It’s my turn to stay home with Roxxane. I don’t think she will try to escape anymore, but I don’t feel right leaving her alone while the Triad is clearly wanting to kill us. Plus, I have some research to do. Diesel is out hunting down paid thugs with Garrett, reminding them who we are. We might not be able to get to the Triad yet, but we can cut off their supply until they become desperate.
Kenzo is with his guards, checking in on the rest of our businesses to make sure they don’t feel like they can’t trust us anymore. I am, of course, responding to legitimate business emails and skype conferences. It’s hard to run an empire. We still have to do actual business in the city, and for that, we’re technically an investor and architecture company with many different sections that need overseeing. Not to mention the board who needs constant updating—it gets exhausting.
I keep my eyes on updates from the guys as well, so before I know it, it’s almost midday and I haven’t seen Roxy at all. Is she okay? I pull myself away from the screen and head out to find her.
I find her sitting outside near the pool in some lace knickers and a bra, her hair pulled back and face tipped up to the sun. Fuck, did we not buy her any swimming wear? I make a mental note, even as I run my eyes across her curvy body. Turning away and ignoring my cock, I go to the kitchen and make her a coffee and me a tea. By the time I’m done, she’s heading inside in a long shirt, making me frown. I wonder if I could convince her to walk around naked.
Not that I would get any work done then. In fact, I should be preparing for another meeting, researching the new manager…fuck. She smiles at me and heads over, hopping onto a stool opposite me, the loose shirt gaping and showing me breasts glistening with pool water. I watch the droplets, pondering if I could get away with licking them clean.
She clears her throat, and my eyes run up her throat to meet her gaze, which is laughing at me. “Morning, Kenzo said you were working, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Passing her the coffee, I lean back against the counter, mentally counting to stop myself from throwing her on the counter and fucking her. Work, Ryder. You have work to do, you have that meeting, you also need to check in on her dad, make sure Kenzo is okay and that Diesel isn’t—
“Do you ever relax?” she asks, tilting her head as she watches me. “I can see your mind working every minute of every day. Do you ever just stop?”
Arching my eyebrow, I sip my tea. “No, I don’t have time.”
She snorts. “Find time. If you’re not careful, you will think yourself into an early grave. Life is so amazing, Ryder, look around you. Look at where you are, what you have at your feet, do you ever enjoy it or just keep on climbing higher? When will it ever be enough?” Her eyes search mine knowingly.
“It isn’t about the money, it’s about keeping my family safe. Giving Diesel a place where he can be himself, and providing Garrett with a home to retreat to and be protected,” I murmur.
“And Kenzo?” she prompts.
“He needs a family, people to care for and love.” I shrug.
“And you?” she presses with a smile.
“Me?” I repeat.
“Yes, Ry, you. What do you need?” she inquires.
I hesitate, and she smiles wider. “I don’t think you have ever thought about that, have you? Too busy being the best, and giving them everything they ever wanted and needed, that you never thought about what you wanted.”
“I want them, my brothers. I want their happiness and safety.” I shrug.
She nods. “I know. I gotta ask, though, how did you meet them?”
“Kenzo is my brother. We met Garrett at one of his fights when he was a professional, we stayed in contact, and when he went underground to earn more money, we started working with him. We ran into Diesel one night when he was chasing someone. He was working as a hired assassin back then, the thing he was good at, but I could see how lost he was in his eyes. It brought us all together. We had the money, our father’s money, and we had plans. Plans that needed more than us, and we just found them one day and became family. Been inseparable ever since,” I explain.
She sips her coffee, moaning, and I shift to adjust my hard cock. “Is Viper your real last name?”
I laugh then, I can’t help it. “No, we took it after my father died. We never wanted his name nor to have any of our success resting on his surname. We took Viper, because when you back a snake into a corner, they are more dangerous than anything. We had all been backed into those corners. By family. By grief. By money. We were all vipers…and now you are too.”
