by Jordan Marie
“I said I’d pay it, but let Torrent go!” my dad pleads. The panic and fear in his voice is so potent I can feel it.
“Where would be the fun in that? Let me ask you, Dodger. When someone betrayed your club, what did you do to them? Did you show them any mercy? Their family any mercy?”
“I told you, you can do what you want with me! But—”
“But nothing! You aren’t calling the shots here. I am. Now get down on your knees.”
“I—”
“Get down on your fucking knees or lovely little Torrent here will have a bullet in her brain. Your decision, Dodger, but you might want to make it soon,” Carter says. I bite my lip to keep from crying out when I hear the gun at my temple cock in preparation. I close my eyes and when I open them back up they’re locked on my father’s. Regret is shining in his eyes and that’s almost too painful to see. My body trembles as he slowly drops down to his knees, his gaze never leaving mine.
Where is his club?!?!?
Dodger
I drop to my knees. I don’t have a choice. I was hoping all along for a miracle and it’s clear that’s not going to happen now. I wish I knew what was happening with my men. I’d have thought they would have been here by now. Nothing about this is adding up. They didn’t even have great security or else Red and Skeeter would have never found where Torrent was in this old building—not as easy as they did.
So what’s holding them up now?
“I thought you’d see things my way, Dodger,” Carter boasts.
“I’m sorry, Tor, baby,” I murmur, giving up the last hopes I had.
“Daddy…” she whispers brokenly.
My beautiful daughter is so much like me. She always has been. She’s headstrong and independent, impatient as hell sometimes but underneath it all she has a loyalty inside of her that shines bright. It’s a loyalty that blinded me. I should have seen Crash for what he was sooner—should have investigated that harder… but I was too impatient to get to Torrent.
Too damn impatient…
“Chain her,” Carter orders and hate and misery burn in my gut. I still have a pistol hid down in my boot. I’m going to die, but I’m going to drag Carter into hell with me.
“Baby girl, do you remember when you were fourteen and Wolf and I took you to Hadden Park?” I ask her, hoping she gets it and quickly, before they lock her in the chains. She looks confused, but I see when the fog lifts and determination moves over her expression.
“Stop with the trip down memory lane,” Carter says. The fucker is clueless and begging for his death—even if he doesn’t know it yet.
“You’ve got me where you want me, Carter. At least let me say goodbye to my little girl. Please,” I respond, the word making me nearly choke. I have to act as if I’m begging for crumbs from the son of a bitch, but it’s not fucking easy.
He looks surprised, but his smile of victory is proof I’m only feeding his ego. I crumble down on the floor as if I’m completely defeated—as if I have no hope and that only makes the asshole smile that much more.
“Fine. Say your goodbyes, but don’t worry, Dodger. I’ll be sure to show your daughter a good time after your death. I’ll make her scream in delight,” he says and my hand shakes with the need to kill him now.
“Do you remember, Torrent? What fun we had that day?”
“I remember…” she murmurs.
“I was so proud of you. Wolf still talks about it,” I tell her, trying to make sure she remembers what I need from her, without giving it away.
When Torrent was fourteen, there was a boy harassing her at school and making her life misery. Wolf and I decided to teach her how to take up for herself. We trained her that day in some ways to get the upper hand. She took to it like a natural. Hell, she even managed to bring Wolf down to his knees once. There’s fifteen years between them because Wolf is five years younger than me, but sometimes I think that was when he began to see Torrent as something special.
And she is.
Torrent has always been special. There’s a fire in her eyes that shines so damn bright you can’t look away.
“He underestimated me,” she says, and even now some of her cockiness fails to come through.
“Doesn’t pay to do that to us, does it, Torrent? You were always your daddy’s little girl.”
“And proud of it,” she murmurs and I can see her getting her body into position.
I move my hand slowly to my boot. I don’t look at it while I do it, but I can watch as Torrent’s gaze drifts down--watching. I slide my hand in and immediately grab the handle of my pistol.
“Okay, that’s enough. Besides, your conversation reminds me of something I should tell you. You’re really going to enjoy this one, Dodger. It’s time—” Carter starts talking, and I worry I’m not going to have enough time to pull out the pistol, let alone aim it. Knowing what I’m thinking and proving that Torrent and I have always been connected, she lets out a loud moan, distracting everyone.
“Ohh! I think I’m going to be sick,” she sobs interrupting Carter, which is good. The bastard is trying to torture me and I’m tired of listening to his damn voice.
Torrent sidetracks the room for a few seconds, but in those seconds everyone’s eyes are on her and not me. I pull out the gun, bring it up and aim it at that son of a bitch, Carter.
“Now, Torrent!” I scream, unable to watch her as I level my gun at Carter and aim to shoot the bastard right between the eyes.
