Hell's Viper (Hell's March MC Book 1), page 24
With each inch that disappears inside her, I lose a little control, my instinct telling me to fuck her hard and primal until I’ve soaked her insides with my cum. It’s a basic instinct, an animalistic need to mark, claim, and possess, and she brings that wild side out of me. I fuck her rough, making her delicious tits bounce with the force of my thrusts as she falls back on her hands, her moans filling the room. Her juices coat my cock as she takes every inch of me, her pussy clenching and pulsing around my length.
I’m almost there as my balls tighten and I reach between our bodies to rub her clit, hoping she comes when I do because I don’t think I can wait. Her sounds become fervent as I work her clit and pound into her pussy, and when she opens her mouth on a silent scream, her cunt grips me like a vise. She comes just as I do, both of us finding our bliss at the same moment. I spill inside of her, my hot cum filling her to the brim as she continues to convulse, the force of her orgasm stealing her breath.
My head hits her shoulder as I continue to jerk inside of her, the warmth of her pussy making it hard for me to break the connection. “I love you,” she says clearly as I lift my head to find her eyes filled with her honest words.
“I love you,” I repeat, meaning every word.
Both of our phones begin to ring at that moment and I slip out of her with a frustrated groan to grab it from my cut. I see Diego’s name on the screen as Delia hops off the desk to grab hers from her jeans.
“Genni?” she says as she swipes it open.
“Hello?” I answer mine soon after.
“Where are you?” Diego’s gruff tone sets me on edge as I begin to grab my clothes off the floor. “Medical, March compound.”
“We need you and Delia to come here to the Dragons’ club. We need to have a meeting.”
It’s been a long night, and when I was through talking to Quinton and Genni, they put me up in Jaeger’s room to have a few hours sleep. Only I couldn’t seem to shut my mind off. My world imploded last night, and while my heart was crumbling in my chest, my past collided with my future.
It has been decades of peace. I left behind a life I didn’t want and created a better one, naively thinking the two would never intersect. For a long time they didn’t, and I dropped my guard thinking I was truly free, but I should’ve known better. They’ve been biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Years mean nothing when ambition is involved and patience has always been a strong suit in my family.
I was young and stupid when I believed I cut all ties when really they had me bound from the moment I left.
My fear was palpable while I spoke to Genni and Quinton, thinking my confession would have me exiled, but I keep forgetting how fair our clubs’ leader is. She heard every word I said, supported me through my tears, and assured me that my true family would always have my back. Even so, the fear still lingers.
In my quest to rid myself of my origins, I buried everything and in doing that, I’ve placed us all in harm’s way. We’ve had an enemy from the moment I joined them, and foolishly I believed my past wouldn’t come back to haunt us.
Now I sit at the Dragons’ table, each chair filled except for two at the end, and every eye in the room is on me as they judge me. Genni wasted no time telling the others and when the knock came on my door as the sun was high in the sky, I felt like I was being called to my own execution.
“Delia and Ajani are on their way,” Genni says from her seat at the head of the table. The silence is deafening around us and I can’t seem to lift my eyes from my folded hands in front of me. Shame coats every inch of my body and I feel so damn small as the focus of everyone’s attention.
I haven’t joined many club meetings, but the few I have been to were filled with debates and chatter, crude jokes and lewd plans. Never this silent.
It feels like an eternity has passed when Ajani and Delia finally grace us with their presence, the quiet blanket in the room lifting as the Viper enters. “What’s going on?” Delia questions as she sits at the end of the table. She looks like she’s run a marathon as her hair is loose around her face and her clothes a little dusty from the ride over.
Ajani takes the final empty seat, nodding to everyone until his eyes land on mine. He looks at me, curiosity filling his brown eyes as I give him a solemn nod.
“I tried to get a hold of you this morning,” Genni starts as she speaks to Delia.
“Sorry, I had some errands to run,” Delia provides as she leans back in her chair. “What is this about?” She instantly puts her guard up, thinking this meeting has to do with her plans.
