Licking his thumb, I nod. “We need more weapons.”
“Let’s go get some then,” he murmurs, as he leans down and kisses me softly.
I don’t clean up, but I do change my knickers and dress, ’cause fighting in wet panties is no fun. The blood dries on my hands and face, and I leave it. Let them see it, let them die by my hands covered in my lover’s blood.
I slip into the red dress Ryder bought me so long ago, then I add my earrings and necklace. Let them all see that I’m a Viper. That they fucked with the wrong family.
When I meet Ryder in the living room, he’s watching Kenzo, who’s now sleeping. The doctor managed to stop the bleeding and has stitched him up, but he’s having a blood transfusion now and needs to rest.
Leaning down over his prone form, I kiss his still lips. “Be home soon, be good.”
I turn away and head out of the front door. Kenzo is safe, but Garrett isn’t, and every minute that passes is a minute he could be being tortured or killed. I refuse to let that happen. These are my men.
My family.
No one hurts them but me.
No one gets to make their lives a living hell but me. It’s time the Triad realised that they fucked with more than just the boys—they fucked with a goddamn ruthless bitch.
When we get to the parking garage, D is waiting there. “I know where one of them is, get in.” I slip into the back and Ryder gets into the front, and D skids from the garage, making Ryder grunt.
“We need to get there in one piece, brother,” he snaps.
“Yeah, yeah, I won’t kill you.” D laughs as he turns the corner so fast that the wheel actually comes off the road, so I click on my seat belt. As we straighten out, something bangs behind me, making me jump.
Staring at the boot at my back, I frown as it comes again, then I hear the definitive sound of muffled screaming. “Erm, is there someone tied up in the boot?”
“Duh, where else do you keep them?” He laughs.
“Okay, D, why is there a man in the trunk…and how long has he been in there?” I ask as I grab on to the ‘oh shit’ handle when we almost crash.
“I grabbed him while you changed into that sexy as hell dress.” He winks over at me. “I’ll rip that off you later by the way.”
“Eyes on the road,” Ryder barks.
D laughs and looks back, avoiding running over someone walking across the street. “He was the one who told me where he is, he’s his driver, I got lucky.”
“So where are they?” I query.
“One of the them is where this all started—their restaurant. I figure we go there, I scare and torture him, get the information and free Garrett, then hunt the other rat bastard down, and then an orgy.” He leans out of the window as he swerves around someone. “You drive like a fucking snail!”
I glance back and notice it’s a police car, but I have way too much information to deal with to focus on that. Ryder sighs. “Yes, we are finishing it tonight. They should have known better than to come against us. Now their family will be wiped from the map.”
“Are there a lot of families in the city?” I inquire, trying to pass the time and not think about what’s happening to Garrett.
“There was once, but now there are only three in this whole area. Us, the Triad, and the Petrov family, the Russians. They keep to themselves, though, and own the city down the road, but the Triad has always been greedy and unwilling to do the work to build an empire. Instead, they are like rats trying to feed on others.”
We pull up outside a restaurant, and Ryder looks at me. “Stay close, don’t let them see your weakness or how worried you are for Garrett. They will use it. This is a game, love, we have to play it well.”
“I don’t like fucking games,” I mutter, and he smiles nastily.
“I know, but I’m the best at them. I will get him back with you on my arm. Are you ready?” I nod, and he leans back and kisses me softly. “Just be you. I’m trusting you in there more than I ever have with the others, princess.”
He’s trusting me.
I tilt my head back. I won’t let him down. I slip from the car, and he comes around and takes my arm, leading me to the restaurant like we are here for a nice meal and not to start a war. When we slip through the front wooden door and into a dark, candlelit restaurant, I let all weakness go. Garrett needs me, Kenzo needs me, they all need me. Now is the time to step up.
Ryder passes the host stand, ignoring the man in the suit there, and rounds it into a Chinese restaurant before leading me up a curved staircase. We step into an open restaurant, which is up top and looking over the area below, with white cloth covered tables. Along the back wall are floor-to-ceiling windows showing the city all lit up in its glory. The walls are a deep black with red and orange accents in paintings, tapestries, and prints. The ceiling is covered in hanging lanterns. It’s dark and moody, and I love it. If it weren’t for the men who own it, I would want to eat here, looking out at the city and watching it all go by with Ryder’s hand on my thigh, Kenzo’s fingers slipping into my knickers in front of everyone, and the food forgotten before us…
Ryder tugs me after him as he winds through the tables to a raised area at the back, where a circular table sits, slightly hidden, behind a white letter covered screen. I don’t look at anyone specifically. The restaurant is empty except for the men in suits, hired muscle, all watching our progress, yet Ryder is unafraid. As is Diesel behind me.
Three versus at least fifteen men, that’s how many we can see, yet they don’t let any concern show. In fact, they stroll through the room like they own it, the power flowing off them in waves, and then I realise what it means to be a Viper. Even surrounded and in an enemy’s nest, we are still the big bad.
The baddest motherfuckers in the city.
Even in the face of loss, even in the face of death, we own this shit. I raise my head and add confidence to my walk. I’m a fucking Viper, it’s time I start acting like it. We take what we want, we do what we want.
There is a lone man sitting at the table with his side towards us. He picks a napkin up and wipes his mouth as he sits back and waits for us to reach him. His short hair is pushed back, and he looks similar to the Asian man from the hotel. He has a number two tattooed on his neck as well. Is this like fucking Thing One and Thing Two?
Uncaring that he didn’t invite us to join him, Ryder pulls out a chair for me, and I sit. He pushes it back in, but not too much so I can access my weapons and move quickly. He sits next to me, legs parted, hand close to his gun, even as he leans back like he has no worries in the world. His face is cold and empty, that usual control in place. I envy that, I don’t have that kind of bluff, so I’m going to own being a mean, cruel bitch.
Relaxing back in my chair, I tilt my head and let my eyes run across him. “I don’t know, number three had more of an air of power about him…you look like a little bitch.” I grin as his eyes narrow and flicker to Ryder.
“You came here unannounced to insult me?” he snaps, but there is a quiver in his voice. This isn’t in their plan, he doesn’t know what’s happening or what to do.
“Of course not, but you can understand Roxxane’s anger. You did, after all, kidnap and torture her.” Ryder’s face tightens at the words, his anger flaring, so I lean over and lick his ear, my eyes on number two.