“Me?” she scoffs, shifting, making her shirt gape further.
“You were backed into a corner and came out stronger. This might not be the life you imagined, but you’re making it work, you’re using what you have. You are smart and strong, you’re a Viper,” I insist, leaning towards her, pressing my knuckles to the counter.
She perks up then, almost laughing. “It’s sure as shit better than my father’s name, the rat bastard.”
“Didn’t you change yours to Rich’s last name, the man who owned the bar?” I ask, genuinely curious, since there is only so much you can learn online and from rumours.
“Always researching, huh? Yeah, I did, I did it for his birthday, though it worked for me as well. A final cutoff from my family who did nothing but hurt me. But not him.” She seems sad now, so I reach across and cover her hand. She stares down at it, probably unused to comfort, but she doesn’t pull away. “I suppose you know he died?”
I nod, and she sighs.
“He was a good man, a very good man. He did some bad things in his past, but that never bothered me. My father has a clean record, always seen as charming to others, yet he was a monster. Rich was seen as a monster, but he cared for me more than anyone ever had. He helped me study and finish school, start a life, and have a job and a roof over my head where I could sleep without wondering…”
“Wondering?” I prompt.
“Wondering if I would be woken up by mean hands.” She shrugs, unashamed.
“He beat you.” I already knew this. “My father did too.”
I don’t know why I’m telling her this, other than the pain in her eyes as they level on me—the embarrassment and anger there calls to me. It makes me want to tell her, to help her understand that we aren’t so different. I need something stronger for this talk, though, so I turn around and pour us both two fingers of scotch and pass it over. I toss mine back and lean against the worktop, steadying myself by gripping the counter hard. She waits patiently, rolling the glass around in her hands.
“He was a bastard, but I’m guessing you know that by now. He was rich, powerful, and charming. Everyone loved him or wanted to be him. He made his millions by tearing down weaker people and stepping on them. But at home? He was even worse, he was fucking evil. He hated us, especially Kenzo. He thought him weak because he loved, because he laughed. I had to protect my brother. I know he hit him sometimes when I couldn’t save him, but for the most part, I took every blow, every whip, every beating. I stepped between him and my mother, not that it made her love us more. Kenzo always hoped she would take us and leave him, but I knew better. She was weak, which is horrible to say because I did love her, but she was weak. She needed his money to survive, and she would never leave him out of fear. Not even to protect us.”
“Ryder—” She shakes her head, and I smile sadly.
“It is okay, Roxxane. It’s in the past. I’m telling you this because I want you to know it doesn’t matter where you come from—from the dumps or skyscrapers—evil is still evil. We might have bled onto marble floors, but we still bled, and if I could go back, I would do it all again. I would take every thrashing stoically.”
“Why?” she queries, frowning.
I look around. “To be here with my family. I paid a high price, but now it’s all worth it. I’m surrounded by the best brothers, even when I forget sometimes, lost in the numbers and business. I have everything I always wanted.”
“Always?” she mumbles, and I regard her then.
“Always,” I whisper, meaning her as well. The love of a good woman, one strong enough to survive us, to survive me and the monster my father created in me. Placing the teacup aside, I feel the desire to reach for her, but I don’t know how. I’m not as loving as Kenzo, I’ve never even had a relationship. My father ruined it for me with the way he treated my mother…I think the only reason I’m letting Roxxane so close is because I have no choice.
She started as a business deal, one I couldn’t avoid, and now I can’t get her out of my head or my cold heart.
But she gathers that bravery again, slips from the stool, and marches around the counter, only stopping when she’s in my arms. I wrap them tightly around her, wondering how I’ll get her to stay here forever. All thoughts of business fade from my mind as those grinning eyes peer up at me.
How such a small person can hold such strength astounds me. She could have let her abuse and her father break her, she could have stopped fighting. She could have stopped even when we stole her, given in and withered away. Instead, she thrives. Diesel is right—Roxxane lives for danger, for stress and dark times. It’s when she is most herself. I wonder if she knows that. It’s probably why she decided to run Roxers, to feel that hit every night.