“Rockz came to talk to me early this morning after learning who we have sitting in our basement,” Genni begins as Delia’s head snaps around to look at me.
“Loralee or Alonzo?” she asks as I run my hand over my face, preparing myself to tell the story again.
“My name is Rocco DeRucci and I was once the heir to the throne of the DeRucci family.”
“What?” Her hands hit the table as she stands, her eyes filling with rage. “Tell me you’re fucking joking.”
“I wish I was,” I confess as she scoffs, the sound adding to the tension in the room.
“After watching me hunt The Beast, learning what he did to my family, and knowing the danger we’ve all been facing, you’ve just kept your mouth shut?” Her voice raises to a heightened pitch as it bounces around the room, her accusations finding their mark in my chest.
“Wait, Delia,” Genni cuts in, holding her hand up. “He didn’t know The Beast was a DeRucci. How would he? He was never a part of our meetings. Nor was he privy to the information we received about Loralee’s informant. Give him a chance to tell his side and we’ll save our judgements for the end.”
“I had no idea the true identity of The Beast until Genni filled me in this morning, but I’ll confess I should’ve pieced it together. Gionni DeRucci is my younger brother and he’s always been a loose cannon. We were both groomed from birth, trained for the day we would step into our roles in the family. Me as the heir and him as my second. My father realized from the start that we wouldn’t make the best team. Where I was quiet and intelligent, Gionni was wild and destructive. That’s not to say he’s dumb, you can’t be evil without being cunning.” Delia slowly sits back in her seat, her face filled with anger and confusion. “He was counting the days our father would either die or hand over the reins, and when I decided I couldn’t lead, I put a wrench in his ambitions. There was no doubt in my mind that if I stayed in California and continued to be trained by our father, Gionni would one day kill me for my spot. He just didn’t know how much my father didn’t want that to happen. Yes, the family is ruthless, murderous, and depraved, but he gave it order and he knew I had the disposition to do the same. Gionni did not.”
“How old were you when you ran away?” Jaeger asks as he leans on the table, his brows hanging over his eyes.
“Seventeen. A week away from my eighteenth birthday. My uncle, Dante DeRucci, Alonzo’s grandfather, warned me that my father was planning to hand it all over as a birthday gift and I panicked. Now, looking back, I’m not sure that’s the truth. It could’ve been his own plan to get rid of me, knowing he would then become next in line, which is what happened when my father died years later and the family came looking for me. I was already a Hell’s March member and I had found my true family. There was no way I was going back there, and when they threatened me, my brothers stood behind me. Dante took the throne and his son, Amadeo DeRucci, became his heir.” I laugh, the sarcastic sound circling our heads as I lean back in my chair, my stomach flipping with nerves. “I stupidly thought I was free, that the rightful person was at the head of the family and all was right. My uncle wasn’t a terrible man, not compared to my brother or father, and I felt like they would be better without me and I them, but what I failed to remember was how rotten his son, Amadeo, was. That’s Alonzo’s father.”
“He’s the one who put Gionni DeRucci inside the Knights’ club?” Delia cuts in as I shrug my shoulders.
“I have no idea, but if he is a mole, and I believe that he would be, he currently answers to him. A few nights ago, Alonzo came by the shop to speak to me, asking to help him dethrone his father, kill his brother, and provide the MC as an army to aid him. I’ve never met him before then, didn’t even know he existed, but it was shocking to learn that they all just knew about me. After forty years of being away, that family has always kept me in their periphery. I told him I wanted nothing to do with him or his family and sent him on his way.” My eyes burn with lack of sleep and my body is heavy with exhaustion, but I know I won’t be able to rest until my brothers and this club know everything.
“You gave him a tattoo,” Delia points out, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. I want to hate her for her part in what happened between me and Chip, but I can’t seem to muster up the energy for it right now.
