Relent

by Nina Levine

  I stared at her, stunned into silence for a moment. “Storm is involved in a lot of shit and I’m buried deep in that shit, baby. I’m not gonna spell it out for you, but it’s not fuckin’ legal shit. Can you handle that?”

  She blinked a few times, giving away her hesitation, and I waited for the blow to come. “I’m not an idiot. I’ve always figured the club was into that kind of stuff.”

  “And you don’t care?”

  “I wouldn’t say that. I’ll admit it concerns me, but I put it out of my mind.”

  I scrubbed my face. “Shit, Evie, if we’re together and I bring you into this world, there are gonna be things you won’t be able to put out of your mind.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like the shit that’s about to go down with your father.”

  She sucked in a breath. “What’s about to go down with my father?”

  “He owes all that money to a fuckin’ dangerous man who wouldn’t hesitate to kill for an unpaid debt. I’m gonna blackmail the guy into letting your dad out of his debt. And that shit will probably blow back onto the club, and fuck knows where that will end up.”

  Worry took over her face, and I hated that I’d put it there, but she wanted the truth. And then she gave me something - my first glimpse of hope that we might have a future together. “So Storm is into shit and some of it I won’t be able to put out of my mind, but I know that you’re the kind of man who protects what is his. And if I’m yours, I know deep in my soul that you’ll do anything to make sure I’m safe. That’s how I know I’ll be able to handle this shit.”

  Her words took my breath away.

  She accepted this.

  Me.

  She accepts me.

  I roughly pulled her to me and wrapped her in my arms. “Fuck, you amaze me,” I murmured as I held her close, never wanting to let her go.

  When I did eventually release her, she smiled and said, “Together, Kick. We’ll get through anything if we just stick together. We always have.”

  I stood. It was time to go and save her father.

  Bending, I kissed the top of her head and said, “Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.”

  I ignored the look of surprise on her face at my words.

  Yeah, I never used to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

  I could change, though.

  I could change for Evie.

  ***

  “Mr Gambarro isn’t taking visitors today.”

  Was she shitting me? I eyed the woman who was blocking my access. Uptight, middle-aged bitch who probably just needed a good fuck. “I don’t give a flying fuck if he’s not taking visitors. You tell him I’m here to settle a debt, and that he’s gonna want to see me.” I paused and then added, “Tell him it’s about Michael.”

  She scowled. “I’m not interrupting him. You’ll need to make an appointment like everyone else.”

  I slammed my hand down on her desk, causing her to jump in her seat. “Go and fucking tell him I want to see him and that it’s about Michael!” I roared.

  She glared at me and continued to argue. “I don’t know who Michael is - ”

  Rage blinded me and I struggled with my kneejerk reaction to inflict pain in order to get what I wanted. Instead, I placed both hands on her desk and bent my face close to hers. “Bitch, I’m about two seconds away from doing some major damage here. Go and tell your boss he’s got a fuckin’ visitor.”

  Her eyes widened, and then she stood and walked into Gambarro’s office. A minute later, they both came out, and Jonathon Gambarro glared at me. I eyed him and took in one of the most feared men in Sydney. He’d had his hand in dirty shit for over twenty years, and at only forty-one I figured he had many more years of it left in him.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he barked.

  “I’m here to settle Peter Bishop’s debt.”

  He scowled. “Why isn’t Peter here to take care of that?”

  I walked towards him and threw out the one weapon I had in my arsenal. “I’ve actually come to talk more about Michael than about Peter.”

  The asshole knew exactly who I was talking about by the look that flitted across his face.

  I’d brought fear to Jonathon Gambarro. A feat not many managed to do. And I hoped like hell it would be enough to save Peter.

  He motioned for me to enter his office.

  Time to negotiate.

  Shutting the door behind him, a more subdued Gambarro took a seat at this desk while I stood on the other side. “What about Michael?” he asked as his gaze swept over me with distaste.

  “What do you think, asshole?”

  “I’m not sure what to think unless you lay it all out for me.” His voice remained calm but the sweat beading on his forehead gave him away.

  I slowly placed my hands on the edge of his desk and bent slightly towards him. “It seems you’ve got a thing for young boys, Jonathon, and I happen to know one of them didn’t make it out of your home alive. That information remains with me, and me only, as long as you wipe Peter’s debt and forget you ever met him. And before your brain starts to tick over and contemplate ways to take me or Peter out for this, you need to know I’ve made arrangements for this information to be passed onto the cops if either of us end up dead.”

  He weighed my words, and I watched the hatred form in his eyes. “How the fuck do you know about this?” he sneered.

  “Knowing shit that no one else knows is my specialty.”

  “That shit is likely to get you killed one day. You do realise that, don’t you?”

  “I’m not concerned about that. I’ve lasted seventeen years in this shithole city with the knowledge I have. I don’t think anything’s about to change just because I’ve got something on you.”

  His brows shot up. “Well, then you’ve got no fucking idea how I work.”

  I bent lower to look him right in the eyes. “No, motherfucker, you’ve got no idea how I fuckin’ work. You don’t want to take me on because I’ve got reach in this city that you can only fuckin’ dream of.”