The one Diesel finds in flames, Kenzo in gambling, Garrett in fighting…and me in deals, in winning and manipulating people. But I’m the one being manipulated here, and I don’t think she even realises it.
Reaching up, I cup her face, searching those eyes that hold me prisoner. If only my enemies knew that to get us all, to kill us…all they would need to do was take her. Hurt her. It would destroy us.
When the Vipers do something, we do it hard, and Roxxane? She hasn’t been here but a week, yet she is already intertwined with us, so essential to our lives. She has changed us, made us love, and made us angry. Yet here, with her in my arms, is where I finally take a deep breath, my hand shaking against her cheek in fear. What if I am too like my father?
What if I hurt her?
“You are the only one who ever gets to see my hands shake, love,” I murmur, and she smirks.
“Good, don’t let them see it.” She nods, playing the game as well as we. “And no, I don’t think you will hurt me.”
I blink in astonishment, and she laughs. “You’re not the only one who can read people, asshole.”
I laugh then, and she leans into my hand. “You are not your father. I see that worry. You’re so scared you will become him that you haven’t noticed you aren’t being yourself either. Stop fighting it, that inferno inside. Use it. The anger he made, I have the same kind. We are two different sides of a coin. You tried to bury it, I let it build me. Neither is right or wrong, but I know, Ryder, I know you will never hurt me, not physically. I know it. You might with words, you might try to push me away or pretend you don’t want me for the same reason I do, but no, you will never hurt me.”
“How do you know?” I question, truly wondering. I don’t even know myself. Doesn’t my control, my need for her utter submission, mean one day I might take it too far and hurt her?
“Because we have both seen what that does to people, and the idea of doing it to someone else would never cross our minds. Plus, I would never let you. I might not be as strong as you guys or have the money, but I’m a fighter like you said. Survived that way. You will never hurt me because I will never let you. I would kill you, kick your fucking asses if you tried. Diesel might cut my skin or fill me with pain, but it’s my choice. I want that, and I refuse to be ashamed by it. But I always want Kenzo’s smile and soft teasing…and your ice and fire.”
“And Garrett?” I have to ask. She’s right, she’s too strong, not like my mother, she would never let us hurt her. She would kill us first. That thought settles me, and I actually sink into her and relax.
“I want him too,” she admits. “I even told him that, but we’re taking it slow. I won’t ask what happened again. He’ll tell me when he’s ready, and I hope one day, we can work through it.”
“That sounds like the words of someone who plans on staying,” I tease, and she sighs.
“Do I have a choice?” She winks, but I sense real truth in those words, and it makes me harden.
Does she?
Would I—we, let her go, even if she didn’t come back? What I told her was true, she started as a deal, one we planned to use and dispose of. But she’s here now, in us, one of us…but how can she truly be one of us if it isn’t her choice? We all chose this life…but she was forced into it.
The very same way that I was by my father.
“Ryder,” she starts, and I wait, but she bites her lip, probably realising the same thing—there is nothing she can say that wouldn’t be a lie. Yes, she wants us, but how much? Is it because she’s making the most of a bad situation, or does she actually want us?
“I better get back to work,” I murmur, before leaning down and kissing her softly, wishing I knew. I pull away and turn, feeling her staring after me, and I stop at the door. “Your birthday is May seventh, you were born at eight fifty-five am,” I offer, and she sucks in a breath.
“Thank you, Ryder.”
I nod and leave, unable to stay any longer, my thoughts spiralling with worry. I need to speak to my brothers. We have a choice to make. We can keep her, force her to stay, and she might not even hate us for it. But she will never love us, not like we want. How can you love someone who takes away your freedom?
I don’t know, but I also don’t know if we could let her walk away now. Not just because of what she saw and knows, but because the others are attached.
