Chase the Pain (Amatucci Family #1) - Sadie Jacks Page 0,1

enough for me to smell the booze on his breath. “Who the fuck are you?”

I lifted a single shoulder. “No one. But I’ve heard the guys who own this place don’t like rude people in their club. Better start reading some Emily Post before you get off your chain again.” I tipped my drink at him in a toast before taking a sip.

Behind the guy, Talia bounced up the stairs to our table. Without even bothering to look, she took the chair from his hands, slid her spectacular ass on it, and stole my drink.

The man stared in rapt fascination as he watched her throat work as she guzzled my soda water and lime. His eyes lost the anger but kept the ego. Leading with his southern head, he shifted to his right, leaned one elbow on the table, and reached out a hand. With the back of his fingers, he brushed her wild mane of black curls off her shoulder.

I rolled my eyes and smirked. The bubble of joy in my belly at what was about to happen next had an honest to goddess laugh tickling my throat.

Talia slapped the glass snifter down with a sharp click. Her dark brown eyes wild with fire.

“Emily Post, bro,” I said with a smile.

He looked up at me for the barest of moments before he turned back to Talia. In fractions of a second, his face registered the pain. The whimper slid from between his lips, a glorious benediction to stupid assholes everywhere.

Without needing to see it firsthand, I knew Talia twisted her hand. Over the edge of the table, her elbow cocked out at the perfect angle. That was going to be one sore dick for a hot minute. “Do not touch me. Ever.” She leaned up into his face, her low, sultry voice hard as diamonds.

The man nodded stupidly as his mouth worked like a guppy’s. The fingers spasmed as he fought for purchase on the smooth tabletop. He grabbed the abandoned glass.

I nipped it from his grasp before he could use it against my best friend. This guy was on the Learning Train tonight. He’d have the sprained cock to show as a certificate of excellence. And that was only if her brothers didn’t hear about him touching her without permission.

Talia released him and pushed him back. With a roll of her dark eyes, she stood back up and came over to my side of the table. She brushed her lips over my cheek. “Another drink, then you’re getting your ass on the dance floor, Chase.”

I snorted, shook my head. “Migraine. Can’t.” I smiled at her. “So sorry.”

She laughed in my face. “If you had an actual migraine you’d be puking on the floor and writhing in pain. Come on, get your body moving. Let some of that stress leak away.”

A chair crashed to the floor as Broken Penis McChair-Stealer finally righted himself. His face, dark red with rage, stepped over the chair and made a grab for Talia.

I bumped her out of the way with my hip as I leaned back out of his reach.

As he slammed into the table, the table slammed into me. I smashed into the wall, my head made a thick, meaty thump that made my stomach revolt as stars flashed in my eyes. My legs went numb as the table bisected my thighs on its fall to the floor.

Pinned by a raging egomaniacal douche canoe and a heavy table wasn’t really how I saw this evening ending. I blinked my sight clear and smiled. Was it technically hurting yourself if someone else inflicted the pain?

The heavy, greasy waves of pain sloshed and slid inside me, close to overwhelming. Pain and I were old friends. Most of the time, I managed it. Slid it to the side when it burst and exploded deep within.

Not so this time. Like night descended on the sky, the agony surged over me in a giant tidal wave. Just as the darkness was almost complete, the table was pulled off my legs. I slumped to the floor with nothing else to keep me upright.

With another bone-jarring greeting, my head met the floor. Everything went still and soft around me as the darkness ebbed and flowed at the edges of my brain. I sighed in relief as my mind could finally sort the pain as it floated me to the top of the waves. I danced on the surface of it as lights flashed above me. Bright lights that reminded