Acceptance (The Chicago Defiance MC Series Book 5)

by K E Osborn

  His Adam’s apple bobs up and down in his throat as his eyes bore into mine. His jaw wracks from side to side as he sits up taller like he’s trying not to let my words affect him. “Seems like there’s a party going on out there?” he asks completely changing the subject.

  I tap his leg then stand up. “It’s a night for celebration.”

  He cocks his brow. “Oh yeah, what’s going on?”

  Chains grunts shaking his head as I shrug. “It’s club business. Only those in the club are privy to that kind of information. The thing is though, Luc, the club is open to you proving yourself. To you telling us what you can about the Sovereigns and leaving them to join us.”

  He exhales. “What’s in it for me?”

  I glance at Chains. “A chance to be in a club who’s loyal, who would never do anything horrible or disgusting to little boys. A chance to be a part of something great. A brotherhood. A family, who will support and honor every damn thing you do. Who will have your back, no matter what. Who will fight for you. Will care for you and yours. Will ride or die for you. Because that’s what this club is about…” I pause for a moment turning to look at Chains, who gazes at me in such awe like he had no idea I thought that about the club he loves. Like I’ve just made his fucking night a hundred times better by telling him how I feel about his other family. I guess we’ve never really spoken about it. It’s just been he’s a part of it, so I became a part of it, and that was that. But I never told him, even though I know not everything is aboveboard, I believe in this club. I love their devotion to each other. I know I would give my life to save any one of the brothers, old ladies, or club girls. Because as much as I’m not technically a member of the club, I feel like I’m part of it.

  Continuing to look at Chains, I finish my monologue, “Plus, through all of it will be one man in particular by your side, at your back, being your best friend, your brother, your rock, through thick and thin just like it should have always been. That man is Ty. He risked every-damn-thing in his life to make sure he could come get you. To pull you from a life he knew you needed better from. He wanted you out. He needed you out because you let him go without you. This time he wasn’t going to let it go. You needed saving.” Luc shifts uncomfortably in the chair letting my words sink in. “It’s been so many years, who knows how long this will take. How far gone you are, Luc. But this man, Ty, he’s one of the bravest, most loyal men I know. If he wants to be here for you, if he wants to fight for you, then hold on, strap in, get yourself ready, because Ty will fight with everything he has to get you back.” I take a long inhale then let it out slowly. “He lost you once, he’s not going to let you go a second time quite so easily. What’s in it for you, you ask? A whole new world… just open your eyes and reach for it, Luc.”

  Luc sniffs as he looks from me to Chains, then back at me. “Doc?”

  I glance to him. “Yeah?”

  “Why are you being so nice to me? Is this some sorta good-cop-bad-cop thing?”

  Chains laughs while shaking his head. “Nah, man, the doc doesn’t have a mean bone in her body,” Chains calls out.

  “Well, I guess if I’m going to be here for a while, I could get used to you being around, doc. I think I like you. You’re all right.”

  I pat his shoulder. “Thank you, Luc. You still have a long way to go before we can trust you, of course, but at least you’re not being a smartass.”

  He lets out a booming laugh. “Oh, there’s plenty of time for that. Gotta keep you on your toes, doc.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” I murmur as I roll my eyes. “You hungry?”

  His eyes light up. “Starving. Haven’t eaten since I got in here.”

  My head snaps around glaring at Chains. “What the hell, Ty?”

  Chains shrugs. “How’s he going to eat with his hands tied up?”

  I scoff. “You spoon it into his mouth, you fucking idiot. If you want him to trust you, you have to give a little here, too!”

  Luc raises his brow at Chains like he agrees with me.

  Chains groans. “Fine! Any requests, Luc?”

  “I’ll fucking take anything right now.”

  I wince as Chains walks to me grabbing my hand with a yank. “What are you doing?”

  “We’re going to get him some food.”

  I scoff out a laugh. “You get him food. I’m staying to assess.”

  “Like fucking shit you’re staying here without me.”