“I did. I told him to either get in the chair or get out. He chose the chair and I did my job.” We stare at each other until Malik clears his throat, pulling my attention to him.
“There are some of us who have pasts we’re running from and it would be unfair to blame Rockz for doing the same. He had no idea his past would come back to haunt him all these years later.” My heart warms for the brother who was once a March member.
“I agree,” Genni adds as she hits the gavel to the wooden block. “There will be no exile here today. Delia, is your plan still a go? Or would you like some time to go over the family’s background with Rockz?”
The thought of sitting with my ex-boyfriend’s lover has the acid in my stomach rising into my throat. I may want to be civil with the assassin, but I don’t ever see us becoming friends.
“I don’t see what he could tell me that would benefit me tonight when I face Gionni. He knows less than Alonzo since he’s been away from the family for so long.” She shrugs, but the look she gives me lets me know she’s doing me a favor.
“Why did you choose the old cartel warehouse?” Malik questions Delia as she straightens in her chair. “Seems dangerous knowing the jammer is still operational and no electronic devices will work.”
“That’s why I chose it,” she answers as she leans on the table, her face smug. “He’ll know about the Dragons’ warehouse, he’ll know about the March’s warehouse, and trust me, he knows exactly what we do about the cartel’s warehouse. It’s the reason why he’s taking the risk.”
“Smart,” I reluctantly mutter because she’s right. I highly doubt Gionni gives a fuck about the March holding the DeRucci heir, especially if there’s a spare back in California. Even the Viper putting herself up for offer wouldn’t sway him if it was on her terms. He knows he’ll have a leg up there without a way for her to communicate. “He’ll have something up his sleeve. An ambush or a bomb. My brother is devious and if you’ve been a thorn in his side, he’ll stop at nothing to pluck you out.”
“I’m betting on it.” She slaps her palms on the table, the sound jarring in the room. “We’re prepared for him and I’ll finally look my mother’s killer in the eyes as I end his fucking life.”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Diego breathes out as he looks from me to his sister. “Maybe waiting and speaking to Rockz is the better choice?”
“Or I can bring Rockz with me tonight and it can be a family reunion.” She flutters her lashes at me as I shake my head. There’s no way I’d ever want to come face-to-face with my brother again.
“Unless Rockz wants to go, we don’t force him to do anything,” Genni states as my shoulders relax with relief.
“Pity,” Delia coos as she flicks her eyes over me, disgust evident in her features.
She can hate me for the blood running in my veins, but it’ll never be more than I already hate myself.
My vials are filled, my knives sharpened, and my guns loaded as I sit in my car outside of the warehouse, watching the sun slowly sink below the horizon. Loralee is in the passenger seat, her hands still bound but in a much better predicament than her lover, who’s currently bound and gagged in my trunk.
The Viper is coiled and tense inside of me, waiting for my cue to take over, and I have to admit, this time I’m excited to feel her cold blood course through my veins.
“This feels too easy," Loralee murmurs as she keeps an eye on the warehouse in front of us. “He has to know you have the MC around here, especially your sniper brother. Why would he walk into that willingly?”
She’s right, not that I would admit that to her, this does feel too easy. I just have to believe the idea of having me and Loralee and his cousin’s son in one place is just too tempting to ignore. Men do have tunnel vision when their sights are set on something, it’s how I’ve captured and killed many before.
“I know you hate me, but I wish you would listen. He’s not the type to negotiate. He’s not here to listen to you. He’s here to kill you and me, and honestly, probably Alonzo too.” Her voice begins to grate on my nerves and I contemplate stuffing her mouth with a gag when the sun completely disappears, telling me it’s time to head inside.
“Let’s get your boyfriend and head inside,” I growl as I get out of the car and round the front to her side. She could try and run, but like she said, my brother and Quinton both have their rifles aimed for the warehouse, and neither would hesitate to take her out.
