Page 2 of Viper (The Dark Angel’s MC #4)

Every woman surrounding her tenses, some looking at me with pity while Cherri eyes me from head to toe. She takes in my dress making me feel even more uncomfortable than the tissue I have currently shoved between my legs.

She scoffs as she crosses her arms over her chest and says, “Didn’t Randy tell you, I don’t want you? You were a mistake, one I rectified when I gave that greasy mechanic full custody. So turn around and go back to where you came from, brat!”

I flinch at her harsh words, my heart tearing into pieces, and I stutter, “B-but I-I need your help,” and she cackles, “My help? Why should I help you when you didn’t come out as a patched brother’s kid? Fuck off before I drag you out by your hair!”

My body trembles and I swallow hard as the women surrounding her look at her in shock, but she ignores them and takes a step forward in her high heels. I quickly turn and rush out of the room, ignoring the curious gazes of everyone else.

“Lake!” I hear my dad and I look his way as he rushes over to me on the sidewalk, and my tears fall again as I sob, “I’m so sorry, Daddy!”

His eyes soften as he takes me from Brick’s embrace and holds me close, pressing his lips against my head, and I cry, “My tutor was wrong, Daddy.”

He pulls back and frowns as he cups my cheek before Mrs. Lopez mentions, “She’s started her time of the month, Randy,” and he sighs.

“That’s why you wanted to see Cherri?” he confirms, and I nod, causing him to pull me back into him, and my tears fall hard.

“Sweetheart, it doesn’t matter what you need, you always come to me, you hear?” he whispers, “You didn’t need to be hurt by that woman.”

“But then I wouldn’t have known how nasty she is and how mean some of the brothers are,” I sniffle, and Daddy tenses before I hear Brick say, “It’s sorted, Randy. Viking ran his mouth, and now he is no longer a brother.”

I feel my daddy nod before Mrs. Lopez says, “Here Randy, these should be the size she needs, take note of what I got her, or if you want, when she needs more, just give me a call, alright?”

“Thank you, Anna,” Daddy replies while Brick asks with tension, “How on earth do you know what a ten-year-old girl would need? We only have one son.”

I feel Daddy tense while Mrs. Lopez is quiet for a moment before she snips, “I was a ten-year-old girl, Brick,” before she says softly, “Call me if you need me, Randy,” and I feel Daddy nod before a gentle hand lovingly strokes my hair.

“Come on, pumpkin, let's get you home,” Daddy whispers, and I nod, but don’t move from his embrace as he guides me towards his pickup truck, and I sniffle.

I’ll never ignore Daddy’s words again, and I’ll never trust a club member that is not Mrs. Lopez or Brick because the men in that club, the women, they’re mean, cruel, and dangerous.

All I need is my daddy.

Viper – Age Twelve

I grunt as I duck from Cain's right hook, spinning myself out of his way before bringing my right fist around, hitting his jaw from the side, making him tumble back in surprise.

Leo and Jax laugh, and I grin, wiping the sweat with my arm on my forehead, breathing heavy while Cain, one of my best friends, rolls his eyes. His eyes always have a haunted look about them… I guess having parents that have an open house for smack heads who love kids would do that to a person.

It’s how we bonded in school and became close – shitty parents.

His parents loved drugs more than him and so did my mother, Angie, who OD’d two days after giving birth to me.

You see, Angie was a clubwhore who worked at the clubhouse but also liked to screw the brothers, hoping to get their patch.

My dad, Eagle, the current Sergeant-at-Arms, slept with her unprotected when he was drunk one night.

Apparently, he had a girlfriend and cheated on her with Angie, which she recorded and sent to her hoping to break them up.

Only half of Angie’s plan worked, though.

My dad’s girlfriend left him and is now married in Europe with two kids.

While my dad, he got stuck with me. Though you wouldn’t think he was stuck, the man is amazing and always puts me first, including before the club, where he’s devoted his life.

Heck, when I couldn’t control my anger as I got bigger, getting in trouble a lot with school, he got me into fighting, which is where I am now, blowing off steam at a gym two miles from the clubhouse.

Some dickhead decided to try and pick a fight with Leo, all because of who he’s related to, and I nearly blew up before the boys dragged me here.

Anyway, when Dad refused to give Angie his leather, she threatened to kill herself. He told her to go ahead, and after swallowing a bunch of pills, then calling him, he never answered, and she couldn’t get help in time.

She was being stupid, she knew Dad didn’t want her.

Cain huffs as he places his hands on his hips, and I chuckle. It isn’t the first time I’ve beaten him in the ring, and it most definitely won’t be the last.

“You need to give it up, Cain, you won’t win…” Leo, my future President, shouts, and Cain gives him the middle finger with a smirk, making me laugh as I grab my water bottle, the urge to kill that dick at school completely gone.

