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“Viper.” I breathed.
“You met him?”
I nodded my head slowly. “Everyone knows Viper, Gunner.”
He narrowed his eyes. “He ever hurt you?”
I started to shake my head but decided I needed to be honest instead. “One time at a rally, he cornered me and said some things.” I looked over his shoulder, embarrassed. “Some sexual stuff, but then Snake found me.”
His hands tightened on my hips. “What did Snake do?”
“He yelled at me and then slapped me, right in front of Viper. He laughed and patted Snake on the back before he walked away.”
“Snake blamed you.” he guessed correctly.
“He said I was a whore who was trying to get to the top.” I shrugged. “Honestly, I was happy he caught me with Viper because I knew he’d be mad, and we’d leave.”
“Did you?”
“Yeah. I didn’t really see him after that. Snake stopped taking me to rallies with him, which I was happy about because I hated them.” I reached up and pushed my hair behind my ear. “But I’d heard around the clubhouse what Viper did to other girls. I don’t know if it’s true because some of it was pretty bad, but I also didn’t want to find out.”
“It was true.”
“How do you know that?”
Gunner’s gaze hardened. “Because I know what he’s capable of.” I waited, sensing he had something to tell me, and after what seemed like a long moment, he continued. “He killed my mom because she tried to leave him.”
I pulled back, stunned that the story I’d heard over the years was actually true. “That was true?”
His brow furrowed. “You heard?”
I nodded slowly. “Snake and the others talked about it. It was almost like they praised Viper for doing that. They said she wanted to take his son too, and that’s why he killed her.” I took another step back and his hands dropped. “You’re that son?”
“I’m his only son as far as I know.” He put his hands on his hips. “Do you know something I don’t know?”
I shook my head. “No, except there was a rumor that he had another son, an older one, who he didn’t raise, but I don’t know if that’s true.”
“He could’ve. Fuck, he probably fathered a lot of kids, and if the women were smart, they kept them a secret.” He ran his hand through his hair. “You overheard a lot.”
I shrugged. “Snake would get drunk and talk about everything. Plus, I was quiet and stayed in the shadows. I tried to make myself invisible, so they never knew I was around. That was how I got all the information I brought to you guys.”
“If he knew you were listening, he would’ve killed you.”
“I think part of me wanted him to find out,” I admitted quietly before laying my palm against his chest. “I’m sorry you lost your mom, especially the way you did.”
He dropped his head and stared at his shoes. “I watched her die, Maggie, by his hands. As soon as I could, I got the hell out of there.”
“I thought no one could leave the Widows.”
He lifted his head, his eyes full of pain. “You can’t. I had something on him, still do, something he doesn’t want anyone else to know I have on him.” His voice deepened. “I’m going to take him and that whole fucking club down.”
I looked over his shoulder again, my mind overwhelmed with everything he’d just told me, when something occurred to me. I shifted my gaze and met his once again. “Is that why you’ve been trying so hard to save me? Because you couldn’t save your mom?”
He was quiet, so quiet that I knew I was right, and I stepped back. I took another step back, and he watched me until I moved from his embrace and put some distance between us.
I wrapped my arms around my body and swallowed back the tears threatening. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want him to see a victim when he looked at me or be constantly reminded of his mom. A woman he loved and watched die, a woman he was too young to save.
I took a deep breath and faced him. “Saving me, Gunner, saving this club from the Widows, won’t change the fact that he killed your mom.”