I should have known it was a woman. The use of the dildo and her freaking out when the nurse touched her were clear signs. Even her drawings. I only realized the figure at the door became more feminine over time, after I saw Super Head on the surveillance video. I was right about one thing though. I’m the reason Raven got hurt.

“How do you think you should die?” I ask her.

“Of old age…sixty years from now.”

Now’s really not the time to be a smart ass, bitch.

“Look at me.”

She slowly turns her head to face me, her eyes unblinking and lifeless.

“Don’t forget who I am. You hurt my woman, took something that was mine. You’ll be lucky if you live through the night.”

She swallows and fear creeps into her eyes. Good. I leave her to stew on that while I check on what the boys are doing with the Snakes. Ace has been blowing up my phone, but Tek sent him a clip from the surveillance video. There’s nothing he can say or do to stop me this time.

My warehouse is a multi-purpose location. Yes, it houses my cars and bikes, but there’s an underground level where I’m able to…conduct sensitive business. That lower level is exactly where we are now. Super Head is in one room, the Snakes in another. I have Raven upstairs, impatiently waiting to get her hands on all of them. Shaking my head, I chuckle at her reaction. She’s something else. If women were allowed in the MC, I would probably patch her in right now. I don’t know if she’s adopting this behavior from me or if it’s been dormant inside her and I’m just bringing it out. Whatever the reason, she keeps proving how perfect she is for me.

I told her I was scared, and I was. Since I met her, she’s scared me more times than I care to count. The entire time we were tracking her down, all I could think about were the things I didn’t do for her, things I should have said but didn’t. I didn’t woo her or whatever the fuck you call it. I didn’t give her the romantic shit she wanted. Fuck, I’ve never even taken her on a date. I’ve told her how much I love her body, how much I love fucking her, but never told her I love her. She’s the only woman who’s ever made me happy. If love means not wanting anyone but her, not being able to see myself living without her, not being able to sleep if she’s not sleeping next to me…if it means jeopardizing my own happiness for hers…cutting out my own heart and giving it to her if she needs it…if that’s what it is then I’m hopelessly in love with her.

If Ellen could see me now. She warned me I wouldn’t see it coming. Now it’s happened, so that means those flying pigs are not only making snowmen in Hell, but also throwing snowballs at the Devil. I love her. I love her, and it’s time I told her.

After I take care of business.

I walk into the next room and immediately hear the motherfuckers begging for their lives. They better save their breaths. It’s not a matter of if they’re going to die but when. I see the guys have followed my instructions to a T. The Snakes are both naked, suspended vertically from the ceiling, above pieces of wood shorn to sharp points. One word from me and they’re fucked, literally and figuratively. They also have two blades strapped to their necks. The handles were removed and they were joined by the ends. One points to the neck, the other under the chin. Their heads drop, they’re dead. I cross my arms over my chest and glance from one to the other. From the smell of the place, they’ve already pissed themselves. That’s why there’s a big drain in the middle of the room – to wash away blood and any bodily fluids. We all took our turns knocking them around, so they’re already in pretty bad shape.

“Did you really think you were going to get away with this?” I ask. “Then again, you made a dumb bitch convince you to do it, so you’re obviously dumber bitches.”

“Just call our prez. He’ll tell you it wasn’t us, man.” This comes from the one with the gold teeth. I think Ace called him Ram.

“Ram? That’s your name, right? I already know you were out of town. But I hear you had plans for my girl tonight. I told you I’d put a bullet in you if you even thought about touching her. You were warned, so now you’ve forced me to be more creative than a bullet.”

I motion to Razor and Venom with a nod and they loosen the ropes, lowering the Snakes closer to the spikes.

“You won’t get away with this!” the skinny one, Leather, yells.

“Who’s going to stop me?”

I signal to Venom, and with a nefarious grin, he moves to one of his boxes in the corner. He wrangles a snake out of the box and moves toward Leather. The man starts to squirm then probably remembers the spike beneath him and goes still.

“Black snake. Appropriate, right?” Venom says as he stands before the fucker. “Got him all the way from Australia.”

He handles the snake expertly, keeping the fangs in check while the body coils around his arm. I never understood his fascination with the reptiles, but it’s come in handy on many occasions.

“They eat frogs, birds, lizards…other snakes,” he continues. “Again, quite appropriate.”

As he places the snake on the trembling man’s leg, I nod to Razor. He and Motor lower the other bastard closer to the spike. Venom’s snake slithers up Leather’s leg, his forked tongue flicking out. It stops at the hip and heads straight for the man’s dick. Shit. Even I couldn’t have planned this better.

Laughing, I turn to Venom. “Looks like he thinks it’s another snake.”

“A tiny one.” Venom joins me, our laughter mixing with the Snake’s screams.

He begins to jerk around and his head falls forward. One down, two to go. I watch the blood running down his neck from where the knife pierced him. Venom retrieves the snake and places him back in the box. I stand in front of Ram, wondering if I should make this quick or not.

“Lower.”

They drop him until the point of the spike is touching his ass.

“Please. Don’t do this,” he begs.

“Yeah. That’s probably what Raven would have said.”

I imagine her lying on that bed as Super Head violated her. I snap my finger and Venom moves to the other box. This time, he comes back with a huge Boa constrictor. Ram starts to squirm, begging us to stop. With a nod, I seal his fate. Venom allows the snake to wrap himself around the terrified man. It slithers up, going straight for the neck. As it coils and starts to squeeze, blood begins to drip down. That’s the knife being forced into his throat. I grab one of the axes leaning on the wall and move toward the ropes. E does the same, taking the other side. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. The words tatted on my left arm—that I strangely got from the Bible—echo in my mind. The sound is intensified by the call from the letters on my knuckles. Raven. This is all for her. I signal E and we slash the ropes at the same time. Ram’s scream is short-lived as he’s dead before I can even turn around. The sound of the spike running through his body calms me. It’s almost over.

“New name?” E chuckles. “Gage the Impaler?”

I walk out without a word, heading upstairs to find my woman. She’s riding around in a slow circle on one of the Ninja bikes while Ron gives her instructions. I should have known she wouldn’t be sitting around waiting for me. Spotting me, she stops, kicks down the stand, and shuts off the bike. She hops off, giving me an expectant look.

“Come with me.”

I lead her downstairs to the room I have Super Head in.

“Where are the Snakes?” she asks.

“Not an issue anymore.”

She steps into the room and her manner immediately changes. She’s on the offense, ready to strike. Super Head is watching cautiously. She must have heard the screaming next door and I can see all the scenarios running through her mind. I release the ropes on her wrists and ankles then pull the chair from under her. She falls to the floor but scrambles to her feet and scurries to the back wall.