Page 38

But that didn’t mean he had to give up his job entirely.

“You’re done with this. I know it. You know it. So let’s not pretend that she’s not the reason for it.”

“You’ve got that wrong, Nick. She’s not the reason I want out. She’s the reward for doing all this for so long. I did my duty. I gave this job everything. Now I want to stop pretending I’m something I’m not. I want my life back.”

“You’ve earned it, and then some. There’s no one better than you at this. There’s no one I trust more to do the job right.”

He didn’t want to let his brother down. But he deserved a life that was his. “I can’t keep being two people and missing out on being with the family because I’m so deeply entrenched in another life that I don’t get to live mine.”

“I know. We miss you all the time. But you know everyone understands.”

“That’s nice. But it doesn’t make up for the fact that I miss almost everything and have to hear about it secondhand from you. I don’t want a relationship where my wife spends more time on the phone with me than she does in person. I don’t want to just hear about my kids. I want to be there.”

Nick’s voice turned soft with wonder. “You really love this woman.”

“I think I do, but we hardly know each other. I just had to hide in a hallway, out of sight of others just to spend a couple of minutes with her. I kissed her and had to let her go before we got caught. How do you think she feels about that when I can’t tell her I’m one of the good guys, not some thug in a gang? She thinks there’s something more to me. She’s willing to find out. I want to show her who I really am. But right now, I can’t.”

“I’m sorry.”

He didn’t want the apology. “I want you to understand that I’ve changed. I still love the job, I just can’t do it this way anymore. Not when I want the kind of life where I get to share it with the ones I care about more than anything. That includes you.”

“I feel like I spend way more time being your boss than I do being your brother.” The quiet admission held a lot of love and understanding.

Viper gripped the steering wheel tighter, feeling that all the way to his soul. “I don’t mind that you’re my boss. I resent that you forget sometimes that I’m your brother, too, and I need you on my side.”

“I’m always on your side. I understand where you’re coming from on this. We’ve both dedicated everything to the job.” Maybe Nick was feeling as lonely as Viper felt.

“You’d like Lyric.”

“I can’t wait to meet her.” Genuine interest.

“As soon as it’s safe.”

“You got it. We’ll get this done tonight, then go after the rest of them.” That was Nick. Always on his side, ready to help.

“Thank you, Nick. I know you hate to lose me in the field.”

“You’ll just have to train your replacement in all your sneaky ways.”

He had some cool tricks. “I can do that.”

Nick hung up on him, leaving Viper feeling a hell of a lot better about his decision and that he had his brother backing him up.

He didn’t know what the next part of his life looked like exactly, but he was looking forward to getting to know Lyric much better, and himself away from this kind of work.

First, he had some bad guys to put away.

Chapter Nine

Viper loved this part of the job. He lived for taking down the bad guys. And in this case, they had three. Rich, the husband, who wanted his wife dead, so he could be with his lover and not pay out a divorce settlement. Aaron, the intended murder victim’s brother, who Viper had learned was in deep debt and thought to blackmail his brother-in-law into paying him half the life insurance money to keep his mouth shut. And Spike, his MC buddy who was just doing a job and getting paid.

Sad, all the way around.

The greed of it didn’t surprise Viper. People did a hell of a lot more for a hell of a lot less. Still, three men wanted to get paid for the death of one woman who hadn’t done anything to deserve this kind of callous end.

Viper had a mask over his head, his FBI jacket on, a bulletproof vest, and gloves to hide the distinctive compass tattoo on his hand. He hung back and let the rest of the team do their job. They had the victim’s house surrounded. Rich’s wife, Kelly, had been questioned about her husband and advised of Rich’s plans for her. Her reaction had been a loud string of expletives and a combination of shock and outrage. But when they told her about Aaron’s involvement, she’d been quietly devastated.

He felt for Kelly. It was one thing for a marriage to fall apart. But it was another for your husband to not only want you dead but to pay to have you killed—while he was having an affair.