Page 82 of The Viper

Ruben sets the cup down and picks up the cue stick. “And the drugs?”

I shouldn’t be surprised that Ruben knows. “At the warehouse or Adrian?”

His jaw tightens and he cocks a brow. “Both.”

“Adrian’s...” I pause as I think about the words I need to convey. “He’s...” Fuck, I should’ve thought this through.

“I see,” Ruben says as he dips another biscotti into his coffee.

“We also have a problem at Heaven.”

He lifts his brows as he stares at me. “About time you came to me.”

Fuck, he knows about that too. Jesus. My heart pounds hard in my chest, but I need to stand my ground. “I’m going to go in and look at it myself.”

“Because you sent someone else?” He crosses his arms in front of his chest. Ruben’s voice is always low and calm, but when he crosses his arms, it’s the sign that shit is about to happen.

“No, I didn’t send anyone else. Adrian and I were at the club, and he went to investigate, but came back saying everything was fine. But it’s not.” Shit, is Adrian fucking skimming from our uncle? Surely not. He wouldn’t dare. He knows what would happen if he did.

Ruben straightens as he inhales a long breath. “Interesting,” he says in a low voice. Fuck, did I just sign my brother’s death warrant? “Keep an eye on the girls, and I need to look at the ledger from the warehouse.”

“I have it at home.” I purposely left it there, because it’ll give me time to investigate it more before I need to hand it over to Ruben.

“Tomorrow,” he says in his controlled voice. He unfolds his arm and moves to take a third biscotti. “How badly did he hurt Eliza?”

“She hasn’t been seen, so I don’t have any documentation, only what Rosa told me.”

“Which is?”

“He choked her and beat her.” Ruben crosses his arms in front of his chest yet again. His entire posture is rigid. “She called Rosa in the middle of the night, and Rosa stole my car to go to her.”

He snickers. “Your woman has balls.”

“She does,” I confirm. “But all the cars have tracking, so finding her was easy.”

“You can’t let that one go, Dominic.” The arms unfold again. “Women like your Rosa are rare.”

I lean against the pool table and run my hand through my hair. “She’s...” I look down at the table and slightly shake my head. “She’s amazing.”

“Then don’t be a fucking coward.” I lift my chin to look at him. “Claim her.”

I snicker as I shake my head. “She’s a fucking bull in a china shop.”

He walks over and claps a hand to my shoulder. “They’re the ones we don’t let go. Has she seen you with blood?” I nod. “And?”

“Rosa belongs in this family.”

Ruben chuckles as he steps back. “She’s got you by the balls, son.”

“You have no idea,” I say on a sigh.

“Good. Marry her and get it over with.”

“Rosa? Marry me?” It’s my turn to laugh. “She doesn’t want me anywhere near her.”

“We don’t give them a choice. Our job is to keep them safe, provide for them, fuck them to within an inch of their lives, and if we’re lucky they’ll let us fall to our knees in devotion. We don’t ask, we tell. We worship or they fucking walk.” Ruben clicks his tongue to the roof of his mouth. “They’re our women. Rose is your woman. She belongs to you, Dominic, now show her.” He looks at the biscotti then to me. “If you don’t eat one, Maria will be upset.”

“I wouldn’t want to offend her,” I say as I reach for the biscotti and dunk it in the last of my coffee.

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