  “I don’t even fucking know who you are, so excuse me if I don’t buy a word of what you’re saying.”

  Time to pull out the big guns. I started rattling off names he would know. “Justin Sutherland, Billy Jones, Max James, Eric Bones, Calvin Ryan, Stu Davy... you know any of those names? And I promise you that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You wanna fuck with me, you’ll be fucking with them, too.” I intentionally left out King’s name just like I’d intentionally not worn my cut this morning.

  He sat back in his chair and I knew I had him.

  Silence filled the room as we glared at each other, and while he contemplated his next move.

  I should have felt anxiety, worry, concern ... anything.

  I felt nothing.

  Years of doing this shit for King had numbed me.

  My job was to get the shit on people, throw that shit at them and sit back and watch them crap their pants. It was to bend them to our way of thinking, and I was the fuckin’ best at it. It was why King kept me so close. He knew I had good contacts, and he knew the cold heart beating in my chest meant nothing was off the table when it came to getting what we wanted.

  If Gambarro didn’t come to the party now, I had other options to force him. But it seemed the first option I’d gone with would be enough.

  He pushed his chair back and stood. When he spoke, his voice was low. Cold and calm. “Consider the debt wiped.”

  I nodded once but didn’t say anything. He had more to get off his chest and I knew it.

  “Also consider this a warning. I don’t like the way you conduct business and I intend on showing you just how much it displeases me. And I don’t care how long it takes me to do that, be it months or years, I will see it through. Now get the fuck out of my office,” he said in a low, menacing voice.

  With my goal achieved and nothing else left to say, I turned and walked out of his office. I knew he’d make good on his threat so my next stop was the clubhouse. It w
ouldn’t take Gambarro long to figure out I was Storm, so I had to let King know what had just gone down.

  While I figured Hyde would be pissed, I suspected King would rally the boys. The crazy motherfucker lived for shit like this.

  ***

  It took me nearly an hour in traffic to get to the clubhouse and, in that time, word had travelled. Gambarro was on the warpath. He hadn’t worked out my connection to Storm yet but Hyde had already heard about what had gone down.

  Hyde found me before I found King. Anger rolled off him. I’d never seen him this fired up. “What the fuck did you do?”

  “I sorted some family shit out,” I threw back at him. “Just like you would have done if it was your family on the line.”

  “No, what you did was create club shit and that’s something I sure as fuck wouldn’t have done. When Gambarro figures out who you are and that you’re with Storm, he’ll come, gunning for us, and he won’t fucking hold back. I can promise you that.”

  “You don’t think I’ve already thought of that?”

  “I seriously don’t know what the fuck goes through your mind anymore, Kick. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had a head full of pussy and had lost your fucking mind, but seems as though I know you’re a cold-hearted bastard who doesn’t ever let pussy control him, I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”

  “Hyde,” King’s voice sounded from behind me and as he got closer, he said, “we’re backing Kick on this.”

  Hyde’s anger and frustration grew and he channelled it into a punch to the wall closest to him. “Fuck!” he roared as he stood staring at us, his eyes wild, his face flushed. “Do you know what the fuck that will do to Storm, King?”

  King was the master of controlling his emotions when he wanted to and he did that now. The vein pulsing in his neck was the only giveaway he was angry. “Of course I fucking know what this will do to Storm. I also know we have the connections to take him on. And win.” He turned to look at me, his eyes flashing from anger to that wicked look he got when something excited him. “And I’m in the mood for some fun. Let’s shake this shit up, boys. Let’s show Sydney what the fuck Storm is made of.”

  Hyde shook his head. “Fuck, you’re an insane motherfucker sometimes, King.”

  King grinned. “It keeps life interesting, my friend.”

  “And what about this other shit with Silver Hell? If they figure out that was you, then we’ll have two lots of assholes coming after us,” Hyde said.

  King shrugged. “Bring it on. Like I said, Storm is connected, and if need be, I’ll fucking drag our other chapters in.”

  Hyde raised his hands. “I’ve had my say. You’re the President, so whatever you say goes, but I’m letting you know I think this is some fucked-up shit.”

  King took in what he’d said and then grew serious. “Hyde, we’re brothers. If one of us needs help, we all pull together. Kick always has our backs. It’s time we take his.”

  Hyde stared at both of us for a long moment and then blew out his breath. “Fuck,” he muttered. “Yeah.” And then he walked away, leaving King and I alone.

  “Thanks, brother,” I said.

  “No thanks needed. Whatever you need from me, you have it. Just ask.”

  I nodded and watched as he, too, walked away.

  Storm had become my family when my own had fallen apart years ago and King had always been there for me. He’d just shown me I was true family to him because King never offered anyone whatever they needed. He never told anyone just to ask for what they needed. Usually you had to sell your soul to get that kind of offer from King.

  Fuck.

  I’d sold my soul a long fucking time ago.

  King was only giving me what I was due.

