Chapter 42
Viper
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” The words explode out of Breaker the second the door to my bedroom closes.
“Where should I begin?” I ask. “I think I began spiraling into the void when I was about six?”
Breaker lets out an exasperated sound. “You fucking killed a man. Unprovoked.”
“Oh, it was definitely provoked.” My skin still buzzes with a wild, nearly frantic energy.
Killing always does that. Like some sick high that I always regret.
Almost always. That fucker had it coming.
I can’t lay a damn finger on Zane, not yet, but everyone else around him is expendable. And seeing him flirt with Breaker?
I stalk across the room, stopping at the tall windows overlooking the ocean, crossing my arms and gripping my biceps so I don’t punch his stupid face.
What the fuck was Breaker thinking?
Just the memory of Zane’s greedy eyes on him makes me want to drive across town and open fire on his fucking house.
“That level of violence was unnecessary,” Breaker spits out, gripping my arm and forcing me to face him. My fingers unfurl as I try to regain control, but the urge to maim, kill, fucking destroy something doesn’t leave. “You thought that killing his guard was the right way to go?”
My pulse throbs so hard in my neck it feels like it may explode at any second. But it’s nothing compared to the level of fury emanating from him, popping a vein in his forehead.
I suck in a breath, knowing I need to maintain control so we don’t end up in a fistfight. “Need I remind you—”
“In front of Cora?” he shouts.
My teeth gnash together. Not my best move, but the fucker had it coming. “The guy was yanking her around.”
Breaker’s hand lands on his head, and he sinks into the chaise near me. “We have to stay focused, Viper. Follow the plan to a T.”
“But it was acceptable for you to fly off the rails and fuck up Zane?” I ask.
Not waiting for one of his smart-ass remarks, I go to the bar and pick up the glass decanter and pour two fingers of whisky. Vodka is my preference, but at this point anything will do.
If I could drown myself in it, I would.
“Killing the staff is not the best way to prove we’re worth the risk to Rune,” Breaker says, watching me down the drink. “He has to trust us.”
“That’s exactly the way to prove it.” I glance at the whisky but decide to leave it. The glass clinks as I set it down on the tray, and turn to face him. “We’re trying to get into a hunt, Breaker. To kill people. I just proved that I’m capable of the level of violence Rune craves.”
“But not in front of Cora.” He locks his fingers behind his head as he stands, like he’s trying to keep from grabbing me and strangling me. Exactly what I want to do to him right now. “You just scared the shit out of her. After she found out she’s being forced to marry. Again.”
“Trust me when I say she can handle it,” I tell him, swiping my thumb on the dots of blood staining the front of my shirt. The guard was a bleeder and an asshole. Untucking it, I head for the walk-in closet.
“I don’t want her to have to handle it,” Breaker says, following me.
“Stop treating her like she’s fragile,” I say, turning to face him.
His focus shifts, eyes skimming every inch of my bare chest as I toss the ruined shirt to the floor.
Adrenaline courses through me, every cell in my being overly aware of him.
Even pissed at me, he can’t help but look.
The way he eyed Zane flashes through my mind, and another hit of anger courses through me like poison.
I snatch a fresh shirt and shove past him.
“Cora is anything but weak. She is far stronger than you give her credit for.”
“I don’t want her to have to be strong,” Breaker grates, again at my heels. “She doesn’t have to be if we protect her.”
My laugh is bitter. “Protect,” I snarl. “So you’re protecting her by flirting with a psychopath?”
He grips my arm, stopping me before I can move too far away. “Oh, we’re discussing sudden changes in our plans now?” He moves in close, towering over me. “After you killed someone?”
“You flirted with Zane-fucking-Devin,” I say, doing my best to keep my voice even. I fail and yell, “You eye-fucked the man responsible for—”
“I got his attention away from you,” he snaps. He moves in closer, into my space like he does when he’s about to order me to my knees. “He fucking hates you, and that’s going to be a problem.”
“Hate is better than desire.”
“Are you jealous?”
“Jealous? What is wrong with you?” I grate out. “Since when was letting him think you were interested part of the plan?”
He shrugs, unbuttoning his shirt. My eyes fall to his hands.
“He’s a fucking sociopath,” I growl. “Now he’s going to try to—”
“Fuck me?” he asks, a slight taunt staining his tone. “Might even spend tonight thinking about bending me over? Take my ass like—”
“The complete deranged psychopath that he is.” I take a step back, raking my fingers through my hair. “We’re not playing this game, Breaker. It’s too dangerous.”
