Page 33 of Quadruplets for the Vipers (Never Just One #3)

Knox

E very eye is on us as we walk into the shithole the Hellhounds call a bar. We’ve not been foolish enough to wear our Steel Vipers cuts, but we stick out like sore thumbs anyway. Even if they don’t know who we are, everyone in here can tell that we don’t belong.

With the baby gone and Leah having betrayed us, nothing is holding me back from getting my revenge on the Hellhounds.

Axel might be here to try to negotiate or do his little Sherlock Holmes act, but I’m here to fight.

I don’t give a shit if we’re out numbered, they’ve got to pay for what they’ve done.

Axel can get his answers. Once we’ve confirmed what I already know—that Leah betrayed us and there’s no hope left, I’ll start my revenge by burning this place to the ground. An eye for an eye.

I’m dealing with the pain and hurt I feel over losing the baby and Leah, by getting angry. Destroying the Hellhounds is all I have now.

We saunter up to the bar, unintimidated and unafraid.

“Four beers,” Axel says to the bartender.

The man looks at us through piggy eyes and sniffs, folding his tree-trunk arms across a barrel chest. He’s taken his loyalty to the Hellhounds rather literally, choosing to embellish his skin with a motif of a three-headed hellhound with a large, mean-looking devil holding its leash. “Why are you here?”

“Didn’t you hear? Our bar exploded. We need a place to drink,” Jace quips, sitting down on a barstool as if he has every right to be there.

“We don’t want no trouble,” the man says.

Didn’t peg him to be chickenshit.

“Shoulda thought of that before you killed our Prez and blew up our clubhouse,” I snarl.

Axel shoots me a warning glare. This is a recon mission.

We aren’t here to fight. Not when we’re outnumbered and unarmed in the middle of enemy territory.

As is customary, we had to prove we were unarmed or hand over our weapons on entry.

We have the same rule for visitors at the Vipers clubhouse.

Not that I need a gun to kill every fucker in here. The Hellhounds are a bunch of pussies.

“There won’t be any trouble. We just want to have a beer and speak to your Prez,’ Axel says calmly.

“Lucifer isn’t here, he’s away on business,” the man declares haughtily.

I can’t help but snort at his name. It gets me every time. The man doesn’t come close to earning the title of the king of hell. Like I said. Posers.

“Where?”

The man fixes him with a stern gaze. “That’s none of your business, Viper. Now, I think you boys best be on your way. You ain’t welcome here.”

“Here’s me thinking dogs were meant to be friendly.” My voice is light, but my body language is anything but. Anyone with eyes can see the barely controlled violence, shifting under the surface, waiting to break free.

The guys can immediately sense that I’m barely holding it together. Rider places a firm hand on my shoulder, a warning.

Axel inclines his head. “You let Lucifer know we need a little chat. You know as well as I do that we can’t let his actions go unpunished. I’d hate for things to escalate further than they already have.”

The man lets out a snort of laughter. “The way I see it, your club’s the only ones suffering. You ain’t done shit to us.”

I’m dying to wipe the smirk from his ugly face, but I can’t give our plan away by revealing what we’ve got in store for them.

“Just be sure to let Lucifer know he has until the end of the day to get in touch else he’ll regret it,” Axel says before turning his back and motioning for us to leave.

Finally finding their balls, a couple of the guys jeer at us as we go. Axel moves to grab hold of my other arm and steer me outside. They practically carry me as I try to get away and beat up every last fucker in here.

“Hey, where do I recognize that chick from?” Jace says, pointing out a woman who’s just getting off her bike.

I take a closer look. Damn. “It’s the nurse who performed the ultrasound on Leah, the one who told us about the miscarriage.”

She’s almost unrecognizable out of her uniform now that her tattoos are on display.

She’s squeezed herself into a pair of cutoff denim shorts and a corset.

Proudly draped over her is a leather Hellhounds jacket two sizes too big for her.

Her greasy blonde hair has been straightened within an inch of its life and her eyes heavily circled with kohl.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” Jace says.

“That’s exactly what I’d like to know,” Axel mutters, striding toward her.

It can’t be a coincidence that the nurse who was involved in Leah’s prenatal treatment just happens to be coming to a club owned by the Hellhounds. She has to be involved in this.

Her eyes widen with alarm as we approach.

“Good, you recognize us. That will make this go a lot quicker.” I grab her roughly by the arm, clamping my hand around her mouth so she can’t scream and steering her around the corner and down a dark alley.

She struggles, but she’s no match for me.

When we’re out of sight of the club, I let her go.

“Scream and you won’t like how I shut you up. ”

The others look at me judgmentally but they don’t say anything. They want answers as much as I do.

“We’re not gonna hurt you, we just want to know why are you here,” Axel asks, taking over. He speaks gently, the good cop to my bad.

Relaxing slightly, she opts for defensiveness. “Can’t a woman enjoy a drink after work?” she huffs, folding her plump arms across her chest.

“Yes, but it’s not all that common for nurses to hang around MC clubhouses, especially not one as shady as the Hellhounds.”

She looks as if she’s about to deny it before it must occur to her that there’s a fucking Hellhound insignia on her jacket with non-other than Lucifer’s name above it.

“You’re Lucifer’s old lady,” I point out.

“Yes,” she admits.

I grab her roughly again, dragging her further down the alley to where our bikes are parked, ready for a quick getaway should things get hairy. “You’re coming with us.”

“Wait, what, no!” she says panicked as she struggles against my grip.

“Knox,” Axel growls, “Let her go.”

I stop, yet don’t remove my hand from her.

“We’re not taking you anywhere, Miss. We just need to ask you some questions.”

“Like fuck we aren’t! You think the Hellhounds have taken Leah, I say we take Lucifer’s old lady. Like for like, a bitch for a bitch. Or better yet, they killed our Prez and his old lady, why shouldn’t we kill theirs?”

Her eyes widen with terror as she struggles fruitlessly. “Please, please don’t kill me, I’ll tell you anything! I promise I didn’t want to lie about the babies, but they made me!”

That gets all of our attention. “What lie?”

“They said if I told you that the babies had died, then it would keep us all safe, that you wouldn’t come after her.”

Time seems to stand still as her words sink in. “You mean… the baby is still alive? Leah didn’t have a miscarriage.”

The woman shakes her head vigorously, eager to save her skin by telling all. “No. All four babies are alive and well.”

“I’m sorry… did you say four babies ?”

We all look at her, slack-jawed and dumbfounded, struggling to process what she just said. Not only is Leah still pregnant with Levi’s kid, but she’s having quadruplets.

“How is this possible? Why didn’t anyone tell us before? Does Leah know?” The questions tumble from my lips.

Stammering, she explains. “The doctor implanted four embryos, Donna and Zeus wanted to be sure they’d get a grandchild. And no, Leah doesn’t know, or at least she didn’t when I told you all the other day.”

This changes everything. Whatever Leah’s involvement is, I don’t care, I’m going to move heaven and earth to get her back, to get those babies back.