“Viper to you,” he growled. “You had your chance with the man. Now you get the beast.” He fisted her hair, yanked her head to the side, and bit her neck, not a gentle love bite, but a skin-piercing dig into her flesh.
Evie screamed. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a blur of motion, the faintest disturbance in the air, and then Viper stiffened and arched back, losing his grip. He spun around and her eyes widened at the sight of the knife in his back, and Mario, his hand still in the air.
The back door exploded open and Viper’s bodyguards raced into the kitchen, heading straight for Viper. “Fucking Mario did this,” he roared. “He’s gotta be a Sinner rat. Get him and get the fucking knife out of my back.”
Seizing her chance, Evie ran through the house and up the stairs, opening doors in the immaculate hallway until she found one locked.
“Ty!” She thumped on the door. “Are you in there?”
“Mom. Mom. Get me out of here.”
She found the key on the cabinet down the hall and unlocked the door. Ty flew out and into her arms.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry I ran away. I don’t hate Zane. Really. I don’t.” He hugged her so tight she could barely breathe, his body shaking with sobs. She wanted to hold him and never let go, but they didn’t have time to linger.
“Shhh, baby. It’s not your fault. But we have to get out of here quickly.”
“There’s a bat inside. I’ll get it. Just in case.” He grabbed a baseball bat and they ran down the stairs only to find Viper and one of his bodyguards blocking their way. Evie stopped short and pushed Ty behind her.
“You had a knife in your back. How can you be walking around?”
“I always wear a vest, kitten. Even to dinner. Never know who’s going to stab you in the back.”
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out and saw the picture of Arianne with a little boy who looked to be just over a year old.
Finally.
“I’m leaving with Ty.” She held up the phone so Viper could see the picture of his son with Arianne. “Once we’re safe I’ll let Arianne know she can end her visit with her stepbrother … your son.”
“I don’t have a son.”
“You do. Doreen’s boy. He’s your son; not Axel’s. And now he doesn’t have a mother.”
A multitude of emotions crossed his face, from disbelief to anger, but not fear. Evie’s heart sank. If he didn’t fear for his son, then he had no reason to let her or Ty go.
“Arianne won’t hurt him.” Viper snorted a laugh. “She suffers from compassion, which is why she didn’t kill me when she had the chance.”
Evie pushed Ty backward, step by step. There was a door leading out from the living room. If they ran fast enough, they could get outside. “You’re right,” she said. “Arianne won’t hurt him. But the Sinners can arrange for him to disappear. You lost one son. Do you want to lose another?”
“I could say the same to you. One of my brothers is behind the door, waiting for me to tell him what to do. Stalemate, kitten.”
“I think the word is checkmate.” Zane stepped into the room, a semiautomatic weapon in each hand, and wearing more guns than the soldiers from Ty’s video games.
Evie heard shouts outside. Gunfire.
“You both okay?” Zane’s gaze slid from her to Ty and back to her.
“I knew you’d come.”
“Sorry about the delay,” Jagger said, walking into the room behind Zane. “We were up on the mountain when you drove in. Took us longer than we thought to get down. Then we had to clean up the yard.” He looked over at Ty. “You can put down the bat, Ty. Looks like your dad has got things in hand.”
“I’m his backup,” Ty said. “Just in case.”
Zane’s jaw tightened and pride shone in his eyes. “Good man. You get your mom out of here. There are Sinners outside waiting with a cage. Jagger and I got this one.”
Evie clasped Ty’s hand and tugged him toward the door. “Don’t kill him.”
“Evie…” The square set of Zane’s shoulders told her that was exactly what he planned to do.
“He would have let us go.” She met Viper’s implacable gaze, trying to read his face. “He has a son, too. One he hasn’t met. Arianne is with him. She’s waiting for me to call to tell her what to do. What if Ty never got to meet you?”
“This isn’t the time for compassion,” Zane snapped. “This is our chance to win the war. If our roles were reversed, I’d already be dead. People don’t change, Evie. He is who he is, and if we don’t deal with him now, he’ll come after you.”