I’m attached.
In the afternoon, I lose myself in work, trying to avoid the questions swirling around my head, until Garrett rings me. Picking up the phone, I hit the green button and lean back in my chair.
“Speak.”
“Well, we have cleared the city. The only people who will be taking the bounty are out of towners or people hired directly by the Triad,” Garrett rumbles into the phone.
“Good, did we figure out anything about the leak?” I inquire, and Diesel snorts.
“He won’t let me play with them,” he whines, making me grin.
“We’re going to head out again tomorrow and get back on it. We cleared a few names. Simply threatening their families and their lives was enough, they didn’t betray us.”
“But someone did,” I snap, and then sigh, drumming my fingers on the table as I think. “It has to be someone who worked here, they wouldn’t know anything otherwise, keep looking.”
“Sure,” Garrett grunts, and then it goes quiet, but he doesn’t hang up. My eyebrow arches in surprise, Garrett isn’t usually chatty.
“What’s up?” I ask, and I hear rumbling down the phone before he sighs loudly.
“Diesel would like to know if…if Roxy is okay?” he queries, sounding pained. I smile, but manage to hold back my laugh. I’m betting it’s more than just Diesel, but I’ll let him use D as an excuse.
“She was fine last time I checked, though I think she’s bored. You were right, we will need to give her a job at some point.”
“You don’t sound sure,” Garrett observes.
“Tonight, when you all get back, we need to talk,” is all I say before hanging up. I can’t decide anything without them, that’s not how it works. We all say yes, or we don’t do it.
And this is about Roxy’s freedom.
I’m unsure if Diesel would even let her go at this point, but I have to know. Dropping my phone onto the desk, I loosen my tie and close my eyes for a moment. There’s always so much to do. Is Roxxane right? Do I not know how to relax?
I hear a creak as the door opens, but don’t open my eyes. It’s her. I know it. Anyone else would knock, too scared not to, only my girl would be brazen enough to stroll into my office—which she somehow found. She must have bribed one of the guards again.
“Yes?” I ask, and she laughs. When I open my eyes, she’s lounging on the chair opposite my desk.
“I’m bored, can I help?” she requests, her bare feet waggling. She is in nothing but that shirt still.
“You want to help?” I question, arching a brow.
She sits up and stands, and I watch her carefully as she rounds the desk. She kicks back my chair and hops up on the desk right in front of me, kicking her legs as she grins. “Yup, so who needs killing?”
“We do more than that.” I laugh. “We actually run businesses, invest in people, build buildings, and renovate struggling areas. We run homeless shelters and soup kitchens, we help with charities…”
She waves that away. “I get it, you have your fingers in everything.”
“Not everything…yet,” I murmur, running my eyes across her parted thighs, which allow me to see her knickers.
“Smooth,” she teases.
Narrowing my eyes on her, I point at the floor. “On your knees, love.”
She smirks and sinks down without question. Roxxane might like to be in control, but with me, she loves it when I control her. In fact, I’m betting if I reached into those little knickers, she would be soaked. “Shirt off,” I order, leaning back and watching her. My cock hardens in my trousers as she rips it off and throws it away. Her breasts are bare except for that little scrap of lace. “Off,” I command.
“This?” she purrs silkily, before caressing the swells of her breasts.
“Now,” I demand.
Grinning, she unclasps the bra before slowly sliding the straps down each arm, holding it against her until I clench my fists, and then, with a laugh, she pulls it free, baring her magnificent breasts to me, her nipples turning into stiff peaks as I watch.
Her hands reach my thighs and stroke upward, coming dangerously close to my cock, which is pressing tightly against my trousers. “Free me,” I demand.
She teases me again, knowing she will get into trouble for it, she wants it. Her hand strokes across my cock, not doing as she was told. “Now,” I snap. “Then you will suck me for not doing as you were ordered fast enough.”
“Yes, sir,” she murmurs, before freeing my cock and taking it into her hand.
