Balance (The Chicago Defiance MC Book 6)

by K E Osborn

  “Not his future son-in-law?” I tease.

  Torque tries to hide his grin while we stroll to the clubhouse, and I finally take in the sight of everyone. Aero, the Knight’s VP, hangs out with Lift and Vibe by the gym. Grim and Motley are standing next to Scratch who’s getting tended to by Chills. Seems he must have gotten some nicks in the fray. Looks like Armor is next in line for some medical attention as well. But they can’t be too badly hit, they’re both drinking. Torque and I walk inside the clubroom to see more of them scattered around. I don’t miss the scrape marks all down Torque’s arms from when he fell from the explosion.

  Lecter sits at the bar talking to Hayley. He creeps me out. Scrooge, X, and Faaq are over by the pool table, while Billy, Cohen, and Red are chatting to Luc and Pyro.

  Foxy spots us letting out a loud squeal making everyone grimace. She runs up practically jumping on Torque wrapping herself around him, and he winces in obvious pain. “Oh God, why did you take longer than everyone else to get back here, you asshole?” She plants a kiss on his lips as he chuckles walking with her attached to him into the chapel, closing the door behind them. I chuckle as I stride over to a seat, then sit. I need to just take a moment, it was a huge night and now we have to entertain.

  Fuck.

  All I want to do is talk to Neve.

  I don’t want her to think I’ve abandoned her.

  Coma and Dux stride up to me slumping down with a beer in each of their hands appearing as tired as I feel. Dux is the Knight’s version of me, their tech guy. Coma is their medic. They’re both great guys. Probably the two I get along with the most.

  “Ace, long time no see,” Dux murmurs at the same time taking a mouthful of beer.

  I could only just make out what he said as Coma rolls his eyes. “Jesus, Dux, for a smart guy, you really are a dumbass.”

  Dux shrugs. “Death by beer sounds like a good way to go.”

  “You’re a dick.”

  “And you’re a fuckhead, but you don’t see me complaining.”

  Maybe I do need this tonight, these two always manage to ease whatever bad mood I’m in. “You two haven’t changed.”

  “My cocks gotten bigger, does that count as change?” Dux jokes.

  “Oh, here we go again. It’s not physically possible, Dux. You’re fucking imagining it,” Coma grunts.

  I sit back in a comfortable atmosphere loving how these two are always going at it.

  Dux glances down at his pants then over at Coma’s. “Still bigger than yours.”

  Coma rolls his eyes and whacks Dux across the back of his head making Dux spill some of his beer. “Hey! That’s good beer you’re a wasting, fuck-knuckle.”

  “Deal with it, princess. So, heard you guys had a shit night.” Coma changes the subject.

  “That’s a damn understatement.”

  “Glad we were able to step in and help.”

  Dux raises his beer. “Even if it was only to eat your food and drink your ale.”

  I chuckle. “It helped. Protecting this place while we’re out means a fucking lot. It’s good to know you guys have our backs.”

  Coma and Dux both glance over to where their president, Crest, stands with his daughter, Sparx, who’s Trax’s Old Lady. “We’re practically in-law biker clubs now. If that’s a thing,” Dux snorts.

  Coma then glances at his VP, Aero. “Yeah, it’s funny how things work out, isn’t it?”

  I wonder what the story is there, why he looked at Aero when talking about Sparx. Is there a history we don’t know about? I might have to research the shit out of that just for my own nosiness.

  “So, are you guys heading home tomorrow?” I ask.

  “Nah, we’re on a run,” Coma states bluntly not giving anything away.

  I raise my brow. “No old ladies with you?”

  “Nup,” is all Dux says keeping whatever they’re doing close to his chest.

  That’s fine by me. We don’t need to know their business, just like I’m sure they haven’t asked Torque about what happened with us tonight.

  When my cell starts to ring, I grimace. I bet it’s Neve wondering where the fuck I am. I yank my cell from my pocket looking at the number. I don’t recognize it. It’s not often I get a call at almost one in the morning from an unknown number. My first instinct is not to answer, but then with what’s been going on tonight, I figure I better.

  “Excuse me, boys, I better get this,” I murmur standing from the table.

