: Chapter 52

We quickly make our way back through the hotel looking for Kenzo and Garrett, and a bad feeling starts in my gut as we go down the corridor they traversed and to an open metal door at the end. Heading up, we step out onto a roof where there are bodies littered everywhere, but no Kenzo or Garrett.

But then I hear it.

A grunt.

Following it, I drop to my knees behind an old section of piping to see Kenzo there with blood dripping from his chest. His face is pale, and his eyes are barely open. Gripping his hand tight, I gesture the others over. “Babe, what happened?”

He groans and looks at Ryder. “They got Garrett, they wanted him all along. I couldn’t stop them, I’m sorry.”

Ryder smashes his fist into the pipe, but I wipe Kenzo’s sweaty forehead and kiss him softly, seeing the distress and pain carved there. “Shush, it’s okay, we can get him back.” Lifting his hand from the wound, I spot the blood there. “We need to get him to a doctor.”

D leans down and inspects it before slapping him. “Stay awake. Okay, this is going to hurt.” He grabs him, hoists him over his shoulder, and casually stands, not like he’s got a Kenzo backpack on. “Let’s go, Little Bird.”

Ryder is on the phone as we head down through the hotel, and when we get into the car, I slip into the back, and D places Kenzo along the back seat between my thighs. I hold him there, stroking his hair and kissing his head.

“Missed you, darling.” He sighs, his eyes on me as he reaches up with bloody hands and grips my own, tangling our fingers together.

“I missed you too,” I admit. “Those suckers knew nothing about how to kidnap a woman, honestly.”

He laughs at that, the sound tapering off in a groan as we speed through the city. “They have no finesse, that’s why,” he wheezes out. “You gotta trick them into loving you, duh.”

“I was going to ask something stupid like, does it hurt?” I snort as I lean down and kiss his head. “Don’t you fucking die on me, you hear me, asshole?”

“Got it, beautiful, no dying, but you can play nurse and kiss all this better later.” He winks.

“Even dying, you’re a total flirt,” I scoff, though panic winds through me at the blood he’s losing. I look up and meet Ryder’s eyes, who’s staring back at his brother in alarm. Kenzo reaches out and grabs his hand, squeezing it.

“I’ll be fine, brother, don’t worry about me. Deal with Garrett, okay?”

Ryder sucks in a breath but hesitates. “I’m sorry you had to go back there,” he offers lightly.

“Me too. When this is over, we’re burning that place down.” Kenzo grins, turning his head to meet Ryder’s gaze. “No more ghosts, no more bad memories, just us, okay?”

Ryder nods and glances at me. “Take care of him.”

“Always,” I reply, as I look back at Kenzo. “You’re going to be alright, you’re too fucking stubborn to die on us.”

“Yeah?” he whispers.

“Yeah.” I nod. “Wanna bet on it?”

He groans. “God, I fucking love you.”

“The winner gets to trash Ry’s new car,” I murmur, making D laugh.

“If I win, you have to marry us, that way you can never leave.” He grins.

“Fuck, you always play the high stakes,” I mutter. “Just ’cause you’re dying doesn’t mean you get to ask for weird shit.”

“Course it does,” he whispers, but his face is paler now. Fear blasts through me as I lean down and press my lips to his. “Don’t fucking die, and I’ll marry you all, I’ll even wear a fucking dress and everything.”

“Deal,” he mumbles.

“We’re here, doctor is waiting,” Ryder announces, as we skid into the parking garage. My door is ripped open, and I tumble out into D’s arms as two burly security men grab Kenzo and carry him away. I watch him go with fear in my heart and my hands covered in his fresh blood. My fear turns into anger as I look at Ryder.

“We need to find Garrett, then we kill these fucking assholes. No one takes what is mine,” I snap, as the elevator closes after Kenzo. There is nothing else I can do for him, and I refuse to let Garrett suffer. That man has been tortured enough, I don’t want any more nightmares for him.

“I don’t know where to find another one of the Triad. Go clean up. We’ll search the city and get the information however we have to. D, where are you going?”

I look over my shoulder to see D getting into a car. “I’ll find out where the Triad is, you be ready.”

I don’t ask how, I don’t care. We need that information. Ryder twines his fingers with mine, and his free hand comes up as he swipes his thumb across my lips. “Kenzo will be okay, my brother is a fighter, but right now, Garrett needs us…stay with me, love.”

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.

“Stay cold, baby, you can let it all out on me later,” I murmur, and he groans.

“She tends to hold a grudge. I know that from personal experience.” He laughs. “But no, we are not here to talk. We both know the time for talking has passed. Your family has signed their death warrants, and now you have a simple choice of how quickly you die.” He grins.

The men in the room rustle, and one in particular steps closer, his gun drawn. Diesel shifts behind me, protecting my back. Straightening in my seat, I wink at number two. “He’s right, I do hold a grudge. I’m very fucking good at it. Ask my men. Oh wait…you have one of them.” Wagging my finger, I lean into the table, flaunting my breasts as I take his wine glass and sip it, watching him before leaning back in my chair. His eyes flicker to the blood still on my skin, and he swallows. “So where is he?”