  Chapter Eleven

  Evie

  I shimmied into the new red dress I’d bought today and smoothed it down into place. Stepping in front of the mirror in my bedroom, I assessed myself. Not bad. I’d spent the day pampering myself with a haircut and colour, and then a pedicure and wax. Kick might not be the kind of man to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but that didn’t stop me from acknowledging it and looking good for him. Tonight, I planned on seducing him into giving me multiple orgasms. Kick was the only guy I’d ever slept with who’d been able to do that for me, and I could hardly wait to get him started. Shit, I’d been thinking about it all day and was more than ready to go, so the first one wouldn’t take him long.

  Once I was happy with my dress, I headed into the kitchen. It was nearly seven o’clock. Surely he’d be here soon. I’d actually expected to see him much earlier today but he must have had a lot to take care of because I hadn’t seen or heard from him since he left my bed this morning.

  I kept myself busy for another half hour but when I still hadn’t heard from him, I decided to call him instead.

  He didn’t answer.

  Shit, where was he?

  I sat at the kitchen table and thought about it for a few minutes, and then I knew. Well, I had an idea of where he might have gone so I grabbed my car keys and went in search of him.

  Fifteen minutes later, I walked into the pub that used to be ‘ours’. It was the place he took me to celebrate my eighteenth birthday which then led to us getting together, so I’d always thought of it as ours.

  He was sitting at a table in the far back corner. Alone, and he wore a look that told me he was contemplating stuff. Something bad must have gone down. It was never a good sign when Kick was contemplative.

  I walked to where he sat and he looked up as I approached. His eyes were vacant - it was as if he was looking straight through me. And then he blinked and I must have come into focus for him, because his gaze travelled over my body. When his eyes came back to mine, I saw the want in them that had been missing a minute ago.

  “Evie,” he murmured, “what are you doing here?”

  I sat opposite him, hating that he’d asked me that. “Is it not okay that I came looking for you?”

  He reached his hand across the table to take hold of mine. “It’s always okay for you to come looking for me.”

  “So why did you just ask me what I was doing here?”

  “Guilt,” he said softly and didn’t elaborate.

  “What’s wrong, Kick?”

  He stared at me for what felt like ages. He seemed to be weighing something up and I expected something bad to come out of his mouth but he surprised me when he finally spoke. “I fucked up Valentine’s Day.”

  “Why?”

  “I should have picked you up earlier and taken you on a date. I’d planned to . . .”

  “I think we both know dates on Valentine’s Day are not your kind of thing, and I’m okay with that.”

  “Yeah?”

  I smiled. “Yeah. But you’re gonna have to make up for that in other ways.”

  Heat flared in his eyes. “I think I’m good for that, baby. I don’t think I could fuck that up even if I tried.”

  “I think you’re right there. You have mad talents in that department.”

  He laughed, and it was so damn good to see him relax a little. “Good to know my talents are appreciated,” he said, letting go of my hand and sitting back in his chair.

  My smile faded. “Now, are you gonna tell me what’s really going on, because I am betting it’s got absolutely nothing to do with Valentine’s Day? Is it something to do with my father? Is that why you’re sitting alone in this pub tonight looking like you’re assessing your whole damn life?”

  “This is our pub, Evie. It’s where I come to think.”

  Warmth spread out from my belly.

  He remembers.

  “Yeah, I know it’s our pub,” I said, and then asked, “What are you thinking about?”

  “Do you ever look back on your life and wonder if you could have done it better?” His eyes watched me intently, waiting for my answer.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I do it a lot.” I drove myself crazy with my thoughts sometimes.

  He listened to what I sai
d, remaining still. His body was so tightly wound by the looks of it and I wanted to lay my hands on him and try to work some of that tension out. But what Kick needed at this very minute was a listening ear so I gave him that instead.

  Eventually, he stretched his arm back to grab hold of the back of his neck, letting out a muttered, “Fuck,” while he did it.

  I leant my forearms on the table and shifted forward in my seat. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I sorted your father’s debt today . . . but I’ve caused other problems in order to do that.”

  My relief was short-lived as what he’d just said filtered through. I frowned. “What kind of problems do you mean?” My heart beat faster in my chest at the thought something bad would come of all this.

  He reached for the beer in front of him and took a swig before placing it back on the table and absently running his finger around the rim. Eventually, he gave me his eyes, and said, “It’s nothing the club and I can’t handle, but . . . fuck, I don’t know, have you ever gotten to a point in your life where you feel sick of all the shit you have to deal with? Like, if you’d made different choices in your life, things would be so much different.”

  “Yes,” I whispered, not taking my eyes off him.

  “I just want this to be simple, Evie,” he said quietly.

  “What?” I asked, unsure of what he was referring to.

  Anguish burned in his eyes. “Us. I just want us to be easy for once.”

  My heart squeezed in my chest.

  I hated seeing him hurt.

  Standing, I held out my hand to him. His brows pulled together, questioning, so I said, “I want it to be easy too, Kick, so I’m going to show you how much I love you, and we’re going to make a pact to stick together no matter what. Life might be hard, but you and I can do everything possible to make us easy.”

  He stared at my hand for what felt like ages and then gave me his as he slowly stood. When his gaze met mine, he said, “I fuckin’ hope so, baby.”