‘Do not disgrace this family, Son. You do your job and watch out for your little, damaged sister. You would do well to remember that. You can leave now.’ Jin, head of the family and gang of the Triads; the most feared criminal gang in downtown Chinatown, and also known as my father. He orders me away without looking up from the supply of cocaine on his desk as he weighs each wrapped package. He passes the drugs to the two girls who are down to their underwear without blinking an eye. It’s normal to see half naked woman around here, human trafficking isn’t anything new and it really disgusts me how he treats people. Am I going to turn into him by the time the family business is placed in my hands? Will I treat my sister as if she’s a disgrace or when it’s time for me to claim a bride…will my heart be so cold that not even she can break through?
His order is a daily reminder that if I fail my family, I better start running because if I’m caught, I’ll just be another body found in a dumpster behind one of the diners in Chinatown.
‘Yes, Father.’ I bow at the waist and straighten when he clears his throat in a dismissal.
Quickly spinning on my heels to exit his office, I keep my facial expression neutral as I pass his guards that glare daggers at me.
Don’t show your anger, no emotions.
I hate when my father talks about my baby sister that way, she can’t help that she has Tourettes… it’s what makes her special and unique in my eyes.
I shake off the rage creeping to the surface, ignoring the way my father’s guards place a hand on their guns. They would like nothing better than to see me dead, not liking the idea of me taking my father’s place one day, making me in charge. I’d rather not have anything to do with it either, but when you’re forced into this world, there is no escaping. You’re born into it and you die in it.
I glance at my watch, checking the time only to see that I’m late to head over to Logan’s. I received a short text last night from him telling me to come right over in the morning, and that shit was going down. At first, I thought it was about the package of drugs from the station downtown that went wrong, but he would have told me to come over right away last night if that was the case. It’s something else, once again this world doesn’t ever sleep and it’s one thing after another. I’ve known Logan since elementary school, our mutual brutal households tying us together, and our friendship never bugged our fathers. They practically pushed our friendship the moment they found out. Father says that the crime families should stay together, good for business, but to never forget that everyone is an enemy and to trust no one, even your best friends. Tey and Dalton have had their fair share of cruelty, it’s what brought us all together.
Swinging my car keys around my finger, I finally relax with a grin on my face as my sweet precious comes into view under the parking garage. My racing machine, she’s a beauty and the only woman I will ever need in my life without the mess that comes with it. Sliding onto the leather seat, I shudder with the pressure off my shoulders as she roars to life underneath me. I need to race, and very soon, before I lose control… again.
Racing out of the garage, I pass restaurants decorated with bright colors, of golds and reds with the smell of food heavy in the air. Streets pass in a blur as I weave through Los Angeles traffic, shifting the clutch to speed down the highway, the engine purring like a kitten. This is heaven. Unfortunately, all too soon, I’m pulling up to Logan’s father’s mansion and killing the engine to sit in the driveway for a couple of seconds to collect my thoughts before stepping into chaos as usual.
With a sigh, I slide out of the car slowly, and shut the door behind me. I jog up the steps with my sunglasses shielding my eyes and the deepening bruise covering my left eye. Martial arts last night was brutal, my father was yelling in the background for his instructor to push me harder, hit harder, until every muscle in my body was straining. I don’t bother knocking on the front door, I just let myself in like I own the damn place. I walk into silence, only to see Tey laying in the living room on the rug as he stares up at the ceiling with a wicked smile on his face. What is that crazy fool up to now?
‘Nicky, my man, you won’t believe what we have hiding in this house. Spectacular beauty and I can’t wait to play with her,’ Tey mutters happily under his breath, swirling his finger rings around and around as he continues to grin widely as if he just hit the jackpot.
Wait, did he just say her? Fingering my sunglasses, I take them off, and run my fingers through my straight black hair to get the escaped strands out of my eyes. I quickly tie my shoulder length hair back on top of my head while looking around for said female. She must be something since she caught Tey’s attention. He gets bored easily.
Casually leaning against the stone fireplace that takes up half the wall, I hear a click of heels on the marble flooring and the muttering of Logan’s father as he rounds the corner with his wife right by his side. I used to know his first wife, she was like a mother to me, even more so than my own who is a stone cold, frigid bitch but I’m still not sure about his new wife. Their wedding happened so fast, it seemed like moments after his first wife, Helen, was lowered into the ground, and Logan has a hatred towards Diana that even has me wary. I’ll back up my best friend, heck I’ll even hide a body for him if he needs me too, but the way he’s grown heartless like my own father keeps me on my toes, constantly in fear that we’ll really lose him one day to this cruel world.