  I turn to face him dead on, looking straight into his eyes. “He’s tied and handcuffed to a chair, hands and feet, the only thing he can hurt me with is his words. Trust me, I can hurt him right back just as hard. I have to assess him if you want to keep him here, Ty.”

  He turns up his nose as he shakes his head. “I’ll stay then, get his food after.”

  I slump. “Chains, he isn’t going to open up with you here.”

  His jaw ticks like he’s having trouble deciding what to do. I understand why he doesn’t want to leave me alone in here with Luc. He thinks he’s dangerous. He’s watching out for me, and honestly it’s so fucking hot, but right now I can’t think about that, I need to think about Luc and his needs.

  “Chains, get out,” I assert.

  His eyes widen as he glares at me. “What?”

  “I’m sorry, but you won’t leave unless I tell you, you need to. So, get the fuck out before I call the Pres in here to pull rank.”

  His eyes harden, he shakes his head at me with a gigantic huff. “I’m getting some toast and a coffee, then I’ll be right back. Don’t try anything stupid, Luc. You hear me?” Chains glares at Luc.

  Luc seems uninterested, but nods his head. “Yeah, cool… toast, coffee, I’m down.”

  “The other stuff?”

  “Sheesh, you’re so uptight. Sure, I won’t magically break free from my restraints to harm your precious doctor. I wouldn’t anyway just so you know, she’s far too pretty.”

  Chains groans, turns, and storms to the door then slams it shut behind him. I turn back to Luc folding my arms over my chest. “You shouldn’t tease him.”

  “Who’s teasing, you are pretty.”

  I exhale, jutting my hip out to the side. “We don’t have long, so we better make the best of our time.”

  His eyes widen. “Yes. So, blow job then?”

  My face scrunches as I tut at him. “Luc, c’mon, I thought we were getting somewhere?”

  He groans rolling his neck to the side. “I don’t know what you want from me, doc?”

  I exhale. “I want you to open up to me. Tell me why you’re still in the Sovereigns? Why didn’t you leave with Ty?”

  He looks at me raising his brow. “If I didn’t give him a reason, why would I tell his wife?”

  I jolt my head back in shock. “Excuse me?”

  He snorts. “It’s obvious you two have been together for years. If you’re not married, then you’re at least engaged. The way you look at each other, the way your bodies align with each other, you give yourselves away every time you argue like an old married couple.”

  “We’re not married,” I bite back.

  “But you are a couple?”

  I scoff. “No. Ty and I have known each other a hell of a long time. We just know each other inside and out, that’s all.”

  “Oh, so you’re his bit on the side.”

  I grunt. “Luc, I don’t know what game you’re trying to play at here, but I’m the one trying to help you out. If I think you’re capable of joining our ranks, then you walk free in the clubhouse, free to mingle with the brothers, free to mend your broken relationship with Ty and start building on the bond you had when you were sixteen years old. Don’t you want that, Luc? Don’t you want to fight just a little bit for a better life than the one you’re living?”

  He scoffs. “You know nothing of the life I’m living.”

  “Running errands for the Sovereigns. Doing their dirty work. Have they got you torturing the children yet? Have they got you fathering children yet? Or is that to come?
How will you cope when it’s you who has to do to those boys what Edgar did to you? What your father did to you?”

  He turns his head away from me. I can finally see him starting to crack. Like the idea of him having to be the man to bring on the torture he went through is so abhorrent to him he hadn’t even thought about it until now.

  “Luc, if you stay here, if you join the club, we will protect you. The men here, once you’re a part of them, you’re a brother, you’re family. They don’t make you do the shit Edgar will make you do. That’s so not even close to who we are.”

  His eyes meet mine again, they’re softer, like he’s actually thinking this through. “How is there any way on earth I walk out of this alive, doc?”

  “By making an effort, Luc. Chains only wants you back. He put everything on the line to pull you out of that place. He wants that little boy back, show him you’re still in there, you’re not completely overtaken by the monsters and your demons which have been holding you captive these past nineteen years.”

