“My chest?” Winter smiled at his joking.
“Your tattoo, though your chest isn’t bad either.” Viper smiled, still keeping his eyes closed as she traced the defined lines.
“Each symbol stands for an original member?” Winter asked as she gazed at the tattoo closely.
“Yes.”
Winter studied the tattoo, the center was a Navy seal insignia with a snake wrapped around it from the bottom up leaving the face of the snake glaring back. Objects surrounded the insignia, which were two revolvers with a metal chain wrapped around the barrels of the gun linking them together, brass knuckles, a hand of cards, and a razor knife. The whole tattoo had a layer of shadows giving it a smoky effect. It made a chill go down Winter’s back just staring at the intricate designs of the large tat.
Winter touched the razor knife. “Razer, that’s an obvious one as well as your own wrapped around the seal insignia.”
“I never did have much imagination. You might as well give up, no one has figured out all of the symbols.”
“I bet I can,” Winter boasted.” “I have become an expert at puzzles; a couple of months in a wheelchair with nothing to do with my time except several magazines of puzzle solvers. Let’s see how I do.”
“Go for it.” Viper put his hands behind his head giving her a full view of the tat.
“The revolvers are Knox and Rider.”
“That’s good, everyone has a hard time with that one.”
“I don’t know why, those two go everywhere together.” Her finger touched the chain wrapped around the revolvers. “The chain is Train, that one is a little obvious,” Winter said.
Viper looked down at her in surprise. “How do you know?”
“He has a chain wrapped around the handlebars of his motorcycle.” Winter had seen him washing his bike the day she had gone to the doctor.
Winter didn’t understand the unfathomable look he gave her. “Am I right?” She asked gloating at her deductive skills.
“Yes,” he finally answered amusement in his voice, so Winter continued on with her game.
“The brass knuckles are Cash.”
“How did you know that one?”
Winter gave him another gloating smile. “I live in Treepoint remember? I know a couple of the men he’s been in fights with, he doesn’t believe in playing fair.”
“No, he believes in winning,” Viper said with respect in his voice.
“The shadows are obviously Shade.”
“Usually people think he is the cards or the chain.” Winter could tell this time she had surprised him with her deductive reasoning.
“Then they don’t know Shade,” she said wryly. “Is the navy insignia a member?” She asked.
“He isn’t anymore, the insignia stands for Gavin.” Viper’s voice had thickened.
Winter tried to slide off Viper but he held her still. “I am so sorry about your brother,” Winter said softly.
“Rider, Knox, and Gavin were tight. They wanted to come up to Treepoint with him, but I wouldn’t let them. I didn’t want to scare everyone off before the deal went through and the house was ready for us to move into.” Tears filled Winter’s eyes as she saw he held the guilt of his brother’s murder inside.
“It wasn’t your fault Viper, it was no one’s fault except my greedy cousin.” She lowered her head to his chest. His hand moved to stroke the back of her neck.
“There is one more you haven’t told me yet who it is.” Viper redirected her attention.
Winter raised her head staring into his eyes seeing that he held no ill will towards her because of Vincent’s actions. Her attention returned to the tattoo gazing at the last symbol. She was almost sure the cards themselves were a clue but she was stumped.
“Joker?” Viper shook his head. “Ace? Poker?” At that a laugh rumbled through his chest.
“No.”
Winter gave it one more try. “Luck or Lucky?”
Viper’s laughter stopped and he looked at her in surprise.
“You are good. Congrats.”
“Is he in your Ohio house?”
“No, he’s still in the Seals. Lucky came out of the service for a while, during the time we started the club, but he missed the service.”
“Were you close?”
“All eight of us are close, but yes, Lucky and I were close. He is a good brother, one of the luckiest bastards I know.” His finger touched the hand of cards on his chest. “They call this hand of cards a Deadman’s hand. Lucky is one of the most lethal son of a bitch to ever be in the service and they give him the jobs men usually don’t walk away from.”
“I thought that went to Shade.”
“What do you mean?”
“His symbol covers the whole tattoo. He is the protector of the club, isn’t he.”
“He is our enforcer, yes,” Viper said carefully.
“I saw him lay out several of you during the picnic, all together it took four men to hold him back.” Winter didn’t try to hide the admiration in her voice.
“You saw that?”
“I could hardly miss it, I thought he was going to rip poor Charles’ head off.”
“Charles, who?” Winter tried to hide her smile at Viper trying to dodge the truth without telling an outright lie.
“Lily’s high school boyfriend, I’ve told you that before,” she reminded him.
“What makes you think he was after that kid?” Again he tried evasion, this time it was her giving him a look that doubted his intelligence. Did he not remember she was a principal of high school males, where they learned the bro code in the first place? Winter thought.
“Because Shade wants Lily?” Winter asked smiling wryly,
“What’s so funny?” Viper’s eyes narrowed on her.
“Well he is going to need Lucky’s good luck to accomplish that feat.”
“You don’t think it would work out?” The bro code reappeared again when he thought Winter didn’t think Shade and Lily would make a good match.
This time it was Winter who tried to dodge the question, sliding off Viper she got out of bed to go to the bathroom.
“Winter, he’s a friend of mine, I want to know,” he demanded when she came out. “Don’t you think he is good enough for her?” A trace of anger could be heard in his voice.
Winter stopped, gazing back at him before going to the closet and pulling out a towel needing time to think of how to answer his question. Wrapping the towel around herself, she walked back to the bed sitting down beside his sprawled body.
“Lily is a beautiful woman.” Winter tried to explain in a way that he would understand her hesitation at the possibility of a relationship between their two friends.
“She is attractive,” he admitted slowly.
Winter gave him a smile to let him know that she could never be jealous of Lily’s beauty. “She is beautiful inside and out.”
“She’s beautiful,” Viper conceded.
“Has Razer discussed this with Beth?” Winter asked curious.
“Beth refuses to discuss Lily.” Viper at this point realized that Winter knew the whole club was aware of Shade’s intentions for Lily.
“She is very protective of Lily, Beth is also a little oblivious where Shade is concerned.” Viper lowered his lashes and his face went impassive at her words. “I am not.” Winter’s voice turned hard.
“Say what you are getting at.”
Sighing she continued, “Lily has a lot of issues, and I don’t know Shade well enough to know if he will be able to handle her with the care she needs. If he screws up, he won’t get a second chance.”
Winter gave him the only warning she would give. Lily was her friend and she wasn’t going to throw her to the wolves. The only reason she was giving him a heads up at all was because Shade was the one The Last Rider’s depended on for their protection. Lily deserved someone strong enough to protect her. Winter had observed Lily’s reactions to certain situations and she had a terrible feeling that Lily needed a protector.