Silver hair tumbles over her shoulder, which she tosses away expertly, as those dark eyes meet mine as she closes her mouth around the head of my cock and hums. Groaning, I watch her as she lashes her tongue over my slit, digging for my pre-cum before pulling back, her hand wrapped around my base, squeezing. She licks her lips. “Delicious.”
Grabbing her hair, I tug her closer without a word, and she swallows me down, taking me nearly all the way before pulling back and then rolling her eyes to mine once again before consuming me whole.
I grunt loudly, jerking in her mouth as I reach the back of her throat. Fuck, fuck, fuck. She pulls away, dragging her teeth along the underside of my cock before slipping back down, bobbing until I’m almost spilling in her mouth.
My phone rings, making me groan, and she pulls from my cock with a smirk, licking her lips teasingly. “Answer it,” she purrs, voice hoarse. “Let’s see that icy control now, love.”
She waits, and I grind my teeth but reach for my phone, not looking as I hit answer, my eyes on her. “Hell—” I cut off in a gasp as she swallows me again.
“Mr. Viper? Sorry, is this a bad time?” a scared, weaselly voice asks.
“Who is this?” I snap, thrusting up to meet her mouth, trying to contain my desire as that ice melts away. I reach for my control, counting in my head, but I don’t reach four because she hums again.
Fuck.
“Mr. Viper, are you still there?”
“What the fuck do you want?” I snarl, making her giggle, so I yank harder on her hair, taking over as I slam into her mouth again and again.
“I have the numbers you were wanting from the new club, which you asked for,” he rushes out in a squeak.
Club…oh, right.
“It seems like a good investment, but I would like to ensure the owner is capable of paying back the loan, so I was hoping I could look into their information,” he blurts, probably not wanting to annoy me. I am known for being an asshole, and they don’t call me a beast behind my back for nothing. They all fear me, I’m not known for being polite.
Biting back my groan, I try to keep my voice even. “I agree, let’s pursue that.”
I don’t hear his reply, because Roxxane does something with her tongue that has me arching into her mouth and growling loudly. “I have to go. Get me those numbers.” I hang up, throwing my phone away as I glare down at her.
She pulls her mouth from my cock and wipes it with one finger, looking smug. “Problem?”
Grunting, I grab her and pull her up. Freeing my tie as she watches, I jerk her hands behind her back until her chest is arched out, and she gasps in pain. I tie them at the base of her spine, kissing her hard and tasting myself on her lips before ripping away and spinning her around. I tear away her knickers, leaving her bare, even though I’m still in my suit, minus the tie, which I will never be able to wear without getting hard again.
She laughs as I kick open her legs and force the top of her body down onto the desk. “I wonder if you could concentrate on work now,” she teases breathlessly, as I palm my cock and run it down her crack to her soaking pussy. She moans loudly, pushing back to try and take me, so I reach up and wind my hand through her hair, yanking her head up painfully.
“I could fuck you, making you come again and again and still run this empire, love,” I snarl, even as I press the head of my cock to her pussy. When she goes to answer me, no doubt with a teasing remark, I slam into her, making her scream.
When I still, she pants, leaning heavily on the desk. “Really? I don’t think you could, poor little Ryder…his cock taking over.”
“Behave,” I growl, smacking her ass as she moans and clenches around my cock.
“Why would I when your punishments are so good?” she whimpers, pushing back to meet my brutal thrusts, the sound of our skin slapping together loud in this room. My control is shattered to pieces.
Slamming into her, I twist my hips as I reach between her legs and flick her slick clit, making her scream my name. “Yes, fuck,” she groans, pushing back harder, taking all of me, her tight cunt so wet.
I grunt again, trying to slow down, to stop the release I can feel building. I want this to last, to see her explode around my cock only when I say so, but she doesn’t let me. She pushes back desperately, making me jerk and ram into her with hard, feral thrusts.