Opening her door, I wait for her to slowly step out before giving her a quick once-over. Gone is the well-kept woman in her pristine Armani suit. Her hair is filthy, her face caked with dirt, and her suit is torn and covered in dust. She follows me to the trunk, waiting for me to open it so she can look inside and be assured her love is okay. It makes me sick that she still cares as much as she does even after he barely blinked an eye when her life was on the line.
Fucking romantic.
I grab him by his hair and haul him out of the trunk, grinning when his knees hit the metal and then the ground. His grunts of pain around the gag make me snort as Loralee stands at his side, her eyes running over him with concern. If she thinks this is true love, then I feel sorry for her.
She walks beside me as I drag her man into the warehouse, the inside of the building feeling hot and stuffy. It’s been abandoned for nearly a year now and with just one broken-out window, the place doesn’t get much air flow.
I’ve only ever been here once before, and that was to take out the right-hand man to the cartel boss, a job Barrett hired me to do so long ago. It looks nearly the same, just dustier and smelling of mold. There are still long industrial tables in two lines, heat lamps and plastic wrap still decorating the tops. This is where they processed the cocaine they smuggled over the border from Mexico before getting the March to distribute it.
Now it’s just a fucking waste of space. The cartel has long moved out of Arizona, and according to some, they’ve set up shop in New Mexico. The Dragons and March both messed up their deals with them and when the cartel sided with the Knights in their battle against our clubs, they ended up running away with their tails between their legs.
I throw Alonzo onto a filthy couch in the corner, the dust spraying up and around him with the impact, and Loralee sits beside him like the dutiful girlfriend she is. Her eyes are wide as she takes in the room, no doubt wondering if she’ll survive this night. I don’t really care if she does or not.
The Northern Mockingbird chirp filters in from outside, the sound easing some tension in my body. It’s Diego letting me know everyone is in place. Nothing can go wrong. As soon as The Beast is dead, I’ll use the same sound to let them know it’s done.
With Loralee and Alonzo glaring at me from the couch, I lean on one of the tables and take a deep breath. It’s becoming easier to flip the switch and give myself over to the snake that resides inside me, trusting she’ll do everything as planned. She’s me and I’m her.
I can feel the second it happens as ice floods my body and the room illuminates, the details becoming clearer than they were when I walked in. Pushing myself away from the table, I walk toward Loralee as she takes a gasping breath.
“It’s The Viper,” she whispers as Alonzo looks from her to me, his eyebrows coming together in confusion.
I stand in front of him and bend at the waist, reaching for his gag and pulling it from his mouth. There’s not much he can do with his ankles tied and his wrists bound behind his back, but that doesn’t stop him from barking out a laugh.
“Are you invincible now?” He continues to cackle, his sarcastic tone making me snarl. “What do you think you are? A superhero?”
My hand grabs his face, my nails sinking into his cheeks as I drag them down. He screams as his skin breaks open, the blood coating my fingertips as I snicker. “I’m the villain, little rabbit.”
“You bitch!” he screams as blood runs down his face and I stand up straight, taking in his features.
“Red’s your color, rabbit.” I slap his cheek as Loralee stares at us both with shock, fear making her skin grow pale.
I’m about to bite a chunk out of his scowling face when I hear a sound coming from deeper inside the warehouse. My ears sharpen as my hand reaches for a gun strapped under my trench, the squeak of metal sounding again.
“Don’t move,” I warn the two idiots sitting on the couch together. “Or I’ll shoot your little fucking brains out.”
Loralee whimpers at my threat, and I head toward the direction where I heard the sound coming from. With my gun trained in front of me, I breathe in deeply, searching for any scent beyond the dust and mold. I move beyond the tables, looking once over my shoulder and seeing those fuckers still on the couch, then venture into a room just beyond the one we’re waiting in. I find racks of metal shelving and there in the center of the floor is a metal industrial trapdoor. Swinging around, I point the gun back at the door I entered, finding it clear before I turn back to the trapdoor and peer down into the dark.
