Viper's Demands (Ruthless Sinners MC 8)

“I’m not.” I lifted the file of papers as I told her, “I just came by to grab a few things I needed for my appointment.”

“Oh, yeah.” Concern marked her face as she said, “You have the lawyer thing today, right?”

“Yeah, in a couple of hours.” I shrugged. “We’re just going to talk, but I always get so nervous whenever I have to go see him.”

“That’s perfectly understandable, especially considering what you’ve been through.” She leaned towards me and smiled as she whispered, “You could always come and hang out with Marlowe and me tonight when you’re done. We’re going to have a couple of drinks at the club, and we’d love to have you join us.”

Since we’d been working together, I’d gone out and had drinks with Delilah before and really enjoyed myself, but tonight, I had to pass. “Thanks for the invite, but I really need to be home tonight.”

“Okay. We’ll go another time.” She gave me a warm smile as she told me, “Good luck today.”

“Thanks, Delilah.”

I turned and headed out for my appointment with the attorney—something I was dreading with every fiber of my being.

My lawyer was one of the best, and I knew he’d find the means to address this situation with Trevor whichever way I wanted, but that was the problem. Even after talking to Henry and hearing his unwavering opinion, I still wasn’t sure what to do.

I needed more time, but unfortunately, because of Trevor’s mother, that was something I simply didn’t have.

3

VIPER

From the day I took the reins as the Ruthless Sinners’ president, I’d been known as one of the fiercest, most relentless MC presidents in the entire fucking South. I’d always led my boys with honor and pride, never wavering from what I believed was right for the club and for the brotherhood.

And even when it wasn’t easy—even when it meant putting their needs above my own—I’d always done everything in my power to keep the brothers and their families safe. I never cared who the adversary was—the Italian mafia, the cartel, gangs, or anyone in between—I put their asses in the ground if they were stupid enough to step up against the Sinners.

That was me. I did that, yet there were days like today when their idle bickering, incessant pestering, and meaningless, nitwit banter about bullshit that seemed to come out of nowhere made me feel like I was running a goddamn daycare.

Hell, I hadn’t been in Stilettos five minutes when I overheard Lynch say, “I’m telling ya ... I don’t give a shit what a chick’s got going on down there. It could be smooth and slick and fancy-free. She could have that shit bedazzled with charms and piercings or be sportin’ the kind of bush you’d see in fucking 1970s porn; I’ll still go down to Chinatown any fucking time.”

“Oh, yeah. I hear ya, brother. I’ve told Kiersten the same fucking thing.” Country glanced over at Jagger with a smirk. “I’ll be heading down south, and she’ll give me one of those weird, hesitant looks because she’s all worried that she hasn’t ‘lady-scaped,’ and I’m like, I don’t give a fuuuccck. Hell, I just ate a Jolly Rancher off the fucking floor. You think I give a damn if you’ve shaved that shit or not? Just. Give. It. To. Me. Baby.”

“Hell, yeah,” Jagger chuckled. “Do us both a favor, right?”

“Damn straight!”

Jagger had been in prison for almost four years, but we finally got him back. And since his return, it was like he’d never been gone. He was back in the fold with the brothers and carrying on just like he’d always done. I shook my head as I looked down at the other end of the bar, glaring at them all as I barked, “Okay, boys. Time for you two to get to work.”

“Sure thing, Prez.” Lynch stood, then leaned over to Widow with a snicker. “Country went too fucking far with the whole Jolly Rancher thing.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly what it was.” Widow shook his head. “I’ll give it to ya. You two definitely keep it interesting around here.”

“We do what we can.”

Lynch winked at him, then followed Country and Jagger towards the front door to help him keep an eye on things. Once they were gone, Menace came over, sat down next to me, and said, “I did a little more digging into Coburn.”

“And?”

“Not much luck as far as he’s concerned. I looked over his cell phone records but didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. I even checked his fucking text messages. Still nothing. Just looked like your typical stuff, but then I started looking into his boys’ shit.”

“Are you trying to work up the suspense here or what?”

“Sorry, I’ll get to the point. Coburn had a main henchman named Jackson Wineberry.” Menace handed a slip of paper over to Axel and me, then said, “Seems he’s the one who’s been making the gun deals.”