  He sniffs. “I don’t know if Luc’s still in me, doc.”

  “Lucian… I know you’re scared to do this, but trust me, Luc’s in there. Because he’s the one I’ve been talking to this entire time. If Luc wasn’t in there, your sarcasm would have hit me at least twenty times by now.”

  He tilts his head licking his lips but stays quiet like he’s mulling it over.

  “I don’t expect you to keep this up because I know in here we’ve had a breakthrough. I don’t want you to feel despondent when it all comes crashing down.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I step up to him, looking in his eyes kindly. “The minute Ty walks back through the door, your guard will go back up, your defenses will heighten, you’ll go back to being a smartass. It’s only natural, but I don’t want you to think it means you’re not capable of being saved. It just means when it comes to Ty, he’s the one you need to work with the most to bring your guard down.”

  “How could you possibly know this shit?”

  “It’s called training. I’ve been around broken men long enough to know how they react.”

  He goes to say something, but the door swings open. Chains steps in carrying a plate of toast and a coffee with a straw in it. I like he thought about a straw. He looks me over assessing me then closes the door. “Glad to see everything’s okay in here,” Chains grunts.

  “I did ask her to suck my cock, but alas, I was too much man for her to handle,” Luc spits out almost on cue.

  I glance at him with a disappointed frown. He winces slightly as Chains turns storming over to him, his nostrils flaring. “You wanna watch your tongue, Luc. I might want you around, but I never said I needed you to be able to talk. Now eat your food,” Chains spits while grabbing a slice of toast then shoving it in Luc’s mouth.

  Chains looks at me, running his eyes up and down my body assessing one more time as he steps beside me. “You good?”

  “I’m fine, thanks for your concern, but it really isn’t warranted.”

  “Married couple,” Luc murmurs through his food, but it’s barely legible.

  “What did he say?” Chains asks.

  I shake my head with a shrug as Luc continues to chew on his toast. “Fuck knows. Let him eat, then we can leave him to settle in for the night.”

  “Then what?” Chains asks, a hint of an unspoken question in his tone.

  “Then, we talk.”

  Luc chortles to himself while I glance at him sideways as if to tell him to shut the hell up. He does as I grab the coffee from Chains to let Luc have a drink. Now, we feed Luc, then I discuss my findings with Torque and Chains. After that, I need to collect my thoughts because that kiss with Chains, that was everything.

  Not only that, we confessed our feelings.

  This is all new territory for us.

  This is the start of something.

  This is the beginning of the rest of our lives.

  And it scares the hell out of me.

  CHAINS

  While Bex was discussing shit with Torque, I couldn’t really concentrate. I should have been listening. I should have been paying attention. I mean it was Luc she was discussing, and his progress is important to me. But all I could focus on was the curve of her lips, the way the peak of her bow is fucking perfect, the way I want my lips locked with hers again, the way her hips felt fucking electric pressed against mine.

  How can something that’s so inconceivable be this intoxicating? She lights my darkened world, illuminating it so bright it’s hard to see anything but her. I’m lost in thoughts so wicked, I can feel my cock throbbing in my jeans. I have to try to reign myself in before I get a full-on boner in the middle of the damn clubroom.

  “Chains… Chains? Do you agree?” Bex asks, her beautiful face assessing me with a concerned stare.

  “Ahh… yeah, sure,” I reply having no idea what I’ve agreed to.

  Torque wraps his hand around his closed fist. “It’s settled then, we’ll give Bex some more alone time with Luc.”

  I open my eyes wide as I almost choke on thin air. “Wait! What?” I blurt out.

  They both look at me like I’m confusing them. “No. I don’t agree to—”

  “But you just did?” Bex rebuts.

  “No. I thought you said something else.”

  She smirks. “Yeah? Like what?”

  Torque’s cheery demeanor pisses me off. “Ahh…” I scratch the back of my head. “Shit, Bex, c’mon. Why the fuck do you want to be alone with him?”

