Asher: Heartless Devils MC (27 page)

“No. The apartment. I can make it that far.”

As soon as he reached his apartment he collapsed into his recliner and laid his head against the back, his eyes closed. Jenny looked to Asher again.

“I’m okay,” John said, his eyes still closed. “It just took a lot out of me.”

“But it went okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. Everyone is onboard. By Monday morning, this will all be over, one way or the other,” John said softly.

“You got him?” Asher asked quietly when John stopped speaking again.

“Yeah. Why?”

“There is a lot of shit of stuff to get done in the next two days.”

Jenny patted him on the back. “Go. I’ll watch him.”

Asher nodded then kissed her softly. “Love you.”

Jenny smiled. “Love you, too.”

Chapter 22

“You want a beer?” Jenny asked when John opened his eyes. He had slept for over an hour and looked much improved.

“Yeah, but I’ll get it,” he said as he moved to stand up.

“No! Keep your seat. I’ll get it,” she said as she hopped up and hurried to the bar, returning a moment later with two beers.

John looked at the other bottle in her hand as he took his. “That for you?”

“Yes. I’m old enough,” she said with a grin, her voice lilting up at the end in teasing.

He gave her a crooked smile. “I know you are, but when did you start drinking beer?”

She blushed. “A few months ago.”

“Asher?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve changed.”

“I know.”

He sat quietly, watching her as she took a sip from her bottle. “You want to tell me what happened out there?”

“Nothing.”

“It sure as hell looked like something to me.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dad. I have it handled.”

“I could see that, too. But what happens in this clubhouse is my responsibility.”

“It’s nothing, really.”

John nodded and took a pull from his own bottle. “I saw Rachel’s face. Hearts do that?”

“You know?”

“Of course I know.”

“And you did nothing?”

“Not my place. Nobody said anything and it’s not my style to push my authority into personal problems unless someone asks.”

“Dad, Hearts broke someone’s jaw with a beer mug!”

“I know that, too. I signed off on the insurance to have Kelli’s jaw fixed. But she didn’t come to me with a complaint.”

“So you’re just going to let Hearts terrorize the women?”

“Until someone stands up to her, or comes to me with a compliant, yes. Is that what this is about?”

She thought it over. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

John nodded. “Okay. But it’s about time someone kicked her ass.”

Jenny’s head popped up and she looked at her dad. “Are you serious?”

“Of course I’m serious. She’s been a problem for years and it’s about time someone took her down a peg or two.” He smiled at her, a smile she remembered so well. “I just never thought it would be you.”

“I’m sorry, Dad,” she mumbled.

“It’s okay. But…I just didn’t know you had it in you.” His eyes became shiny. “I wonder if your mother would be alive today if she were a little more like you.”

Jenny gulped as she tried to swallow her sudden grief. She had accepted her mother’s loss, but it still hurt when she thought about it. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

“Nothing to say. Just know that I love you, Jenny. I always have. I always will. Nothing will ever change that.”

“Asher?”

John sighed. “Yes. Asher.” He paused as he gathered his thoughts. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my time and I’ve done some things I’m not proud of. But there are three things I love and respect above all else. You and your mother, and this club. I’ve always done my best to juggle those things, but I haven’t always been successful.”

“What are you saying?”

“When your mother died, I clung tight to the two things I had left, you and the club. I wanted to protect them. Losing Melissa is the hardest thing I have ever had to endure. I couldn’t lose anything else. But sometimes the tighter you grip something, the harder it is to hold.” John took another pull from his bottle and she waited for him to continue. “You are like that. I was trying to hold onto you, but I was pushing you away.”

“Asher?” Jenny asked again.

“Asher’s a good man.”

“And you’re okay with…us?”

John smiled. “To be honest, I don’t think there is a man out there good enough for my little girl.” He chuckled. “But I guess Asher comes as close as anyone. Closer than most. Do you love him?”

“Yes, Dad. I think I do.”

“Does he love you?”

“I think so.”

He nodded. “That’s good. Love can carry you through things that should by all rights tear you apart. Look at Melissa and me. We had no right to be together after all these years, but we were. I miss her still. I guess I always will.” He took another hard pull from his bottle. “Asher’s a good man. He’ll keep you safe. He’s a natural leader. He’s done good. He’s put this deal together on his own, and it’s a good plan. It’ll work and will move the club, all our clubs, closer together. He’s going to finish what I started.”

“What’s that?”

“We’ve had peace for more than five years. But it’s been an uneasy peace. Now we are working together, working toward a common goal. It’s been good for us, and it will be good for the Bucs and the Trifectas, too. We can watch each other’s backs. Asher has done this. He will make a good president.”

Jenny could feel tears threatening. To have her dad accept Asher removed so much pressure from her. She had feared she would have to choose between the two men most important in her life, but now it didn’t appear she would have to.