While I’ll become Leo’s Sargent at Arms, taking over for my dad once he’s taken over for his and Jax becoming the VP, Cain wants to join the army for a while, something he’s been saying for over a year now, before returning and becoming an officer of the club.

He isn’t a club brat like us three, but he’ll be an amazing brother, that is for sure, once he’s travelled for a while away from his dysfunctional family.

“Hey, where’s Nyx and Cale?” Jax questions as he looks around, only now just noticing the idiots aren’t here, and I answer, “Nyx is out with his parents while Cale is with Cannon reading the maps.”

Jax nods, not surprised. Nyx, who will take over as the club's enforcer, loves his parents more than life itself and knows how lucky he is to have two normal ones. Fuck, I think he’s the only one whose father hasn’t stepped out on his mama.

Leo’s mama apparently slept with a prospect, so as a screw you, Brick, the Prez, screwed a dancer at Dark Angel’s Girls but knocked her up.

He threw money at her to get rid but the woman never did.

So, now Leo has a half-sister, Skylar, the name Cale managed to find out being a tech genius.

Mama Lopez, Leo’s mama, is slowly pulling away from Brick while he continues to express Skylar’s existence is her fault for opening her legs to begin with, the same Skylar who wants nothing to do with him, Leo or the club because of how Brick reacted when he first saw her which wasn’t very pretty.

Apparently, he knocked her over accidentally.

Jax’s dad, Pitbull, has cheated on his mama, Jessica, a few times with the clubwhores, and the same with Glock, Cale’s dad.

He can’t keep his hands off the clubwhores and Clara, his old lady – someone a brother sees as their forever – has witnessed his indiscretions a few times.

She turns the other eye, mainly for Cale’s baby sister Ivy, who is four years younger than me.

As I mentioned earlier, Nyx has the best parents in the club. Bear loves Tiffany more than life itself and would rather chop off his own hand than hurt her.

“I can understand Nyx wanting to spend time with his parents, but Cale needs to hang here a little more. These next few years will be the only freedom we get before we’re shoved into club business to get ready to take over,” Leo says with a sigh as he runs his hand through his longish black hair with frustration.

“He’s taking over for his uncle, he feels like he has a lot to prove,” I remind him as I jump down from the ring and lean against it, and Leo winces, knowing I’m right.

Cannon doesn’t have any children, his old lady not able to carry kids so he became an amazing uncle to Cale and Ivy and he saw potential in Cale, especially with how good he is with computers and after a meeting with his dad and the Prez, it was decided he’d be the one taking Cannon’s place as Road Captain.

Ever since, he’s felt pressure to prove himself.

“Still doesn’t mean he can’t have some downtime,” Jax mutters, and I nod.

“He actually texted me,” Cain says as he takes a seat on the edge of the ring next to where I’m leaning against it, “Apparently Randy’s daughter showed up wanting to speak to Cherri.”

I frown and ask, “Why? The girl hasn’t once stepped foot on club ground despite her dad working at the garage.”

Cain shrugs and says, “Not sure, but apparently Cherri called her a mistake and threatened to kick her off club property, or so he heard. He was in his room that Brick gave him for his computers, and apparently, Viking has lost his patch.”

My mouth parts, and Leo demands, “Why?!”

Viking got his patch way before I was even born, so why would Brick take his leather from him?

Cain types a message to Cale and presses send and we stare at it until it pings, and he winces.

“Apparently, he gloated that he’ll be taking Randy’s daughter when she’s of age, or that is what she told Brick,” Cain states, and I raise a brow.

Viking doesn’t seem like the type of brother to want a little girl…

“She’s like eight, isn’t she, or nine?” Jax stutters in shock, and Cain replies, “Something like that, but apparently he was wondering if she would be as good as Cherri.”

“Okay, at first I thought maybe she was lying because Cherri kicked her out, but there is no way an eight-year-old would lie about something like that, she probably doesn’t even know what he meant,” Leo says, and I tilt my head and mutter, “She is Cherri’s daughter…”

He winces then nods, knowing she has Cherri’s blood running through her veins.

“We weren’t there, so we don’t know what happened,” Jax says, “But I know one thing, I’ll never have an old lady,” then mutters, “Especially one that is born by a clubwhore.”

I snort and agree, “Amen to that, brother,” while Cain and Leo laugh.

Growing up in club life, you learn a few things. One, how to put the family first, two, the brothers love women way too much, even the ones who have claimed an old lady still cheat on them. Lastly, three, all women are the same – patch chasers – especially the ones birthed from clubwhores.

Like mother, like daughter, heck, look at Angie, my mother, dead in the ground because she wanted a lavish lifestyle.

Like Jax, I’ll never have an old lady, never fall in love.