Flipping it in the air, showing off, I drop it in Diesel’s hand. “Thanks, crazy.”
I saunter away, their eyes still locked on me. “I think I just came,” I hear Diesel say.
Garrett snorts. “You’re nasty.”
“You telling me you didn’t just get hard?” Diesel asks loudly.
“I ain’t talking about my cock with you,” he replies as I giggle.
We spend the next hour in comfortable silence, but I soon get bored. I need to do something. I’m so used to working that I’m at a loss without it. I use it as a distraction, but it works, and I honestly miss it. I’m not the type to sleep all day or laze around. I need to be doing something. So when Ryder and Kenzo turn back up, I get to my feet in excitement.
I watch in shock as Ryder strips off his jacket and looks around at us, but then I freeze at the blood on his shirt. We haven’t discussed what happened. Yeah, we fucked, but there were feelings there. I don’t know where I stand, but staring at the blood, I feel worry pool in my stomach, and I’m suddenly before him, even though I don’t remember moving.
He blinks down at me, seeming confused as I finger the blood. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“It’s not my blood,” he assures me, his voice cold, but his face softens ever so slightly. He opens his shirt to show me his untouched chest. “See?”
I nod, relaxing and looking over at Diesel who seems way too happy. “He’s going to get the information you need?”
Ryder nods as his fingers circle my hands on his chest, holding them there so I feel the thrumming of his steady heart. “Yes.”
“Then I want to go with him,” I declare before leaning up and quickly kissing Ryder. I’m unsure why, but it feels right. “I need something to do. I can make sure he doesn’t kill him too fast,” I whisper to Ryder, who seems shocked at my kissing him.
Kenzo pouts. “Aww, don’t I get a kiss too?” he murmurs.
Laughing, I dart out my fist to hit him. He grabs it mid-air and yanks me against him, dipping me dramatically as he kisses me hard, solidly, until I’m moaning into his mouth, and only then does he let me up. My core pulses with molten heat from that one kiss. I stumble away, and he winks.
“Better.”
“Are you sure, Roxxane?” Ryder queries, bringing me back to the conversation.
I shrug. “I’ve seen him at work already, and he doesn’t scare me. Plus, you already said I can control him. Let me help, I’m going crazy in here.”
He searches my eyes before nodding. “If he gets to be too much, come back up,” he warns, pretending Diesel can’t hear him.
“She’ll be fine, won’t you, Little Bird?” He smirks, rubbing his hands together.
“He’s right, I will, see you later.” I nod at them, and Diesel drags me to the elevator. I won’t be coming back up, even if it gets to be too much. I need to show them I can survive their lives, and this is their lives. If I fear Diesel, he’ll use it against me, and eat me up with it until I die.
No, I refuse to back down.
I know they are my future now, and I need to take control. Be part of it. Prove to them I can be an asset more than a good fuck. Honestly, my old life feels like a blur, I’ve become so consumed by the Vipers. I don’t want to leave anymore.
I realised it a while ago, but I still fight it. I’m tired of being alone, of just surviving, struggling every day. Yes, I miss the bar, and I’ll need to make sure it’s still running, but truthfully, if I put aside all the bad shit, my life here isn’t too bad—apart from being bored shitless. I’m hoping if I can prove myself useful, they might let me do something. My future is still uncertain. They might kill me, but as the days pass, it seems less and less likely.
They need me too.
I know it, I see it. They want me here, all apart from Garrett. Yeah, they’re criminals, but half the people I know are. Yes, they can be cold, evil bastards, and this…this relationship didn’t start off in the best way. But what ever does in real life? They aren’t knights in shining armour, no, they are the villains in the dark, with brooding eyes and beast-like tendencies.
I never needed a knight.
I needed a body to stand with me in the dark, and these snakes? They do.
The more I learn about them, the more I realise just how alike we really are. They might have money and power, but underneath, we are all the same. Maybe that’s why they seem reluctant to kill me or use me like they first wanted to.
Like recognises like.
Maybe their venom is infecting me, maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome. Maybe I just don’t fucking care. I’ve never felt so alive. They care, they notice. Their words might be harsh and their touches mean, but only because I don’t think they know how to love any better than I do.
I guess we’re going to learn together, because now? I’m all in. I’m walking willingly back into that den of vipers and holding out my arms to be bitten. Let’s just hope it doesn’t kill me.
The door opens with a ding, and Diesel looks down at me, his face transforming. He looks eager and hungry, but not for me. For pain. For bloodshed. “Ready, Little Bird? You’re about to see what I’m really capable of.”
“Ready.” I nod, faking bravery.
He smirks as he steps out. “Good, because you won’t be leaving my side until you’ve screamed my name.” He turns and heads down the corridor.
Wait…what?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
DIESEL
I hear her behind me. She doesn’t know what she’s getting into, but she had a way out and didn’t take it. I’ve held back, trying to be good, but I’m done with that. Tonight, I’ll get the information we need and take the woman who’s mine.
My little bird.
I can hear the man already struggling in the chains, trying to get free. He’s an assassin, so he’ll be harder to break and all the more sweeter for it.
When I enter the room, he freezes, his eyes scanning me for weapons. He knows why he’s here, and he knows the likelihood of him surviving is low. He’s smart, I can see it in his eyes. I wonder if he’ll talk first or test how far I’m willing to go.
“Let’s begin, shall we?” I grin, and I hear my little bird enter the room, but she won’t be just watching this time, no, she’ll be helping.
She wants to be one of us? Then this is how it’ll happen.
“Little Bird, hand me the large knife,” I instruct.
I hear her hesitate, and I look over at her. “Now, Little Bird.”
She searches my blue eyes before sucking in a breath, grabbing the knife from the tray, and passing it over to me. Smirking, I lean down and kiss her hand. “Good girl.” I turn back to the guy and step closer. I know all his weapons have been removed, but you can never be too careful.
I make a few quick slices and rid him of his clothes until he’s hanging from my hooks naked—his shoulders have to be hurting by now. Roxy gasps, no doubt at his extensive scarring. He is an assassin, after all. “Now, is there anything you would like to tell me before I start?”
Please say no.
He purses his lips, his eyes darting to Roxy before he spits at me. Laughing, I flip the knife in the air. “Thank fuck. This is going to be fun.”
I toss it again, straight at him. He braces himself as it embeds in his shoulder. The only sound he releases is a hiss between his clenched teeth. “Little Bird, Little Bird, they always break so easily…but I don’t think this one will.”
“Is that a good thing?” she asks, and I feel her hand on my back.
I glance over at her and grin, and she swallows at the sight. “A very good thing,” I purr, and she hands over a scalpel without me even asking. Ah, now she’s getting into it.
Turning back to the man, I let him see the madness that lurks deep within me, the fire they started in me as a child that not even I can control.
Stepping closer, I stare into the assassin’s eyes as I drag the sharp edge of the blade across his skin, cutting through thick scar tissue until he hisses again, his eyes squinting. I do it again across his chest and arms before grabbing the knife in his shoulder and twisting. “Now, anything to say? How about we start simply—who do you work for?”
“Santa,” he sneers, making me laugh, so I dig the blade in deeper, watching the blood drip from the wound.
“As an assassin, I’m betting your trigger finger is important, correct?” I muse out loud.