Page 42 of Viper

Pops looks between us and raises a brow. “Cara is pregnant, and there’s a high chance we’ll be having more than one baby.” Jace’s voice is filled with so much happiness and excitement.

“I’m going to be a grandpa?” Pops asks as his eyes shine. This old man is going to make me cry. He walks over and pushes Jace aside. He sits on the bed beside me, brings me into his arms and hugs me. “I’m so fuckin’ happy.” His voice comes out as a whisper, but I heard it. My brothers take Duke and Daisy so they can get a bath. After a while, everyone else leaves so I can get some rest, but I ask Doc to stay back.

“Is my baby going to be okay?”

“I believe so, but we won’t know until we get you checked out. I can give you a list of OB/GYNs if you want, but any child of yours and Viper’s is going to be a warrior.”

“Thanks, Doc. One of my dad’s old friends has a practice here. I’ll give him a call in the morning.”

Doc nods and leaves. Jace gets into bed and holds on to me like I could disappear at any second. It doesn’t take long for sleep to take me.

The next time I wake, I feel Jace trying to slip out of the bed. The sun is up. “Where are you going?” I ask him.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll be right back. I promise.”

He’s lying. I don’t know why, but I know he’s lying. It was all over his face. I sit there panicking. Viper has never lied to me. What the hell is going on?

VIPER

Fuck!I know Cara’s mom said she would visit if Cara didn’t make the plans but damn, she picked the absolute wrong time to pop up. I was holding my woman when Dad called and said her mom was in the common room going off on Blade, Torch, and Sara. She was demanding to see Cara.

I walk into the common room and see her mother. She is tearing Blade, Torch, and Sara a new one. This is not good. I walk over, plastering on a fake smile. I see Cara’s father and her younger two siblings, Sofia and Marco. They’re smiling, watching their older siblings get a scolding. Once I’m in front of the group, her mom turns to me. She looks like an older version of Cara except without the gold eyes.

“Where is my daughter? I know when my children are lying to me. I don’t buy this bullshit that she’s sleeping. None of my children can look me in the eye while giving that load of crap. I want to see her, and I want to see her now.” It really is like looking at Cara. The same fury I’ve seen in my woman eyes is in her mother’s eyes.

I look to Blade and Torch, and they both look defeated. I know she won’t stop until she sees Cara.

“There was an incident last night. She was hurt but she’s fine now.” I really don’t want them to see her like this. She was supposed to be safe here and we failed her. I failed her. That’s been the toughest pill to swallow throughout all this. How can I claim her if I can’t keep her safe?

“Take me to my daughter. Now.” Cara’s father steps forward and his eyes are thunderous right now. He’s only a few inches shorter than me but he almost matches my body in bulk. Cara has told me many times that just because her dad is a billionaire doesn’t mean he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. The neighborhood her parents grew up in made them both tough.

I motion for them to follow. I lead them to my room. As I walk through the door, Cara sits up in the bed. “Jace, why did yo—” she stops when she sees her parents. Her eyes gloss over with tears. “Papà!” she cries. Her father rushes over to the bed and wraps her in his arms. Her mom goes to the other side and does the same.

“I’m fine. I promise.”

“Who did this to you,Fiore?” her father asks. I know that “Fiore” is his nickname for her. When I asked her what it meant, she told me it means flower. Cara said he calls her that because of her fascination with flowers when she was younger. He told her no matter how many flowers she picked, none would be as beautiful as his “Fiore.”

“He’s no longer here. Duke and Daisy handled it,” she reassures them. “This is not the way I wanted to make these introductions, but Mama, Papà, this is Viper. Viper, these are my parents Paul and Crystal.”

Paul stands and walks to face me. “Where were you when a man was doing this to my daughter?”

I expected that. Honestly, if it was my daughter, I would be the same way. Maybe worse.

“Papà! Viper got to me before anything worse could happen. The man who did this was sick. I shouldn’t have left the group. None of this would have happened if I had listened to Viper.”

“This is not your fault. I don’t want to hear you say that again. I should have followed my first instinct and walked you to the bathroom. I’ll never make that mistake again.”

“You better make sure nothing like this happens again or I’ll take my daughter out of here!” Paul growls.

I’ll let him think that. The only way I’ll let Cara walk out of my life is if she truly no longer desires me. I pray that never happens. That would destroy me. I just nod my head at him.

“Well, that might be a little difficult,” Cara says, breaking the tension in the room.

“What?” Crystal asks.

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