‘Nicky, what are you doing here?’ A shaking, Diana, reaches the couch and practically drops into the cushions with her face pale and withdrawn.
What is wrong with the Chief’s wife now? God, she’s dramatic.
Her normally straight blonde bob is sticking up in all angles, her eyes circled by dark shadows as if she hadn’t slept, and the faraway look in her brown eyes has me glancing back and forth between her and Franco.
‘I was asked to stop by, business,’ I answer with a shrug and don’t say anything else because she doesn’t know about the side business aspect… Well, I suspect she knows and she just turns a blind eye to it.
The way she ignores the crime part of our lifestyle has me always watching her more closely because only someone who grew up in a world full of violence wouldn’t blink if a man was shot in front of you in cold blooded murder. It’s hard to trust her and with reason, of course. If Logan asked me to help him dump her body into the ocean, I wouldn’t even question the reason why. She wasn’t around when we were kids and she’s an outsider that may know too much already. Hell, my own father has killed men for less, turning your back on your enemies gets you killed and that’s what happens when you couldn’t care less if someone dies or not.
I look down at my knuckles, seeing the scars healed over and over from being reopened as the wooden cane snapped across my fingers for discipline at age eight. That was the year I started to understand how the world can stand still while pain seems to make you suffer in silence. I’m very skilled at how to torture someone, to get information out of them, and that’s not only with the techniques I possess with the computer. I’m a hacker by heart, it’s set in my bones, and you can’t hide a single thing from me.
‘Ah, the real fun is about to begin. Good morning, sugar plum! You are looking refreshed, nice shower?’ Tey turns his head towards the stairs with a gleeful smirk and licks his wide lips at whoever he’s staring at.
I pull my gaze away from his mouth, which seems to become harder and harder these days, and glance sharply towards the staircase at the sound of soft, padded feet coming down along with the pounding steps of a pissed off Logan. I’d recognize that sound anywhere, he’s always moved in anger and it’s gotten worse over the years, the more Franco assigned us jobs on the street that someone our age shouldn’t be doing. My gaze lands on Logan first, seeing his eyes already hardened into a pissed off glare at the person in front of him. I follow his gaze and my heart skips a small beat before pounding in sync to match her footsteps. A chuckle sounds beside me but I’m hardly paying attention. Dark brown eyes are staring into mine, studying me as I hold perfectly still leaning against the mantel. I’m also afraid to move, the fear of scaring her away like a baby deer because she keeps glancing around like she’s about to make a run for it.
Don’t run, please for the love of God, don’t run. Men like me and my brothers love a good chase, and who knows what would happen once she’s caught. Deep inside I’m kind of hoping she bolts.
‘Tey, shut your mouth for once in your life,” Franco says in exasperation, leveling a hard look at the fool who only grins wider before Franco glances back at the girl. “Tillie, take a seat. This is going to be a lot for you to process and it’s probably best if you’re sitting down.’ Franco warns in a commanding voice to do as he says, gesturing to the couch opposite of his wife.
I think deep down he really does care for Diana, but something inside of him died when Helen was murdered and the fucking killer was never caught. That changes a man, makes him dead inside but there’s still a spark for him to care for his new wife, as he treats her like fragile glass and maybe she is. Who knows? I still don’t trust the bitch. She came off the streets basically, a hoe looking for money, and she trapped Franco with her looks and fake lies. Now she has it all; a big house, money at her disposal, and all she has to do is fuck Logan’s father to keep him happy. A win/win for her.
“Listen, I’m thankful for you welcoming me into your home but maybe it was a mistake coming here. I’ll show myself out the door,” Tillie says in a soft whisper, having me straighten from the mantel and taking a step in her direction but Logan beats me to her.
He doesn’t say a word, just grabs her elbow and steers her to the couch, releasing her as if her touch burned him before taking up a stance on the other side of the mantel from me. Very interesting. Who is this girl? Dressed in black leggings, a purple crop top that shows off her smooth stomach just below her belly button that I find oddly cute, and she’s barefoot… Did she plan on leaving without anything else? What is going on? My arms ripple with the need to choke answers out of someone if they don’t start talking. I cross my arms over my chest and see her glance at me out of the corner of her soulful eyes before I look away bored. I feel something spark in my chest that surprises me. I cut myself off from everyone except my tight knit group of friends, but just one look at her face tells it all to me.
