Devious Savior: Vicious Vipers MC 6

1. Ricky

1

Ricky

A big-a*s sign above the highway caught my eye, its four arrows telling me where I headed.

Las Vegas. City of sin.

I’d toured almost every damn state east of Nevada in my attempts to bury the demons of my past.

Cold had been creeping into New England when I’d hightailed it out of there after tossing my colors on Vigil’s desk, but desert heat swarmed the cab of my truck. My open windows allowed the rush of wind to fill my ears and mess my too-long hair, but it sure as f**k didn’t lessen the warmth seeping straight into my brittle bones. I’d left the ocean far behind, but the landscape stretching as far as the eye could see matched my heart a thousand times better. Dried up, incapable of life beyond the prickly, scraggly sort.

Had my subconscious brought me to the desert knowing it’s where I belonged?

For twenty years, my emotions had attempted to suffocate me on a daily basis. I’d tried to drown them with liquor in return. Passing out created a blackness where I didn’t feel those f*****g demons, a void I imagined death would be like.

No conscious.

Darkness and f*****g peace.

But the ugly truth had always resurfaced at the c***k of an eyelid—or sometimes with nightmares so vivid, I would see her face again, bluish-purple and slack, vomit in a pool around her blonde hair. Waking to those memories only made the demons howl louder like shrieking banshees looking for a soul to devour.

I’d lost my own soul on that day. I’d also lost the only person who adored me to the point of reverence. Addiction. She’d needed me in ways no one on the goddamn planet did. I was her savior, her world. She was mine.

Until she no longer drew breath … because of me.

It should have been me.

Teeth clenched against that familiar demon’s whisper, I sped down the highway, looking for a place to crash for the night.

I f*****g paid the price for my own addiction all those years ago, losing the love of my life. Initially, I’d gotten clean, but seeing my Viper brothers finding their old ladies the previous couple of years had twisted my insides straight to hell with grief and guilt. Whiskey had become my girl, oblivion my mistress. I’d gone back to my old ways of lying to cover my stupid a*s when I’d been too drunk to function, but I hadn’t fooled a damn soul.

Vigil’s ultimatum of getting clean once and for all or getting out was the shove I’d needed to get my head set on straight again, but rather than stick around with the only family I had, I’d lit out like that damn banshee nipped at my heels. I’d emptied my apartment above the Vipers’ club. I’d cleaned out my bank account. Up and left my one-man subcontracting electrician business. I stuffed all my s**t into the cab of my truck and in bins around the bike in the bed, and I’d taken off westward, New England in my rearview mirror.

With no rhyme or reason, I’d travelled highway after highway without a clear destination in mind, seeing the sights and passing out f*****g sober as s**t in a different hotel every night. But with each mile that stretched between me and my past, the pressure in my head had lessened. My emotions quieted enough I no longer fought to drown them as they did to me.

I’d gone through the usual withdrawals from slugging down too much whiskey like I had while attempting rehab in the past, but by the time I’d crossed into Nevada, I breathed a bit easier. Didn’t crave a bottle. I’d been sober for over four weeks, not a damn drop of alcohol finding its way past my lips. Longest I’d ever gone.

I’d become a tonic man. Lemonade when I needed something with life, more of a kick. Sucking down a cold pink one especially reminded me of my childhood before bad decisions and resulting guilt took to eating away at my head.

Vegas reminded me of the sweet tartness of my youth. The city rose like robust life amidst the arid land beyond its limits. Buildings jutting from rock and dust, people seemingly everywhere even though it had to be close to ninety degrees beneath the baking sun.

I finally took an exit, pulling into the first hotel I ran across. Standing in the parking lot, overnight bag in hand, and the noise of traffic like static in my ears, some part of me settled even though I didn’t care for noise and crowds. Almost like I’d found … home. Why not settle in Vegas for a while? See which way the hot as f**k wind blew? At least the heat was dry and didn’t drip sweat down my t-shirt even with the lack of a breeze.

Although I still had a decent nest egg cash-wise and enough investments to last me a couple years of the nomad life, I needed to keep my hands busy and my thoughts occupied.

I slid my key card in the room’s lock.

Maybe I’ll check out the classifieds...

“Ricky Capone!” A deep voice hollered.

I jerked around, dropped my bag, and reached for the g*n in the back of my jeans on instinct, barely managing to keep from pulling it out in broad f*****g daylight.

