Sufferance (The Chicago Defiance MC Series Book 4)

by KE Osborn

  I glance at Neala, her eyes meet mine, and for a brief moment, I’m stunned. She looks so fucking gorgeous, it knocks the wind from me. How she manages to continue to do this to me I’ll never know. Suddenly, someone steps up beside her making her break her gaze from mine. It’s Heath, Sass’s brother as he starts talking to Lala. I tense all over as they make small talk.

  “Right, let’s head off to the wake, boys,” Torque calls out as Sensei pulls Sass along with him.

  Lala beams a little too brightly at Heath as he turns walking away from her. Sparx eyes Neala as they step to the car to get in to head to the wake. I’m not fucking sure what that was about, but I’m not happy I like the direction it’s heading.

  We’re all here at the Andrettis pizzeria for the wake. Torque wanted to host it for Sass, but obviously, there’s going to be outsiders at the wake. Since we couldn’t hold it at the clubhouse, he thought we’d have it at the pizzeria. Safe turf and good food.

  Enzo Andretti is our ally, has been for a little while now, but it hasn’t always been that way. I have to admit, though, I like this new arrangement we have with him. Not being at war with the Italian Mafioso is a good change for us.

  As I sit in a booth along with Zane, Vibe, Lift, and Ace eating pizza and drinking beer, I can’t help but look around the room. There’s so many people here all celebrating the life of one man. It now has me wondering some deep and dark shit. I know if I died, my brothers would turn up to my funeral, they would send me out with a bang, but other than them, who else would come? Chloe? She probably wouldn’t be strong enough to attend.

  I think about my dad.

  What a prick of a man he is.

  He probably wouldn’t even care.

  I take a long gulp of my beer as I sit, not taking in anything around me. Today’s events have me feeling somber. I can’t seem to shake this mood. My cousin’s dying, I don’t have the girl, I can’t earn my patch. What the fuck am I doing wrong?

  Zane slaps my shoulder bringing me back into the moment as I look to him raising my brow. “Earth to Tremor. Are you even paying attention, brother?” He chuckles making my other brothers in the booth laugh.

  I shrug. “Sorry, what?”

  Zane’s cocky demeanor falls as he looks me up and down. “You fucking right?” I take another gulp as I slam my drink down, sliding out of the booth needing some air. “Tremor, where the fuck are you going?”

  I turn looking back to Zane and the others. “Bathroom.”

  He doesn’t look convinced as I turn, walking off toward the hall for the bathroom. I need to wash my face. Try to bring myself back to the land of normal again, shock myself out of this goddamn funk.

  The hall to the pizzeria bathrooms is thin and dark, I’m sure many a dodgy thing has been done in this hallway. As I round the corner, I see two figures down at the end. Rolling my eyes, I continue to walk ignoring the two bodies who are obviously one male and one female. The female against the wall, the male trying it on with her. I go to walk into the men’s room when I hear Lala’s voice talking to the guy. I take more notice and see it’s her talking to Sass’s brother, Heath, their body language definitely flirtatious.

  Anger swarms through me as I clench my fists in and out a few times wondering what my next move is.

  I hear her laugh—her delicate, beautiful laugh. It squeezes at my chest. I want her to be happy. So, I turn for the door moving to walk through to the men’s room, but then I hear him laugh, and it grates on my last nerves.

  I don’t know Heath, personally.

  I have no idea if he’s capable of hurting her.

  I don’t know if he’s good for her or not.

  All I know is I can’t stand this right now.

  I’m moving before I have a chance to change my mind. I storm over to them, sliding in beside Lala. Her eyes bug open as she stands up straight while Heath scrunches up his face.

  “Can I help you?” he asks.

  “Yeah, Sass is asking for you,” I lie.

  He looks at Lala as he sighs. “I better go. I’ll see you out there?”

  Lala smiles at him genuinely, and it more than fucks me off.

  “For sure,” she replies.

