Page 125 of Dangerous Men

He finally turns to look at me, and his eyes go straight to my gun, still clutched tight in my hand. When he steps forward to take it from me, I give it up with no resistance at all.

I don’t know what to expect when he palms it. You can never predict what Viper is going to do. Maybe he’ll just shoot me straight in the head for interrupting his fun. Maybe he’ll end me right now.

But all Viper does is engage the safety and hand the gun back to me.

“Don’t point it at someone unless you’re ready to shoot them,” he reminds me, eyes dark.

That’s the problem, though. I was ready.

I hold his stare, refusing to back down, and wonder if he can see it in my eyes. I wonder if he knows how close I came to killing him.

“Sterling will kill you if you hurt her,” I tell him, taking my gun from him and sliding back into its spot at the small of my back. “He likes her, Viper.Ashtonlikes her.”

I don’t need to tell Viper how I feel about our Sydney. He can see it written all over my face.

“Of course, you all like her, brother,” Viper says, grinning. He puts a hand on my shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. “She’s so, so pretty.”

His smile is a thing of nightmares.

“Just imagine how pretty she’ll be when she breaks,” he says.

His laughter is haunting, and it stays with me long after he’s left.

Sydney isn’tin the café when I go to find her. She’s not in the shop anywhere I look.

The stockroom is the last place I check, and I know I’ve found her when I find it locked.

I don’t even bother knocking. The thin metal card I keep in my wallet is all I need to pick the lock open and let myself inside.

Sydney doesn’t look surprised when I enter, shutting the door behind me and reengaging the lock.

She looks terrified.

Arms wrapped around herself, cowered against thetable, she watches me approach with fear in her eyes. There’s a smear of blood on her mouth, and a mark on her neck that looks like a bite. I stare at it, gritting my teeth and hoping Viper had the good sense not to break the skin there.

The human mouth has over 500 different species of bacteria. I make a quick mental note of exactly which antibiotics I’ll need to get for her.

“Thatwas Viper?” Sydney asks, voice unsteady.

I nod, stepping toward her. She doesn’t flinch away from me, not yet. I take that as a good sign. She held her own against him. She didn’t even scream.

All good signs.

“He’s a maniac,” Sydney breathes, holding herself tighter. “He’s… he’sdangerous.”

The way she says it, the way she spits out the worddangerouslike it’s the single most disgusting thing a person can be hits me surprisingly hard. I feel my mask crack, just a little.

“He is,” I try to tell her, keeping my voice gentle. Easy, like I’m talking to a frightened animal. “But he’s loyal. He’s good at what he does. He’s our brother, and?—”

She laughs, and there’s an edge of cruelty to it. “Loyal? He’s a fucking maniac! He—he should be locked up!”

The mask cracks even more as my hands clench at my side.

“Hewaslocked up,” I say in a low voice. Sydney’s eyes jump to mine as I take another step closer to her. “That’swhyhe’s like this. Because of whatbeing locked updid to him.”

Where is my vengeful goddess? Where is my queen of wrath and darkness? The woman who was willing to kill?

I don’t see her anywhere in Sydney’s face right now. I see a frightened woman. I see a doll made of glass, so easily broken.