Balance (The Chicago Defiance MC Book 6) Read online

  We both hop on, start our rides, then take off after the car inside the security checkpoint. As I ride past Mike, Noah flips him the bird which makes me chuckle. The pier is long. We ride past the Ferris wheel then continue straight down E. Grand Avenue to the very end in front of the Aon Ballroom until I see a sign saying Unit Base. As we get closer, I see the trailers lined up. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. There are a few people walking around looking at us like they’re confused—I guess wondering why two bikers would be here and if maybe we’re a part of the movie.

  As one woman frantically flips through the binder she’s carrying, possibly to check why we are here, Cindi’s car pulls up. She gets out, then it takes off again as we pull up alongside her. She jumps up onto her heeled toes like she’s fucking excited as I turn off my engine. I hardly have a second to steady myself after sliding off my ride before she jumps on me. Her body slams into mine full force pushing me a step back. My arms wrap around her as she smothers herself in me.

  “Fuck, it’s good to see you,” she coos leaning in kissing my bearded cheek.

  I pull back gazing at her makeup-adorned face. It’s her, I can see that, it just doesn’t look like her. It’s so fucking weird. “I’ve missed you, too, you have no fucking idea.”

  I place her back to a normal position as she lets out a contented sigh. “No, I know... don’t think Ruby doesn’t keep me in the loop on you and the other guys, but you could have called.”

  “Didn’t wanna get in the way.”

  She snorts. “You’re a dick, you’re never in the way. You’re my best friend, Ace. I want to talk to you as much as you want to talk to me.”

  “Got it.”

  She turns to glance at Noah, her mouth twitches, and I’m pretty sure she’s fighting back something. “Hi, Noah.”

  “Cindi…” He dips his head in greeting.

  “Oh, c’mon, don’t keep me in suspense,” Cindi begs confusing me.

  Noah lifts his chin walking to his saddlebag and yanks out a pink cardboard box. I scrunch up my face in confusion as Cindi groans in what sounds like orgasmic delight. “Oh my God, Noah. Stan’s Donuts. Did you get me—”

  “Yes, I got you the Nutella Pockets.”

  Cindi rushes forward taking the box from him, leaning in kissing his cheek. Noah’s face brightens like he’s had a kiss from Aphrodite herself. I’ve never seen him like this before. The entire atmosphere changes around them. Their bodies move toward each other, Cindi’s face flushes slightly, and her eyes sparkle. Noah’s breathing quickens.

  What the actual fuck?

  “Noah, I could marry you. I swear!” Cindi gushes opening the box, her eyes lighting up as she sighs like this is the best day of her life. Then she suddenly closes the lid. “Shit, we better get these in the trailer.” She giggles. “One… I’m supposed to be on a strict diet, and two… if any of the other actors see them, they’ll want one. I’m not. Fucking. Sharing! Well, only with you guys. C’mon… quick!” she squeaks grabbing Noah’s arm, yanking him toward the trailer. I follow along while undoing my helmet and casually taking it off, then walk inside behind them.

  As I step in, it’s nothing like I had imagined. I thought it would be small, but it’s spacious and luxurious. Though I did notice two bigger trailers. This one has a section to the left which looks like a bathroom, then down the other end is a double bed decked out in whiter-than-white sheets with a gold throw on top and closet space with a mirrored finish that sparkles in the light. Then through the middle is plush bench seating in black velvet with a small table in front of it. There’s a bench area with a black marble kitchenette, including a sink, microwave, and state-of-the-art coffee machine. Everything’s decked out in marble and stainless steel.

  I gotta say—I’m impressed.

  “Holy shit! Cindi, you lucked out with this trailer,” Noah chimes stepping up as Cindi slides into a seat then flicks open the pink box. I close the trailer door behind me moving over to the bench opposite Cindi and lean against it while I watch Noah slide in beside her. Their body language tells me a story I’ve never zoned in on before as they lean into each other while she picks up a donut, shoving it into her mouth. Noah watches her every move like a love-sick puppy.

  I wonder how I didn’t know this was happening. Why didn’t she tell me?

  “So, Noah, before we rode out here, I’m guessing you fucked off to the donut shop.”

