Page 97 of When Sinners Dare

I chuckle at her screwed-up nose and head on back, knocking lightly on the door.

“WHAT?” gets hollered back.

“Viper? It’s Kai.”

The door opens, and a prickly-looking Viper stares at me. “Did you send this shit to me?” Looks like Abel did organise something then. Or maybe Dante did.

“Kind of.” He closes the door behind him and stands there, all attitude and ire about something. “Look, let’s not, yeah? I’m only here to …” Unsure what I am here for, I try finding words. “I’ll be clearing out upstairs next week. And I wanted to say thanks, for everything.”

“You're welcome.” Doesn’t sound very welcome.

“And I’m here, you know? You need me, you call.”

“What for?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Viper. Anything within reason. Back up. Help. A solid hand if things turn rough around here.”

A small smile plays over his mouth. “You’re offering me protection?”

“Call it a debt owed. A lifelong one. Like you said, you don’t need any shit. I’ll come clean it up if it arrives. Anytime.” He doesn’t really acknowledge that, but his smile does increase before he turns away and opens the door again. That’s enough for me. It’s all I can give him anyway, because by the time we get back my life won’t be my own anymore and he knows it as well as I do. Like he said, what Cortez wants, Cortez gets. They’ve got me.

I walk back out the place without any other talk and look at Mariana sitting there on my Scout like she’s ready to ride wherever I want to go. She beams at me and wraps around tightly the second I get balanced, then somehow tucks in deeper and lets me lead the way. The way is all the way to Houston for a quick stop, and then on to who knows where for a while.

The journey goes by with little to no interruptions. It’s just me and her and the open road for a few hours. My hand’s on her thigh, and her head’s on my back. I can’t help thinking about what she means to me while we ride. She’s everything. That love she’s given me, the same kinda love I finally understand myself, tops any feeling of loyalty I’ve ever known. Guess it’s the kinda thing that makes a family unit. Not that I’d know, but I’ve got a feeling I’m gonna start getting real used to it with her brothers surrounding me.

Knox delivered the money to me a few days ago. Don’t even know how he found me halfway through midtown, but he did. He swapped out my phone, gave me a tracking device to put on this bike, told me he’d have a car ready when we got back, and handed over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars like it was loose change in his pants.

“Don’t screw up,” he said. “My brother never did. Come talk to me about money when you’re back."

That was it, and then he was back in his shiny Camaro and disappearing into traffic.

I swerve cars and ride harder, gliding through streams of vehicles as I think back on that. Everything about his tone was precise and unfeeling, as if I’d need to show a damn sight more in time and energy before any amount of respect was earned from his point of view. I understood that. We might have fought already, but that's not loyalty. It sure as hell isn't a brotherhood like he's just lost.

Replacing Dragon will mean every inch of me hardens to the point of no return. It’s all I’ve thought about every time I’ve been with her since that night at the pool. I don’t know how I’m going to do it and stay in this lane with her, but, with any luck, that fire of hers will bring me right back down to earth if needed.

More time passes and we eventually pull up over the road from Angelique’s. I sigh and look at the state of the place. It’s burnt out and covered in graffiti, a huge set of metal gates over the entrance. This must have been what Jonny talked about when he said Ash had sent her regards. She was the only one who knew where I was, and she was the only way of him finding me.

Revving hard, I rush the roads to get to her place. I doubt he killed her, but there’s still that damn guilt circling my insides about why she hasn’t responded to the text I sent after things had quietened down. I don’t need to own any guilt going forward.

By the time we arrive, I’m relieved to see her place still in one piece and a bag of groceries on the porch with the door half-open. I tap Mariana’s thigh to get off and pull the money out of the pack on the tank, as she pulls her helmet off.

“I need you to go give this to Ash. Tell her to get herself back to med school. Tell her it’s on me, and I’m sorry.” She frowns at me.

“Why me?”

“Because I’m not here for her anymore. I’m here for you, and this is the last piece of me I need to finish up so we can move on with nothing behind me.”

She looks up at the house and then back at me. “Is this the girl? The friend you were helping out?" I nod. "You never did tell me who she is to you.”

“You never asked. With any luck, this time-out we’re taking might give us some goddamn room to talk about shit like that without interference. Go. I’m about ready to leave everything that used to be me at this door.”

No other discussion on the matter, and she walks off up the drive towards the door. Ash answers, and they talk quietly. I can’t hear it and don’t want to either. Whatever guilt was inside me lifts the second I watch Mariana hand over the cash. Ash looks up at me and smiles lightly. I don’t react. There isn’t any reason to. The only woman I’m smiling for from this moment on is the one walking back to me. Other than her, the rest need to be cattle. I remember that word well from my time with Dragon. No feelings involved, and useable assets, he said. There’s no interest in their well-being other than making sure they’re fit enough to fuck. And no remorse that I’m gonna be thinking like that about them either.

“She says thanks,” Mariana says, as she swings her leg over behind me. “Pretty.”

I nod and wait for her to get her helmet on, then pull her hands tight around me. She was pretty, but that was never the point. And it sure as shit isn’t anymore. No one will ever be pretty again other than this woman behind me.

We’re ready.

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