  He winks at her. She giggles as he turns stepping off, and she watches him walk away. I watch her watching him, and it only makes my anger ignite even hotter. Once he’s far enough out of sight, I spin slamming my hands either side of her head, trapping her against the wall. She jumps looking into my eyes, hers wide in shock. “Trem, what the fuck?”

  Gritting my teeth, I step in so close our bodies are flush. She stills, her breathing hitches as she keeps her eyes firmly on mine. “What the hell was that?” I spit.

  She rolls her eyes as she ducks, trying to move under my arm to get away from me, but I reach out grabbing her arm, spinning her back to face me as my other hand moves to her hip so I force her back against the wall. My body is pressing against hers again, but this time my cock begins to harden from just being near her. She feels it too as something changes in her eyes.

  Her hands shove at my chest to push me away as she stares at me. “What the fuck do you want from me, Trem?” she grunts out.

  My body tenses staying right where I am as electricity pulses through the air. Fuck, I hate it. The intensity makes it so goddamn hard to concentrate. All I want to do is take her into the bathroom and fuck her so damn hard she won’t know what hit her. “You don’t fucking know him.”

  Her glare hardens. “You don’t want me, but you don’t want anyone else to have me either, right?”

  But I do want her, I want her so fucking bad it kills me. “He looks like a goddamn player.”

  She rolls her eyes. “You’ve got your cock grinding against me, making me feel all kinds of things, and you’re telling me Heath’s the player?”

  I grunt. “You think I’m a player?”

  Her eyes droop as she frowns. “What would Chloe think of this, Trem?”

  Wincing, she still thinks Chloe’s my girlfriend. I’ve let this go way too far.

  Well, it stops right here.

  I push my cock forward into her. She closes her eyes letting out a small whimper as I feel like I need to take my opportunity. The energy pulsating around us is making me feel more alive right now than I’ve felt for months. I need to do this now, or I’ll never have the courage to. I waste no time leaning forward, planting my lips on hers. She hesitates for a moment, but when I press harder, her mouth opens, and when she kisses me back, it’s like the fucking heaven I’ve been waiting for. My hand on her hip tightens as the one on her arm moves up onto the side of her head, smoothing through her hair. I grip onto the tendrils, yanking her to me as her hands snake up around my body pulling me to her more. The kiss is frenzied, it’s hot. It’s all teeth and tongues as I press her against the wall in a mad flurry of passion. I’ve kissed Neala before, but this feels like the first time. Like this is truly the first time we’re experiencing our true passion for each other.

  Kissing her is everything I’ve ever wanted. It’s hot, it’s energetic, it’s fucking life.

  Her leg slides up the side of my thigh wrapping around my ass as she grinds her pussy against me making me moan into her mouth. I push back against her turning this kiss into something a little hotter. If I don’t cool this down, we’re going to end up fucking in the hallway of Enzo’s pizzeria.

  With so many bikers here, the risk of her brothers seeing is too great. So, I slow the kiss pulling back, a cheesy grin on my face. I’ve needed to do that for the longest time. I let her go just enough to put a small gap between us without actually letting her go. Her leg drops from around my waist as she looks at me, her eyes hooded, but she frowns instantly making my happiness disappear.

  She grunts as she brings her hand up, her open palm quickly slapping across my cheek without hesitation. My head snaps to the side, and I stumble slightly letting her go completely as she breaks away from the wall glaring at me harshly. “Don’t you ever, and I mean ever, k
iss me while you’re with someone else, Tremor. I thought you were a better man than that.”

  She spins, storming off down the hall, while I stand here holding my throbbing cheek. A slow smile creeps up on my face as a warmth invades my body.

  Fuck.

  Now I’ve had a true taste of what it’s like to be with Neala, I’m not sure I can hold out. I need to have a talk with her. But not tonight. Tonight’s about Smokin’ Joe. I can talk to her another time. I can get by on this fix for now.

  Can I have my patch and her too? I don’t know.

  All I know is after our moment, I really want to fucking try.

  Because Neala O’Shea is worth fighting for.

  My patch isn’t worth losing her. My patch isn’t worth having a life without her in it.

  My patch, despite what I’ve been thinking – isn’t every-fucking-thing.