A soft chuckle escapes him. “This entire mission is dangerous,” he reminds me. “Zane is a weak, sour little man with an addiction problem. He thinks power comes from stealing it.”
“He has power because he stole it,” I snap. I may have gone a bit too far with the guard, but Breaker has opened a whole new can of worms we don’t need. He has no idea just how sick Zane is. How depraved he can be.
“Zane likes the chase,” he says. “So I gave him something to chase. A little distraction while you ensure we get into the lodge.”
“We should have talked about this first.” I take a deep breath to calm down. “You can’t just go off the rails. It’s too dangerous.”
Breaker quirks a brow again. “Sorry,” he says sarcastically. “I’ll be sure to call for a vote next time. Maybe we can get the dead guards’ vote too.”
I grind my teeth so hard my jaw twitches. He knows I’m right, even if he’s being an ass about it. I made a rash decision, but so did he. Except mine isn’t anything that will jeopardize the mission.
I behaved exactly as Vincent is expected to act.
Brash. Loud. Violent. If anything, if I’d not acted as I had, it would have made them suspicious.
Vince is a temperamental creep, but he, me, doesn’t tolerate violence or insults toward women.
I never have. Even at the wild parties we’ve attended, if you get a little too rough, I step in and fuck up your night.
“If Zane thinks I’m interested, he’ll be motivated to get us close to Rune,” Breaker says. “You saw how he was looking at me.”
“Yeah, that’s the problem.”
He chuckles darkly. “I knew you were jealous.”
“It’s not jealousy,” I snap. This idiot. How could he possibly think I’m jealous? Of Zane? The thought of any bad touching Breaker makes me murderous.
“You don’t like the thought of someone touching me,” he teases.
I give him an exasperated look. “You know that’s not what this is.”
“You said it. You don’t want anyone touching what is yours,” Breaker says. He grips my neck, squeezing slightly, and damn it if my cock doesn’t respond.
“Zane isn’t going to touch what’s mine,” I say, my voice lowering.
All that anger turns to fear as he squeezes my neck again, eyes glimmering, like he’s remembering this morning.
The thought of Zane’s wicked sickness anywhere near Breaker makes my stomach roil.
“Because you’re not going to fucking provoke him. ”
His gorgeous mouth quirks as his thumb skims over my pulse. The urge to pull him close, press him to me so I can feel his heat and hardness, has my hands skimming up his chest.
“He won’t touch me,” Breaker says, his voice dropping too.
My throat thickens. He’s so much more than my brother.
He’s saved me in so many ways. Loved me through so much darkness, even though he didn’t know I was nearly drowning in it.
Adored me, craved me, so openly, even though it was considered wrong.
He gave me something to protect, gave me a reason to keep going during the times I wanted it all to end.
Striker is lust and my safe place.
Reaper protects us. Kills for us. Directs us and keeps us all together.
Breaker is my reason to keep going. The one thing I could protect from all the bad in the world.
Because I know what happens when the world gets its teeth in you and no one bothers to keep you safe.
It devours a boy whole, leaving him shaking and ruined.
Discarded and overused, too broken to ever believe in love.
I did everything in my power to keep my brothers from experiencing that harsh reality, even though it lapped at our heels every moment.
Breaker is so good despite the evil around him.
So brilliantly beautiful that I hate the part of myself that is grateful I had him, my only pure good thing in life, because it means he endured the same hell as me.
“Sometimes I think I’m going to ruin you,” I say. “That all my bad things will spill onto you and you’ll never recover from it.”
Breaker’s grip loosens, and he tips my chin up to look at him. “Is that why you hide from me? Why you keep me at arm’s length?”
I let go of his shirt and step back. A knowing expression turns his features soft. I hate it when he looks at me like that. It’s too close to pity.
“One day you’re going to tell me everything, Viper,” he says. “About your mother, where you came from, the boy’s home where Father found you, and what happened there.” Breaker grips my arm before I can retreat too far away. “And why sometimes you get scared and panic when I touch you.”
My breathing hitches, and I shrug his hand off. Fuck. My fingers comb through my hair, and the coiled-up panic he’s talking about makes my heart skip. I open my mouth to say something to deflect when my pants vibrate.
Digging into my pocket, I pull out my phone and unlock the screen.
“What’s wrong?” Breaker asks, reaching for my phone. He snatches it and reads the message that came through our secure app. His mouth pulls down into a frown. “Fuck.”
I grab the phone and reread the text:
REAPER: I need you back here. Now. Both of you.