Chapter One-Luc
CHAPTER ONE-LUC
B eing a fool for a woman was my father’s downfall. When I was barely ten, he left my mother for a waitress at his favorite dive bar.
He just left one day. Packed a suitcase and walked out the door, leaving me alone with no male role model and my sister to die in an alley from her drug addiction seven years later.
I tracked him down right after she OD’d. Fucker was slumped over the barstool, a shadow of himself.
The waitress took him for a ride. Emptied his bank account. Left him broken and pathetic.
I remember how I felt looking at the small man he became. Shriveled up and used.
He cried and asked me for money. I shoved his filthy hands off me and spat at his feet.
Anger.
So much fucking anger.
But I made a vow right then. I would never be a fool for a woman.
But here I stand. In my office, like the viper I am creeping around the shadows, lying in wait.
My dick is so fucking hard as I watch the security monitor. Of course, that’s because I’m looking at the front bar.
At her.
There’s just something about Maria Mendoza that strikes me as false.
Like she’s hiding something behind her carefully straightened dark hair.
Even that doesn’t seem right.
Not that she looks bad or anything.
Quite the contrary.
The woman is hot as fuck. She’s been working for us for the past seven months, and in that time, I’ve done nothing but watch her.
I’ve watched her work. I’ve watched her flirt to get better tips. I’ve watched her in her silent moments when she thinks no one is looking.
And I’ve watched her watching Nico. He’s the king of the Vipers. My boss. And my best fucking friend.
Her interest in him is what’s stopped me from approaching her.
There are certain lines guys like me don’t cross. Fucking with another man’s woman is one of them.
But is she his woman? Was she ever?
Nico has a wife now. A pregnant wife.
For all intents and purposes, the king has found his queen, and it isn’t Maria.
I’ve been watching to see how she handles it.
Coiled in my den. Eyes glued to the monitor. I wait patiently like the snake I am.
I’m pretty good at reading people, and Maria’s reactions to this situation are puzzling.
She doesn’t behave like a jilted lover or jealous girlfriend. I’m not in the habit of asking the king who he’s fucking, even if the idea of him touching her makes me want to commit homicide.
Still, her response to his obsession with his wife is, well, it’s good .
I am pretty sure they never fucked, which means I don’t have to fight with my blood brother. Because I would. For her, I definitely would.
And that’s bad.
I’m thirty-eight years old, got my law degree from Princeton. I even passed the BAR exam.
But I don’t work for a law firm. I don’t need to. I have one client.
Viper Enterprises.
My expertise is corporate law. I know criminal law is what most people expect, and while I have experience and knowledge there, it isn’t my specialty.
And you see, that’s what makes people so fucking predictable.
I don’t need to know how to defend the Vipers. We have another guy who does that should the odd criminal charge be filed against one of us.
No, what I need to know is how to win against the elite. The guys in Forbes magazine. The corrupt politicians skimming from their own campaigns and taking handouts under the guise of being lobbied.
They’re the real bad guys. The politicians. The lobbyists. Both of them.
Corporations are the biggest fucking criminals, and New Jersey is ripe with them.
Developers from out of town and overseas are always coming in and trying to muscle locals out of their land and businesses, making it hard for people to simply live.
The Vipers don’t like that. In fact, we fucking hate it.
New Jersey is full of people who immigrated to this country with hopes for a better life. We’ve even got a big fucking statue sitting right in the Hudson River. That great lady constantly holding her torch, symbolizing freedom, never wavering.
I believe in that lady. And I believe in giving the little guys a chance. So fuck anyone who tries to come here and muscle us out under the guise of beautifying the state or whatever the fuck.
With Viper Enterprises buying up land and taking over mortgages, we have the power to turn those assholes out on their ear.
And it’s everything I’ve ever wanted. Power. Influence. The ability to right wrongs.
No different really than kicking some fucking peddler off a street corner I’ve already claimed.
There are drugs , then there are drugs .
Money.
Power.
Control.
Those can be drugs, too.
On paper, I’m the lawyer representing our legitimate business. Yeah, I wear a suit and tie and everything.
Custom fucking tailored.
Behind the scenes, though, that’s where my true colors really shine. Because that is where I’m Council.
My job is to know every fucking thing there is to know about a situation and to report back to the man himself.
There can be only one king. One head to control the Vipers.
Nico Fury is our king and he has my unwavering loyalty.
The bond I have with him, and with Angel, his cousin, our Enforcer, is unbreakable.
Forged on the streets when we were young, hungry, and maybe a little stupid.
There isn’t a damn thing in the whole fucking world I wouldn’t do for my two blood brothers.
So, when Nico told me to get my law degree, I did. He’s not college educated, but he’s the most cunning motherfucker I ever met.
Over the years, we’ve established the Vipers as the most feared fucking organization on the East Coast.
And now that we’re pushing legit, well, it’s only gotten more interesting.
Every meeting with businessmen, politicians, and society assholes is like a chess match. But I’m good at playing chess, so I am always prepared.
It’s all about anticipating your opponent’s next move.
Life is like that, too.
Take my obsession with Maria, for example.
I’ve watched her watching Nico, and I’ve watched him ignore her. I’ve witnessed her reaction to Anna from day one. That’s Nico’s woman.
Naturally, I wait for Maria’s next play. Beautiful woman like her, she’s got to have a move or two.
But as the weeks pass, she doesn’t vamp him like I expect her to. In fact, she’s rather graceful about his rejection.
Interesting.
Myself? I don’t take rejection well. Maybe it’s because of abandonment issues from my father leaving.
I don’t know. I’m not a psychiatrist.
I am sure there’s a whole slew of shit therapists would have a field day with if I ever went for counseling.
But I won’t. I can’t. All my mess is what makes me the perfect man for this job.
Anyway, it’s probably why I have yet to approach her. My aversion to rejection.
But still, I watch her. I can’t seem to make myself stop. She’s an enigma.
A mystery.
And she’s piqued my curiosity.
It’s not even late yet and I have a shit ton of work to do in my office, but I’m at the Vipers’ Den instead.
Something about Maria won’t allow me to do anything else.
It’s like I’m waiting for something. For some signal or sign from the universe that will rouse the viper in my soul from his dark cave, wake him from his slumber.
I watch Anna walk in, her round belly showing in the little dress she has on. She’s with her best friend Giselle, the same woman who a few weeks ago tossed a full pint of beer into my man Angel’s face.
They sit in the king’s booth, and I grin. It still awes me that Nico has a wife and a baby on the way. I never figured him for a family man, but I guess I was wrong.
It makes me wonder.
It makes me hope.
I clear my throat and adjust the cameras back to the object of my obsession.
Maria looks thoughtful. She isn’t smiling, and that’s unlike her. I want to ask her what’s wrong, offer to help.
But that’s not something I should do.
From the beginning, her eyes have been on Nico, and now that he’s decidedly unavailable, it’s the perfect time, really.
But do I want to be someone’s second choice?
I grit my teeth. No, of course I don’t. But I want to be Maria’s choice.
The number doesn’t matter.
Shit.
I’ve always considered myself a patient man, but when I see a half drunk motherfucker step to Maria while she’s tending bar.
Well, I kind of lose my shit.