A big as f**k black man strode toward me along the sidewalk, shades hiding his eyes, but I recognized the size and beard on the man, never mind the leather cut he wore. We’d met at Sturgis years earlier. Klingon, Vicious Vipers MC president of the Vegas chapter.

“Klingon.” I tucked my g*n away, thankful as f**k I hadn’t needed to pull it fully out to protect my a*s.

“The f**k you been, man? Your brother is worried sick.” Klingon clasped my hand and pulled me into a bro hug. Even at my six-foot-two height, the fucker towered over me. “Why the f**k haven’t you called—and why the f**k you in my town without my knowing?”

He stepped back, shoving his shades atop his head, and I picked up my bag from where I’d dropped it beside me. “Just got into town,” I said, lifting it for him to see. “Been traveling all over the country. Landed here.”

“You sticking around or just passing through?”

“Was thinking about staying for a while. Vigil tell you why I left?”

Klingon nodded while studying my face. “Why don’t you come over to the club tonight after you get settled in?” he asked, his voice lowering. “We’ve got some dumb f**k a few doors down who needs to have his face rearranged. Maybe lose a few fingers or toes. You’re welcome to join in the fun.”

“Club s**t?” I asked, wondering why he even considered including me in their business. If he knew why I left the east coast, he knew I was no longer a Viper.

Another study of my face lasted a few seconds before he nodded. “Got some young punks moving in from L.A. thinking they can take over our territory.”

“Bikers?”

“Nah. Stupid f***s who wear their pants down around their damn thighs. Bandana fuckers. So, you gonna come over tonight, or what?”

“I handed in my colors,” I reminded him, that fact spoken out loud lancing an ache through my chest. I attempted to ignore it along with the other regrets in my life. I missed the club life, the comradery, and feeling of belonging—but I knew I’d made the right choice in leaving.

“Don’t give a f**k you aren’t wearing your cut,” Klingon said, blunt as f**k, no nonsense.

“I’m not a Viper anymore.”

“Did you disrespect your colors?”

“Just left them on Vigil’s desk where he’d find them.”

“Dues paid up to date?”

I eyed him, wondering where the f**k he was going with the questioning. “Yeah, but I’ve missed too many meetings.”

Klingon shrugged like all that s**t didn’t matter. “So, pay the fines. Vigil isn’t going to kick you out. He wants you home.”

I shifted, glancing down the empty sidewalk along the motel’s front. “I disrespected the club too many times. The brothers won’t ever trust me again.”

The feel of Klingon’s stare pulled my focus back to his stern face. “I think they’d make an exception considering your past.”

“I’m yellow,” I bit out, hating to voice the truth of my weakness.

“The f**k you are. I’ve heard the stories. You’re one badass one-percenter—just got personal s**t to deal with.” He shrugged. “We all got it. Everyone deals with their s**t differently.”

“I’m not going back.” That fact I knew clear as f**k.

“Then transfer here. Tell you what.” He glanced over his shoulder from the way he’d approached. “We’re having a BBQ tomorrow afternoon at the club.” Meeting my gaze head on, he put on his I’m in charge face. “If you’re hanging in my town, I want you around as a guest at least. Stay, don’t stay, your f*****g call, but we’re going to get caught up since Sturgis last year.”

Klingon was a man used to being obeyed, and even though I knew his officers and club probably wouldn’t appreciate his bringing me into the fold when I’d left my colors back in Boston, I found I didn’t want to turn his offer down to be a guest.

“Sure thing.”

“Good.” His intense stare lightened. “Now, go call your brother and let him know you’re not in some shallow grave or swimming with those damn fishies out in the Atlantic while I clean up this mess.”

“s**t went down back there?” I asked, knowing as the president of the Vipers he knew I asked about lost life.

“Not yet—but it will.” He glanced down at my bag. “You packing?”

“Always.”

“Still a good shot?”

“Best brother back east.”

He grinned, his teeth flashing in the sunlight. “So, you do consider yourself a Viper.”

My brow furrowed over my word choice calling myself a brother. “Habit.”

“Tomorrow. Three o’clock. Be there, or I’ll kick your ass.” Klingon spun and stalked off, and I turned once more to unlock my door. “Call your brother!” he hollered over his shoulder. “Fucker calls me just about every other day asking if I’ve seen or heard from your ass.”

“Will do,” I promised even though I still wasn’t ready to.

