Page 15 of Viper's Single Mom
Three days of peace made me soft. Made me hopeful.
Peace never lasted long in my world.
But for three days, I let myself believe it might. Three days of Tara's smiles and Izzy's laughter and feeling like maybe, at forty-two, I'd finally found home.
The morning of day four would shatter that illusion, but I didn't know that yet.
All I knew was that for the first time in my life, I had something worth losing.
And that terrified me more than any enemy ever had.
CHAPTER 5
TARA
The morning after Viper spent the night—after tea parties and promises that made my chest tight—Harrison walked into Bea's Diner.
Lunch rush chaos covered his entrance at first. I balanced three plates of the daily special, dodging Maxine with her coffee pot, when the bell chimed. That particular sound shouldn't have mattered. But my body knew before my brain caught up, spine going rigid, plates rattling against each other.
Harrison stood in the doorway. Armani suit despite Montana heat, that practiced courthouse smile already in place.
"Hello, wife."
The plates would have shattered if Buck hadn't lunged from his stool to steady them.
Every conversation in the diner stopped. Forks suspended midair, coffee cooling in cups, the entire town holding its breath.
"Get out." My voice came out stronger than my shaking hands suggested.
"Such fire now." Harrison moved into the diner, marking territory with each step. "Your biker gave you a backbone? How delightfully trashy."
Behind the counter, Bea's hand found her phone. Not for 911—for Viper.
"We need to discuss custody arrangements." Papers appeared from his briefcase with courtroom precision. "Emergency filing citing abandonment, parental alienation, child endangerment."
Surveillance photos scattered across the counter. Me wrapped around Viper on his bike. Him leaving my house at dawn. Izzy on his shoulders, laughing.
"You've been watching us."
"Documenting your unfit behavior." His assessment swept down my body with practiced disgust. "Though what did I expect? You always were weak.
The door exploded inward.
Viper filled the frame, Wolf and Blade flanking him. The temperature plummeted despite the noon heat. Violence radiated from every line of his body, but when his gaze found me, something else flared there too. Possession. Pride. Pure, burning want.
My reaction was immediate and wrong. Pulse hammering, skin flushing, that familiar ache blooming low in my belly. This man was about to destroy my ex-husband, and all I could think about was how his hands had felt on me.
"You're in my seat."
Harrison turned from the counter, oblivious to danger. "Mr. Brennan. Perfect timing." More papers appeared. "Cease and desist order. Come within fifty feet of my wife or daughter?—"
Viper moved faster than thought. One second Harrison was mid-sentence, the next he was dragged across the counter, papers flying like snow.
"Outside. Now."
"This is assault! Everyone here witnessed?—"
"Funny thing about Pike Creek." Viper's hand shifted to Harrison's throat. Not squeezing. Yet. "Folks develop selective blindness."