My phone rings and it’s Garrett so, grinning, I pick it up, smacking her ass. “Quiet, unless you want them to know,” I mock, not telling her who it is as I continue to drive into her with one hand gripping her hip as I answer the call, and hold my phone to my ear with the other.
I’m almost panting now, but I try to concentrate on what he’s saying and not the clinging pussy wrapped around my cock, the way sweat drops down her spine to her bound hands, or how fucking beautiful she looks bent over my desk, taking me like a good girl.
“Speak.”
“We have covered half the list, but Diesel is threatening to burn my balls unless I bring him home to see Roxy, so we’re on our way.” He sighs.
Laughing, I put it on speaker and lay it on her back as I drive into her. Little breathy moans escape her lips as she tries to stay quiet. “She’s here,” is all I say as I reach between her legs again and rub her clit relentlessly. My own release is building, my balls drawing up, pulled from the very base of my spine as I try to hold back. My thrusts stutter, becoming jerky and desperate now.
“Roxy?” Garrett asks, and then I hear a yelp and another voice, no doubt we are on speaker now, even better.
“Little Bird, what mischief are you up to?” Diesel questions.
“Goddamn it, my nose, you asshole,” Garrett snarls.
Grunting, I bite my fist to stay quiet, but I shouldn’t have cared, because with one last thrust, and one flick of my finger, she comes with a scream, her body writhing beneath me, her pussy clenching so tight, I can’t help but come myself. I spill into her as I still, panting and containing my own yell.
She drops to the desk, breathing heavily as I quietly chuckle, still locked in her tight channel. The phone is quiet for a moment until a laugh comes through. “Oh, I see what mischief! Did you come for him like a good little bird?”
Garrett groans. “Did you actually just put us on speaker so we could hear her scream?”
Laughing, I sit back on my chair, pulling her with me, keeping her impaled on my already hardening cock with the phone held in my other hand as I stroke her trembling side. “Yes, she was being punished.” I shrug, making her laugh.
“Didn’t seem like a punishment to me. Hey, crazy man,” she greets Diesel. “Hey, angry man.”
They both laugh. “We won’t rush back then. We’ll bring in some food, you’ll need it,” Diesel offers before they hang up. I toss the phone away then, her slick back pressed to my chest as she wiggles, making us both moan. Gripping her hips, I force her to still as I press my forehead to her sweaty shoulder. “Be still.”
I’m hard, wanting to fuck her again. Christ, will this ever lessen? This fucking desire for her? How can one woman control my emotions so much and force me to lose control with just a smile and a few words?
“That was amazing. Ready for round two?” she asks, and lifts herself before dropping down on my cock.
Fuck.
“Always,” I snap, helping her ride me, watching my cock slip in and out of her wet hole, her ass pressed to my hips. She rolls her hips enticingly, and I reach around and grab one of her breasts, tweaking her nipple and forcing a moan from her throat.
“That was just your first orgasm. Let’s try for three, shall we?” I murmur, as I stroke down her belly to her clit and flick it again.
She comes three more times. Twice on my cock and once in my mouth. By the time we’re done, we are both boneless and covered in a sheen of sweat. “Let’s shower before they get back,” I suggest, and she sighs, snuggling closer.
“I can’t walk, so carry me,” she demands.
“Still ordering me around, princess?” I tease.
“Still pretending it doesn’t work?” she taunts, as she nuzzles into my chest.
I lift her, and she wraps her legs around my waist as I carry her from my office and to my room where we shower together. Only when I’m dressing do I realise I left my phone on the desk. I freeze. Me? Leaving my phone? Unheard of. But as I’m about to go back and get it, she grabs my hand and leads me downstairs to where the others are waiting.
I soon forget about it again. It’s my first night off…ever.
I like it. Especially with her perched on my knee, sharing my food, a beer in one hand, and a smile on my face as Diesel tells his stories for the day, making her laugh along with us.
It’s nice.
It’s home.
