Page 10 of Quadruplets for the Vipers (Never Just One #3)

Knox

W e’re too late.

The Hellhounds are long gone by the time we arrive, taking our guys’ bikes with them. It’s the ultimate fuck you, to kill a man and take his prized possession.

The bodies of my friends—my family—have been discarded on the side of the road like trash.

A choked, strangled sound escapes my lips as I see Zeus and Donna.

I run over to them and drop to my knees.

It’s clear that Zeus is dead, his body is riddled with bullets, his eyes wide and unseeing.

Donna is underneath him, I don’t doubt that Zeus died trying to protect her, using his body as a shield.

Donna’s eyes are closed, and I can see that she’s been hit somewhere near her neck. I take her wrist in mine, feeling for a pulse; it’s faint but there. My heart swells with hope as I call 911.

I pull Zeus’ dead weight off of her, laying him down carefully as I free Donna’s limp, unconscious body, trying not to dwell on how much blood there is.

“It’s okay, Donna,” help is coming, “You’re gonna be okay,” I say, attempting to reassure myself as much as her.

I carefully check her body for wounds, trying to assess the extent of the damage. My time in the army tells me it’s bad. That she’s already lost too much blood. I’m vaguely aware of Jace pulling up and assessing the damage, but my focus is on Donna.

“You can’t die, I won’t let you,” I mutter.

I begin chest compressions, willing her to stay alive. I keep going, even when her heart stops beating and the faint, fluttering pulse is gone.

“Knox… she’s gone… we gotta go, the cops are coming,” Jace says gently, bringing me back to the world.

It’s only then that I hear the sirens. I notice my face is wet with tears. Only then do I realize that he’s right. Donna’s dead.

I numbly follow his lead, allowing him to pull me away from the man and woman I view as parents.

The people who raised me when mine were incapable.

If the cops find us here, there will be questions.

We shouldn’t be here. We need to protect the club and retaliate, something we can’t do if we’re stuck in interviews.

The police will come, there’s no doubt about it, but this buys us time and, more importantly, deniability.

***

We don’t bother to speak to Sal, who’s busy working when we arrive, heading straight for the office.

Rider is standing in one corner, his eyes on the door, poised and ready for danger as usual.

Leah sits on a threadbare chair, wringing her hands nervously while Axel prowls back and forth.

Axel pauses his pacing as we enter, their eyes all fixed on us.

Relief and concern mingle in their expressions as they ask us silently what no one dares say aloud. The words get caught in my throat.

“They’re all dead,” Jace says.

His blunt, emotionless words make it real.

Axel and Rider take the news stoically. Neither seems surprised. Leah’s eyes open wide in shock, and her hands fly up to her face as she lets out a choked gasp.

“Why the fuck did you leave them to fend for themselves?” I demand, squaring up to Axel.

He stares back at me defiantly. “Zeus ordered us to get Leah out of there safely. We were outnumbered, if we’d stayed…”

He doesn’t need to finish his sentence. We both know they could likely have ended up on the side of the road with the rest of our friends. But grief has made me angry. I need someone to blame.

“You’re two of our best fighters. You could have saved them,” I insist. “The brothers I fought with would never have abandoned another soldier.”

Axel winces at the sting of my words. He’s not one to run from a fight or abandon his friends.

Rider doesn’t give anything away, he’s retreated to himself.

His face is a blank slate. Remaining stoic is his automatic protective stance.

A survival mechanism he learned the hard way.

I know this. But it doesn’t stop me from lashing out.

“Don’t you fucking care? Our friends are dead. Our President is dead. Donna is dead!” I yell, getting in his face.

“You know I do,” he replies calmly.

“Knox…” Jace interjects. A warning, perhaps, that I shouldn’t blame them. I ignore him.

“You cowards left them to die!” I scream, twisting around to face Axel again. I can see that my words are hurting him, but I want to lash out, for others to feel the same pain I do.

“Do you think we wanted to leave them?” Axel snarls. “We had no choice.”

“Oh, yeah, because you had to save Leah,” I reply sarcastically, finally looking at her. “What’s so fucking special about this chick that you’ll abandon your friends and Prez to die? Cos she’s hot and you wanna stick your dick in her?”

“It was an order, Knox,” Rider explains again calmly.

“So you fucking ignore it!” I snap.

I turn my attention to Leah, who shrinks under my furious gaze.

Normally, I’d feel bad for scaring her. I’ve grown fond of Leah, not just because she’s easy on the eye and is forbidden, I’m dying to break the rules with, but also because she seems like a genuinely nice woman.

The kind of person I could picture being my old lady, if I ever wanted to settle down, that is.

But right now, I don’t care if I upset her.

In my grief, all I can see is that she’s the reason the last of my family is dead.

“What’s so fucking special about you that you get to live and they had to die?” I snarl.

“Nothing,” she replies, her voice a frightened whisper. Tears fall down her face. She’s so beautiful and vulnerable that I have to look away.

“Knox, that’s enough,” Jace says softly.

“No. It’s not. I need answers!”

“She’s pregnant, Knox,” Axel says quietly.

That knocks some of the wind out of my sails. It makes sense now why she moved in and why Axel said she was off-limits. Clearly, he wants to do right by the kid, and there’s definitely something between them that he seems to be trying to work out.

“She’s carrying your child. Why didn’t you just tell us, Axel?”

I can’t read Axel’s expression as he takes in my words.

“Knox. It’s not my child. Leah is a surrogate for Zeus and Donna. She’s carrying Levi and April’s baby.”

His words sink in, and I look over at Leah, who doesn’t seem to realize she’s placed a protective hand on her stomach.

“How’s that even possible? Levi and April have been dead for months,” I say with a disbelieving shake of my head.

As Axel explains the whole story, how they had frozen embryos and went in search of the perfect surrogate, all of my anger is knocked out of me, leaving me confused and remorseful. I know that Zeus and Donna would gladly have died to save their unborn grandchild.

I also feel an overwhelming sense of hurt and confusion that I’m only finding this out now.

“Why didn’t they tell me?” I ask. A rejected and lonely boy again.

“They didn’t want to get your hopes up until they knew for sure that Leah was pregnant.

They knew that this baby would mean more to you than anyone else, maybe even them.

You were their son, Levi’s adopted brother.

They wanted to bring back a piece of what was taken from you all,” Axel explains gently.

“And now this baby’s lost all of its family…”

“You, of all people, should know family isn’t just blood relatives. Zeus and Donna treated you as their own for your whole life, even before making it official and adopting you. We’re your brothers, your family, too,” Jace replies.

“And we’ll be this baby’s family,” Axel insists.

I look over at Leah, who’s evidently in shock.

It’s clear that the fact of the surrogate parents being gone and the question of who will now care for the child is only just dawning on her.

Like it or not, Leah is part of this family now.

There’s no way that I won’t be a part of this child’s life.

I’m not letting her out of my sight until the baby is born.

After that, she can decide if she wants to stay or go, but the baby won’t be going with her if I have any say in it.