  I walk from the clubrooms into the hall and swipe the screen. “Yeah?” I ask bluntly.

  “Aaron Carver?” a voice asks taking me by surprise.

  “Who’s asking?”

  “This is Chief Mortensen from Chicago PD,” she lets out a heavy exhale. “I have some news.”

  Standing taller, I walk toward my room to get away from the general noise in the clubrooms. The Chief has my attention. “Chief, it’s not every day we have a conversation… especially at the witching hour.”

  “I know, Ace.” She called me by my Road Name. What the fuck is going on? “I know you’ve had Officers Brody Marshall and Olivia Grier helping you guard Neve De Villa on the set out at Michigan Ave.”

  “That’s correct, but it’s been on their free time.”

  “I’ve let it slide because I know you and Marshall have a history. I feel if the PD can have a happy medium with the Defiance club, then we can have some kind of harmony in Chicago.”

  I rub the back of my neck to ease the tension. “Is this going somewhere, Chief?”

  She exhales loudly again. “I want peace in the streets, Ace. I thought Defiance could bring that. But what happened to my officers tonight was unacceptable, and I will not—”

  “Wait! What?” I blurt out trying to comprehend what the fuck she’s just said.

  She tuts like she’s annoyed with me interrupting her. “Marshall’s stable, the Kevlar saved his chest and vital organs, but he’s got some pretty good gunshots in his legs. Grier, on the other hand, she’s got a broken jaw, and God only knows what the mental scarring will be from this.”

  I stumble slightly on the spot. My anxiety soaring through the roof as I think of Brody and Grier being hurt so badly. “What the fuck happened?”

  She’s quiet for a moment like she’s shocked. “You honestly don’t know?”

  “No. Fucking tell me!”

  “The statement actress Cynthia Wray gave us is… three cars approached the security checkpoint as Marshall, Grier, and another security team were walking Ms. Wray and Ms. De Villa back to Unit Base when they attacked.”

  Fuck, Neve!

  Jesus, Cindi!

  My breathing becomes so frantic I feel like I’m panicking. I start to pace the hall as sweat tops my brow. “Cindi and Neve?” My voice is almost a whisper.

  “Cindi was unharmed in the attack. She’s been occupied with us giving details on the cars and the men who attacked—”

  “Neve? What about Neve?” I practically yell.

  She sighs with a pause that feels like it lasts a fucking year, but in reality, it’s probably only a few seconds. “They took her.”

  I squeeze my eyes shut. Every muscle in my body tightens in anguish. My free hand clenches, and I can’t contain myself as I move forward thrusting my fist straight into the wall. The plasterboard breaks with the force of my hit making my knuckles bleed while I pant for breath.

  “Ace, Ace… are you there?” the Chief asks as I try to figure out what the fuck to do next.

  “How long will Cindi be staying with you?” I grunt.

  “She’s free to go in the next hour, but Ace, there’s more…”

  I groan. “Shit, okay… tell me.”

  “Your boy, Noah, he was hit, he’s in the hospital getting a once over.”

  My eyes widen as my stomach sinks. “And you’re only just telling me this shit now! How bad is it, Chief?”

  She exhales. “He’ll be fine. He didn’t want me to tell you, but I know how the club works. If we didn’t,
I’d be in more shit from you guys than what he could do to me…” She laughs. “He’s got a pretty good egg on his head, big old case of concussion, too.”

  I relax a little. “So when you say hit, you mean that literally.”

  She lets out a laugh. “Sorry, I should have been clearer. Yes, he wasn’t shot, more like punched in the back of the skull.”

  “Thanks, Chief, I’ll send Lift to get him and the boys for Cindi. I’m not letting anyone else get hurt tonight.” I end the call storming out to the clubroom. Anger swarms through me like a raging tsunami. It crashes and rolls over my soul taking over everything in its wake. As I stride past Luc, I point at him. “You, ride to the Police Department and pick up Cindi. Grab a patched member, too. Tell Lift to go to the hospital to get his brother… Noah’s down. I want you to have numbers with you. This shit isn’t over. Something’s going down, and I’m fucking finding out what the hell it is. Tonight!”

