Page 119 of The Viper
I was tired—bone-deep, the kind of exhaustion that came from too much adrenaline and too little sleep. But this couldn't wait. Hank Singleton was dead, Hannah was in the hospital, and someone bigger was still out there, pulling strings we couldn't see yet.
I headed downstairs, my boots echoing against the marble. The war room door was already open, voices drifting out—low, serious, the kind of tone that meant everyone already knew this was going to be a long night.
When I stepped inside, the room went quiet.
Noah stood at the head of the table, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. Atlas leaned against the wall, solid as stone. Ryker sat with his feet propped on the table, but his eyes were sharp. Elias had his laptop open, fingers flying across the keys. The other Charleston Danes were there, too: Marcus, Charlie and Silas, the quiet one. And then there were my Montana brothers—Ethan, Jacob, and Caleb.
Ethan was the first to move. He crossed the room in three strides and pulled me into a bear hug that damn near cracked my ribs. "You're alive," he said, his voice rough.
"Yeah," I said, clapping his back. "Takes more than a lunatic with a gun to take me out."
Jacob came next, grinning despite the tension. "Heard you're dating a movie star now. Guess you've been busy."
I snorted. "She's more than that."
Caleb smirked, shaking my hand, then pulling me in for a hug. "She'd have to be to put up with your ugly mug."
"Fuck off," I said, but I was grinning.
The moment stretched, warm and familiar, the kind of connection that only came from shared blood and shared history. But then Noah cleared his throat, and we all turned back to business.
"All right," Noah said. "Let's hear it. From the top."
I took a seat at the table, leaning forward, elbows on my knees. The room settled, every eye on me. I walked them through it—starting with the bar, the fake aviator, the escalation at the set. I told them about the condo, the three guys I'd interrogated, and Hank Singleton's final confession before Noahtook him out. When I got to the part about Hank's claims—that he had friends in high places, people bigger than all of us—the room went still.
"He believed it," I said. "Believed someone would swoop in and save him. And the way he said it ... it wasn't just arrogance. It was certainty."
Ethan's jaw tightened. "You think he was telling the truth?"
"I think someone made him believe it," I said. "Whether they would've followed through is another question. But someone's orchestrating this. Someone with reach."
Atlas spoke up, his voice a low rumble. "We've seen patterns. Probes. Tests. Someone's been watching us for months, poking at our security, our operations. Nothing overt, just enough to let us know they're there."
Ryker nodded. "We’ve had run-ins—surveillance that disappears before we can pin it down, threats that vanish the moment we get close. It's like fighting smoke."
Elias looked up from his laptop. "I've been tracking digital footprints. Whoever they are, they're good. Better than military-grade encryption, ghost servers, the works. They're not amateurs."
Jacob leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "We've had issues, too. Subtle things. Nothing we could prove, but enough to keep us on edge."
Caleb added, "And it's ramping up. Whatever they're building toward, it's accelerating."
The room fell quiet, the weight of it settling over us like a storm cloud. Whoever this was, they weren't just a threat to one of us. They were a threat to all of us.
"Byron Dane," Ethan said quietly. "You think this is about him?"
"Has to be," I said. "Hank said someone bigger than the Danes. I don’t know what they told him, but it was just enoughbecause they knew he was dumb enough to say what he said. They're coming after the family."
Noah's expression darkened. "We've been digging into Dad’s past, trying to piece together who he crossed, who he made enemies with. But it's like trying to peel a steel ball. The man built an empire in the shadows, and now we're dealing with the fallout."
"So, what do we do?" I asked.
Ryker stood, pacing the length of the room. "We need the other Montana Danes here. Now. If this is about the family, we need everyone under one roof. Strength in numbers. Maximum security."
Ethan held up a hand. "Agreed, but we need to be smart about it. We can't just yank everyone out of their lives overnight. We do it within reason, but we do it fast."
Noah nodded. "Until further notice, all Danes stay close to Dominion Hall. No one goes off on their own. No overseas travel."
Murmurs of agreement rippled around the table. The decision was made, swift and unanimous. Whatever was coming, we'd face it together.