  Neala is!

  NEALA

  After my kiss with Tremor last night, I don’t know why I felt the need to come back to sleep at the club. I guess the day was a celebration of Smokin’ Joe’s life. Even though the wake was the party, they did continue on at the clubhouse after. It’s the excuse I’m telling myself anyway. I think the real reason is, even though I’m angry at Tremor for kissing me, I still wanted to be close to him afterward. Though, he stayed away from me for the rest of the night.

  Now it’s the next day, the club’s quiet. We’re still somber, but I guess they have to get back to business as usual. Foxy and Sass have gone into work. I’m surprised Sass went in, but she said she has to look over all the stuff at the garage now she’s in charge.

  She’s a trooper.

  Sparx is working in her room while looking after the babies, and I’m going to be heading home after some much-needed breakfast. Exiting from my room, the hall is empty. I guess everyone’s still either sleeping or already in the clubroom for breakfast. I casually stroll the long hall to get to the clubroom as I play on my cell, when a door opens to my right. I glance to see Renegade step out in front of me. He looks like shit to be honest. His hair’s a mess as he staggers, and I’m pretty sure he’s wasted.

  “Neala!” he calls out while glaring at me. I tense up, stop, then place my cell in my pocket so I don’t seem rude to him.

  “Hi, Renegade, I’m just getting some breakfast. Looks like you could do with some, too.”

  He sneers at me turning up his top lip. The smell of last night’s alcohol is thick in the air as it wafts from him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Recoiling back, my muscles tense. “No… nothing. I mean, you want to join me for breakfast?” I placate him even though I don’t want to.

  His eyes narrow as he looks me up and down, a sinister smirk crossing his face. My skin prickles as a shudder runs down my spine. “I wanna eat you for breakfast.”

  I gasp as he takes a step closer, I inadvertently take one back. I let out a panicked laugh as I move to step past him, but he blocks my way through. “Neala—”

  “Renegade, you’re drunk. Think about what you’re doing.”

  He grunts reaching out, grabbing my bicep, his fingers lace around my skin so tight I can feel callouses on his fingertips. I yelp out in pain as he drags me to him. Tensing right up, I feel his erection pressing against my thigh. I look down the hall hoping someone will walk in and notice what’s happening. I could scream out, but I don’t want to antagonize him too much—who knows what he’d do if I did.

  “I know exactly what I’m doing. Your father owes me one. So I’m calling in the debt.” He pushes his erection into my thigh making tears prick my eyes.

  “Get your fucking hands off me!” I try to push him away, but an evil look plasters over his face.

  Fear sweeps my entire body, and I know something sinister is crossing his tainted mind. “Oh, Neala, it’s not my hands you have to worry about.” His free hand comes up, wrapping around my face, covering my mouth so tightly my eyes bug out of my head as he yanks me toward his room. I don’t have time to think before his door is flung open, and he drags me inside. I try to scream, but his hand covering my mouth is blocking any type of noise from exiting. I hoist myself against his body, lunging my legs into the air trying to kick at anything I can, but all I manage to kick is a lamp to the floor. It smashes, and all I can do is hope someone’s hearing the commotion inside his room as he drags me toward his bed.

  Fear sweeps over every inch of me as he throws me with full force. I scream as my body is hurtled toward his side table, my head smacks right on the corner with such force everything blacks out for a brief moment as I flop onto the floor.

  I wake up to feel my body being dragged, and suddenly I’m flipped on my back by my legs as I blink rapidly to see Renegade standing over the top of me starting to undo his belt. My head is foggy and aching like a motherfucker. I even feel a warm trail running down my temple, but I push it all to the side as I remember Sensei’s training.

  “If there is one way to disable a man, it’s to knee him in the balls.” Thank you, Sensei.

  Gathering all my strength, I pull my right leg up, my foot jamming straight in between Renegade’s legs. He screams out in agony as he drops to one knee. I figure I have to go, now, this is my only chance. So, I find the strength somehow. I roll over scampering to my hands and knees, crawling to the door. But suddenly my hair is yanked back.

