But that act of kindness was to be rewarded with blood.
Two weeks later, Marcus sent three of his crew members to Colorado to deliver an order of guns a local drug dealer had purchased. That dealer had heard of Marcus’s…compassionand decided that he really didn’t need to pay for all the merchandise he had purchased from Marcus. Instead, he killed two of Marcus’s men, then sent the third man home to give a bigfuck youto the man of compassion.
Realizing in that moment that compassion and mercy did not bode well in the criminal underworld, Marcus decided that business was business, and he would never show mercy or compassion to another man he was doing business with again.
He was the head of the Shadow Vipers and needed to protect his crew. And the best way to do that was through fear and intimidation.
So, option two it was: Show Rowan’s crew what happens to leaders when they fuck with the head of the Shadow Vipers.
“So, how do you want to play this?” Caden asked, sitting on his bike next to Nikolai.
Nikolai was loading his gun as he sat there waiting for Marcus’s response.
“Want us to go in there first? Clear out the place for you?” Jake asked, pushing his light-brown hair back before spitting into the dirt next to his bike.
“Nah. This is my fight. I say we ride up in there, guns blazing. I’ll have a little one-on-one with Rowan, then hiscrew can watch as I beat the piss out of the little piece of shit. Remind them what happens to assholes who cross the leader of the Shadow Vipers,” Marcus explained, smirking as all his men cheered back at him.
No mercy.
“No killing. Just wound the motherfuckers. We want them to be able to spread the word about tonight.” Marcus smiled. “Let’s ride.” Marcus kicked up his sidestand before bringing his bike to life with a monstrous roar.
He floored it, leading his men straight to the landfill’s entrance.
A few men started to yell when they spotted Marcus and his crew riding right for them in a cloud of dirt and dust. They didn’t have much time or warning before Marcus and his crew crashed through the flimsy fence and began opening fire on all of them.
Men fell to the ground, clutching their knees and gripping their arms. Guns lay scattered around as men dropped them in pain and agony.
Following Marcus’s instructions, his men weren’t killing them, just incapacitating them, so they were fuckin’ useless in defending their leader. The real prize was their leader.
“Hey, hey, boys!” Marcus shouted as he rolled in, firing shots at anything that moved.
Blood splattered everywhere as, one by one, men fell and writhed in pain.
Their entrance was spectacular. A bunch of badassbikers, rolling in, shooting at any motherfucker who wasn’t a Shadow Viper.
Talk about gangster.
Finally, Marcus came to a stop in front of their leader. Pointing his gun at the man, Marcus had to laugh at how fucking dumb he was. He had been sitting in a lounge chair, chugging back beers without so much as a gun within arm’s reach.
That was rookie mistake number one. Never be more than a few inches from a gun or weapon. In their line of work, one always needed to be prepared for hell’s fire to rain down on them.
Rookie mistake number two? Bad-mouthing criminals who lived within driving distance of where you lived.
“Move another muscle, and I’ll blow your fuckin’ head off,” Marcus growled, shifting his bike into first, then kicking down his sidestand. He turned off his motorcycle, then stepped off the beast, with Nikolai right by his side.
“So, I hear you like talking smack about me and my crew?” Marcus asked, passing Nikolai his gun as he began walking toward the angry man.
Judging by his lack of weapons, the man wasn’t much of a threat to Marcus.
Those who’d been smart enough to keep their guns within arm’s reach had also been disarmed and were now sitting… or standing, listening to Marcus and his crew bark orders at each of them.
“Not sure what you heard, but I don’t appreciate youassholes rolling up in here and attacking my men. Seems kind of pansy to be shooting at men who aren’t even prepared,” Rowan growled, his eyes throwing daggers at Marcus as he approached.
Marcus stopped in front of him and knelt so they were face-to-face.
“It’s not my fault that your crew is a joke and ill-prepared for an attack. We’re criminals, not the UN. You want fair? Go join a tennis league.”
Caden and the guys behind him chuckled.
