“Please.” Bill groaned. “I don’t know nothing about missing weapons. I swear it.”
Viper sliced the knife across Bill’s shoulder, leaving a thick red trail down to his heart. Bill shrieked, the pain in his voice stabbing through Evie’s chest. Without thinking, she ran for the cash register where Bill kept his shotgun.
“Morning, kitten. I was just coming in to see you.” Viper turned, wiped the sweat from his brow with bloody fingers, leaving a smear across his forehead. His dark, soulless eyes froze her mid-step. He sheathed his knife and stretched out his hand, gesturing her forward as Bill keened to the side.
“Please stop. Don’t hurt him anymore.” She saw no point asking why he was beating on Bill, or even pretending she didn’t know. Time was of the essence, the shotgun was in reach, and she had no interest in games.
Viper mocked a sympathetic look. “I’m afraid we have to hurt him. Then we have to kill him. He tried to cheat us and steal our weapons. No one disrespects the Jacks. I thought you got that message last night.”
Oh, she got the message. Loud and clear. He didn’t need the veiled threats to remind her that she’d made the biggest mistake of her life the night she agreed to that first date. She reached under the counter and felt around for the gun.
“Come give me a kiss, Evangeline.” He cupped his groin and made a lewd gesture with his hips. “Nothing gets a man off more than a good beating. And there’s no point looking for the weapon. Your friend already tried that, and you can see the result.”
Evie glanced over at Connie, spotted the bruise on her cheek, tears rolling down her face, her Big Bill’s shirt torn at the neck. Nausea roiled in her belly and she gripped the counter to hold herself up. “I know where the weapons are. If you let him go, I’ll take you there.”
“I gave you an order; I expect you to obey.” Viper snapped his fingers and pointed at the floor beside him, a thin smile gracing the merciless slash of his mouth. “Now. Or I’ll kill him in front of you.”
So this was the side he had hidden from her beneath a veneer of civility. His cold, dark, malevolent gaze sent a chill through her body, but not as much as the implacable resolve on his face. Bill was going to die unless she saved him. And yet, without a gun, what could she do?
She trailed her hand along the shelf under the counter as she walked, her fingers brushing papers, pens, and, finally, the packing knife Connie used to open boxes. She closed her hand around the wooden handle, and slid it under her sleeve, the five-inch serrated blade pressing against her wrist. It was nothing compared to the blade Viper carried, and she doubted she would be able to do much damage, but maybe she could cause enough of a distraction to call for help.
“Please.” She begged when she reached him. “Don’t do this.”
“There’s a good kitten.” Viper put an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Evie bent as far back as she could, trying not to touch his shirt, even as the acrid scents of blood, sweat, and leather assailed her nostrils. But Viper tightened his grip and pulled her closer, grinding his erection into her stomach. Evie fought back the bile that rose in her throat. God, the violence turned him on.
“After I’m done here, I’m going to take you back to the clubhouse and I’m gonna fuck you the way I wanted to fuck you when I first saw you out in your shop.” Viper threaded his hand through her hair and yanked her head back. “I wanna hear my name on your lips when you scream, kitten. And then I wanna hear you scream just for fun.”
“I thought you wanted me because I was different from the others.” Evie wondered how much of this was posturing and how much was real. She couldn’t reconcile the beast of a man who held her now with the charming biker who had wined and dined her over the past four weeks.
“But you’re not,” he said. “You made the wrong choice last night when you got on that Sinner’s bike. I did warn you, sweet Evangeline. Now I’m gonna have to beat that sweet outta you, which is the last thing I wanted to do. You’ll wind up as hard and rough as an old lady, and I already got one of those.”
“You have an old lady?” She looked at him aghast and laughter erupted from Viper’s chest.
“Yeah, I got an old lady. And a clubhouse full of sweet butts to soothe the ache from playing games with you. Did you think you were the only one? Or that you could get me all wound up and then walk away? Man like me has needs, kitten. Booze, drugs, women, sex, and goddamn justice for what the Sinners did.”