  He gestures to the pink box. “Gotta get the Nutella Pockets for Cindi. Knew if we were coming here, and I arrived without them, I’m pretty sure the superstar here would’ve had my balls.”

  Cindi giggles with her mouth full as a sliver of Nutella slides down her lip. She licks it away while I watch Noah sigh like he’s fantasizing about licking it away himself.

  “I fwucking wove wou, Woah.” Cindi’s mumbled words come out a garbled mess as she talks through her mouthful. Noah and I both let out a chuckle as she finally swallows her food. “But I love this donut more. If you could marry a food…” she shrugs exaggeratedly, “… I’m just sayin’.”

  I’ve missed her and her crazy. “Glad to see this hasn’t all gone to your head, you’re still you,” I mutter.

  She peers at me through her longer-than-usual lashes as she places the small amount of donut that’s left on the table. “Ace, I’ll always be me. I might be acting, but it might suck and who knows I may not even make another movie after this one. My critics might hate my performance, nobody knows till opening night.”

  “Not possible,” Noah replies while picking up a donut. He then shoves it into his mouth before Cindi can stop him.

  She gasps in mock horror but lets him eat it. “You guys need to come here more often. I miss being at the club. Even though I’m not there right now, I’m still a part of it.”

  “I promise we’ll come more often. Sorry we haven’t been out here before now. I wasn’t so sure we’d be welcomed,” I admit.

  She scoffs waving her chocolate-covered fingers through the air. “Trust me, with the theme of this movie, they’ve had all kinds of bad-asses on set. I don’t think you even register on the scale of bad, Ace.”

  My head snaps back in mock shock. “Well, now I’m just insulted,” I tease.

  Suddenly, the trailer door swings wide open, and a woman steps inside. She’s obviously in costume dressed in a short, tight, black-lace dress, but on her feet she’s wearing fluffy pink slippers. I guess between takes she wants more comfortable footwear. Even still, she’s like a fucking goddess. Her jet- black hair is pulled back with long tendrils falling onto her stunning tanned oval face. Her thin nose is angled so perfectly I’m sure she’s had work done, her supple lips pursed around the tip of a pen as she chews on it. Her big honey doe eyes glance down at some notes in her hand—she’s completely oblivious to my presence as I stand here stunned by her beauty—as she strolls in unaware.

  “Cindi, can we go over this scene one more time before we have to…” She looks up seeing everyone in Cindi’s trailer, and her eyes instantly shoot to me. I have no idea who the hell she is, but she’s fucking breathtaking. I casually smile as she eyes me up and down with a curious gaze. “I didn’t know there were bikers in the script.” She ruffles through the paper in her hands. “Why didn’t someone tell me about this?”

  “No, Neve, these guys are from my clubhouse. They’ve come to check in on me. Say hello, everyone,” Cindi calls out.

  Neve. What a gorgeous name.

  Her eyes light up as she assesses me again. “These are the kinds of bikers in your clubhouse? No wonder you were telling me they’re all gorgeous. I mean look at muscles here.” She points at Noah, then her eyes wander back to me. “And man bun… wow! Certainly not how I pictured macho bikers.”

  I scrunch my face. “You don’t think we’re biker enough for you, darlin’?” I ask.

  Her lips pull in tight, but the edges curl upward giving her away as she folds her arms over her chest, the papers making a crinkling sound. “I think your hair
is far too pretty to convey a murderous one percenter.”

  I let out a small laugh. “How do you know what a one percenter is?”

  She shrugs. “I saw Sons of Anarchy.”

  I raise my brow. “And did you think Jax was a badass?”

  She hesitates, but her lips turn up. Her pearly whites dazzle me like the stars do after the dimness of dusk. In this moment right here, I have to stop and admire her true beauty.

  “Yeah… he had his moments.”

  I’m snapped out of her spell and brought back into the moment, so I make my point. “And didn’t he and his badass-self have long, pretty hair, too?”

  Noah howls like a damn hyena as Cindi gives me a double thumbs up.

  Neve tilts her head. “Touché, Tarzan.” Her eyes narrow as she points her pen at me. “I like you, you’re a straight shooter.”

  “You should see how good my aim really is,” I jest with a hint of innuendo in my tone.

  I like the sass of this woman whoever the fuck she is.

