Page 37 of The Viper

“We can increase that to fifty percent, or even higher if we open whore houses everywhere. Get the girls addicted, keep them there until they die. More money lining my pockets.” He lifts his hand and rubs his thumb and forefinger together. “More money, little brother. More money.”

“Ruben would never go for that.”

“Which means I have to wait until he dies.” He shrugs again and sits back. “Whenever that is,” he murmurs as he brings his cigarette up to his mouth.

“What?”

Adrian looks over to me in question. Did he just threaten Don Ruben? “Adrian, what are you doing?”

He smirks and raises a brow. “Sitting in my little bro’s office having a drink with him. My only blood relative. The little brother I’d protect when we were kids when our father finished beating our mother up, then moved on to us. Same little brother I protected.” He lifts his finger and points it at me in warning not to say a word to Ruben.

“Lay off Eliza,” I say. “Leave her alone.”

“She’s my fucking property, I’ll do whatever I want with her,” he says in a dismissive tone.

“If Ruben sees those bruises...”

“He won’t.”

“Adrian, don’t fucking touch her anymore.”

He rolls his eyes and sighs, ignoring my warning. “She knows not to mouth off.”

I decide to leave this alone and try to figure out how to deal with it later. For now, we have some work to go over. Problem is, I don’t like seeing the bruises on my sister-in-law. And I know Ruben will feel the same. But Adrian’s my brother. I have a loyalty to him. But...fuck, Adrian’s up to something. I need to figure out what that is and deal with it before he gets himself killed.

I open Rosa’s door and find her asleep on the bed. She’s curled up on her side with her hands beneath her cheek. I sit on the edge of the bed and watch my woman as she sleeps soundly. I gently lay my hand on her hip and she shifts closer to me.

Rosa’s eyes flutter open and when she sees me, she smiles and yawns. “You’re a stalker,” she says with a gravelly, sleep-heavy voice. She sits up in bed and scrubs her hand over her face. “I know he’s your brother, but I really don’t like him.”

“I know,” I reply as I sit, staring at her beautiful face. Her blue eyes are bright, even under the night sky.

“He’s hurting her, Dominic.”

“We spoke about that.” She turns to me, eager to hear more. I can’t give her the answer she’s looking for. “He’s my boss,” I say the words she doesn’t want to hear.

Rosa’s eyes fill with tears as she stares at me. Rosa and Eliza both share the same piercing blue eye color. Breathtaking. She inhales deeply and turns her head to look out the window. “I see,” she whispers.

“He’s also my brother.”

“Who beats my sister,” she adds without hesitation. “And I hate to think how many other women have suffered at his hands.” Hugging her legs close to her body, she lays her head on her knees. “Could you please leave?” I reach out to touch her supple skin, and it’s as if my Rosa knows what I’m doing. “Please,” she begs in a small voice. “Leave.” I stay seated on the bed, just watching her. She shakes her head and lowers her chin, staying still for a long moment. When she finally turns to look at me, her eyes are red and her cheeks glisten with tears. “Please.” Rosa’s chin quivers, but she pulls her shoulders back trying to be strong in front of me.

I run my tongue behind my teeth but finally accede to her one wish. I push off the bed, walk out of her room and head down to my office, where I pour myself a scotch. Leaning up against the edge of my desk, I swirl the scotch around the glass several times as I attempt to clear my head.

“Fuck,” I grumble to myself.

“What is it?” Marco’s voice booms as he enters my office.

“You haven’t left?”

“I had a few things to check on. A shipment of guns came in early and I had to check it against the invoice.”

“Early’s good. Pace family?” I ask about the supplier.

“Yeah,” he confirms. I open my laptop and enter my password. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Marco snorts as he throws back the scotch he’s poured for himself. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask.

“Nothing.” He lifts his shoulders slowly. He places the tumbler on the edge of my desk and taps the wood. “I’m going home, I’ll be back in the morning.” He looks up to the ceiling. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he says with a wide smile and a quick glance up.

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