Sinner's Steel

“There seems to be a lot of that going around.”

“Don’t get nasty, kitten, he snapped. “It doesn’t become you.”

Mario placed a dish of antipasto in front of them: cured meats, olives, mushrooms, anchovies, artichoke hearts, various cheeses, and vegetables in oil. He removed the napkin from beside Evie’s fork and placed it over her lap, then did the same for Viper. Bizarre didn’t even begin to describe the absurdity of eating a fancy meal, prepared by a chef in a well-appointed kitchen, across the table from a rough, grizzled outlaw biker, while her son was a prisoner somewhere upstairs. And if Aria

“I thought you were smart enough to know I would never give up.” Viper tasted the wine and nodded for Mario to fill his glass. The rich, red liquid reminded Evie of blood and her stomach curdled.

“You’ve been around bikers long enough to understand what it means when we make a claim,” he continued.

Evie covered her glass when Mario approached with the wine. “No, thank you.”

“I insist.” Viper gently knocked her hand away. “It’s an Amarone and goes perfectly with the pasta. And it will help you relax. You seem a bit tense.”

Tense? Was he crazy? Maybe that was it. He was crazy. How else could he possibly think she would want to be with him after what he’d done? Or was he so far gone that he was unable to see that what he was doing was wrong? If Aria

Evie scrunched the napkin in her fist under the table as Mario poured the wine. Goddamn it. Why hadn’t Aria

“You wouldn’t even make it across the kitchen.” Viper pried her fingers off the knife she hadn’t even realized she was holding. “I know what you want. And you know what I want. I’m sure we can come to some arrangement that satisfies us both.” He laced his fingers through hers, and brought her hand to his lips, seemingly oblivious to Mario standing in the doorway. “And if not, I’ll just take you, although I would much prefer things to be the way they were when you wanted to be with me.”

“You severed that co

“You don’t fucking get it.” Viper pounded his fist on the table, upsetting the plate of antipasto, and rattling the glasses. “The things you hold in such contempt I do for my club. I have to keep order. I have to keep control. Bill stole from us. If I didn’t send out a message, then every gang, every criminal, every MC would start circling. This is a world where only the strongest survive. And if you think the Si

“They aren’t the same as the Jacks,” she countered. “They have honor and integrity. They have a creed and a code, and despite what they do, they have a sense of moral decency. Everyone in the club volunteered to help rescue T-Rex, despite the risks. Nothing was more important to them. They refused to leave a man behind. And yet, when your old lady was in the Si

“She knew better than to let herself get caught,” he spat out.

“And that’s where you’re different. No one said that about T-Rex. They honored him for his sacrifice. They admired him. And they mourn him.”

“Jagger killed my son.” Viper’s voice rose to a shout. “He turned my daughter against me. The Si

“You killed your son.” She hit the wall and put out a hand to stop him. “Aria

“I would never have killed her,” he growled. “She was bait for Jagger. And when he showed up, I tried to kill him, but she was in the way.” He grabbed Evie’s wrists and pi

“You can’t have me. Not the way you want. Even when you want to be Marcus, Viper comes through. You want to kiss me and yet you’re hurting me. You want me to come to you willingly, and yet you kidnap my son to bring me here. Violence is in your nature. Violence is who you are. Violence for the sake of violence. Violence is your choice for achieving your ends. That’s the difference between you and Zane. He can be violent, but at heart he is not a violent man.”

Despite his outlaw life, the Zane she’d fallen in love with as a child was still there. Always trying to protect her, save her, keep her from getting hurt. She had no doubt, if he had known about Ty, he would never have left Stanton. Just as she had no doubt that he was on his way now.

“Jesus Christ.” Viper tightened his grip on her wrists. “Don’t you understand? I gave you Marcus. I have never asked a woman out. I have never gone on a date, nor have I ever walked away when I could have had a woman in my bed. I could have taken you the first time we met. I could have stripped off your clothes and fucked you over a table in your shop and no one—not Bill, or the mechanics, or any of my men—would have stopped me. I pretended to be a goddamn civilian for you, and I got nothing for it except to find out you’re fucking the enemy. I even spared T-Rex for you because despite his Si

Her brain fuzzed with pain. Was T-Rex still alive? What about the body they’d found in the Black Jacks’ dungeon? “You’re hurting me.”

“And you hurt me. But no more. I will have you, Evangeline. Whether you are willing or not.” He thrust his knee between her thighs and kicked her legs apart.

“Don’t do this.” She struggled in his ironclad grasp. “Marcus … you’re just showing me I was right about you. Show me I’m wrong. Show me the humanity that I know you have inside you. Show me man who mourns his son and misses his daughter.”

“Viper to you,” he growled. “You had your chance with the man. Now you get the beast.” He fisted her hair, yanked her head to the side, and bit her neck, not a gentle love bite, but a skin-piercing dig into her flesh.

Evie screamed. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a blur of motion, the faintest disturbance in the air, and then Viper stiffened and arched back, losing his grip. He spun around and her eyes widened at the sight of the knife in his back, and Mario, his hand still in the air.

The back door exploded open and Viper’s bodyguards raced into the kitchen, heading straight for Viper. “Fucking Mario did this,” he roared. “He’s gotta be a Si

Seizing her chance, Evie ran through the house and up the stairs, opening doors in the immaculate hallway until she found one locked.