I can’t risk my men, and for some fucked-up reason… I don’t want to risk yours either.”

  “Right, yeah, I get it.”

  “So, we can have the file, if we’re on board with the plan? We take everything to Brody, and he can try and have the Yakuza taken down legally. If that doesn’t work… plan-fuckin-B.”

  “Plan B?” Enzo asks.

  “Fire and fuckin’ brimstone,” Torque replies, and we all nod in complete and utter agreement.

  ***

  Two Days Later

  Ace called Brody and Grier to come back to the clubhouse after Enzo left, and we filled them in on the information the Andrettis had found out about the Yakuza. Brody said that with all the new information, they could dig deeper. He talked with some officials who seemed to be interested in the new information he’d uncovered, and they didn’t seem to be tainted by the Yakuza, so he was going to deal with them directly.

  Maybe we can win this shit after all. Maybe the Yakuza don’t have as much pull in this city as we thought.

  So they l
eft with copies of all the information to try and bring them down legally, to run the fuckers out of town the right way. If we can’t do it with gun power, then shutting down the way they run things is going to cut them off at the neck. Sometimes firepower isn’t always the best route.

  But that still remains to be seen.

  For now, we have to sit and wait for word from Brody. And as I sit at the table eating dinner with my family around me and Torque to my side, I feel like something’s coming. I’m not sure what, but my stomach is unsettled as I slowly eat my dinner.

  Torque’s cell rings, he looks at the screen seeing it’s Brody, and he answers while we all look to him.

  “Brody, any news?” he asks. He listens intently, nodding and murmuring in response a few times but gives nothing away. His body tenses, and he stands up suddenly from the table. “Are you sure?” he asks making me glance at Mother and Father who are also watching Torque with bated breath. “Well, fuck! I don’t know what to say, Brody.” He slides out of the seat and starts walking to the middle of the room, and I tense all over as he ends the call. My muscles clench as I watch him in a state of terror waiting for the bad news.

  He lets out a loud whistle through the room gaining everyone’s attention, and we all look to him as he lets out a long breath. “Right, I have news from Brody.”

  The room drops to dead silence as Vibe turns off the sound system—it’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

  “He’s managed to find the right people to take our evidence to. People not on Aiko Ishikawa’s payroll. The footage from the club was shown, and all the evidence mounting against them has slipped into the right hands…” He Pauses. “Brody’s found business owners willing to come forward and testify, and he also found evidence of their dirty money and heroin trade. They’re being shut down as we speak. They’ve all been brought into custody, and it’s been taken so far up the legal system, they’re gonna issue a sanction on the Ishikawa Yakuza family in America as a matter of urgency using the Obama bill. They’re finished here. We won.” His eyes light up as he grins so fucking wide. “We fuckin’ won!”

  Not knowing what else to do, I stand up as a rush of energy flows through me. I let out a sound that I can’t even comprehend myself as I turn back to face my parents and see the tears streaming down my mother’s face as my father reaches out and pulls her to him in a tight loving embrace. The room erupts into a fit of euphoria as everyone stands up cheering and clapping while Trax rushes over to me.

  We won.

  We beat the Yakuza.

  Without firing a single fucking bullet.

  How the fuck did we manage that? It’s unheard of.

  We won. We fucking won!

  “Let’s celebrate tonight, boys. It’s not often we win with help from the fuckin’ cops!” Torque calls out as he signals to the bar, and the girls instantly start pouring the beers. I race up to Mother and Father and pull them into a giant embrace. Mother’s still crying as I lean in kissing her cheek.

  “It’s going to be fine, Mother… he won’t be able to get to you now.”

  She smiles pressing her hand to my cheek and nods. “I knew you would protect our family, Raiden. You are such a good boy.”

  I chuckle as Father looks at me and gives me a single nod. Feeling nothing but elation, I can’t believe how we did this without anybody getting hurt.

  The Yakuza don’t go down without a fight.

  But if the Ishikawa are being sanctioned, they’re done in this town.

  Hell, they’re done in America.

  There’s no way they can come back from this.

  Excitement rushes through me. I want to celebrate with my brothers, but I really want to talk to Sass. I can’t tell her what’s going on, but I want her to know I’m having a good night, and that tomorrow’s going to be a great day. So I step off to my room and pull my cell from my pocket to call her. Swiping my screen, I press on her contact, and it rings and rings and rings until her voice message answers. I pout hating that she hasn’t answered, but decide to leave a message for her.

  “Sass… I wanna fuck you so hard right now, take you like you’ve never been taken before, but I guess I’ll have to settle for talking to you later…” I pause wanting to say more, but not knowing what else to say. So I end the call.