  A slight rose color tinges her cheeks, and I swear my heart beats a little faster. She’s fucking stunning. Neve draws her bottom lip in by her teeth trying to hide her smile.

  “Man, you two are so adorable,” Cindi blurts out making us both turn and stare at her.

  “Well then, shouldn’t you introduce us properly?” Neve hints.

  What the fuck is happening?

  ACE

  I step forward placing out my hand for Neve to shake, and she reaches out sliding her small hand into mine. As her palm glides across my skin, something happens—like a shock or an electro-charge, some fucking magnetism or kinetic energy surges through me—making my head instantly snap up. Neve’s eyes are wide, she’s shocked like she’s feeling it too. A slow smile creeps up on my face as I hold her hand without shaking it, standing there like a deer in the fucking headlights just taking in her gorgeous honey colored orbs while holding her hand in mine.

  “Ace, this is Neve. Neve, this is Ace… oh, and Noah,” Cindi calls out with a hint of a giggle in her voice.

  Noah’s face drops not only to the floor, but I’m sure all the way through the ground and is on its way to Antarctica. “Whoa, hold up. Neve, as in Neve De Villa? It totally looks like you, but I thought there’s no possible way I could be sitting in front of Hollywood royalty,” Noah calls out as I stand staring at her, my heart galloping faster with every second.

  “Dial it back a little, Noah,” Cindi murmurs as Neve’s eyes remain locked on me.

  “Hollywood royalty?” I ask, oblivious.

  “Dude, you’re telling me you don’t know who this unbelievable woman is before you?” Noah gasps.

  Raising my brow, I huff, finally turning my gaze to him. “Other than an actress who’s watched Sons of Anarchy… nope, I’m drawing a blank.”

  Neve studies me curiously with a hint of satisfaction in her eyes while Noah chuckles. “Dude, you have to get your head out of the Marvel universe and watch some of the shit Neve stars in. These movies, man… blood, gore, it’s epic!”

  “Plus, they have great storylines as well, thank you… Noah, was it?” Neve asks finally dropping my hand. The kinetic energy instantly releases making it a little easier to breathe.

  “Yeah, that of course, too. It’s really an honor to meet you, Neve,” Noah gushes.

  “You’re such a dork,” Cindi teases bumping into Noah’s side, his body not even budging with the force of her hit.

  “You like Marvel?” Neve asks with no hint of mocking in her tone.

  Standing taller, I open my mouth to answer, but Cindi buts in before I do. “Like it! He loves it. You should see his room back at the clubhouse. Iron Man shit everywhere. True fan, right here.”

  My stomach falls thinking how fucking nerdy that shit must sound to Neve, but she turns to me with her face lit up like the brightest of dazzling fucking lights.

  “That’s so cool. I love you’re a movie buff. Iron Man was my favorite, too. You must have been gutted in Endgame…” I inwardly cringe at the memory, “… but don’t tell Chris Hemsworth I said that. I starred in a movie with him, and if he knew I picked Iron Man as my favorite over Thor… well, I’d be off the Christmas card list.” She giggles at the end which makes me realize she’s joking. At least about being on Hemsworth’s bad side, but I don’t doubt she’s made blockbuster movies with the star.

  The problem is, I spend most of my time dealing with shit for the club, so I don’t get time to see all the latest flicks. I just watch Marvel, that’s it, never miss one. I even found out from Scratch that Stan Lee had passed, because at the time I was so deep doing shit for the club, I didn’t have time to check the daily news. Don’t even get me started on how my world ended for a short time when I saw Avengers: Endgame. I mourned for a solid week, I swear. Loosing Iron Man was like losing a part of myself, like losing a brother, a best friend knowing I won’t have him to fall back on, to look forward to. I know I sound like a dork, but he was a sense of home when I felt like I didn’t have one as a child. He’s a part of me, and I will forever be grateful to Marvel for creating the character I could aspire to be like. But for now, I guess I need to buy more limited-edition bobble heads.

  I lean back against the bench behind me crossing one foot over the other to seem more relaxed, though I’m anything but in Neve’s presence. She has me on edge but in a good way. “Chris Hemsworth, Jax from Sons, you do have a thing for long-haired men,” I tease.