“Thank you, Daddy. That means a lot to me.” She rose and moved to her father, bending to take him into a long hug as he sat in the chair.

“I’m sorry, Jenny. Can you forgive me for acting like an ass?”

She couldn’t hold her tears any longer and blubbered once into his shoulder. “Yes. Can you forgive me for acting like a brat?”

John pushed his daughter up so he could look into her face. “You were never a brat. You stood up for what you believed in,” he said as he wiped at her tears with a thumb. “Never stop doing that. Ever.”

She bent over and took him into another hug, her tears dripping onto his leathers as his arms crossed over her back and held her close.

Asher looked up from his doodling as Jenny and John approached. John looked more like himself, the paleness and stooped, shuffling, walk missing. “What have you got?” John asked as he sat down at the table with Asher.

“We’re set,” Asher said, tapping the notepad with his scribbles on it with a pen. “We’re going to hit the Demonios and Hamasaki at the same time. Me, Kenny, Chains and either Will or Thomas will take Hamasaki. You and either Will or Thomas, whichever isn’t going with us, will take the Demonios. You’ll lead one group, and Will or Thomas will lead the other.”

“When’s the go time?”

“Sunday night.”

“Are the other clubs putting out the word?”

“They are. It should drive Hamasaki to ground and put the Demonios on lockdown.”

“What word?” Jenny asked.

“That the HDs, Trifectas, and the Bucs are going to start working together,” Asher explained.

“You’re going to tell them you’re coming for them?”

“No specifics. Only that we are going to start cooperating. They should get the idea that things are going to start getting a lot tougher for them, though,” Asher said.

“That should spook them enough that they pull back, hole up, and try to figure out what our next move will be. That’s what we would do if we were the Demonios,” John added.

“This was your plan?” Jenny asked Asher.

“Mine, Thomas, and Will’s,” he corrected.

“We need to make a change,” John said.

“What?” Asher asked.

“We need both Thomas and Will to lead the attack on the Demonios.”

“Okay…” Asher began slowly. “So you’re coming with us when we move on Hamasaki?”

“No. I’m sitting this one out.” John thumped his chest with a finger. “Too much risk of me causing problems. This is going to be tough enough as it is. We don’t need the additional complication.”

Asher squinted at him. “Are you sure about this?”

John looked at the other man like a doting father. “You know it’s the right thing to do.”

Asher visibly relaxed. “Thanks. I was putting a man on you, just in case.”

John nodded knowingly. “I figured as much. It’s time I start trusting my people.”

“That makes for a complication, though. I would feel better if Thomas or Will came along. I only got the one brief look at the younger Hamasaki. I want to be sure I have the right guy.”

“Why can’t Kenny lead one of the other attacks?” Jenny wondered.

Asher rubbed his chin. “Maybe. But I don’t know about Thomas or Will trusting him to lead their men. They weren’t that keen on your dad leading one. They only agreed because I needed one of them with me. I can understand that. I wouldn’t want Thomas or Will leading the HDs into a warzone.”

“The HDs will be there!” Jenny pointed out.

“Yeah, mixed in,” Asher countered. “You can say you trust someone, but when the shit starts flying, there can’t be any questions.”

“What about—” Jenny began.

“This is some up close wet work.” Asher interrupted. “A lot of our guys have never been involved that. We are asking a lot from them already. It’s a hell of a lot easier to kill someone who is trying to kill you. If this goes like it’s supposed to, Hamasaki won’t even know what hit them until it’s too late. Then it becomes a lot more personal.”

“So you just want someone to ID Hamasaki junior?” she asked.

“Yeah, basically.”

Jenny thought a moment. “I could do it.”

“No!” both men said at the same time.

“I can take care of myself!” she protested. “I was there the last time you had to do something like this, remember?”

“Yeah, and look how close we came to getting our ass shot off,” Asher reminded her. “We didn’t have any options then. We do now.”

John bit his tongue. As much as he wanted to forbid her accompanying the hit team, he would let Asher handle it. He didn’t want to risk pushing her away again. “You need to think about this, Jenny. It could all go terribly wrong and you could end up in prison at best, or dead at worst.”

“I know. But it solves the problem, doesn’t it? You, Kenny and Chains do what you have to, and I point out the guy. Everything goes as you planned.”

Asher grimaced and looked at John. “You talk to her. She’s your daughter.”

John smiled and held up his hands and shook his head. “You talk to her. She’s your old lady.”

Asher rapped a finger on the pad in frustration and annoyance. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Yes, I’m sure we will,” Jenny said as she rose from the table. She would let Asher and her dad work on the plans. She had something else she needed to take care of.

“What the fuck do you want?” Hearts muttered as she moved about the kitchen.

“I want you out,” Jenny replied.

“Out? What do you mean out?”

“I mean I want you out of the clubhouse. Out of the HDs.”

“You don’t have the authority to make that call, little girl.”