Page 24 of Breaking the Alpha (Serpent’s Tongue Ink #2)

A ngelina glanced at the arrivals schedule as River’s plane changed from en route to arrived and sent him a text.

I’ve been in the mood to do a little naked stick man drawing for two days.

Her phone rang almost immediately and she laughed when she answered and River didn’t even give her time to speak before he was growling into the phone.

“There better not be any completed stick man pictures in your kitchen when we get home.”

“None,” she replied with a smile. “I decided to wait until I had my preferred client on site.”

“Good. I’ll be by the luggage carousel in five minutes.”

It took an excruciating hour for River’s bag to appear.

He was obviously tired, but he seemed as happy to see her as she was to see him.

If anything, he seemed more determined to put a claim on her while they stood with dozens of other people while the luggage belt went round and round.

He took her hand. Put his arm around her waist. Stayed tight to her side.

And although she still had reservations about how involved in River’s life she was willing to try to be, she loved feeling wanted by someone she wanted in return.

As she drove them toward Epson, she did her best to give River a stern look while his hands wandered between her thighs but she failed miserably when he leaned across the car console to kiss her shoulder.

So instead of giving him a glare, she smiled.

“Do you know what would suck more than your name trending on the DivorcingYouAndYourCounterfeitDollhouse hashtag? Crashing five minutes from home.”

Grinning, he planted one more kiss on her skin and straightened up in his seat. “Fine. But if we hit any red lights, I reserve the right to maul you for their duration.”

“Deal.”

At some point throughout the previous night, the rest of the photos and videos had surfaced. She’d woken to messages from Zoe who was, to say the least, more than a little amused at River’s rant while he extricated himself from his ex-wife, shirtless and growly and sexy as hell.

It took her a little mental steeling to watch the videos herself, uncertain if she wanted to see him lose his temper. But what she saw wasn’t what she expected.

The most thorough video started long before Windy Leigh entered the picture, scanning over River and dozens of others while they laughed and talked around a large fire.

Windy Leigh’s appearance came out of nowhere, her slim body pouncing on him with a familiarity she had to ignore for her own peace of mind.

But River hadn’t hesitated. He scrambled back across the sand and pushed himself to his feet.

His hands were intentionally kept far from her while he cursed in shock.

As the surprise wore off, he launched into a controlled, snarling tirade reminding Windy Leigh of where their relationship—or lack thereof—stood before he stormed off, phone in hand.

By the time River’s plane touched down, #DivorcingYouAndYourCounterfeitDollhouse was all over social media with thousands of people chiming in with their own stories and commentary.

Seeing him visibly relax when he descended the escalator and set eyes on her made everything better.

But it wasn’t until they finally escaped the baggage claim and made the long walk to her car that the tension in his body melted away completely.

As she pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine, he reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Thank you.”

“I like picking you up from the airport. It makes me feel like I’m in a movie.”

His serious expression didn’t waver. “Not just for that. For believing me. For giving me another chance to see where this—whatever this is—goes. For not making me feel like I fucked up or failed you.”

Turning her head toward his hand, she cupped his palm and kissed it.

“I won’t pretend I know the ins and outs of your life out there, or that I know what it’s like to have strangers weighing in on my existence constantly, but I think I’m beginning to know you.

And as long as you stay who you are when you’re there, there’s nothing you can do to fail me. ”

*

There’s nothing you can do to fail me.

Angelina’s words from twenty-four hours ago looped in River’s mind. They mocked him as he spit the gravel from his mouth, his throat hoarse from screaming and his palms as bloody as his knees.

He yanked his phone from his back pocket and tapped Birch’s number, his breathing coming harder and faster with every passing second.

“Hey, Riv. Done your first appointment already?” his brother greeted him, unaware of what had gone down over the last fifteen minutes.

Oblivious to just how badly River had failed him.

He swayed on his feet, his body numb. “Grey,” he choked out, stumbling back in the direction of Serpent’s Tongue.

