Viper's Kiss (Back Down Devil MC #8)(77)

Then came the other women. Lena knew about at least three. An elderly man in the family, a guy they called Uncle Tony, pulled Lena aside one night in a smoke filled room to explain to her that all men had needs that went beyond one woman. There was a woman to love. There was a woman to care for. There was a woman to show off. And there was a woman to f*ck. All of which had different purposes.

Lena had enough. And whatever came after enough was when she heard whispering that Victor was pissed at her for getting upset about his choice of women. Truth was, Lena didn’t know a thing about the other women Victor was f*cking, but she wasn’t going to share. That’s not how it went. Plus, she didn’t love Victor. She didn’t like him. She wanted out.

And she wanted to kill him. She wanted to stab Victor and flee. Run like hell and be gone because it was the only way to escape. She couldn’t break away from him. She had to get rid of him. Would that make everyone in the family want to retaliate against her? Yeah, it would.

Lena knew the stupidity and the risk of it all, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted Victor to be stopped, at all costs. Because if she killed Victor… and they caught her, they would just kill her then. They wouldn’t torture her like Victor would have.

Or the way Victor was torturing her right now.

Annie had a cat clock on the wall in the dining room. Lena nursed a crappy cup of coffee and looked at the clock. The cat’s eyes and tail moved in opposite directions, the clicks of the seconds slowly moving time along. The last hour with Annie was the longest. Especially tonight, because Lena was told - not asked, but told or else she’d pay a f*cking price - to meet with Victor near an old warehouse in Frelen. Those were the scariest places for Lena to go to. That’s where they all did business. Not usually in Frelen because of a motorcycle club that ruled the town. But that didn’t mean the family didn’t have pull within the city. Victor had told Lena that the motorcycle club was nothing but punk losers. They went by the name Back Down Devil MC. They bullied everyone in Frelen and held tight to law enforcement and had no real power.

Lena could always see the look in Victor’s eyes when he spoke like that. He hinted that he wanted to gather up some guys and start a war. The word was horrifying to Lena because Victor was always very serious. Drunk, sober, whatever, he meant what he said.

A nurse showed up ten minutes early. Lena reviewed the day with her. Everything was normal. Well, as normal as could be for an elderly woman waiting to pass on. Annie had no real family and never would. Everything she had was tied to the family and they wanted her fortune.

Lena left the house and started to drive into Frelen. Her mind and heart raced on what to do and how to do it. Just pull out a knife and stab someone? It seemed insane. Hell, it was insane. Lena began to wonder if this activity in Frelen had something to do with the motorcycle club. Or maybe Victor was setting her up. Maybe Victor just knew… knew the knife was in her bag… knew her intentions…

By the time Lena arrived to the warehouse, she was scared shitless. She got out of her car and two men rushed from the building. They were big, in black suits, and they rushed right to Lena. They grabbed her by the arms and lifted her right off the ground. Lena wanted to scream but knew better. If she screamed, she would be shut up. Either something stuffed in her mouth, her mouth taped shut, or she’d get hit.

The two men carried her to the side of the building where she spotted Victor standing next to a black car. His back was towards Lena.

“Mr. Victor,” one of the men said.

When Victor turned around, there was blood on his hands. He was wiping the blood off with a towel. His face was evil looking. Lena noticed a couple spots of blood on his left cheek.

“Lena,” he said. “Look at you. Always floating for me.”

“I can walk on my own,” she said. “I don’t understand this.”

“Put her down,” Victor said.

The two men put her down. She shook away from their strong holds, and when her right hand touched her bag, she remembered what she had in there. That big knife from Annie’s kitchen. Her body instantly stiffened with fear. Victor with blood on him. Lena being taken from her car. Nothing would ever go smoothly for her in life. Ever.

“You look worried,” Victor said. “Feel like sharing something?”

“I had a long day,” Lena said. “A very long day. And I came here to meet you, like you told me to do, and now…”

“You know the f*cking life I live,” Victor bellowed. He moved at me. “You want to f*cking act like a bitch right now? Treat me like a f*cking criminal. For the work I put in for our life.”

“I’m sorry,” Lena said, going right for the easiest escape. Just apologize. Always apologize. Always take the fall. “I’m sorry. Here, let me…”

Lena reached forward with caution. Victor was a violent man by nature, but in the heat of the battle, he was even worse. She gingerly touched his hand and took the towel from him. She folded it up to a clean spot and lifted it to his cheek. She wiped the spot of blood off his cheek and smiled.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“For now,” Victor said. “I’m planning. I needed you with me. I want to see something. To understand what I’m doing in this town.”

Lena nodded. She needed to just go with the flow of things.

The side door to the building opened and two more men came out. They had another man with them. He was completely lifeless, his feet dragging on the ground. The two men tossed the guy to the ground like he was a bag of trash.