Torrent
On Dad’s command I bring my elbow backwards as hard as I can into the stomach of the man holding me. I wince at the pain. I’m weak, and I’m definitely not the woman who managed to get the best of Wolf all those years ago. I do have the element of surprise on my side and that is enough to make the man behind me stumble. A shot rings out and I glance up long enough to see my father shooting his gun. I grab the shackle that is near me on the floor. I didn’t stay in them long earlier, but I hated them. They’re heavy and that’s all I need right now. I swing it upwards and back and slam it into the face of the man who mere moments ago held a gun at my temple. It connects and the man stumbles again. The corner of his eye is bleeding because the jagged end of the lock caught him there. The room begins to spin and I try to fight back the dizziness. My dad needs me right now. I have to help him. I can hear the sound of wood crashing and glass breaking, but I’m so disoriented I can’t be sure where it’s coming from. I look up to see the guy I hit aiming a gun at me. He’s going to shoot me and there’s nothing I can do. Before I can even process that, a body from behind me tackles me to the ground. I go down hard on the floor as the sound of the gun going off echoes so loud my ears hurt. The body on me jerks and I push against it enough to see that it’s my dad. Another shot rings out and this time it’s clear to me that my dad’s body jerks and I know he’s been shot. He’s shielding me with his body, protecting me and killing himself.
I scream out, pushing hard, not wanting this. I don’t want my father to die because of me. I wrap my arms around him, trying to move his body. My fingers instantly hit hot liquid and when I draw them back to look at them my hands are covered in blood.
“Daddy! No!” I scream and now I can see his face. His eyes are filled with pain. He looks at me, his face white.
“Love you, Torrent. You’ve always been my angel...”
His voice is broken and a trickle of blood drops from the corner of his mouth and lands on me.
“Daddy,” I cry.
I know he’s slipping away and the misery that’s clawing inside of me makes it hard to breathe. All at once his body is lifted from me, an arm going around his neck. The man who had been holding me—Jin—has my father and he takes a knife to his throat. It happens quickly, but as I watch it feels like slow motion. The knife slices into my father’s neck, and I watch every horrific second with a sense of disbelief…
This can’t be happening.
All at once another gunshot rings out. The man who cut my father’s throat lurches
forward. He falls down, but I lose sight of him because my father falls down on me, his blood pouring over me.
“Why did you—” I hear a voice, but I lose track of it when my father is lifted off me. I look up to see one of my dad’s men—Red. He lays my father gently on the floor. I scramble up, crawling to get to him. My dad’s men have arrived, but in my heart I know it’s too late. Another gunshot goes off and I look up to see Wolf standing and he’s shooting the man who used his knife on my father. I clap my hands against my father’s throat, but the blood keeps oozing against my hands, between my fingers and down Dad’s body. There’s so much blood there’s no way he can survive. I have to stop it.
“Give me your shirt!” I scream to Red, to Wolf, to anyone who might listen.
“Torrent, baby—” I look over to see Wolf kneeling down beside me and Dad now and the pity on his face destroys me.
“Give me your shirt!” I scream again and he shakes his head.
“He’s gone, Tor. He’s gone, baby,” he says and I know he’s right, but I don’t want to hear it. Instead I claw at my own shirt, tearing it from my body and taking the shredded pieces and pressing them against my father’s throat.
I look at my father’s eyes and they’re wide open… open and lifeless…
“It’s too late, Tor,” Wolf says again and he pulls my body back into him. When I try to pull away, he wraps his arms tight around me, refusing to let me go. “It’s too late, baby,” he repeats. I try to resist him; I need to get to my dad. “For God’s sake! Someone cover Dodger the fuck up!” he growls and I watch as they get some kind of coat or jacket and cover my dad’s face.
“No!” I cry out, so much pain inside of me, I feel like I will never be able to survive.
“He’s gone baby, he’s gone,” Wolf says in my ear.
“Nooo…” I whimper, the word torn from my very soul. I gasp, trying to catch my breath, but it feels like my chest is raw. I look down at my hands… hands covered in my father’s blood…
And then the world goes black.
Devil
“Hey, Devil, you got a minute?” Diesel asks as I walk through the doors of the garage. I’ve been back home now for well over a month and I’m slowly starting to feel like my old self again. Whatever spell Torrent had on me during our brief time together is finally lifting.
“What’s up, man?” I ask, walking over to him.
“It’s about the shootout at the old marina around three weeks ago. You remember it?”
“Fury updated me on it. We going to deliver a message to the club that was in our territory?” I ask.
When news first filtered in through our contacts in the local police department about what happened, I know Diesel had Crusher checking it out. Nothing more had really been said about it, so I figured he’d decided to let it go. It’s not like him, but his head has been elsewhere lately.
“I met with the leader last week while you and Crusher were in Kentucky at Dragon’s. The way I figure it, they’ve lost enough and they’re already back in Nashville. Wolf seems like a good enough guy. Can’t hurt to keep friendly with them for now.”
“Then what’s up?”
“As a show of good faith, I’m going to go down for the ceremony of the man they lost.”
“It was one of their men that died? Our contact said four died,” I remind him.
“Yeah. Three were from a low level gang. They don’t have real ties here. According to Wolf, their former president’s daughter was in the area and this gang tracked her down and kidnapped her. The club came up quickly to retaliate and that’s why they didn’t bother with protocol.”
“Fuck. I’m never having kids.”
