Her body quivers against me, my cock so hard, I feel like I’m about to explode just from a kiss alone. She moans, a breathy little sound that goes straight to my cock. The sound seems to snap her out of it, but I refuse to let her go. I force my tongue deeper, dominating her mouth, marking her lips, bruising them. Taking what I want.

She gets angry, and starts slapping and clawing at my bare shoulders with her tiny kitten claws. She can do better. I saw her take down Garrett. She wants me to stop? Then I want to see that Roxy. Tugging her closer, I press my hardness between her legs, and she freezes before her fighting gets worse. Grinning against her mouth, I kiss her harder. “You can do better than that, Little Bird,” I murmur, before biting down on her bottom lip.

She groans and slaps me. The sound is loud in the room as my head whips to the side. My eyes wild, chest heaving, and cock hard, I slowly look back at her. She’s got wide eyes again, but her bruised, raw lips tip up in a smirk, one I return. “You’re getting there, Little Bird. Soon, you will be free.” A groan comes from behind me as the man wakes up. “Until then, ask away.”

“Tell me what everyone’s job is,” she demands, her voice husky as her tongue slips out and tastes her lips, making me grunt.

“Don’t look at me like that,” I snarl.

“Like what?” she questions, tilting her head.

“Like you want to eat me, so fucking hungry,” I snap.

“You taste like fire,” she whispers, and then sucks in a breath. “Tell me, I paid up, now it’s your turn,” she retorts, angry at herself for getting into that position. For letting herself enjoy it.

Poor Little Bird has no idea how much she’s going to enjoy what else is to come between us.

I’ve pushed her a lot today, so I step back and start talking. Today is about breaking down some of those barriers, so I’ll keep pushing, keep daring, until the true Little Bird comes out to play, and won’t that be brilliant?

“Kenzo is the bookie, owns the city’s gambling. Horses, cards, anything you can bet on, even fights. He’s the money side of things, good with numbers. Garrett used to be a fighter, so he knows a lot of tough people. He’s the enforcer. He scares people, beats them up a bit to make them listen to Ryder, who’s the front man. The face and the brains of the operation. They try to stop it from getting to me.”

“And what are you?”

I smirk as I grab a bone saw from the table. “I’m your worst nightmare. The place you go when you’re at the end. I get information by whatever means necessary. When Garrett can’t scare them, Ryder can’t reason with them, and Kenzo can’t bribe them, then I get them. I kill our enemies, I torture those who dare defy us. I’m the reason people are scared to cross the Vipers.”

“You’re the assassin,” she murmurs, lips still swollen from our kiss. She has never looked more beautiful.

“Yes, Little Bird, I’m the assassin, and you’re my latest target.” I wink before turning back to the man. “Declan, nice to have you back. Shall we continue?”

Roxy watches me the whole time. She says nothing as I rip the man to pieces, bit by bit, figuring out what makes him scream. He passes out five more times before I have my answer. Then I kill him. I douse him in petrol and set him on fire.

His screams fill the air again, the scent of blood and piss with it. I turn to look at my little bird as Declan burns to death. The flames dance across the planes of her face, lighting up her eyes and the fear and acceptance there. She has finally realised the type of people who bought her.

Finally understood she’s ours. There is no way out for her. Not now. Not ever. Little Bird needs to find out how to survive amongst the Vipers, or die as our prey.

Chapter Sixteen

ROXY

Diesel’s words echo through my head. Free, he wants me to give up. Accept my fate and become like them. I’ll admit the kiss made me feel something—something that scared me. It was addictive, the taste of his lips lingering even now. But I can’t go there. I have to remember I’m nothing more to them than a debt. A prisoner. I was bought.

No matter how much his kiss set me alight.

Or even that I could understand why he does what he does. It doesn’t make it right, but there are worse people out there. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, and that’s what he’s doing. Protecting his family. I didn’t even feel horror when he killed the man and set him ablaze. I expected it.

And that terrifies me. Shouldn’t I care?

He was a rapist, but…but the way he died…the smell of his burnt flesh is seared into me. The screams will haunt my nightmares, and the man responsible has my panties wet. I told him to make it hurt, and he did. I need to remember to be careful of what I say, since it seems the Vipers take orders very seriously, and for some reason, Diesel listened to me.

In a way, since talking to him, I’ve realized something. This is like a game of chess, one I didn’t even know I was playing. But I refuse to be a pawn. I’m a fucking queen and it’s time I started acting like one. D was right. They all have their strengths, but that also means they have weaknesses. I will find and use them against the Vipers.

I will kill them, cut off the head of the snake.

After all, if you can’t beat them up, join them and then kill them. It’s time I got my hands dirty, ’cause they clearly are, and being good doesn’t seem to be working for me. After Diesel stops the fire, he cleans his tools before leading me back upstairs. He lets me remain silent, lost in my thoughts. Honestly, I don’t know what to say.

He casually told me he might kill me, and then the next second, he kissed me like I was air and he was a drowning man. It pisses me off. I’ve been kissed a lot, but never like that, never so consumingly. It set every nerve ending alive with desire, like if I didn’t keep kissing him, I would die. If I didn’t taste him, feel him against me…fuck.

I mean, I did feel him, it was hard not to when his cock was pressed up against me like that. Sighing, I push the thoughts away. I can’t afford to let him get in my head. I need to think straight, and that means no more thoughts of the crazy man’s cock.

“Ready for dinner, Little Bird?” he murmurs, flicking his lighter open and closed. I want to ask him about it, but I’m not sure I could pay the price of another question so soon. Not when the last one still has me twisted up in knots, and the more I learn about these men…the less I hate them. I can’t have that.

“Starving,” I reply, making him chuckle, and it’s true and horrifying. The smell of that man burning…made me hungry.

Yep, I’m officially more messed up than I thought.

Diesel leads me into the apartment, and the guys are there waiting, with pizza and beer spread across the table. It surprises me, and Kenzo must see that. “We eat junk food too, now sit your pretty ass down and grab some before it’s all gone.” He looks me over as he speaks, but when he finds me all in one piece, he seems satisfied.

Ryder’s eyes track me across the room as I plop into my seat and grab nearly a whole pizza and two beers. Ignoring his look, I scarf them down. He wanted to teach me a lesson, to control me like everything else, and it’s clear he doesn’t like what he can’t control.