  Luc dips his head as Chains strolls up obviously volunteering to ride with him as I storm to the chapel. I don’t care what I’m about to walk into with Torque and Foxy, this shit takes precedence. I open the door raging in like a bull and slam it shut behind me. I don’t even look over to the table where I know they are.

  “Ahh… excuse me, fucker, kinda busy in here,” Torque grunts out.

  I ignore him making my way to my desk and sit down pulling out my cell, then plug it into the computer. While I wait for the app to sync, I open my top drawer grabbing my hip flask. I use it for emergencies. It has my hacker emblem on it, an ace of spades with a skull, the D for Defiance on the head of the skull and ACE in capital letters above the top of it. Torque gave it to me when I got my road name. It was to celebrate being the tech guy for the club, for earning my patch and my job title. I generally only drink from it when I’ve completed a job when I’ve earned it, but right now I need it for courage. I need the boost to find Neve, because if I can’t—I don’t want to fucking think of those consequences.

  A ding sounds letting me know the app is ready, so I hook in logging into Neve’s cell hoping like shit she has it on her. I turn on the tracking for starters and set it running, then initiate the microphone application. I wait with bated breath to try and hear something, turning up my speakers to the highest position.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Torque asks as he walks over clipping up his belt.

  I hold up my hand as a crackling sound initiates letting me know the microphone is working, and we can hear Neve’s cell.

  “You’re such a pretty little thing.”

  I tense, my stomach rolling as I glace at Torque.

  “Fuck. You. You think you can hurt the people who protect me and get away with this?” Neve blasts.

  That’s my girl, full of spirit.

  “I think we already have.”

  Torque rushes around the back of the desk to look at the screen to see what it is we’re listening to.

  “What the hell does that mean?” Neve grunts.

  “You think we merely attacked you tonight? No, my dear. To get to you we needed a diversion.”

  My eyes slowly glance up at Torque while his face turns red in anger.

  “What?”

  “You think your security guard and those cops were the only ones who got hurt in this? Remember what I said little Neve, bills or blood. We simply chose to take blood first.”

  Torque turns around pacing the room as I run my fingers through my tatty hair. Jesus, is he saying what I think he’s saying—whoever the fuck this is.

  “Who. Who have you hurt?”

  The man laughs, it’s almost maniacally. “Collateral damage, Neve. Your father is our target, but we’ve been at war with the Andrettis for eons. If we could take some of them out while distracting the Defiance MC so we could get to you… that’s a win-fucking-win in our book.”

  “Oh God, you dragged Defiance into this? How many… how many are hurt?”

  He sneers. “Hurt, bella? People have died tonight… all because of your family.”

  Torque groans picking up the nearest thing, which happens to be an Iron Man bobblehead, and throws it against the wall in a fit of rage. I screw up my nose not really caring at the moment because right now I want to do the same fucking thing.

  “Shut that off,” Torque grunts. I tense but he continues, “Have you got her location?”

  I try to keep my shit together. “Yeah. Pres, I know how this looks—”

  “What? That Enzo died because of your fuckin’ girlfriend’s damn family, Ace!” His voice ricochets off the walls. He’s fuming. I get it, but we need to know the full story before we go condemning Neve. I have to believe she knew nothing about this. I have to believe this is not her doing.

  “Enzo died because he’s an Andretti, and the Andrettis go to war with the neighboring Mafia. If that Mafia had an agenda and Enzo was their target, that’s not our burden to bear, Torque, nor Neve’s. If Enzo didn’t war with them, he wouldn’t have been dragged into it.”

  “If you hadn’t gotten into bed with her, none of us would have fuckin’ been dragged into it!”

  I bite my tongue remembering he’s my president and not some asshole I want to fucking punch right now. “Torque, I will respect you, but I didn’t bring Neve into Defiance. Cindi did. And she’s caught up in this, too. So if you’ll calm your emotions for a hot minute, then maybe we can go rescue Neve from whoever this is, then sort out our differences after that?”