“They took him. North, in a white sedan. Four guys. You gotta…” His stomach lurched and he doubled over, dry heaving while Birch hollered in confusion.

“They said no cops. They’ll kill him if you call the cops. ”

“What do you mean they took him?” his brother roared over the sound of his truck revving in the background. “Who took him? Where are you?”

Wiping the dirt and sweat from his brow, he broke into an unsteady run. “I’m on my way back to Serpent’s Tongue. White sedan, no plate. Four guys heading north on Mill Road. I’m sorry, I—don’t call the cops in, Birch. Please. They’ll kill him.”

He pushed his beaten body to move faster, ignoring the nauseating pain in his thigh and the blood leaking from his cheekbone and down his forehead.

Took him.

Took him.

Took him.

Every breath brought with it a sharp burn in his lungs while he limped closer and closer to the open back door of the shop, the sound of a vehicle screeching to a halt nearby cutting through his ragged gasps.

“River! Grey!”

He heard the front door swing open with enough force to rattle the hinges. “Back here,” he coughed out, his eyes locked on the blood smeared on the brick beside him. “Just me. Grey’s…fuck, Birch, they got him.”

Birch skidding to a stop, his hazel eyes frantic as they looked him over. “What the fuck happened?” Something he saw made him pale. “Jesus Christ, River. We need to get you to the hospital.”

Shaking his head, he scanned the room for anything the guys who took Grey might have left behind.

“The ten o’clock appointment. Two came in the front.

One was short with a dark buzzcut. The tall one looked like he could’ve been his brother.

Big, bruiser-type guy. I took him back here to prep for the septum piercing listed in the booking.

” He took a deep breath, sputtering when the pain hit.

“Fuck. Grey was up front trying to talk the shorter one into some ink and I heard the chimes go but I didn’t think twice about it until—”

He could still hear the dull thud clearly, the unmistakable sound of a fist making contact with skin and bone.

“They must’ve caught him off guard. I heard a hit, then Grey yelling.

But the guy in the back was on me so fucking fast I couldn’t get out front.

They hauled him through here and into a white sedan and I—the big guy boot-fucked me in the gut.

I managed to get onto the car but there was nothing to hold onto, and I got tossed when they hit the straightaway on Mill Road.

Then I tried to chase them down, but—” His breathing was fast and shallow, his throat tight as he slumped onto the stool Birch righted for him.

“I wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t ready. You warned me that there was shit happening and I wasn’t—”

The front door opened and Sheriff Fogerty’s voice boomed through the shop. “Baker?”

He could feel the blood draining from his face. “No cops, Birch. They said no cops.”

“We’re back here,” Birch called, kneeling in front of him and examining his forehead. “I didn’t call him. He must’ve gotten a call from someone else in the area. Let me handle this.”

Bill Fogerty stepped into the back room and cursed quietly. “What the hell went down here? We had a disturbance complaint come in.”

Birch looked at River then over to the sheriff.

“Whoever has been making those threats to me have upped their game. Grey’s been taken and they left a message with River to keep the police out of it or they’ll off him.

” Running a hand through his hair, he sat back on his haunches.

“What do I do, Bill? If they have eyes on the place and see you—”

Fogerty pulled out his phone and hesitated before nodding his head slowly.

“Here’s what we’re doing. I’m going to put out a call to the surrounding counties for extra patrols in unmarked cars.

We’ll make it look like I’m investigating an altercation River had with a client, and I’ll put that through on the scanner in case we have eavesdroppers.

Birch, I need you to stay here so we can go over everything.

River, I’m calling in a medic to come check you over.

Keep your phone on you so we can confirm any details.

” He knelt beside Birch with a frown. “You look pretty roughed up, son.”

River shook his head and stood, swaying on his feet and yanking his keys from his pocket. “Later. I can be one more vehicle on the lookout. Those guys have, what, half an hour on us? I’ll take the highway west and head north along Peak Valley Road—”