Page 174 of Viper

But those plans didn’t work out, and now he’s desperate. He thinks that by handing me over to Viper, he’ll gain even more power thanks to the Snyder Group. They are wealthy. They sell weapons. Rune holds illegal hunts for his boys’ club. He more than likely added the same demands he did with Zane. Marry me and hand over the shares to his company. Keep me, my money and property, if he wants.

Breed me to strengthen the family bond.

My face heats and I drop my gaze to the stack of pancakes on my plate.

“What’s wrong with you?” Clyde asks. I swear I feel his eyes boring into me. “Are you blushing?”

“No,” I snap. “I don’t blush.”

“You’re as red as a firetruck,” he says. “Are you sick?”

My forkclinksloudly enough to make me wince as I stab at my food. We’re late going into the office today, thanks to Clyde insisting on breakfast. So instead of sitting in traffic, we’re in his sterile kitchen, the morning sun gleaming off every bright white surface.

Including my fire-engine cheeks.

“Am I really supposed to marry him?” I ask, swirling syrup and melted butter around my plate. “How is that going to work?”

When I dare to meet his eyes, Clyde’s murderous expression makes my face flame hotter. He shovels pancakes into his mouth like he’s forcing himself to remain quiet.

We don’t discuss the topic further—the fact I’m involved with all these men—and continue to avoid it on the drive to the office, which is for the best.

He doesn’t know I’m fucking Delly too.

Once we arrive, I go to my office, and he joins Rune just as he has for the last four days. I dive into my work, silently wishing I was curled up in bed with Viper and Breaker again. With Striker. Reaper too, even though he’s dark and a little mean.

Wishing Delly were here, and that we were all together again.

I like the thought of us all together. Back at the mansion overlooking the sea. But she has to return for their plan to work, and the thought of Delly returning and finding out that the men plan to kill Rune unravels the fantasy. I know part of her wants him dead. She was so angry after she discovered the truth about Rune and me, but I’m not sure if she truly wants him to die.

He’s still her father.

Thanks to my mother, he’s the only blood she has left.

When I grab a cup of coffee from the breakroom, the office rumors about Delly’s absence finally make their way to me.She’s had a nervous breakdown. Having surgery. Got caught with those men we fucked in Rune’s club, and Rune’s trying to save face by sending her away.I ignore them all and pretend, pretend, pretend. I stay hidden in my office all day, going over files, avoiding Zane and Rune and any meetings.

So far I’ve been lucky, and haven’t had to deal with either man for the last four days. They seem to have lost interest in me now that Viper and Breaker have left to finalize the shipment of the rest of the weapons to Rune’s lodge, where Clyde says he’ll be traveling soon. Right after the Snyder Group goes through the initiation to complete the contract.

The contract that will add them to Rune’s secret file.

I click the end of my pen, staring out my office window at the blinking lights of downtown, brilliant little beads of starlight in a vast darkness, knowing that I’m going to end up at that damn lodge. Several members have their wives join them, and now that I’m technically promised to Viper, I have a feeling I’ll be forced to attend their little hunt.

The thought sends a shiver down my spine. While I’ve never shied away from a good steak, just the idea of being forcedto eat some gamey deer they hunted down for sport makes my stomach roil.

The knives the men sold to Zane flash in my head. That’s an excessive amount of weapons for a game hunt led by a handful of men and in the middle of nowhere.

Then again, the entire thing feels unnerving. Add in the list of dead members and the strange tally system, and my brain has been working overtime trying to figure out what Rune is up to. He fired all his security, the men who do his dirty work, and his staff. So unless he’s planning on weaponizing an entirely new army of henchmen to do his bidding, the only thing I can come up with is that he plans to resell the weapons to his club members.

With a sigh, I click the pen several times, then drop it in the little wooden tray on my desk. I’ve been going over ledgers, prepping for the one meeting I can’t avoid tomorrow, and after several hours, my head hurts. Picking up my phone, I unlock the screen and see a text from Clyde, telling me he has a late meeting and to call for Conner when I’m ready to leave.

Seems the constant threat of Rune’s sickness is no longer a problem now that Viper agreed to marry me.

And killed a man.

I shake my head, ridding myself of the image of the blood spraying from Damon’s neck. The possessive gleam in Viper’s eyes.

The feral protectiveness of these men surpasses Clyde’s.

I definitely don’t hate it.