“I wouldn’t give anything for Ryan, Ese, but kids make you damn vulnerable. You have too much to lose when it comes to them. It’s one of the reasons I’m thinking of turning the reins over to Crusher.”
“You love the club, man.”
“I do. You guys are my family, but I need to do what I can to protect Ryan and being the leader of this club puts a mark on me.”
I rub the back of my neck as I think over Diesel’s words. I’d like to argue with him, but honestly, I’m not sure I can. I’ve never had kids; I’ve never had anyone that made me that vulnerable. If I did? I can’t say I wouldn’t be considering the same exact thing. I’m not about to speak out of my ass and offer him advice either. I haven’t lived Diesel’s life and I sure as hell haven’t walked in his shoes. His decisions need to be his own.
“So we’re headed to Nashville?” I ask instead.
“Well, more to the point, Murfreesboro.”
“You okay to leave Ryan?”
“Yeah, Dani will keep him. He’s comfortable with them and he and Dakota get along really well. Besides, if I don’t take a break from being a dad for a bit, I’m going to go insane. We’ll just be gone one night—two tops.”
“When are you wanting to leave?”
“They’re going to have a send-off for him tomorrow. It won’t be a long trip, so we can leave early in the morning. That work for you?”
“Yeah man. I’ll be ready to go. Maybe you’ll do yourself a favor and get laid while we’re away. I’m starting to think the Pope has more sex than you do.”
“He probably does,” Diesel mutters. “Shit, I doubt I even know how to pick up a woman anymore.”
“Aww fuck, that’s easy. It’s like riding a bike.”
“You mean once you do it, you don’t forget?”
“Nah. I mean you tell a woman some bullshit about how they’re special, then hop on them and ride them like a bike.”
“Jesus, you’re such an asshole.”
“That’s me. But I ain’t lying. Maybe while I’m there, if the old man’s daughter isn’t a total barker I’ll let her pour her heart out to me about everything she’s been through and let her comfort herself by sucking my dick,” I say with a wink.
Diesel shakes his head and starts to walk away.
“Try keeping it in your pants. I got the feeling the new President is sweet on the girl. Last thing I need is for your dick to cause a club war.”
“Shit man, my dick is easy going. If I can’t play with her, I’ll find another chick. He’s not particular and he only gets mean if he doesn’t get petted.”
“You’re a fucking loon, Devil,” Diesel yells over his shoulder as he exits the garage. I smile because at least I made the bastard laugh and that’s better than the misery I see on his face most of the time.
Torrent
“How are you doing, Tor?”
I tense when I hear Wolf. I fight to hide my irritation from him. It’s not fair. It’s just that he seems to check on me every hour on the hour. I get it. He’s worried about me. It’s not even that he’s wrong to feel like that, because I do feel like I’m falling apart. I don’t like being reminded that I’m as fragile as glass.
Cracked glass…waiting to shatter.
“I’m fine,” I lie. The words feel so heavy it’s hard to force them out.
I avoid Wolf’s eyes and instead keep staring out my bedroom window, giving him my back. He comes up behind me and it takes everything in me not to jerk away when his hands drop down on my shoulders. I can see his face reflecting in the glass.
Wolf’s a good-looking man. He’s fifteen years older than me, but a blind woman would know his appeal. He’s got warm brown hair the color of chocolate that’s cut short and choppy and kind of lays around his head and looks easy and permanently windblown. He’s got a scruffy beard that shows more gray in spots, which to be honest, gives him even more sex appeal. Plus, the beard is shorn close enough that it doesn’t take away from any of his features. His face shows age, but even that can be seen as sexy. From the laugh lines around his eyes to the creases around his nose and dimples, he’s got everything in him to make a woman weak in the knees. His lips are full and round and seem to stay in a permanent smirk…
Except for now.
Since my father died, Wolf is somber, concer
ned and protective—which is nice, but somehow adds to my misery.
“Torrent…” he whispers and I close my eyes as a wave of misery assails me.
“I’m okay, Wolf.”
“Baby, you’re not sleeping…”
“Sleep is overrated. Do I need to do anything for tonight?”
“Of course not. It’s club business. It’s been handled.”
“I am the club now. I’m all that’s left of…” I stop to take a breath and let it shudder through my body while I get control of my emotions. “I’m all that’s left of my dad.”
“He would be proud of you.”
His words are hollow—then again, everything is now.
“I’ll be ready,” I assure him, dreading what’s to come—hating it.
“You don’t have to do this, Torrent. No one would think less of you.”
“Except me,” I respond with a tired shrug. “I will be at the part…party tonight,” I tell him, choking on the word.
I know it’s the club’s way, but having a party to celebrate my dad seems wrong. There’s nothing to celebrate about what happened to him—especially since Crash is the reason he’s dead. I want to scream that from the top of the roof. I want to scream it at Wolf, but I don’t. I just need to get through this. I need to be what Dad would expect—to make him proud. That’s all I can do for him now and I owe him so much more.
“If you’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay, baby,” he says kissing my temple and squeezing my shoulders. I close my eyes at his tenderness. I don’t deserve it.
I’m the reason my father is dead.
I wrap my arms around my waist wishing I could sleep through everything.