No, no, no.
But it’s too late, they are too high and I’m still barrelling towards them. Screaming, I smash onto the brakes, the car fishtailing as I try to avoid the crash. I slow down, but it’s not enough, I hit the barrier. My head jerks and smashes into the window, making me groan. My neck is thrown into the seatbelt, cutting off my air supply for a moment as the airbags explode.
Fuck.
Head ringing, pain racing through me, I unlock the seatbelt with fumbling fingers and kick open the door, sliding onto the ground. Holy shit. That was so close. My heart is tripping over itself, and my stomach is rolling. Leaning on all fours, I suck in desperate breaths. When I feel more calm, I stagger to my feet.
The whole right side of the car is scratched from hitting the barrier. But it’s fixable. There’s a crack in the driver’s side window from where my head hit it. It makes me angry, and it pours through me as I scream it all out. I was so close! So fucking close! And now, now I’m stuck here.
Where I’ll die.
I don’t know what comes over me, everything is too much. I’m powerless and out of control and can’t help it. Scarily calm, I walk over to the crowbar I dropped and pick it up, holding it like I do my bat. I feel blood dripping down my head, but I don’t care. Walking back to the car, I swing the crowbar and bring it down on the hood.
It feels good, really good, as the sound of crunching metal fills the air. The hood dents, so I do it again and again, ruining the perfect expensive toy. I smash in windows, laughing as the crash fills the air. I beat the car so good, lost in my own world. I need more, I need to get it all out.
Scrambling onto the bonnet, I bring the crowbar down repeatedly, screaming as I do. I climb to the top of the car, standing on the roof as I smash everything I can reach. My arms feel like lead, and I drop the crowbar. It hits the ground with an audible clunk as I heave in breaths, my body covered in sweat, my head aching from the hit, and my back and neck sore—but it was worth it. Seeing the destruction I wrought, I can’t help but laugh.
Take that, you Viper bastards.
That’s when I hear clapping. Whipping my head up, I lock eyes with Diesel and Kenzo, who are standing about ten meters away from the car, just watching me. Kenzo is rolling his dice through his fingers with a smirk on his face, while Diesel’s clapping.
“I bet you she wouldn’t make it.” Kenzo smirks at him as Diesel stops, his face lighting up as he watches me.
His chest is bare, a few tattoos covering the golden skin, and he’s ripped. Way too ripped. Shouldn’t crazy people be worse looking? But no, he looks like a fallen angel. Gold hair and all, which is tied back in a ponytail. “You did, man, that was hot as hell.” He nods to me and then looks at Kenzo. “Isn’t she amazing?”
Just then, the door into the basement rips open and Garrett and Ryder stride in. They freeze when they see me standing on top of the ruined car with Kenzo and Diesel just watching me. Diesel whistles, winking over at me.
“Ooh, you’re in trouble now, Little Bird.”
Fuck.
Ryder’s face is thunderous as he steps closer. His shirt is wrinkled, and his suit jacket is thrown haphazardly on. “I was pulled from a meeting to see this…” He narrows his eyes and looks to Kenzo. “Explain,” he barks.
The man shrugs. “Sorry, bro, she somehow snuck out. When I realised, I searched the cameras and saw her in the basement in your car. I hit the alarm, and the barriers must have stopped her.”
“Then?” Ryder prompts, gesturing to me on top of the car.
“Then she started beating the shit out of your car, screaming something about snakes and assholes,” Diesel offers wistfully, almost dreamily.
I did?
Wait, Ryder’s car?
Oh fuck.
The man looks back at me with cold eyes. “Get down now,” he orders.
I swallow, but he must see me about to open my mouth, because he steps closer still, each movement controlled. “Now. Do not make me come up there.”
I jump from the car, crunching as I land, jarring my aching head. I know he means business, especially when he grabs my arm and drags me away. I struggle in his grip, swearing, but he ignores me as he hauls me over to the elevator and smashes his hand on the scanner.