Klingon paused and turned. “You know he claimed that woman and her son?”

“Michelle?”

“Mila.”

My brow furrowed as I fought to recall the woman in his neighborhood I’d heard he’d gotten tangled up with. But I’d been drunk more often than not those final weeks before leaving. “Thought her name was Michelle.”

“Yeah. So did he.” Klingon chuckled. “Think it’s time you called home, boy.”

I huffed a snort through my nose. Boy. Klingon couldn’t have more than a year or two on my thirty-nine, same as my brother. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that shit.”

“You’re a bad, goddamn liar, you know that?” he hollered for everyone within a dozen or so yards to hear.

Yeah, I knew it. Been a devious fucker my whole life—from mischievous childhood to addict who always had a cover story. “I’ll let him know I’m alive.”

“Good.” Klingon’s firm tone returned, and he nodded. “He deserves that much, at least.”

I lifted a hand for a quick wave.

“Tomorrow!” he hollered, and I nodded.

Guess I’m gonna stick around for a while.

That thought drove me to check out the classifieds, online and old-school style in the newspaper once I settled into a room. Finding a few contractors looking for electricians, the decision to stay solidified in my head.

I set up a couple appointments for the following week.

Long after I made the calls, I sat in my hotel room’s lone chair, staring at my brother’s contact information on my cell. I’d f****d up before leaving. Still dealt with a ton of s**t—jealousy and bitterness at the top of that f*****g stack when it came to my older brother. Insecurity being the bottom-most level from which it all shot upward to fuel those emotions I’d been running from.

Not ready to listen to him chew me a new asshole, I grabbed my boots and shoved my feet back into them. I’d told Klingon I would contact Vigil, but I didn’t say when. Keys in hand, I locked up my hotel room and walked the two blocks through the early evening toward the bar advertising titties and lap dancing I’d passed on the way in.

Not that I was on the prowl for p***y. My fist had been fine the past month on the rare occasion I woke up with a hard d**k, but I needed something other than my own f****d-up life to think on.

For the first time in ages, a hint of hope lit inside me—a new f*****g life, maybe a new beginning far from my demons of the past. Maybe they’d eventually keel over and f*****g die. That thought had me wanting to celebrate in some small way, so why not enjoy some flashing titties and maybe some p***y?

I sat in a corner, thumping bass filling my ears, flashing lights focused on the stage where two women f****d poles in nothing more than G-strings filled my vision. My d**k lay bored alongside my thigh. I’d expected my mouth to water at least for a strong drink, but nothing.

Fucking nada. In some ways, that was a good f*****g thing.

Confident in my decision to avoid the liquor I could smell in the air through cloying perfume and sweat, I settled back in my chair, hands on my thighs, waiting for a woman to spark some life into my limp d**k.

“What can I get ya?” A leggy brunette in a mini skirt and corset flashed a smile, checking me out from my auburn-ish hair to jeans in need of a washing machine. At least I’d showered and used deodorant. Hadn’t sunk that f*****g low since giving up the bottle.

As with the rest of the women loitering around, she didn’t do jack s**t for me.

“Lemonade?” I heard myself ask.

Her lips twitched. “Seriously?”

“Just a tonic,” I replied a little gruffer than necessary.

“Tonic.”

“Yeah—Pepsi, Coke, whatever you got.”

She nodded and left me alone, same as every woman who got what they wanted from me. Not that I wanted anything more. It’s why I’d stuck to the club w****s back home, sharing them more often than not with Devil since a third wheel always kept emotions to a minimum. The w****s knew I wasn’t on the market so hadn’t bothered trying. Didn’t stop them from spreading their legs or dropping to their knees, though.

Drink in front of me, I pulled out my cell and stared at Vigil’s name as song after song blared overhead, swiping the screen to life whenever it went black. I didn’t look up once since my first glimpse of the brunette did nothing for me.

Contacting Vigil would open the door for him to start tossing out demands. Orders for me to get my a*s home. Being the nosy fucker he was, he would ask a million questions, and I would be tempted to spew lies and s**t even though I no longer needed to.

Bad f*****g habit.

But Vigil was my brother, the only living blood I had. And Klingon had been right—he deserved to know I lived. f**k knew he’d had my back every day since I’d been born regardless of my f**k-ups—and the sins we shared. Even his ultimatum had been for my own good. Hadn’t realized it at the time, but I’d done a s**t ton of soul-searching in the previous four weeks.

