The other man charged, hitting Viking in the abdomen with his shoulder. He narrowly missed falling on his ass. Twisting their bodies, he turned them to move them further into the space. His focus narrowed to the fight between him and Jinx’s brother. The man wasn’t as big or strong, nor as skilled, but he was desperate and angry. That made him dangerous.
“I’m going to fucking kill you, then I’ll fuck my little sister. She stopped me before I could take Clair, but now that you’ve made her into a whore, she’ll be perfect for me.” Benjamin bit the words out of his mouth.
“Shut the fuck up,” Viking snapped at him.
He plowed his elbows down, hitting into the center of Benjamin’s back. The move made him release his grip, and Benjamin fell to the ground. Before Viking could grab him, the other man rolled to his feet. In his hands, he held a knife. The steelglinted from the sun coming in through the front of the store’s windows.
Viking blocked out the whimper he recognized as Jinx's. Traeger would be holding her while his other MC brothers gathered to ensure shit didn’t go south.
His heart skipped a couple of beats, knowing his woman would be watching him kill her brother. He’d wrap his head around that situation at a later date, make her forgive him, accept that side of him, and his life. A vision of her beautiful body lying beneath his gave him the strength to shove all thoughts but the here and now aside.
“The only thing you’re going to be fucking is dirt, you little prick. You’re going to die with the memory of the last pussy you got a taste of was the one you slipped out of at birth. If that ain’t nasty, then I don’t know what is.” Viking jumped as Benjamin lunged. He snagged the wrist holding the knife, twisting it back toward him.
“You don’t know anything,” Benjamin snarled. Sweat beaded on his brow.
“What I know is that you’re not walking out of here.” He grunted, shoving the knife into Benjamin’schest. With a savage thrust, Viking tugged the blade downward. “Too bad you chose to do this here. I was going to let Jinx have a few hits before you took your last breath.”
The sound of plastic rustling made him look up. He met Archer’s eyes as the other man placed a blue tarp behind Benjamin. His brother took Benjamin from him, laying him down, doing what he could to keep the blood contained within the tarped area.
Viking’s attention swiftly focused on Jinx. Her eyes were on him, not the still form of the man on the ground. A wail filtered into the space.
“Shut her the fuck up,” King growled.
“On it.” Duke slammed his Sig Sauer into the woman’s temple.
Viking took the towel Archer tossed at him, wiping the blood from his hands before moving toward Jinx.
“Baby, I’m sorry—” he began, holding his arms out to his side. He didn’t want to show her the darker side of his life, at least not so early in their relationship. Fuck, if she decided his life wasn’t for her, he’d lose his shit. She couldn’t do that to him.He wouldn’t allow a little thing like him taking out her biggest enemy and threat to scare her away.
His eyes held hers, and Viking suddenly understood the truth of what it meant to know real fear, when he could lose the one thing that meant more to him than anything else in the world.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jinx noticed the coordinated way the men split up to protect her, covering the woman who had given birth to her, and gave Viking room to guard Benjamin. She knew they would try to reason with the unreasonable, giving them enough rope to hang themselves. She could’ve told him to save his breath. Her family was crazy.
They would turn on each other if it meant they’d gain what they desired. Jinx was stunned to watch her mother embrace Benjamin like a lover. Her gag reflex started to act up. She ruthlessly pushed herself to look at Viking. He stood with his arms out to his sides, looking vulnerable.
Her stomach roiled. She wasn’t one who got comfortable with killing or situations with blood. Though she’d be a liar if she didn’t admit seeing her brother dead didn’t relieve her. She hadn’t slept without thoughts of him coming to find her, even when she’d thought he had been in an institution. Jinx knew many had called her a cold fish throughout the years because she’d never allowed others to getclose. How could she when her own family had tried to break her?
“He’s really dead?” she asked, needing to hear it.
“Yeah, Vakker.” There were no words of apology coming from him for what he’d done. Viking closed the distance between them. “I’ll do whatever I have to when it comes to keeping you safe.”
She swallowed. “Thank you. I never wanted you to have to kill for me. What are we going to do?”
He brushed his knuckles under her eye. “You don’t have to worry about either of them, Jinx. This is part of our lives. We move in the shadows when we have to. The less you know, the better. Trust me when I tell you this will be handled. Do you trust me?”
She leaned forward, resting her forehead on his chest. “I do. God, I was so scared.”
Viking’s arms came around her, wrapping her in his warm embrace. His steady heartbeat reminded her that he was alive, and so was she. If her brother had succeeded, they’d both be dead.
Her hand tightened on the leather at his back. “Thank you for coming for me.”
“Did you doubt that I would?” Viking eased back, looking down at her. His blue eyes blazed a feral heat.
She shook her head. “No. No, I knew you’d come. I just hoped you’d find me in time.”
He inhaled and pressed her closer to him. A shudder rippled through him. “I think you took a few years off my life, Baby.”
