Page 142 of Viper

Until I’m alone with the man who raped me, punched me, and forced his dick into my mouth all while a deadly knife and a list of dead lodge members sat feet away.

A thought tickles the back of my brain, like I’m missing something. Something vital.

The men want to kill Rune for a reason. Revenge for their brother, they say, but it has to be more than that. Why go to the extreme of selling a chain of hotels, selling weapons, and joining his lodge, just to kill him?

Breaker said they needed something from the lodge, but what could be so important that they are risking so much to get in there?

Why not take him out right now?

Rune is just a man.

Flesh and bone.

Killable.

They could remove him with a single bullet to the head in the middle of the street, and no one would even know who it was.

Yet they have waited. Planned.

Attacked and infiltrated his life and turned his daughter against him.

“Cora.” Rune’s voice cracks harsh as a whip. My eyes refocus on his fingers gripping the desk edge, looming over me like a vile monster. “Tell me everything that happened.”

My pulse stutters against my throat. “You want details?”

One of his eyebrows inches upward at my tone.

“Let’s see,” I say, leaning forward, knowing I’m going to pay for this, but I need to redirect him. “First, I got my pussy eaten by—”

The harsh slap snaps my head to the side. A sharp sting radiates from my nose to my ear. I grip the armrests, digging my fingers into the material to keep from launching myself at him and raking my nails across his cheeks. Heat bursts beneathmy skin. Not just where his palm connected with my cheek, but everywhere, like a match dropped in gasoline.

Even though I knew his hit was coming, the rage it invokes nearly steals my breath. I’m so sick of being slapped around and used.

Viper’s face flashes in my mind.

Breaker’s.

Striker’s.

Reaper’s.

Delly’s.

Slowly, I sit up straighter, looking back up at the man who’s done his best to reduce me to nothing.

“What did Campbell say?” he says calmly. As if he pressed a rewind button and he’s once again Rune, my guardian and second father, and not an abusive, twisted, fucking madman. “Did either man mention the third associate? Steele? When is he returning?”

Striker.

With a deep breath, my fingers uncurl from the armrest, one by one, knowing I need to keep on his good side if I want information. “No, they didn’t mention him,” I say, my voice sweet, lifting the corner of my mouth into a smirk. “We didn’t talk much.”

His chest rises as he takes a breath, his jaw grinding. He hasn’t shaved today, and the salt and pepper stubble on his cheeks makes him look older. When he narrows his eyes, there's an almost reptilian coldness to them. “They said nothing?”

“Like I said—”

He pushes off the desk, and I clamp my mouth shut as he crouches before me, so we’re eye level. That old fear bursts free, penetrating my anger and burning a path through my body, taking over until I’m once again consumed by it.

“Cora.” My name comes out quietly. Strained. His patience is fraying, and one wrong word from me will ensure the meanness he stuffs away will hit me full force. And it won’t be a slap next time. “Campbell accepted my offer. You are to spend time with him. Talk to him. Watch them.Allof them. Do you understand?”