One deep inhale, and I forced my fingers to text out a message. I’m in Vegas. Been sober for a month.

Three dots started blinking seconds after I hit send.

Vigil: You okay?

No cursing, no trying to set me straight or order barking... I’ll admit my own eyebrows hitched up even while that lancing ache speared my chest again. He’d always been concerned for my wellbeing, but f*****g insecurity had always made me expect the worst when it came to him.

Me: I will be.

Vigil: Thank f**k. I’m here, brother. I’ll always have your back.

Five minutes passed without a question or order to return home. It must have been hard as f**k for him to not order me back home, but Vigil gave me what I needed. Space to breathe. Time to maybe kick my demons’ asses since all his attempts to help had failed.

Me: Thanks brother.

The screech of a guitar whined, drawing my focus up to the stage. My breath oomphed right out of my goddamn lungs like a kick of black exhaust, and my heart stalled out.

A perfect f*****g mirror image of my love before I’d f****d up and lost her...

Petite blonde. She had curves for days, yet lithe with muscle, the good bits covered by scraps of virginal, white lace. Long blonde curls framed a heart-shaped face, blue eyes heavily painted. And those full lips … red and puffed like she’d been sucking d**k for an hour straight.

My nightmare flashed in my mind, and I blinked, fighting to do away with the image of the woman who haunted me from the grave. My chest felt like a dozen knives plunged in deep, twisting and jerking, to ruin me all over again as my heart fought to beat.

Fuck.

I sat frozen. Staring and unable to look away, drinking in the sight of the tiny dancer. She pranced with a brazen confidence that my love never had. She sassed the patrons with every toss of her hair and sly smirk while gyrating and bending, contorting her body like only a limber gymnast or ballerina could.

It’s not her.

My d**k swelled regardless of the wave of grief that caught me up in agony. Demons battled against my body’s instantaneous need. Regrets quickly overrun by l**t.

The dancer turned my way, and although I doubted she could make me out clearly in the darkened corner, her lips parted and cheeks flushed. Her attention drifted toward me more often than not while she dry-humped the pole with those bits of material covering what any sane man would want to peel off.

That smirk. Those eyes narrowed in a siren’s gaze. The angling of her body, the holding of her perfect t**s in offering my way, their plump ridges smooshed together, begging to be f****d. n*****s tight as f**k beneath the lace she didn’t peel off her body.

And when she bent clear over, peering at me from between her spread legs, a darkened spot on that scrap of lace promised she felt what I did. Her long hair brushed against the stage’s floor, and I imagined the strands in a fall of blonde waves around my face as she rode me straight to f*****g heaven.

Goddamn. All woman in a small package, a fire cracker if I’d ever seen one. More Vigil’s type than mine personality-wise, but he’d found his old lady, Klingon had said.

I’d wanted a happily ever after once, but with the shy girl who had clung to me as though I was her reason for living, her trusting me to provide for her and see to her safety. I’d failed on that last part in a big f*****g way.

The desire for liquor slammed into me, but I clenched my teeth and waved over my waitress, needing more of a distraction. It’s not her, I told myself—but I needed to know. Needed to see her up close. Touch, f*****g feel the tiny dancer wasn’t my Annie. “Manager around?”

“Yeah, I’ll get him.”

Blondie held me entranced, and I barely spared the guy a glance when he loomed over me. “How much for lap dance?” I asked, motioning at the stage with my chin.

“Casey doesn’t do private dances.”

Casey...

I pulled two hundreds off my wad of cash from my pocket and lifted them toward him. “Ask her if she’ll do it just this once.”

“She’s off limits.”

I finally gave him my attention, cash still held out in offering. “Yours?”

Dark brow furrowed, he glanced at her. “No.”

“Then ask.”

Lips in a tight line, he took the bills while eyeing the others in my palm and nodded, pocketing the money as he moved off.

No woman had caught my eye since I’d lost the love of my life, but Casey sure as f**k had. Because she looked a lot like Annie? Didn’t f*****g know, but a driving force to see her up close, look into her eyes, and find she wasn’t her, would have gladly pulled more bills from me if the manager had hesitated any longer and given into his obvious l**t for cash.

Awareness of her shivered over my skin, and I swear to f*****g God Casey winked at me before sauntering backstage. Sassy little vixen.

Definitely not my Annie.