Never Enough: The Vipers MC by Lexi Cross Page B

Remember that,” I said, then I flew at him. I took him down again, pinning him up against the wall. I took him by the shoulders, banging his head against it over and over until he went limp.
     
    I got up, looking around the room. I wasn’t breathing heavy from the fight—it took almost nothing. He was out of shape, I wasn’t. It was the rage going through me. I had to hold it back, and it wasn’t easy to do.
     
    I didn’t see Jess anywhere. The doors at the end of the hall were both open. I knew they were the bedrooms. She was in the bathroom, she’d told me. I didn’t see much damage, but then again, didn’t know how the place usually looked. I heard a groan from the floor. He was coming to, moving his head back and forth, muttering.
     
    I went to him with my fists clenched, crouching in front of him. “Who the hell are you? Who do you work for?” I stared at his face, trying to see his eyes again. Gray. Like steel.
     
    He wouldn’t say a word. I stood and kicked him in the ribs.
     
    “How’s it feel?” I growled, then kicked him again. He groaned. “Tell me who sent you here, asshole.”
     
    “My boss,” he muttered.
     
    “What’s your boss’s name?”
     
    “I don’t know.” Another kick. He curled up in a ball, holding his hands out to me. “Please, I mean it. I don’t know his real name. Nobody does. He has a million of ’em.”
     
    “A million? Really? You want me to believe that?”
     
    “He has a bunch of offices and a million names. If he finds out I told you about him, he’ll fucking kill me.” He sounded serious. I knew the sound of a man sure he was going to die.
     
    “Okay. He’ll kill you. What the fuck do I care? You came here to kill her.” I crouched down, pressing my knee against his ribs. He cried out in agony.
     
    “No! I wasn’t gonna kill her! I was gonna scare her, maybe steal somethin’ if she had anything worth stealin’. It don’t look like she does.”
     
    He was right about that. “That’s all you were gonna do? Scare her? You weren’t gonna hit her or anything?” I picked up his head, bouncing it off the hardwood. He cried out again.
     
    “I swear, man. I wasn’t gonna touch her. I don’t do shit like that. That’s what other guys do. Not me. I don’t hurt women.” He was babbling, desperate for me to believe him. I didn’t know whether I should.
     
    “Okay, pal. I’ll let you go. I want you to promise me you’ll never come back here again. I swear to Christ, I’ll be waiting here for you if you do.”
     
    “I won’t. I swear I won’t. I’ll just tell the boss I scared her and there wasn’t nothin’ worth stealin’. That’s not a lie.” No, and it wasn’t a lie that she was scared to death, either. He had done his job.
     
    “Get the fuck outta here, asshole.” I got up, opening the door wider for him to crawl out. He literally crawled out on his hands and knees, whimpering like a little girl. I thought about calling the cops on him—they’d probably get there before he made it to the elevator, the rate he was going. But I thought I’d give him a break. I wanted him to make it back to his boss, anyway, to tell him Jess wasn’t alone in the world. She had somebody to protect her. He couldn’t pull his bullshit games with her and get away with it.
     
    I closed the door and turned, going back into the apartment. I knew she would never feel safe there again. Right away, I told myself she could stay with me. No—she should stay with me. End of story. No arguments. She would argue, too, knowing her. I wondered how many more men breaking into her apartment it would take before she agreed that she needed help. I wondered if there were enough men in the world to convince her.
     
    “Jess?” I knocked on the only closed door in the apartment. “It’s okay. You can come out now.”
     
    “Are you sure?” Her voice sounded so scared, I wanted to bring the asshole back in and kick the shit out of him for making her