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She was the last complication he needed in his life right now. But also possibly his way out of all this.

Chapter Eight

Viper did the last thing he should be doing and stopped in at the Dark Horse Dive Bar because he couldn’t help himself. He’d taken a roundabout way to get here, making sure he didn’t have a tail. He wouldn’t rest easy until he knew Lyric was as safe as she could be when he wasn’t around.

Because it was too dangerous for others to tie Lyric to him, he did a little lock picking to get in through the emergency exit in the back. The place didn’t open for another hour, but he knew the Wildes and their staff would be here setting up for the night. Lyric was probably already in the kitchen cooking up some good stuff.

He got lucky coming in the back way, as he suspected he would with everyone up front getting ready to open the bar. He walked to the office door, hoping the man he’d come to see was there working.

He knocked on the door because he knew it locked from the inside every time it closed. Smart to keep people out of the office, unless they were staff and had a key.

The door opened, and Jax glared at him. “How’d you get in?”

Viper didn’t answer. “I came to talk to you about Lyric.”

“What about her?”

“Let me in, and let’s talk.”

Jax held the office door wide for him and closed it the second Viper stepped through. Jax started the conversation. “You’re here about Rick.”

“She told me he followed her here.”

Jax sneered. “She told you before us.”

Viper didn’t mind the overprotective-brother thing. He appreciated it for what it was. Love. “He spooked her.”

“It’s too damn easy to know everything about everyone these days.” Jax glanced at the computer, then the monitors showing the various security-camera feeds.

Viper focused on getting Jax to see him as an ally. “This guy started online. That wasn’t enough for him. He showed up at her gig in Nashville. Now he’s here. And I don’t like it.”

“Why?”

“Because I care about her.” He had no problem saying that to Jax. He wanted to put the guy at ease and make him a partner and friend in this. Not someone who’d stand between him and Lyric.

“Does she know that? Because it seems like you spend an awful lot of time trying not to show her you care until you can’t help yourself.”

Yeah, he’d changed that last night. “She knows. But because of circumstances in my life, we’re keeping it quiet for now. So keep it to yourself.”

Jax stared long and hard at him for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision about him. “I get that. The people you hang with... not so nice.”

“I would never do anything to hurt her.”

Jax held his gaze, then nodded. “I know that. You always seem to be looking out for her.”

“I always will. And that’s why I’m here. We need to talk security for her and this place.”

Jax pointed to the three monitors. One showed the bar. One the view from the bar out across the main room toward the stage at the back. One showed the hallway that led to the bathrooms and office. “I added extra security a couple months ago. That’s how Aria discovered Dan was cheating on her. Plus, there was this groupie online who made Lyric nervous. He came into the bar a few times.”

So Lyric had dealt with this before. “Not Rick, but a different guy?”

“Yeah. He tried to get Lyric to go out with him, but she wasn’t interested. Probably because of you.”

It surprised him Jax would so casually mention that, but he loved hearing that even a couple of months ago Lyric was thinking about him in that way.

“Anyway,” Jax went on, “I had some words with him. He backed off and disappeared after that.”

Viper appreciated that Jax had his sister’s back. “She needs a better lock on her door upstairs. There’s no cameras that cover the back of this place. She leaves the kitchen door unlocked and open all the time. I’ve even seen people come in through the kitchen to see her.”