  She lets out a harmonic giggle as she rolls her eyes. “When a man’s hair looks better than mine, I have a problem with that. Let’s face it. I can’t have a man on my arm whose hair outshines my locks.”

  I scoff out a laugh. “Oh, c’mon now, you shouldn’t have hair envy. I mean your hair’s pretty. Not as pretty as mine—”

  “Oh, yeah, Tarzan? Mine gets a gloss treatment every six weeks, what the hell does yours get to make it so… lustrous?” She folds her arms over her chest, her lips pulling in tight to try and fight from giving herself away.

  I shrug. “Helmet and the wind of the open road.”

  She tilts her head. “Do you even wash it?”

  I shrug. “Occasionally.”

  “God, you’re so gross, Ace,” Cindi calls out as everyone snickers.

  “Well, for badly maintained hair, I will admit it does look…” Neve pauses as I glance at her, “… clean.”

  “Fuck! What’s with all the damn hair talk?”

  Neve narrows her eyes at me with an exhale. “You’re interesting, Ace. I’m not quite sure what to make of you.”

  Tilting my head, I raise my brow. “I’m not sure what to make of you either, Neve.”

  She straightens her body eyeing me up and down once more, the way her eyes glance over my body does something to me. I want to get to know her more.

  She’s feisty.

  Fiery.

  She’s unique.

  She’s different.

  I admire that about her.

  She’s not afraid to stand up to me even though I’m a biker, even though I have a background and am a member of a club with a name here in Chicago.

  She isn’t scared, and it’s nice not to have to worry about that for once.

  Neve turns to Cindi, letting out a small despondent huff. “Well, I can see you have your hands full here, so I better go prepare for my scene. We can talk about our next one later… it’s not important. It was nice meeting you, Noah.” She turns to face me. “Ace,” she says dipping her head. She moves to leave the trailer, and suddenly I feel like I can’t let this be it. I need more time with her, but I don’t want it to be with Cindi and Noah around—I want to spend some one-on-one time with Neve. See if this attraction I have is real or if I’m just being a fucking idiot. Either way, I need not to let this be the last time I see her.

  “I’ll walk you out,” I demand.

  Neve turns around, peers at me, her lips raising in the corners, then she ducks out of the trailer. I glance back toward Noah and Cindi. Cindi
frowns, but Noah’s all toothy grin as I head down the stairs then out onto the pier with Neve.

  The day’s overcast and gloomy. There’s a slight chill in the autumn air, but I feel nothing but warmth with Neve by my side as she glances at me. “Walk me to my trailer?” she asks.

  A rush of adrenaline spikes through me as I nod once, and we head over to the other side of the pier. I have no fucking clue where we’re going, so I let her take the lead.

  Walking and not talking is a little fucking weird, so I figure I better say something. “So, acting?”

  Good one, dickhead.

  She glances at me sideways then tilts her head. “Mmm… yes. Seems to be what I’m doing here. Funny about that.”

  “You have a sarcastic tone, anyone tell you that?”

  She steps up to one of the larger trailers and opens the door. “Yeah… all the time. Bad habit. Can’t handle it, Ace?” she asks with a mocking tone as she steps inside her trailer.

  I follow behind her, my eyes shifting to her ass waving about in my face as she steps up in front of me in that tight-as-fuck dress. My cock strains in my pants as I try to reign him in.

  Clearing my throat, I glance up to see her head turned back watching me watching her. My eyes widen, but I say nothing about me ogling her ass as I walk inside her trailer. It’s bigger than Cindi’s, but the layout’s the same only a little more luxurious.

  “I can handle more than you think, Starlet.”

  She moves over with ease to her cushioned sofa, sitting down. I follow sliding in next to her. Our legs touch, and it feels nice to be alone with a woman, without brothers, without club girls or old ladies around to make accusations or innu-fucking-endos. It’s good just to sit and get to know someone even if that someone is mocking me and being sarcastic.

  “So, you know I’m an actress, and obviously you’re a biker, being here with me alone like this is quite the privilege for you. Normally, there’d be guards, my agent, generally people everywhere, but because we’re between takes, I’m supposed to be in here going over my lines… quietly.”

  “Am I supposed to be in awe of that or something? Is it supposed to make me feel… inadequate?”