Ryder doesn’t stiffen at me taking over for him, no, he relaxes more, he’s too emotional to act the part right now. I don’t have to be composed, I’m the scorned girlfriend, so I can be as crazy as I want, and I plan to be. They took what is mine.

They hurt me.

They hurt my family.

Number two licks his lips nervously before he smiles. “Probably being cut open as we speak.”

I freeze and carefully, calmly place the wine glass on the table. “I will ask once more, and you should know that every person who has ever hurt me has a tendency to wind up dead…and you know the man behind me, right?” I relax back into D, who bends down and kisses me, making me moan as he flicks his tongue across my lips, tasting the wine there. “He’s a master of torture, and I learned from the best, so one more time before I get mad. Where is Garrett?”

Diesel’s hand circles my throat possessively and drags my head back again, kissing me hard and biting my lip until I taste my own blood before he releases me. Licking my lips, the blood undoubtedly dripping, I look to number two. “I’m waiting,” I purr.

“Go fuck yourself, you stupid bitch. You will all be dead when this is through, and no one will remember you and your fucked up family,” he snarls.

I blink, letting his words drop into the silence for two seconds before I jump into motion. Yanking out Ryder’s gun, I point it at the man closest to him and fire, hitting him square between the eyes as I push back from the table and stand. Yells go up, then guns are drawn and firing as I let off four more shots, killing four more guards before giving the weapon to Ryder and storming around the table. Trusting them to protect me. I hear Diesel laughing and others screaming as I meet number two head-on. He’s tangled in the tablecloth as he gawks at what’s happening.

He thought he was untouchable, but he’s wrong. No one is untouchable but us. Everyone can die, I will kill them all to get my man back. No one fucks with what’s mine, my damaged lover.

I kick back the chair, and it crashes to the floor with a loud thump. Stepping over him, I press my foot to his throat to stop his struggling, my heel pressing against his soft flesh. He gulps, his hands going out to the side in a gesture of peace, his scared eyes locked on me. He’s finally realising his family is dead. Everything they did to win, every law and rule they broke, and everyone they bribed or killed was for nothing. All because they got greedy and took something that wasn’t theirs.

“Where is he?” I snarl.

The firing stops, but I don’t look away as Diesel rounds the table, crouches next to number two, and looks up at me with blood on his face. “That was fucking beautiful. You are wearing those heels later,” he murmurs, as Ryder steps up next to me and stares down at number two.

“We warned you, where is he?” he growls.

I hear a rustle at the stairs and Diesel, without looking, pulls his gun and fires. I hear a grunt and then the distinctive sound of someone falling down the stairs.

“Sorry about your brother, he was a real prick though.” I smirk, leaning forward like I’m sharing a secret. “He talked like a little bitch at the end of my bat.” Number two sputters, and I laugh. “Don’t ever fuck with a Viper. Just because I have a pussy doesn’t make me weak. You fucked with the wrong family.”

He narrows his eyes, but he sees the truth in my gaze and deflates. “Please don’t kill my wife, she’s innocent in this.”

I don’t speak, but I dig my heel in deeper. “Did you afford us those same niceties?” Ryder snaps.

He closes his eyes for a moment before opening them and looking at me. “He’s being held at our family’s home, 478 Rosewater. The mansion on the hill overlooking the city.”

“Security?” I ask, and I can feel Ryder’s surprised and appreciative gaze.

“Over thirty men, the last of us, my brother will be there too…and her,” he sputters as I jab in deeper.

“Her?”

“Daphne, his ex, she was working with us,” he wheezes. “Came to us wanting revenge. We made a deal to kill you all, but she could do whatever she wanted with him. She’s been supplying us information.”

“Fucking knew it,” Ryder snarls.

“I should have tortured her more.” Diesel grins. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

I look to Ryder then. “Why did she betray him in the first place?”

The man under my heel struggles, so I push harder, and he starts to pant. “Why?”

He looks at me sadly. “For money and power. She was offered both by a rival, she thought they would own the city, but she was wrong. It almost killed him, they paid her to do just that, but he survived. We hunted her down, and Diesel killed her, or so we thought.”

“Now she has him,” I hiss. “She’s going to finish what she started,” I whisper in shock. “Ryder, we have to get him now.”

He nods and is already on the phone, so I glare back down at number two. “Anything else?”

He shakes his head, his eyes wide, so I grab my gun, the one Garrett got me, and I shoot him in the face. It explodes, and I close my eyes as brain and gore hits me and Diesel. Some even gets on Ryder, but he doesn’t blink at it.

Stepping away, I rip off my heels, and with a cry, drive them into his chest before standing and brushing my hair back. “Let’s go get him,” I demand, as I turn and pick my way over the bodies. I feel my men behind me.

What started as a business deal has now become my life. There’s an old quote, ‘Throw me to the wolves, and I will come back leading the pack.’ I was thrown to the Vipers, and now they are mine.

Never underestimate a woman, because those seen as weak have a lot less to lose than those with everything.

I’m used to being the underdog, but no longer. No, I’m a fucking viper queen, their girl, and I’m going to tell the whole city tonight after I get my man back and we kill the Triad for good. No one will ever come for us again, let this be their final warning.

We own this city.

We own them.