Pain, lots of pain that never seems to go away, no matter how much you smile; it’s sketched in deep lines around your eyes. I see it all and it makes me mad. I don’t like feeling anything because if you can’t feel anything then nothing can get to you. I’ll just pretend she isn’t here. Just another girl who means nothing.
I wonder why she was limping slightly before sitting down, and is that a dragon tattoo on her lower back?
“Why are you here?” Franco demands, pulling me out of my musings as he stares down at Tillie.
For some reason, the thought of him killing her doesn’t sit well with me and I can see I’m not the only one as Tey finally sits up from the floor, looking tense. Logan doesn’t fool me as he stares out the front windows, but I can see his trigger finger twitching. This is bad, very bad and I’m really glad Dalton isn’t here. The man sees something he likes and just takes it without asking. He’d eat this girl up and spit her out without breaking a sweat. I could be wrong because the hard glint in this girl’s eyes says a different story. She pushes her shoulders back and flickers her gaze over to a quiet Diana without looking away. My gaze swings back and forth. I’m missing something here.
“I was sent here. I was told that I’d be able to find something to help me,” she says, clenching her fist tight in her lap.
“Who told you that?” Diana finally speaks, her voice has a small tremble and she leans heavily against Franco.
“I told you already, Doris did. She didn’t give me any details. Just shoved your address into my hand and told me to get away until I ended up here. How do you know her? Were you a sweetbutt too?” Tillie asks softly, her shoulders stiffening as Diana wavers on the couch.
“I-I don’t know how this is possible. It can’t be,” Diana whispers under her breath and stands, making her way towards a stiff Tillie who eyes her warily.
She doesn’t trust easily and is as fidgety as a rabbit as she leans away from Diana when she drops to her knees at her feet. I shoot Logan a look that asks what the hell is going on but he’s staring down Tillie with an unreadable expression crossing his face.
“I wasn’t a sweetbutt. I was an old lady.” Diana’s lip wobbles and she reaches her hand out to touch Tillie’s face but she dodges away and scoots along the couch before she stands up quickly and jumps over the cushions to put as much distance between a distraught Diana and herself.
“Who’s old lady?” Tillie asks, breathing heavily and her gaze looks faraway.
“Shit, Diana! I didn’t know you were part of Hell’s Angels! Dalton’s gonna freak the fuck out when he finds out,” Tey announces and stands up quietly, edging towards the front door to block Tillie’s path in case she makes a run for it.
Everyone seems to freeze at the expression on her face as if she senses danger in the room… Only people who know what to look for, experienced the same thing in life, know that everyone in here is a killer.
“Who’s Dalton?” Tillie asks frantically in a raspy voice, her eyes darting to Tey and flickering behind him for an escape exit.
She’s going to make a run for it, I just know it. She looks like a scared, trapped cat in the back of an alley but I’m feeling like this kitten has claws. I’m going to easily catch her before she knows what happened. It’s the thrill for me and I’m a junky.
“He’s the Hell’s Angels president’s son. You’ll meet him tomorrow when you start school, I won’t tolerate not having an education in this household. You’ll finish high school and catch up quickly even if it’s the middle of the semester. Right?” Franco doesn’t wait for her to respond, he won’t take no for an answer. “I’m going to just get to the point because I have other important business to attend to,” he mutters offhandedly, glancing down at his phone with his brow scrunched, distracted.
Whatever he has to say, I have a feeling it is going to turn this girl’s world upside down. I study her closely, having the need to know everything about her and itching to get to my computer to see what I can dig up. She’s a mystery to me, she looks afraid but has an air about her that she’s flipping everyone the finger with a big fat fuck you.
“What is the point, Franco?” Logan asks impatiently, looking like he wants to wrap his hands around his father’s neck to get answers.
“Tillie, Diana is your mother and for now you’ll be under my care until… we can get more answers.” Franco stares down at a very pale Tillie, her arms wrapping around herself as she shakes her head back and forth.
Her wide brown, expressive eyes stare in shock, and the grip on her arm is bruising enough that it makes my own fist clench onto nothing. I don’t like that she’s hurting herself, I’d rather cause the pain for her if she needs it that badly.
“You’re lying! My mom is Lorrie-” She cuts off at Diana’s cry of dismay.
I sneer down at the pathetic woman balling her eyes out on the living room floor instead of trying to comfort her daughter. Tey shuffles on his feet, repeatedly glancing at Tillie while sucking on his lip ring. He hates the high emotions in here just like me but he hardly knows this girl and looks like he wants to pull her into his arms.