  “Oh, no you don’t, you little whore.”

  He pulls me up by my hair, the pain searing through my scalp as I scream out in absolute scorching agony. I can feel my hair ripping at my scalp as I’m pulled to my feet. He looks into my eyes while his free hand draws back punching me in the stomach, sending me flying into the nearby chest of drawers. I slump onto it sending the objects on top flying into the wall causing them to smash. I’m purposely making as much noise as possible, hoping like hell, someone will hear and come to check as Renegade moves in for another attack. I drop to the ground, cowering. My hands over my head to protect me when his door swings open with a loud crash.

  “What the fuck’s going on in here?” a familiar voice calls out, but the pain in my body is overwhelming me.

  Someone’s here, they will protect me.

  I can relax now.

  “Neala? Renegade, what the fuck did you do?”

  His voice calms me as I relax letting the darkness engulf me completely.

  TREMOR

  When I heard the sounds coming from Renegade’s room, the sounds of shit smashing, the faint sounds of a woman’s cries, I never for one moment thought it would be my Neala’s broken body I would be faced with.

  Taking a look over her laying on the floor, there’s a gaping wound on her head, blood pissing out of it, bruising all over her forehead, but the worst thing is the terror etched in her face even though she’s unconscious. I can only imagine what the fuck Renegade was planning on doing to her. Anger boils through me so raging hot I can’t control it. Renegade looks at me as I take in the situation before me, and he lets out a small laugh.

  The fucker actually laughs.

  “We were just fooling around. She likes it rough.”

  I can taste the blood thirst in my mouth, the undeniable anger, the hatred, the animosity seeping into the room. The man is evil, he holds no respect for women, no respect for the club. He knows who Neala is, she’s the president’s damn sister. If he respected the club, if he respected Torque, there’s no way he would do this. Hell, if he respected women, there’s no way a man could think of doing something like this to a woman so wonderful, so loving, so fucking caring as this woman passed out on the floor before us.

  Renegade has to pay for this.

  And I want a front row ticket to watch him suffer for his sins. To watch him be the one cowering like a fucking baby. This asshole will pay, but I’m going to be the one to land the first blow.

  Racing forward, I waste no time as my fist aims straight for the fucker’s nose. A loud crack resounds through the room as he moans out in pain, blood spurting, as he reaches up grabb
ing at the obviously broken bone. I lunge again, my fist hitting his jaw this time. My knuckles ache as he slumps to the side, falling to one knee. I hit him again, not holding back, this time in the eye socket. He groans out in pain as he flops to the floor, not fighting back.

  Anger’s engulfing me, an almighty rage consuming every part of me.

  He hurt Neala.

  My Lala.

  How could he do that?

  I punch again.

  Again.

  Again.

  His face is now bleeding from everywhere, but it doesn’t stop me, that is until I hear the rushing of feet pounding into the room. Suddenly, my arms are being pulled back, and I’m yanked off Renegade. I fight against whoever it is while they pull me aside as I flop on the floor next to Neala. The sight of her out cold snaps me out of my rage. I shudder taking in her beaten form. My body lunges pulling her into my lap as I caress her bleeding head. “Lala, God, please be okay,” I murmur as I glance up to see Ace and Chains looking over Renegade.

  “I’m gonna call Bex.” Chains stands up pulling out his cell as I rock on the floor holding Lala while Ace steps over to me.

  “What the fuck happened?” Ace asks.

  I wipe the bloodstained hair from Lala’s face. “Renegade attacked Neala. I came in just as he was trying to—” I stop as Ace winces looking back to Renegade with a sneer.

  “I have to go get the pres.”

  “Tell him fucking everything. I take full responsibility for my actions.”

  Ace exhales. “Okay, brother.” He stands, walking out to find Torque.

  I know there might be two outcomes of this for me.

  One, I’ll be the hero. The man who saved Neala taking out the bad guy.

  Or two, the man who saved Neala, but also the man who beat a fellow brother almost to death. The man who disrespected one of our oldest patched members. For that I could be severely punished.