“Believe me, love. If they aren’t gone already, they will be before we leave his alley. I was done with T-Rex. Had my fun with him. But for some fucking reason, he wouldn’t leave your side. So I sent my reporter friend to find Tank, just in case I needed an insurance policy. And after my ATF mole tried and failed to bring you to me twice, I cashed it in. He’s with Tank and T-Rex now, along with four of my senior patch with orders not to leave until they’ve both been put to ground.”
Did she hear some hesitation in his voice? A hint of uncertainty. Would Michael really execute two men in cold blood? He might be a dirty cop, maybe blackmailed by Viper, but she’d sensed a streak of decency in him the few times they’d met. He wasn’t a hardened criminal like Viper, soulless and beyond redemption. Even after the Sinners had beaten him for touching her in the bar, she couldn’t imagine him pulling the trigger.
But maybe he had no choice. She’d known Viper owned the police, a few judges, and maybe a senator or two. But if he owned the reporters and the ATF, he was playing at a much higher level. Not even Jagger would be able to stop him now.
“Let her go,” Shaggy said. “She can’t help you. She’s nobody. And you can get yourself a finer piece of tail over at Peeler’s Strip Club.”
“She can help me.” Viper pulled Naiya to her feet. “In fact, I can’t do it without her. When Naiya turns twenty-three, she’ll have access to a trust fund containing twenty million dollars. Imagine that. Imagine how many people I could buy with twenty million dollars. I wouldn’t even have to run in the nationwide Black Jack election. I’d just off the National Black Jack president and take his place and no one would be able to do anything about it.”
“Bullshit,” Naiya spat out. “You know my mother was nothing but a drug addict, and my father was one of your Jacks. We had nothing when I was growing up. And my grandmother had nothing either. When I lived with her, we barely had enough money to eat and pay the mortgage.”
“Your mother was definitely a drug addict because I made her that way.” Viper’s lips turned down in mock regret. “I had to keep her around in case your father showed up. The trust could be broken with both their signatures, and if he was a Jack, then that wouldn’t be a problem. And I had to keep you fucking safe, because if you died before you turned twenty-three, the money went to charity. Your grandmother thought of everything when she replaced your mother’s name on the trust with yours.”
Naiya tried to take it all in, but there was only one thing she really cared about. “You know who my father is?”
“Don’t be fucking stupid.” Viper shook her hard. “If I did, I would have hunted him down and made him sign on the dotted line when your mother was alive. I got all the information out of her I could, but it wasn’t enough. His name was Joe Johnson. He hid his identity from her, but she didn’t know why. They had some pathetic love affair and he took off after you were born. Your grandmother was a smart woman. She musta known the deadbeat would never come back so the trust was secure until you turned twenty-three. I had to listen to the fucking sob story so many times I had to gag your damn mother every time she brought it up. She loved him. He left her. He broke her heart. He gave you his fucking ring and left her with nothing. Blah. Blah. Blah. I had a good look at that ring the night I made you mine” He leered and Naiya’s stomach roiled. “Didn’t mean anything to me. But that was a fucking good night. I want to hear you scream like that again.”
Shaggy fisted his hands by his sides and shouted curses, throwing himself forward. Viper frowned and one of his bodyguards slammed the butt of the gun into Shaggy’s head. Shaggy stumbled and went down on one knee.
“No. Stop.” Naiya took a step toward him, and Viper pulled her back.
“He’s nothing. He’s gonna be yet another body for me to bury tonight after our wedding.”
Naiya stared at him aghast. “Our what?”
Viper laughed. “We’re getting married today, love. Then I’m keeping my bride chained to my bed for the next three months until she turns twenty-three, her trust vests, and she transfers all her assets to me as a wedding gift. After all, you’ve been mine since you were fifteen, and I claimed you to protect you and keep all the vultures at bay.”
“You fucking bastard,” Naiya screamed, her body heating with anger. “I’ll never marry you. I’ll never say yes. Never give my consent.”
“Lucky for you I know the mayor of Sandy Lake, and he owes me a favor. He doesn’t need to hear the word yes to solemnize a marriage. He’s the one who helped me trace the source of the money. Did you know your great, great granddaddy invested in the railroads? The stock was handed down through the generations, but your grandmother wanted nothing to do with it. She put it in a trust for your mother, but when she found out your mom had got herself a taste for bikers, she changed the terms of the trust and all the money went to you.”
“I would rather die than give you that money,” Naiya spat out.
“You will die as soon as I have all the funds.” Viper stroked her cheek with a thick finger. “But in the meantime, we’ll have three months to enjoy married life together. Although I suspect, I’ll be the one enjoying it, and you’ll be the one suffering. Just like T-Rex.”