Page 137 of Viper

That I would be furious.

Iamfurious, but not for the reasons he thinks.

I’m too terrified to think straight. Too scared they are about to get caught if I don’t act as expected.

“YourPapawants to talk,” Zane says. His wink makes me flinch. “Your daddy isn’t going to be pleased you’re being difficult.”

“Fuck you,” I spit out, rage boiling in my gut. Zane did this on purpose, knowing Rune will be furious with me.

Damon’s fingers curl around my upper arm. “Let’s go,” he says, yanking me roughly toward the door. My heel slips and I stumble, nearly falling over, but he grips my arm tighter, jerking me upright.

“Hands.Off.”

The sinister edge of the words makes Damon freeze.

Behind me, I feel him move before the sound of the chair skidding backward touches my ears. Electricity fizzes up my spine from the intensity of his rage, making the hair on my arms rise. Breaker’s quiet, “Don’t,” barely registers as I turn to face the table.

When our eyes meet, I see the shift in him. Viper almost seems to change form, something dark and deadly rising under his skin, shifting his boyish face into a mask of cruelty.

“Seems you forgot,” Viper says, leaning forward, placing his palms on either side of his white plate. Every movement is calculated, all the way down to his breathing. Precise. Controlled. But coiled up tightly, ready to spring loose and poison everything within his reach. “No one touches what is mine.”

Every single syllable pulses like a heartbeat in my ears. My stomach dips as Viper reaches for the silverware on the table. Metal glints as he picks it up. I already know what he’s going to do before he does it. Instead of saying,No, don’t, my mouth goes dry and the words get caught in my throat.

With a quick flick of his wrist, the knife flies, somehow almost too fast to see, but also in slow motion. Or maybe it’s the aftermath that seems to slow down time.

I don’t hear the whip of it moving through the air, don’t hear as it embeds itself in soft tissue. What I hear comes too late. It’s the soft gasp of shock followed by the slight gurgle as the guard exhales a shaky breath.

Warmth hits my face. The guard’s hand falls from my arm. I take a step back, turning to face Damon.

His hand flies to his neck, his features frozen, brows slightly knitted, almost as if confused. Blood gushes in a dramatic spray outward, staining his suit, splashing his face. Gushing out and hitting Zane’s bright white shirt. It sprays the table, dotting the white china and silver platters. Landing grotesquely on the stacks of bagels and mixing with the red jellies.

The guard drops to his knees, struggling for air, his fuckinglife, and what feels like seconds, minutes, an eternity later, he falls forward face first onto the stone floor.

“Jesus fuck, come on,” Zane screams, but it sounds like he’s in another dimension.

Viper grips my arm and gently pulls me toward him, locking eyes with Zane. “The deal is done,” he says. “Touch what’s mine again, and I’ll fucking ruin you.”

Zane steps back, his face contorting with anger.

Viper points to the body on the floor. “Get your man to remove this sack of shit. And I expect payment before the cutlery is shipped.”

Zane snaps, pointing to the body on the floor, and the man who missed the knife’s blade and Viper’s fury by inches grabs the dead man by his shoulders and drags him away, a trail of blood streaking across the floor.

“Cora,” Clyde shouts. He snaps his fingers in my face. I pull my eyes up from the wet streak marring the perfect stones to his brown eyes. “We have to go. Rune wants to see you.”

Chapter 42

Viper

“Whatthefuckiswrong with you?” The words explode out of Breaker the second the door to my bedroom closes.

“Where should I begin?” I ask. “I think I began spiraling into the void when I was about six?”

Breaker lets out an exasperated sound. “You fucking killed a man. Unprovoked.”

“Oh, it was definitely provoked.” My skin still buzzes with a wild, nearly frantic energy. Killing always does that. Like some sick high that I always regret. Almost always. That fucker had it coming. I can’t lay a damn finger on Zane, not yet, but everyone else around him is expendable. And seeing him flirt with Breaker?

I stalk across the room, stopping at the tall windows overlooking the ocean, crossing my arms and gripping my biceps so I don’t punch his stupid face.