  A sense of something washes over me, something I can’t put my finger on, but I simply shrug and walk out of my room and back out to join the party. It’s going to be a messy night. I can feel it.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  AYLA

  The Next Day

  Sensei’s running through my mind this morning as I dress ready for work. To be honest, he ran through my mind all night. I thought about heading over to the club halfway through the evening, but I thought better of it. I don’t want to appear needy.

  I was in the shower when his call came through and didn’t see it until I went to bed hours later. Then when I tried to call back, he didn’t answer. I’m not sure if something’s wrong or if he’s just busy, but he’s never not replied to me before. So, it has me worried. I knew I couldn’t go running over to the club in the middle of the night. Especially if something has gone wrong, he wouldn’t want that. So I have to wait until he calls me, which I’m hoping he does soon because I’m worrying myself sick.

  As I slide into my truck to make my way to work, I try to focus on the short drive to the garage. I have work to do, and I need to focus. So I start up my truck and pull out of the drive and head out onto the road. Heath and Bowie left before me, so I know I need to fix my shit up when I’m the late one.

  As I turn the radio up to the deep voice of Jared Leto singing about being closer to the edge, I bop my head, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel as I look into the rearview mirror seeing a pick-up truck driving really close on my tail. I narrow my eyes and accelerate a little faster trying to pull away from him, but he speeds up. So instead, I gently tap on the brake to let him know he’s too close, but in reply, he speeds up getting way too close, revving his engine and bumping into the back of my truck making me jolt forward slightly.

  “Fuck!” I blurt out as I grip on the steering wheel harder trying to steady my truck as I look around seeing we’re pretty much the only two people on the road at the moment. I groan loudly as I throw my hand in the air looking in the rearview mirror at him.

  “What the fuck, asshole?” I yell even though he can’t hear me. I can’t see who he is, but he’s fucking pissing me off that’s for sure.

  Suddenly, he pulls out from behind me, to the side and speeds up coming in beside my truck. My heart rate spikes as I watch his truck move alongside mine, and I try to keep my eyes on the road ahead as my breathing quickens.

  “What the hell?” I murmur, under my breath as he turns his wheel rapidly, his truck veering into mine, the side of his slamming hard making me swerve to the right dramatically almost driving off the road onto the sidewalk.

  “Holy fucking shit!” I yell, my heart leaping into my throat as I speed up trying to get away from this fucking maniac. My tires pound on the asphalt as I accelerate to crazy speeds trying to outrun him, but his truck’s as fast as mine as he sideswipes me again. My truck jars hard to the right, and I lose control of the steering wheel pushing up onto the sidewalk, the steering wheel spinning and wrenching my wrists and then rotating out of control as I attempt to slam on the breaks. I let out a loud scream as I look up just in time to see a pole coming into view.

  I hear the sounds before I feel it—the smashing of the glass, the crunching of the metal. The sudden impact of the truck crashing into the cement pole. My head flies forward as the airbag doesn’t deploy properly, and for some reason, my head hits the steering wheel with the force of the impact. The front of the truck crumpling as I let out an almighty scream in agony.

  My head rests on the steering wheel as it pounds furiously. Warmth runs down my temple as I pant for breath, pain ripping through my arm. I open and close my eyes a couple of times to try and fight the
fogginess in my brain.

  Suddenly, the door of my truck flies open, and I’m yanked back from the steering wheel. I scream out as searing pain ripples through my shoulder.

  “Shut up!” A familiar voice pierces through my ears, and as I turn, his face comes into view letting me get a good look at him.

  “You! What the hell are you doing here?” I mumble, his foul smell assaults my senses as he leans in too close for comfort, unbuckling my seatbelt. After the last time I saw him, any closeness is too intimate for me.

  “Shut up! You’re coming with me.”

  SENSEI

  I have no idea what the hell time it is, but all I know is my head is pounding. We tied one on last night and I, for one, am suffering from a fucking hangover of epic proportions. Rolling over in bed, I grab my cell and glance at it, my eyes are foggy as I squint to see three missed calls from Sass. “Shit,” I murmur seeing them coming in at all different times. I must have been so fucking drunk I didn’t hear my cell ringing.

  Glancing to the time, I notice it’s nearly midday and realize she’ll be at work. I don’t want to bother her now, plus, I need some fucking grease and a vat of coffee before I can function, then I’ll call her. So I stand up and put on some clothes trying to gather myself in preparation for the day.

  I head toward the clubroom to see everyone’s in a state of disarray. Brothers sitting around holding their heads much the same as me, and I grin knowing everyone had a great time last night in celebration of our win.

  Unexpectedly, a cop siren sounds, and I glance at Torque who looks about as good as I feel. Slowly, I trudge over to him, he looks at Ace who wanders over to us and raises his brow.

  “Might be Brody?” Ace queries, and we both nod as we head to the gate to welcome our friendly neighborhood cop.