  Foxy walks over. I forgot she was even in the room as she wraps her arms around Torque’s waist seeming to calm him instantly. “I know you’re upset about Enzo, it’s got you not thinking straight, babe. You’re grieving. I know it’s terrible, but Neve, whether you like it or not, is a part of us, and whether this all happened because of something she or her family caused is irrelevant… she needs your help. She needs the club’s help. Right now! No one else needs to suffer tonight.”

  I glance at Foxy as Torque shakes his head. “Fuck. I didn’t realize how much losing Enzo would mess with my fuckin’ head. What happened here stays between us.”

  “You got it as long as we go get my girl.”

  “She’s your girl?”

  “Pretty damn close to it, yeah. So, if you don’t mind, can you go tell everyone to mount up for the last time tonight?”

  Torque’s eyes meet Foxy with a sigh. “If my brothers don’t kill me, I promise I’m gonna make this up to you.”

  She leans in kissing his lips briefly. “You get back here safe and sound. All of you… including Neve.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Torque glances at me with a small bob of his head. “Get your location, and let’s get the boys, time to get ourselves an actress.”

  I yank my cell out of the computer, take another quick sip from my hipflask, then wipe the back of my mouth with my hand.

  Time to go get my girl.

  NEVE

  Tears spring to my eyes as I realize he’s just told me men have died tonight. My mind rushes to Ace and whether he is all right. I sit back on the chesterfield folding my arms over my chest. “Why bring others into this? It makes no sense. If it’s my family you want, then why bother taking others out?”

  His chest puffs out, making him appear even bigger than he actually is. “Because, bella, we are Ossanis. Why do it small when you can send a message? Your father, Franco, knows he did us wrong, so now he’ll pay the ultimate price.”

  I scoff. “What, by having me pay his debt for him, and you having Defiance pissed off at you?”

  Roman shakes his head. “My dear, sweet, innocent Neve, you just don’t understand, do you? Your father is the cause of all this. We came in and uprooted everything—the head of the Andretti Mafia died tonight because of your father’s debt—all because of your family’s issues. The animosity with Defiance won’t be held toward us, bella. They will hold your father personally responsible. We’ll get our money from you we know that, but in the meantime, Defiance will clean house for us.”

  My eyes wi
den, my stomach churning at the thought that the people I met, the brothers I grew to like in the short time I was there, could do such a thing. “No, I don’t believe you. Defiance wouldn’t kill my papa, not for you.”

  Roman takes a puff of his cigar, a menacing glint in his eyes. “No, not for me. Not for my father, but to avenge Enzo Andretti…” He dips his head, his eyes taking on a darkness only the devil himself can muster. “I think they would. No, I know they will.”

  Emotion overwhelms me as I burst into tears thinking of Ace and his brothers.

  Who will be the one to kill my father?

  Could it be Ace?

  I can’t bear the thought.

  My head falls into my hands while Roman amuses himself.

  The door swings open.

  “Seems we have a guest,” Roman announces as I glance up to see two men dragging my father in. He’s barely walking, hardly even conscious as they pull him along.

  “Papa,” I yell standing from the sofa. I go to run to him, but Roman points at me shaking his head.

  “Stay right where you are, bella.”

  I let out a sob as they drop my father’s battered and bruised body to the floor. It’s only now that I really look, I see one of the men is Danny, the advisor from the set. Anger swarms through me as I glare at him while he walks over to Roman standing beside him.

  “How could you, Danny,” I blurt out.

  “Neve, so easy to work alongside. So easy to get information from. You leave your trailer unlocked. You leave your information readily available. How else do you think it was so easy for me to connect the dots? Your father was so far in debt with us, when I saw they were taking on advisors for the movie you were staring in, it was too good an opportunity to pass up. One of us had to step up to the plate.”

  “Why? Why couldn’t you come to me and ask for the money?”

  Danny shrugs. “That was the plan. I went in with the idea to see how much we could extort from you… we already tried to get to Defiance off-side once. We sent some little shits in to trade their steroids. They wore Andretti chains to try and cause an imbalance with their alliance. Unfortunately for us, that stunt backfired. The Defiance-Andretti alliance is too strong, and they knew someone was playing them. They just didn’t know that player was us.” He shrugs. “So, when your father came along and opened it back up for us again to bring the alliance down…”