Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 123672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 618(@200wpm)___ 495(@250wpm)___ 412(@300wpm)
“Need to know what?” he says, hurrying after me, easily keeping up with me on the stairs.
“I don’t know,” I say, clutching the railing to keep from falling to my death. “I just . . . I have a bad feeling about this, and Viper—”
“You think it’s Viper?” he asks.
“I’m not sure, but I just . . . I need to find out.”
“Alright, Mace,” he says, taking my hand. “The cops aren’t going to let you anywhere near him, but we can ask some of the club members. But if this is one of their brothers, they’re not going to be open for prying. Find someone you know, ask what you need to know, and get out of there. These aren’t the kind of guys you want to be messing with, especially in the face of something like this.”
I nod as Alex leads me down the rest of the steps, forcing me to slow my pace so I don’t end up needing a nose job. As we hit the front door and break out into the chilly night, he keeps me right at his side.
The noise out here is deafening, and as news reporters and more cops show up, Alex leads me over to the police tape. “See anyone you know?” he asks, nodding toward the group of bikers who are all hovering around one another, a few of them glancing up toward my apartment while a few look as though they’re ready to slaughter everyone who even thinks about looking at them wrong.
I nod as I spy the president’s wife, or I suppose old lady is what she’d prefer to be called. “Estée,” I call out, watching as her gaze flicks toward me.
She’s a sweet girl, definitely way too young to be married to the president of an outlaw motorcycle club, but she has an edge to her and can more than hold her own. She hurries over to me, crossing her arms to fend off the bite in the early morning air. “Girl, you shouldn’t be out here,” she warns me.
“What?” I grunt, my brows furrowing. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”
She glances back at her club, her husband watching her cautiously, never letting her out of his sight. “It’s Viper,” she finally says, her gaze softening as she reaches out and places a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, girl. I know you guys were maybe going to be something one day.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s not Viper. Spider was on watch tonight. Viper wasn’t even here.”
“He relieved Spider a little after one in the morning, told him to go home,” Estée says. “After what happened to Mason Ledger, he wanted to look out for you tonight. Wasn’t sure if the threat was really gone.”
Fear pounds through my veins at the mention of Mason’s name, and I grab Alex’s hand, glancing up and meeting his curious gaze. I see the question in his eyes, wanting to know what the hell Estée is referring to, but now isn’t the time or place to go into it. That’s a conversation to have behind closed doors.
Glancing back at Estée, I shake my head, refusing to believe what I’m hearing. I just lost Crew. The wounds haven’t even begun to heal yet, and now she’s trying to tell me that Viper is gone too. “No,” I breathe, my gaze shooting back toward the alley, only with the sea of bikers and the cops lingering around, it’s impossible to make out a body.
My heart races, cracking a little more with each wild beat until it’s nothing but a shattered mess on the floor. Tears fill my eyes, and while I always knew I was never going to end up with Viper, he was still one of the only people in this life I could depend on. “Are you sure it’s him? Did you check? Did the cops let you check?” I break into a panic, my chest beginning to ache. “It can’t be him. I . . . I wasn’t finished with his chest piece and—”
“It’s him,” Estée tells me, gripping my chin a little too firmly, demanding I keep my cool. “We checked. His throat was slit. But like I said, you shouldn’t be down here. A lot of these guys at my back aren’t happy that they’d been put on protection detail for a woman who wasn’t an old lady, and right now, they’re looking for someone to blame. So I suggest you get your perky little ass out of here, and while you’re at it, do what you can not to flaunt the fact that you’re fucking someone else. Don’t try and shit all over Viper’s memory like that. Let him go with dignity.”
I swallow hard and nod. “Of course.”
“I know you and Viper weren’t anything serious yet,” she says, speaking about us as though it was somehow already a done deal. “But some of us already considered you part of the family. We obviously haven’t worked out the details yet, but we’ll have a private burial for our VP in a few days. I’ll text you with the details. And in the meantime,” she adds. “Don’t be surprised if my boys come around asking questions.”