Tillie sways on her feet, her fingers digging into her elbows as she frantically looks around for a way out. Logan makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat, glaring at his father who acts like drama isn’t unfolding right in front of him. I say fuck it and push off the mantel to leap over the couch before this beautiful girl can notice I’m right beside her. Gently grasping her elbow, she glances up at me with lost, chocolate eyes and a shake of her head in dismay. I think of the best way to push myself when I’m lost in my own head and that’s anger.
“So, this girl shows up out of the blue and suddenly she’s part of the family? I don’t know Franco… kind of convenient to me. What if she’s a spy? Didn’t we just have some shipment go missing? Timing seems off to me and I don’t trust her.” I stare down at her as I say this, seeing the tightening of her facial expression and her lip drawing in a stubborn pissed off line.
That’s more like it, baby, give me all your anger. I can absorb it like a sponge, practically thirsty for it.
“I’m leaving. This was a mistake coming here. I’ll disappear another way instead,” she mumbles under her breath.
An interesting turn of events, I glance at Tey and Logan to see if they caught that mishap of hers. They did. Seems we are all on the same page. She’s not going anywhere until we have some answers. She caught my attention.
“No. You’ll be staying here,” Franco commands, dismissing her as he bends forward to kiss Diana’s forehead before turning towards Logan as he heads out of the room. “She’s under your wing, don’t let her out of your sight.” He leaves after dropping that bomb with Logan chasing him out of the living room.
Ah, so he thinks the timing is off too. Looks like she’s not going anywhere and for some crazy reason that excites me. Time to trap the little bird and claim some answers past her sweet lips.
“I wouldn’t bother with any lies. We’ll find out everything and there will be consequences if you stab us in the back.” I threaten her, her jaw clenches as she yanks her elbow out of my grasp.
“Si-sit down, Til, and I’ll explain everything, please,” Diana begs, grimacing as she picks herself up off the floor and takes a seat on the couch, patting the spot next to her.
Tillie eyes her suspiciously but finally sits down with her back ramrod straight, completely uncomfortable. Nodding my head at Tey, he follows me so we can catch up with Logan and Franco. Crazy fucker is whistling under his breath and I can’t help but roll my eyes at the excitement he has radiating off him in waves. Looks like we both won’t be bored for a while.
Fuck. I wish I didn’t feel this way. I’m annoyed with having her here. She’s a distraction that I can’t seem to pull my gaze away from. Her eyes tell you exactly what she’s thinking.
Shaking my head, I step through the office door and lean against the bookcase that lines the room with a clear view of the whole space. Logan sits in the chair on the other side of his dad’s desk while Tey strolls over to the floor to ceiling windows and gazes outside. I notice a small bulge in Tey’s pocket and have to stifle a chuckle. My eyes must deceive me because that’s not his dick, I would know, I stare enough as it is. He’s carrying around that stuffed unicorn animal again. He’s bounced around from house to house in all of L.A. but the one thing that’s always been with him is that damn unicorn he found. I think it adds to his craziness and if anyone gives him shit about it, I’ll silence them.
“Right. I’m getting straight to the point boys. I want eyes and ears on that girl, if my hunch is right we might not need to worry about anything. Nicky, I’m going to give you some names and tell me everything you can find on them.” Franco leans back in his desk chair, steepling his hands together as he eyes us. “Have you heard of the Jokers in Nevada?”
I suck in a sharp breath because no way in hell does that delicate flower have any relations with that motorcycle gang. If I had a daughter, she wouldn’t even be in the same county as those lowlife backstabbers. In the underground crime world, you come to know who is who, and let’s just say the President of that club is fucked up in the head. I’ve heard stories, brothers against brothers, the way they treat women and children reminds me of my own father. It’s just not possible.
“What about them?” Logan asks, clenching the armrests on his chair even though his face is stoic.
“Tillie is owned by that club and until I know more, that she wasn’t sent here as a spy or to cause chaos in my business, you four will be keeping a close eye on her at all times. From the moment she wakes up in the morning to when she goes to sleep, I mean it. Go buy her some clothes for tomorrow and don’t fuck this up, boys.” Franco glances at Logan meaningfully and shakes his head in exasperation when we hear a loud cry coming from the front of the house.
Without another word, he strides out of his office and leaves us deep in thought.
“Dalton is going to shit his pants. Shall we head over to his place to fill him in on the game we’ll be playing with my pet?” Tey asks, rubbing his hands together before throwing an arm over my shoulder as we head out.
I usually live for the dull moments in my life, to find some inner peace in the chaos but I have a feeling that’s all going to end and it’s all because of the girl with brown eyes that penetrate my soul.