It opens, and he throws me inside. I slam into the wall, the breath knocked out of me as I turn to see him step inside before smashing his finger onto a button. We start to rise, and I watch him carefully. His eyes are dark, those emotions melting the ice there. His hands are shaking, balled into fists, and it’s clear he’s close to exploding.
So what do I do?
Push him.
Maybe it’s because I’ve accepted that I’m going to die here and never be free again, and with that acceptance has come a certain bravery to see how far I can push them. It’s crazy, but I can’t seem to stop.
“Nice car.” I smirk.
His movements are jerky, and I flinch back as he bangs his fist onto a stop button. We shudder to a halt, throwing me forward, right into him. He catches me, his hand going around my throat as he tosses me back into the elevator wall, making me cry out at the pain it causes.
“Do not push me, love,” he snarls, right in my face. My heart is pounding, and he must feel it against his hand because he squeezes my throat, letting me feel all that power. The strength and emotions he hides behind the ice.
This man is deadly, a Viper, and I just poked the snake, and now he’s ready to strike.
To bite.
And I’m the mouse.
But yet again, my mouth opens. “Why not?”
He leans closer, letting me see those eyes which are now on fire. Fuck, how did I ever think he was cold? He’s an inferno, a wildfire. It burns everything in its path, and right now, that’s me. But the thing is, I would gladly burn, and I don’t even know why.
“Because I won’t be gentle like Kenzo. I won’t even make sure you like it like Diesel. I will tan your ass so hard that you won’t be able to walk, never mind sit. Then I’ll leave you in this elevator for everybody to see just how much you want us. How much you don’t hate us, even if you think so. You can fool yourself, but you can’t fool me, love. I will rip those barriers to shreds, piece by fucking piece. I will have you on the edge, nearly coming from my punishment alone, and leave you for everyone to see…to see how much you want it. The very people you claim to hate.”
“I don’t want you,” I snap, tipping my head back and meeting his eyes, but my thighs clench, betraying my truth, and he no doubt notices. Ryder notices everything and uses it against me. And he’s noticed something even I didn’t want to. I’m attracted to them, to my kidnappers.
That’s what stops me from speaking—the fact that he’s right and I hate him. I hate them. I really do, but I want them so badly it’s scary, and I’ve been trying to hide from it, taking it out on them. He smirks like he sees my battle and knows I won’t fight him anymore. Stepping back, he straightens his suit, hiding behind that coolness again. His hands stop shaking as he presses the button to get us moving. “Last warning, Roxxane—do not push us. We have been kind so far, now? All bets are off, you are about to see what the Vipers are really like, and you only have yourself to blame. You’re fair game now, little prey, better run.” He winks. “You’re a business deal, love, but now you’re about to become our toy.”
The door opens, and he steps out, meeting the eyes of the rest of the Vipers waiting there. Shit, how did they get up here so fast? He smirks at them, ignoring me still pressed against the wall, breathing heavily, hating him, hating myself. But at least the blood from my head has stopped.
“D, she’s yours for the rest of the day. Let’s show our little brat here what happens to those who betray us, who test us,” Ryder orders, his icy eyes still locked on me. Only when he turns away do I start to breathe again.
Holy fuck.
I thought Ryder was ice, an unfeeling snake. I was so wrong. Under it all is a swirling tornado of emotions barely being held in check. I glimpsed it in his eyes, felt it in his hands. He’s so close to exploding and raining down destruction, I don’t think he even knows how close.
The others currently don’t, but I do now. He’s ready to break, to snap, and when he does…who will be alive to tell the story?
Chapter Fifteen
DIESEL
“She’s yours.” It repeats over and over in my head as a smile curls my lips. She steps farther back into the elevator, her eyes on me, scared. She should be. Ryder and Garrett brought me a new toy to play with, to teach him a lesson. It seems he disrespected Ryder when he was approached about not paying up.