  Her brow scrunches. “Were you listening to any part of this conversation we were just having?”

  I grimace with a shrug.

  Torque chuckles shaking his head. “Sorry, brother, if you want Luc to come through this, I think it’s best to let Kline keep working with him. She made a breakthrough today. You’d know that if you were listening instead of ogling.”

  Bex jolts her head back in shock as Torque laughs slapping my shoulder. “This isn’t up for debate, Chains. It’s Kline’s way, or… option two. No ifs or buts,” he states walking off leaving me with Bex.

  She glances at me with kind eyes. “You were ogling me?”

  “Couldn’t help it, after… I’m kinda in a zone.”

  Bex grabs my hand leading me into the hall away from the sparse number of brothers who are still up at this late hour. The hall is dim, but in the dim light, she’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

  She stands in front of me. “We kissed.”

  I let out a hesitant laugh. “I’m aware.”

  “We also admitted we have feelings for each other.”

  I grab her hands pulling her to me, my arms snake around her waist as hers move up around my neck. She’s careful of my wound as she slides her fingers into my hair. “I don’t want this to sound forward, Bex. I’ll probably say it all wrong…” I trail off.

  “Just tell me what you’re thinking, Ty.”

  I let out a long exhale. “I spent time with you sleeping in the bedroom next to mine. I constantly thought about what it would be like having you in my bed. Those thoughts plagued me for years. Wondering why I thought about having you in my bed with me?”

  She draws her bottom lip in by her teeth as her breathing quickens.

  “I don’t say this because I want anything to happen, I don’t think we should rush this. I don’t want to fuck anything up with us. But today has been big, and… I don’t want to sleep alone. I’ve done it for so long. I just want to know what it would be like… sleeping next to you.”

  Her body is tense. I can see her mind mulling it over as she debates the ramifications. “You want to… just sleep?”

  I pull her tighter. “Nothing else. I promise, Bex.”

  Her eyes leave mine as she stares at my rising and falling chest. “Do you really think this is a good idea? I mean we only just admitted this to ourselves—”

  “You’re right, it’s stupid.” I let her go, moving to walk off feeling like a damn fo
ol for suggesting it. I opened myself up, and already I’m screwing this up.

  The tapping of her fast feet behind me lets me know she’s chasing me. Her hand grabs mine halting me from walking. “Ty, stop. Talk to me.”

  Taking in a deep breath, I turn to look at her, her concerned eyes assess me. “Bex… I’ve never slept with anyone in my bed. I thought… I’d like the first person to be you. Tonight. After everything that’s going on, after Luc being here, bringing up old memories… I just thought maybe having you in my bed might… fuck! I don’t know.”

  It looks like something clicks inside of her, and she softens. She steps forward wrapping her arms around me looking into my eyes. “You think having me in your bed might help with the dreams?”

  My breath catches. “Yeah… maybe. I don’t fucking know. Honestly, I don’t think anything will stop that shit from happening, but having you there when I wake from it… might be nice.”

  She leans on her toes planting a soft kiss on my lips. I don’t have time to kiss her back before she pulls away with a sigh. “I’ll sleep next to you, but that’s all. I mean it, Ty.”

  I let out a small laugh. “I know. It’s all I want from you tonight, Bex. I’m never going to use you like that. You mean far too much to me.”

  She gnaws on her bottom lip as her fingers thread with mine. “Well, then, let’s go to bed.”

  I take a quick glance around to see no one’s watching, then I walk with her to my room. Nerves filter through me, not because I’m taking a woman to my room, I’ve done it a hundred times before, but it’s never been like this. It’s never been someone I care about this deeply. Bex is everything to me. She’s the reason I’m still alive today. She’s the reason I breathe. I honestly don’t know what I’m expecting to come from this. I guess, in some small way, I hope with her lying next to me will make it easier for me to sleep through the night. Having someone beside me I love, who I trust, will calm the demons in my mind.