When I wake up, I’m still in the same position, but there’s a blanket over me and the sun is lower in the sky. Kenzo is there, next to me, closer than before. His leg is crossed, his foot propped on his other knee, with an open tablet on his lap, the screen split between what looks like CCTV cameras of the inside of clubs.

“I thought today was your day off?” I murmur, my voice rough with sleep.

He blinks and looks over at me. “Darling, Vipers never take a day off—too many people to kill, too much money to earn.”

Yawning, I sit up and stretch, reaching my arms out and cracking my back. When I blink and look over, Kenzo is watching me with hungry eyes. They run across my body like orbs of fire, and I shrink away, wondering if this will be the moment he attacks, but all he does is look back at his tablet.

Licking my lips, I cross my legs and turn to face him so I can see any of the blows that come—an old habit. He notices, of course, and turns slightly towards me, typing on his tablet. “Are the others still out?”

“Why? Anxious to see them?”

“Definitely not, just wondering if I need to hide yet.” I sigh.

That has him lifting his head. “Hide?”

“Yes. From the crazy dude and, well, the one that’s going to be pissed,” I reply, wondering if Ryder will kill me when he sees his clothes, but I don’t regret it. The perfect bastard deserved it after this morning.

“Diesel is harmless…okay, that’s a lie. He’s harmless to us. If he ever killed us, it would be because there was no other choice.” Kenzo shrugs.

“And you’re calm about that? What about everyone else?” I challenge.

“They are fair game,” he retorts.

“Christ, he’s literally insane, you can see that, right?” I almost yell.

Kenzo looks up, and I see that same darkness in his eyes the others have, the one he hides behind a charming persona. He might be calmer, he might talk sweeter and be more of a ladies’ man, but underneath it all still lives a monster. “Do not talk about what you don’t know, Roxy. That man has been through hell and back. It’s bound to leave damage, and he’s our brother. We’ll protect him from anyone, understood?”

I nod, a little bit scared. Just as soon as it was there, he blinks, and is back to smiling again. It’s fucking scary how quickly he can change. “Your room is done, I put your bag in there as well.”

“My bag?” I repeat with a frown.

“Yes, you might want to shower and change. You’re starting to smell.” He smirks.

That rat fucking bastard.

He has the audacity to tell me that I smell after I was punched, knocked out, locked up, and became a prisoner? I should have cut his clothes up as well. Throwing him a glare, I storm back to my room, sniffing my armpit as I go.

Fucking Vipers.

Chapter Thirteen

GARRETT

We get back mid-afternoon. Kenzo is on the sofa, monitoring his clubs like normal, but Roxy is nowhere in sight. Not that I care. Not one bit.

Ryder, on the other hand, brushes his hair back before unbuttoning his jacket, the only sign he’s as annoyed as I am with today’s meetings. It seems the Triad has taken to threatening some of the businesses in the city, demanding they pay them for protection. Not us.

It’s a challenge, one we need to rise to. Ryder’s eyes are tight, even as he looks around. “Where is she?”

Kenzo doesn’t even look up. “Hiding from you.”

“Why?” Ryder questions, seeming confused. Roxy doesn’t seem like the type to hide…

“She was snooping upstairs earlier when I caught her.” He shrugs, tapping on his screen.

Ryder sighs and looks over at me. “I’m going to wash today’s stink off, I’ve instructed Diesel to…have a talk with some of the other businesses to ensure they don’t think they have to pay as well.”

I nod as he heads upstairs and to his room. Deciding I could go for a shower myself, I head to my room, kicking my door closed and pressing my back against it as I suck in a deep breath.

But with it comes a scent, an unmistakable scent. Like whiskey and sex.

She’s been in here.

Fury pounds through me. I snarl as I rip off my shirt and storm to my bag, throwing some punches and getting all my aggression out. How dare she. This is my room! My space! The only place I’m safe and now—now it smells like her!

Not that my body cares, the stupid bastard is hot and heavy, the fragrance wrapping around me and jerking my cock awake in my jeans. Of course the only woman it’s reacted to since that cunt would be the one we’re keeping prisoner. I don’t need another woman, I don’t need another fucking complication.

But my cock doesn’t care, it twitches in my jeans, pressing uncomfortably against my zipper, so I yank them off and head to the shower, a cold one. But as the freezing spray pounds down on my back, it doesn’t even dent the desire surging through me.

Glancing down, I spot the bead of pre-cum at my cock’s tip, my vein throbbing on the side. Fuck. It’s been way too long, but all of my need was taken away that night. I didn’t know if it was because every time I’d even thought about fucking someone that night flashes through my head, dampening my need, or if my cock was just broken.

I didn’t care…much.

But now, of all the fucking time, now it’s decided to wake up and with a fury. Desire streams through me at every hour of the day. I swear I’ve fucked my hand more often this last twenty-four hours than I did even as a teenager. Last night, when I went to lie down to sleep, all I could see were those flashing, angry eyes. Her body spinning as she tried to attack me.

I imagined a different ending though, me throwing her over the bar, ripping up those tiny shorts, and pounding into her tight little cunt until she stopped fighting and started screaming.

Shit.

Reaching down, I can’t help but squeeze my cock as I imagine her on her knees before me. Those dark eyes blinking up at me, those red lips wrapped around my cock. She would be angry, her nails digging into my skin, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Fuck. Leaning against the wall, I stroke my length as I imagine it, visualising how beautiful she would look naked and tied up, unable to do anything but suck me down. That silver hair soaking and stuck to her head from my hands as I slam into her mouth. Again and again.

With a grunt, my hips stutter as my release crashes through me, spraying across my stomach and the wall. Sighing, I turn the heat up in the shower and wash myself off, disgusted with where my mind is taking me. She’s no one, she’s just another gold-digging bitch. So what if she had no choice? She will be exactly like the others.

I’ve learned my lesson, no, Roxy is a distraction. One we need to get rid of before she destroys everything we have worked so hard to save.

Just then a yell comes from down the hall. Turning off the water, I grab a towel, wrap it around my waist, and head into my room, wrenching open the door. Frowning, I watch a scared-looking Roxy race down the hall right towards me. She doesn’t even look where she’s going, just slams into my wet chest. I peer down at her in confusion, and she glares back. We stare each other down.

Her chest is heaving as she glances over her shoulder, so I do the same, spotting Ryder coming out of his room holding scraps of material in his hand. His eyes are deadly as they lock on to the little woman pressed against me.